McGrath, I hadn't seen your last post. If the IRA is indeed keeping itself in a state of readiness for a breakdown in the ceasefire, then i think the unionist side is fully entitled to view that as a breach of good faith. Sinn Feinn have become an integral element in a democracy on the basis that they have put violence behind them. To give that commitment while keeping a private army in the wings, primed for action, is exactly what the Good Friday agreement is NOT all about.

We can obviously quibble about the strengths and weaknesses in the present democracy. But as it IS a democracy, the way to do that is by political debate and winning the argument. Anyone who declines to take part in such debate at gunpoint has my sympathy.