Well done for missing the point, Teribus. Dig up all the numbers you can. I'll ignore you.

I didn't post those incomplete statistics in order to start a war of numbers, Jim, simply to demonstrate that three factions, not just the IRA, have plenty of blood on their hands. The militarisation of the conflict, away from the sticks and stones of the late 60s, was ramped up by the British government. The attitude exemplified by that Mail front page has been rife in the last couple of days. Let's call it Norman Tebbitry. The Troubles started not as an offensive in order to take over, ISIS-style, but a reaction to blatant repression and brutality by an anti-Catholic police force and decades of institutionalised discrimination against the large Catholic minority. I am not justifying any action by any party. I am saying that, if there really is a God up there who has now sent Martin McGuinness to the hottest part of hell, who can ignore his pivotal role in the peace process Mail and Teribus-style, then he isn't any kind of God that I'd want anything to do with.