CHILDREN die at the hands of bloody butchers.

There is no justification - there are no excuses - forget religion, forget politics, forget "the warning went wrong".

You commit this sort of atrocity and you deserve

to die. But, who am I to

pronounce sentence on these murderers?

I've spent a lot of time in Northern Ireland and dearly love both the country and the people but it's not for me to pretend the solution is easy. Peace, true peace, will be hard-earned - not hard-fought.

But, one thing's for sure, the solution lies in Northern Ireland and it's no good simply saying "These atrocities have been going on too long, there is no answer". Try telling today's grief-stricken relatives there is no, and never can be, a solution.

No, that's not good enough, there must be an answer.

Britain and Ireland may vow to crush the 'splinter IRA' and other such murderous groups but in reality they do not have control.

We all recognise the grief but the answer lies within.

If the Real IRA is to be made to answer for such appalling actions it is only Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness who can do it. Ironically, it is time for this pair to stop talking and take action!

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.