The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

So after 42 years Gerry Adams along with Ivor Bell have both been arrested and are being questioned in connection with the murder of Jean McConville a mother of 10 children in 1972 in West Belfast.
The Guardian published this article which also allowed comments.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...&commentpage=2

The question seems to be should Gerry Adams face a trial if there is evidence to charge him or should the authorities rule that the peace process is more important than justice for the greater good and stop a potential outbreak of violence if Adams was found guilty of an offence?

Some of the comments are quite interesting to say the least. So which is more important Justice or Peace? or is there another option?

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

Knee-cap him and see if he wishes to continue his political life in a wheelchair?

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

Justice should always prevail

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

At what price justice?

For the family I choose truth & hopefully reconciliation to bring peace.

For the land and all of it's people, including the family I choose peace such as it is.

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

Shame really that when Adams was shot a few years ago the soldier that gave immediate first aid did such a good job!
If there is a case to answer and he is brought to trial then let the chips fall where they may. Justice must be done.

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

The nost damning thing about him is that he knew that his brother was raping his, the brother's, daughter and Adams didn't tell the police as they are the enemy.

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

Can you not have both? Peace was brought about by many individuals and the two societies, not just GA. It does seem inconsistent that courts are vociferously prosecuting individuals for sex crimes going back decades (as they should) and yet some are suggesting that individuals accused of murder should be overlooked.

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

One has to hope so . However peace can be a very fragile thing, held together by the will of a few who have the respect of many.

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

This day has been a long time coming. I never thought I'd see Such arrests happening.

I'm not at all religious, but I'm almost praying right now that justice, & the peace process, can *both* be served.

(I hear parts of NI are very very tense tonight...)

S

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

Another murky side to all of this was the Amnesty letters issued to IRA prisoners on the run approx 187 of them. Taken from an article
But for Sinn Féin, one issue remained: the fate of the so-called "on the runs", the 187 fugitives still wanted for offences committed during the troubles. The reason Sinn Féin was so adamant the fugitives should get such assurances is that many of them have influence within the wider republican movement.
Meanwhile, the DUP and UUP together passed a motion through Stormont condemning the letters. Only Sinn Fein voted against, with both the nationalist SDLP and new unionist NI21 abstaining.

So its nice to see Sinn Fein not wanting these on the runs being prosecuted but are still pressing on bringing to trial soldiers involved in the 1972 Bloody Sunday affair.
Also taken from an article
One of the strange things about Peter Hain’s “astonishment” that the Hyde Park bomber had been brought to trial was the irregular nature of the unofficial statute of limitations it suggested. It didn’t seem credible that 1982 could be too far back to prosecute a Republican terrorist whilst British soldiers involved in Bloody Sunday, a full decade earlier, were still being pursued.

The general consensus seems to be that you prosecute the law-breakers on both sides. Hain, having boxed himself into a corner, instead suggested the soldiers be let off too. In essence, the PSNI would drop all attempts to prosecute historical Troubles-related cases (including those of Loyalist paramilitaries) and instead focus on today’s crimes and dissident Republican activity.

This hasn’t gone down well in Ulster, with unionists or republicans.

So the question is do we simply say as of today no person involved in The Troubles up until X date will be brought to trial or if Sinn Fein insist on wanting to prosecute those British soldiers then Gerry Adams and others are also fair game?

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...rthern-ireland
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ngham-26495940

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

Time to let it all lie

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

Im not disagreeing but who has big enough gonads to say this without pissing off all of the victims families on all sides?

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

+1 :(

"(...) No treaty I foresee will salve completely your tracked and stretchmarked body, the big pain that leaves you raw, like opened ground, again"
Seamus Heaney, Act of Union.

"(...) That fist would drop a hammer on a Catholic - Oh yes, that kind of thing could start again;"
Seamus Heaney, Docker

(Not apparently being reported by the media yet, but I'm hearing of [hopefully] isolated acts of violent protest in NI tonight. Hoping that calmer voices prevail & that the spark which could explode, won't:fingerscrossed:)

[QUOTE]This hasn’t gone down well in Ulster, with unionists or republicans.[/UNQUOTE] !! With bells on!! :( :(

S

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

And that's the nub. No-one will let it lie, on either side. While most will plead for continued peace, some bright sparks with agendas will go for it again

Re: The arrest of Gerry Adams.
 

They need to go for McGuinness next. He's a murderer.