Public anger has been generated by the actions of the Irish and British governments in bringing forward arrangements to grant an effective amnesty to so-called "on the run" suspects. Members of the security forces who committed offences or colluded with paramilitary organisations before the Belfast Agreement was signed in 1998 will also qualify.
Because the vast majority of the offences involved - some of them gruesome murders - were committed in the North, resistance has been most intense there, although not confined to a single community. In the House of Commons, the Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill received its second stage reading following fierce opposition by the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the DUP, the UUP and the SDLP. In the Dáil, the Taoiseach had an easier time when he announced details of a system of presidential pardon in this jurisdiction, which could include those involved in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
There is little doubt that Tony Blair's recent shock defeat on anti-terrorist legislation encouraged his domestic critics to use this Bill as an avenue of attack. Political and administrative changes in Northern Ireland, proposed earlier this week by Peter Hain, soured relations with unionists and nationalists there. And official discussions on the establishment of a system of community restorative justice in Northern Ireland have caused deep concern that paramilitary organisations in both communities may gain effective control of local policing.
In such circumstances, where the unionist community is worried over what it regards as a range of concessions to Sinn Féin, it is important to strike a better balance. If a successful power-sharing executive is to be restored, the British government should heed the advice of former Northern Secretary Paul Murphy and give careful consideration to "sensible amendments" to this Bill. These would ensure its passage through parliament. And the heartbreak and distress of the relatives of IRA and loyalist paramilitary victims would be acknowledged.
Ending violence in the North was never going to be easy. There was considerable opposition within the unionist community to the release of paramilitary prisoners under the Belfast Agreement. But it was a key Sinn Féin demand. And because IRA decommissioning was envisaged as part of the deal, David Trimble swallowed that bitter pill. Two years later, at Weston Park, the governments agreed to include "on the runs" as a "tidying-up exercise" aimed at securing IRA decommissioning.
Republicans subsequently undermined public confidence in the Belfast Agreement by their failure to deliver on commitments. But now that decommissioning has finally taken place, Sinn Féin must join the policing boards, rather than engage in parallel, restorative justice schemes. Organised paramilitary crime is the greatest long-term threat to a peaceful Northern Ireland. And for so long as Sinn Féin withholds support from the PSNI, that threat will remain.