Point/CounterpointDebate newsworthy and other 'hot-button' topics here. If it can be debated, this is the forum for it. Can't be thin skinned - people will disagree with you. No flaming or personal attacks.
We get caught up in our own interests and tend to forget that our Ally has been dealing with terrorism on their soil for decades.
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IRA Raid Damaging to the Peace Process
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LONDON (Reuters) - Allegations the IRA was involved in a massive bank robbery in Belfast has damaged the peace process and is a "huge disappointment", says the Northern Ireland Secretary.
"The fact that the IRA has been blamed now by the chief constable for this robbery does have serious implications for the peace process," Paul Murphy told the BBC's Today program on Saturday.
On Friday, Northern Ireland's police chief Hugh Orde said IRA was responsible for a 26.5 million heist at the headquarters of Northern Bank in central Belfast.
"Those implications are essentially a lack of trust and confidence between political parties in Northern Ireland whose job it is to get together to try to do that deal in bringing back the assembly and executive," said Murphy.
"That is why this is such a huge disappointment to us in government and to everybody involved in the peace process."
The linking of the IRA to the bank robbery, the biggest in UK history and in which the families of two bank workers were held hostage, is a huge blow to efforts to broker a power-sharing government between Catholics and Protestants in the British-ruled province.
The IRA and its political ally Sinn Fein, the largest Catholic party, denied the group was behind the raid, and said Friday the accusations were politically motivated.
Murphy also refused to be drawn on whether Sinn Fein knew about the heist.
"As to who knew what in this particular...this robbery, that part of the investigation, it wouldn't be right for me to say anything or it wouldn't be right certainly for the chief constable to say it."
"I do know that Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness and the leadership of Sinn Fein have been genuine, are genuine in my view in wanting to go down the political process line."
Protestant unionists, who support ties to Britain, said the allegations against the IRA are proof that the IRA is still involved in crime.
Point/Counterpoint
01-10-2005, 12:03
IRA Raid Damaging to the Peace Process 
