Northern Ireland hasn't yet put the Troubles behind it. That's the grim message from the recent detention of Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein and one of the most prominent figures in Irish politics north and south of the border.
Unless care is taken, this terrible unfinished history could yet turn back to violence. The best way to avoid that dreadful possibility would be to draw a line under the crimes committed by all sides during the Troubles, and to cease prosecuting cases related to the conflict.
That decision should be combined with a process to lay bare the truth of who did what to whom.