Adams would do well to walk away now - but he isn't the only one hurting politics

Gerry Adams should think about moving aside to prevent his baggage from harming Sinn Féin. Younger party members like Mary Lou McDonald would then stand a better chance of challenging Fianna Fáil

Let me tell you about 1983, the year when prison officer Brian Stack was shot. That was the year when a car bomb exploded outside Harrods in London, killing six - three police officers and three civilians.

It was the year when a guard and an Irish soldier were killed during a shootout in Leitrim, after the IRA kidnapped businessman Don Tidey.

It was the year when 38 republicans broke out of the Maze Prison in Lisburn, and a prison officer died of a heart attack after being stabbed by an escapee.

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