Eamon Gilmore: Five years on devolution in Northern Ireland has worked

Maybe bythebay should find herself a husband(if that is possible)have some kids and stop embarrassing hersalf on this site.

@bytheway you state "The IRA 30 year war of terror was not for shared government, it was for "Brits out" and a "United Ireland". It is obvious that you have no Idea about Irish Republicanism. You have displayed an inability to draw any lessons from our history coupled with an unwillingness to even acknowledge the existence of, let alone engage with, the Éire Nua proposals for a Federal Ireland as a credible and coherent alternative to the present failed partitionist set-up. P.S I agree with sirpeter you are a bit of a winney

It's easy to know when anybody hits a nerve with Bythebay.She doesn't shut up and we are subjected to a string of idiotic comments.I have a mental image of a girl stamping her feet with her hands on her hips and a face like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle!

STEVENSTAIR: It is a fact, were it not for American involvement in the north, there would be no peace in the north, don't try and rewrite history. And the people in the south stood idly by and did nothing. You could not even talk about the north when in the 26 counties. Of course that never prvented the Irish from criticizing the U.S. Your brain is getting fried from that tanning bed.

As an accidental citizen of this arrestedly developed republic, I warmly applaud the Ulster/Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive as a bold experiment in neo-provincial self-governance. As a Leinster/eastern Ireland green unionist (i.e. united Irelander) (and heterodox Christian), I recognise this micro peace process as a shift towards a median power sharing national reintegration of all four ancient historic provinces on "our shared island - our shared Ireland" (Ó h'Uigeann, 2011): Ulster/Northern Ireland - Munster/southern Ireland - Leinster/eastern Ireland and - Connacht/western Ireland. An agreed (provincially federated?) Ireland will facilitate a "partnership of equals" (EIIR, 2011) or macro power sharing with the neighbouring island jurisdiction - an increasingly democratised (and federated?) island of Great Britain - probably within the Commonwealth of Nations. My fellow citizens! After many years of conflict, the Aristotelian golden mean (or Buddhist middle path) has been found with the help of "our exiled children in America" (Pearse, 1916). So, to paraphrase an infamous English republican - political puritans of the islands' main traditions adverse to constructive centrism are cordially invited to go "to hell or to [Timbuctu]!" (Cromwell, 1648).

If not for the IRA campaign in the north there would've been no devolution.Unfortunately the orange bigots had to be blasted to the negotiating table.

IRA Terrorists in Northern Ireland continue to attempt to keep Catholics from joining the PSNI, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, but it won't succeed. Even though Police Constable Ronan Kerr was killed recently by the IRA terrorisrs and a car bomb found under the car of the parents of another Catholic police officer, the desire of the IRA to bully Catholics from participating in all Northern Ireland processes and institutions will fail, just as their 30 years of terrorism failed.

@@@@@@@@@@@ancavker | May 11, 2012, 10:13 AM STEVENSTAR: Lets not forget if it were not for the efforts of President Clinton and George Mitchell, Americans of course, there would be no Good Friday agreement or peace in the north. The Irish in the south stood idly by for all those years, and did nothing!! I guess like yourself, they were too busy using tanning beds.?>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AS AN IRISHMAN BORN IN IRELAND & LIVING IN IRELAND I FIND THAT REMARK OF YOURS INCREDIBLY IGNORANT AND ONCE AGAIN YOUR AMERICAN INTERFERRANCE IS NOT WANTED OVER HERE EITHER NORTH OR SOUTH...SO KEEP OBABMA KEEP CLINTON,KEEP THE KENNEDYS AND YOUR WHOLE PLASTIC LEPRAUCHAUN CULTURE OUT OF OUR AFFAIRS...YOUR AMERICAN GO SORT OUR YOUR OWN COUNTRY'S AFFAIRS AND LEAVE OURS ALONE..

Patrick Counihan, fyi, Ireland doesn't have a Deputy Prime Minister. You're thinking about Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Eamonn Gilmore is Ireland's Tánaiste.

Dr. Ian Paisley received a standing ovation from the audience when he appeared on RTE television here in Ireland in 2009 for his peace efforts in establishing a devolved Government in Northern Ireland.

The IRA 30 year war of terror was not for shared government, it was for "Brits out" and a "United Ireland". Their war of terror didn't succeed. Northern Ireland is still happily part of the United Kingdom.

jerrydonavan-Right on! Don't bother with bythebuttinski -they have just been off their meds for years-no one pays attention to by.....

Bythebay,you clearly have at best a poor understanding of the Good Friday agreement.You say the agreement happened because of the IRA,then you say they lost!If they brought about an a agreement which gave the nationalist/republican side something whgich they did not have before,shared government then I WOULD SUGGEST THAT THEY WON!However I believe that MOST people won ,except of course for the small group of die hards/bigots who only see progress in a won /lost concept i.e. people like yourself.

The Good Friday Agreement happened because of the 30 years of IRA terrorism which Northern Ireland, Ireland and England suffered. The IRA lost . The Agreement required Ireland give up all claims to Northern Ireland.

I don't know about the bowing to history part. Everything else he said was fine.