IKnowNothing

And I truly hope he died an excruciating death.

McGuinness Rot in Pi$$

Inselaffen

we'll probably never know if he really did fire the first shots on Bloody Sunday.

weasel decentral

Didn't particularly like the guy or any of SF for that matter, but was he that hated in the UK?

IKnowNothing

Well he killed Mountbatten and 18 other Brit soldiers in a single day. (he was the provo leader that day).

scrubbedexpat141

Meh. Too much was made of his handshake and meeting with Prince Charles a couple of years ago.

Kind of summed up my opinion of his or Sinn Fein's general importance and relevance in the 'Peace Process' as it stands today.

BritInParis

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/0...thers-didnt-2/

weasel decentral

Two decades after the process he is probably not terribly important, but if he had a hand in the original agreement it was certainly an important act at the time.
No excuse for his previous actions though.

scrubbedexpat141

Yeah absolutely, nor do I think anything really admonishes what nastiness anyone did during such a shit period.

I think the generation gap that will come will be the biggest step forward. The removal of people being directly involved and making the conflict another step away will always help.

mikelincs

He also shook the hand of Queen Elizabeth and had a private meeting with her, as to the terrorism part there were severe problems with both sides, but as the soldiers were doing it 'in the name of the law' they got away with most things. I think arguing about who was the worst is a bit like kettle/pot, no doubt he did some terrorist things, but so did some of the British soldiers.

ExpatAl

The BBC are making him out to be some kind of martyr...

scrubbedexpat141

...and this is the problem with the whole sorry period. The minute anyone talks about it, even when being balanced, the fingers get itchy and have to be pointed.

IKnowNothing

Well there's a surprise, he was and will always remain, a murderer, should have been locked up for life and certainly never allowed near political representation.

mikelincs

So, you have proof that he, himself, killed someone? He was the leader of the Provos, yes, they did terrible things, yes, but then again so did the British Army and their commanders, so in the same way they are all murderers. I'm not condoning what he, or any other IRA people did, but then again I can't condone what some members of the British armed forces did. Nelson Mandela was also the leader of a terrorist group in South Africa, but he is lauded for getting back into politics and helping to turn his country round into a multiracial country.

Beakersful

LOL!

Bahtatboy

And Adolf didn't turn the gas taps on.