"You can't change history but the people of Northern Ireland managed to change course to more peaceful times." - Allan Conn

Don't know where you got that from Allan, "the people of Northern Ireland" never wanted the violence in the first place. Martin McGuinness realised in 1985 the PIRA had been fought to a standstill and that a stalemate had been reached that British Government could maintain for as long as it would take to get all sides to negotiate. McGuinness realised it as did Gerry Adams. Their place in history is them getting the message across not to "the people of Northern Ireland" but to the majority of the members of the Provisional IRA, who were, let's face it, responsible for most civilian deaths throughout the period known as "The Troubles".