[MadIvan]

And what kind of ceasefire was it? It was just a bargain with what is essentially, a racketeering organisation. Clinton should not have been so generous to them - particularly when there was no guarantee at the time that the IRA wasn't going to use the cash it raised to kill people. Quite the contrary.

Ivan

[Youngblood]

Maybe its the due to fact that I'm Irish, but I cannot see what the fuss is about Clinton on this issue. Clinton facilitated Adams because the Irish government wanted him to. Everyone hoped and thought that the end point of the process would be the disbandment of the IRA and the loyalist groups, including their non-political criminal operations (except the DUP, who cannot countenance proper power-sharing).

I've asked the question here several times about the alternative strategies some of the resident objectors to the Irish peace process would have followed. So far, one person has suggested (only slightly tongue-in-cheek!) gathering them all up (republicans and loyalists) and placing them adrift on a barge. Apart from that, there doesn't seem to be any other suggestions.