Sinn Fein and the IRA are facing some tough challenges. Given the failure of the peace process last year it looks like they can only achieve peace by making serious changes, like turning in some known murderers. For all the talk about peace it's obvious to many that there is a hardcore in the IRA and other paramilitary groups who've been useful because they love the killing and violence. These people might have talked about a cause but their real interest was the respect and fear they generated in their communities and the enjoyment of the worst violence. At the extreme end terrorist and paramilitary groups harbour full-blown criminal psychopaths who are allowed to hone their talents to a frightening degree.

If the Republican leaders now want to cut them loose surely it's possible that elements of the IRA and Sinn Fein will turn on each other. Martin McGuinness was once named by The Cook Report TV show as IRA Chief of Staff. The programme challenged him to sue them and said they'd take their evidence to court. McGuinness did nothing.

I wonder how some of the hardest men in the IRA view him and Gerry Adams now.