Republican Thugs in NI Must be Nipped in the Bud

Well it didn't take long for troubles to flare up in Northern Ireland which is a real shame. I've been thinking to myself over the last couple of years that it's been really good to see old guard terrorists talking their troubles out face to face, like civilised human beings in parliament and regional assemblies. The economy of NI even started to look promising for the future and at one point a couple of years ago, house prices there were growing faster than anywhere in the country.

Then global financial problems start to happen. House prices drop, unemployment rises, and everything seems to be headed back to square one. First sign of trouble, the guns come out and they want to start shooting and blowing people up again. Gunmen opened fire in a drive-by style shooting at Massereene Barracks in Antrim last night, killing two soldiers and wounding another four (including two pizza delivery men). The soldiers had just picked up pizza in fact and were supposed to be flying out to Afghanistan that night to fight a real war against another militia who also seems to lack the bravery and intelligence to engage their enemy in diplomacy like civilised human beings.

By all reports, although no group has claimed the attack, it is believed that it was carried out by a splinter republican group who have been linked to an increasing security threat to local police officers. Apparently this group is in a small minority so one can only hope that people in the area will not look to harbour them for fear of their country slipping back to what it was like before the peace process.

What needs to happen is the quick apprehension and conviction of these thugs before they claim glory for what they have done. What we don't want to see in a region that will undoubtedly be hit hard by the recession with many likely to blame the government for poverty, home repossessions and job losses, is for the perpetrators to gain any capital or credibility for their cause from this cowardly attack.