IRA lays weapons down

[spank]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4720863.stm

[Job]

Well, that'll do away with a whole genre of movies.

[Naked Snake]

Good, it is about time these people realize that violence isn't a good way to make peace.

[Lobo]

We'll see...

[Bucket]

This illustrates the benefits of finally getting laid.
HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA(please don't kill me)

[DooMer87]

Tony Blair said:

"...it was a step of unparalleled magnitude..."

Whats unparalleled magnitude??????????? Why cant they just say "This is preety damn good! No one's gonna get kiled anymore!"?

Being an Irishman, I strongly believe in the union between Ireland and Northern Ireland. I've been to belfast, I have a relative there.

[Jehar]

Wow. Wonderful news. Was in ireland recently and we abstinatly avoided the northern bits, but saw some shit anyway. Everybody can breate a bit easier now :)

[Submerge]

And why didn't they work things out over a couple of pints 30 years ago, anyway?

[Grazza]

Because the problems arose from bitter disputes and grievances going back hundreds of years, perhaps?

[Scientist]

Didn't this whole conflict start in 1066? They're killing eachother over something that happend nearly 950 years ago.
About time people put it to rest.

[Janderson]

An IRA car bomb blew up my old flat when I was six months old, we had just moved out (whew!) so this is great news IMO.

[fodders]

The IRA bomb in Manchester killed one of the modems on my Doom BBS, had to drive 10 miles into town at 2am to fix it. Bastards! :P

[sargebaldy]

Violence is a pretty hopeless way to secure independence. Eventually they'll figure out politics isn't any better.

[spank]

And they might resort to pandering.

[Grazza]

sargebaldy said:

Violence is a pretty hopeless way to secure independence.

You've lost me there. Who's seeking independence?

The basic problem in Northern Ireland has been that both communities fear they will become marginalized and discriminated against (the Protestants in the case of a "united Ireland", and the Catholics if it remains a province within the UK). That's what has made the problem so intractable: the resolution sought by each community is unacceptable to the other. The current working solution is a power-sharing devolved government guaranteeing representation for both communities. It's a compromise, but one that seems to have a chance of working.

[sargebaldy]

Hmm, well I guess I was assuming Northern Ireland would rather be part of Ireland than the UK. It seems to me there wouldn't have been a problem in the first place if the UK had just let the Irish Free State keep Northern Ireland, since as far as I know the religious demographics didn't shit around until then.

If it doesn't like either situation, maybe it should just work on seceding from the UK and being an independent country. As far as I know the IRA is more annoyed that it's part of the UK than not a part of Ireland.

[Grazza]

You might want to read this.