Disbandment of paramilitary organisations

LISTENING to Gerry Adams at the weekend and Mitchell McLoughlin on RTÉ's Q&A last Monday brought my mind back to the heady days of the Good Friday Agreement and the consequent referendum.

Like the vast majority of the plain people of Ireland, I did not have time to study the agreement in full, not to mind understanding all the technical jargon. I voted in favour of it because Messrs Blair, Ahern and their cohorts told us it meant decommissioning of paramilitary arms, the disbandment of paramilitary organisations and a return to constitutional government.

Now, Sinn Féin seek admiration for having a cessation of gunfire for 10 years. Who started the gunfire? Who cost the people of both states vast sums of taxation to pay for security?