"To the British it was "aid to the civil power" to maintain the rule of law and order."
Empire Loyalist crap
It did not start off as a ware = it began with PEACE MARCHERS demanding better conditions for Catholics
Those marchers were directed though mobs of stone-throwing Loyalists
I fact, the conditions that gave rise to the decades of inequality, anti Catholic rioting, boycotting of Catholic Labour, inequality at the ballot box,
Thatcher didn't help by handing the Republicans 10 martyrs on a plate - obviously not having learned the lesson of 1916
It's virtually impossible to put a date on the beginning of The Troubles, but one of the first atrocities to be carried out was that by the UVF led by ex- British Army man Gusty Spence - the bombing of a Catholic Pub on the Shankill Road
It is significant that most of the Old Republicans chose the political arena while the Ulster Paramilitary have been making a name for themselves attacking immigrants and refugees.   
Another lesson not learned has been that if you draw a line across a country, you are signing the death warrants of future generations - even our flag-waggers should know that.
And still you people refuse to acknowledge the peace and reconcilliotion is what is going to settle Ireland, not revenge taking.
You've had a list of examples of Loyalist crimes and atrocities - are people entitled to demand justice for them?
It really is time you people realised that the Empire is long dead, and good riddance to it - it's archaic hatred such as demonstrated by Teribus that have kept the hostilities alive.
Jim Carroll