The Northern Ireland situation has been handled extremely well by both the British and Irish governments - when you consider the state the comparable situation of Israel is in right now.
It's all very well handing back an area of land back to its former owners, but that will just hand the existing problems to the Irish government. Many British would love to dump the problems and wipe their hands of the responsibility and cost of maintaining security in NI - however, the real world is not as simple as they or you might imagine.
While there really would be very little difference in living in a Belfast under Irish rule, the minority of protestants pre-disposed to violence would have cause to feel deserted and might feel the need to resume violent activities (in the same way that the small minority of the Republicans who were predisposed to violence joined and carried out atrocities in the IRA) What should matter is not the opinions of the violent minority that does nothing except increase mistrust, hatred and segregation, but real, practical, workable solutions. The establishment of a Northern Irish executive is an example of a fine compromise that puts control over things that matter into the hands of locally known and accountable people. Let me tell you from personal experience that the majority of people living in Northern Ireland don't give a damn what government collects their taxes, they just want to be rid of bombs, check-points and segregation.
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They should have turned the land back over to Ireland a long long time ago imo. All this violence would end and the Irish there can put down their weapons and return to their pubs. The brits have pulled out of a huge percent of their previous colonial lands/ conquered lands. Give the Irish back their own island and destiny is all im sayin.
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I'm sorry ObieX, but your stereotypical view of what it is to be British/Irish just shows how so many Americans (I am assuming, perhaps incorrectly that you are American) could have financed the vicious terrorism and propped up the opinions of a minority of violent criminals and claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent Irish and British people over the last 40 years. Isn't it ironic that the same country that funded a spate of terrorist civillian bombings is now leading the war on terrorism...