It doesn’t seem like much, surrounded as we are by murder and mayhem in Iraq, Mexico, and indeed South Florida where six were shot over the weekend. The event in Northern Ireland is however significant in that it represents the attempted reopening of Pandora’s Box. A box that took thirty years to force shut. Unlike the participants in the Northern Irish conflicts of old, these killers are criminals - psychopaths - not militants.

Last Saturday night, two British soldiers, dressed and ready for deployment to Afghanistan the following day, met a pizza delivery outside their barracks. Walking into a trap they were hosed with bullets. The automatic fire injured many, two were critically including the pizza delivery man. The two soldiers were then finished off - assassination style - with shots to their heads. Hard core.

According to the London Times today, the last time a British soldier was killed in Northern Ireland was in February 1997 – 12 years ago – in Co. Armagh, where a sniper shot Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then as paramilitaries from both sides laid down their arms and agreed to get along in peace. A peace process that has accomplished so much, reflected in the number of new foreign investment schemes attracted to the community. A change for the better that has the full support of the International political community.

I could say how outraged we all are at the killing of these young soldiers, but why? It is, however callous of me in saying so, a risk of their profession – whether it happened in Northern Ireland or Afghanistan; it happens. That they were shot is the fault of their own security or lack there of; despite ample warnings they were lax, too lax. The people who did it however need to be dealt with and, in saying so, I don’t mean a stint in prison.

To add an element of perspective, the group who killed the soldiers was also responsible for the Omagh car bombing in 1998 in which 29 people died, all civilians out shopping – an atrocity that has gone unpunished and unanswered. So much for political leanings; these guys are plain, garden variety killers, the same as the brutal drug gangs in Mexico.

The group, who call themselves the “Real IRA” (hereafter referred to as 'Psycho Killers' or 'PK'), have been attempting to edge closer to the limelight over the years. They have nothing to do with the 'Provisional IRA' who brought Northern Ireland to the bargaining table years ago. The PK are not however worthy of association with their adopted name; these guys are psycho Killers masquerading under the umbrella of political activism. The ship they say they support sailed long ago. They are instead the faces of criminality at it’s worst.

Hiding under the guise of ‘Republicanism,' as this group claims, is a type of business model enjoyed by the U.S. mafia until not too long ago. The Mafia operated as guardians of the community while squeezing the same community for cash in protection rackets. ‘La Cosa Nostra’ turned out to be ‘just gimme the cash or I’ll kill you.’ That’s what it was all about. The protestations of heritage, family - meant nothing.

Similarly in Northern Ireland the 'PK,' by mimicking the paramilitaries in name, attempt to confuse the populace and create a powerful social role for themselves. Its name gives cover for these gangsters to perform under the pretence of political idealism while shaking down their own community for funding; a deeply traumatized community which continues it’s slow recovery from generations of bloodshed. The attacks on the British troops are a diversion - an attempt at gaining credibility - from their real criminal mission; that of getting rich at the expense of the people they live amongst.

The solution? Fight fire with fire.

The Northern Irish police chief recently invited a British Special Forces unit back to the province to track and monitor terrorist activities. He obviously had a similar solution in mind. This is not a job however for the British Government or the Northern Irish Police. In hunting and attacking the PK they are reacting exactly as these guys want them to; their actions will add credence to the PK's false claims of political motivation.

This PK is a malignant ghost that has to be dealt with by the people who know all about dealing with such issues. They have to be dealt with quickly, harshly and without a shred of mercy. The force available to deal with this problem? The remnants of the Provisional IRA, the group whose leaders are now respected politicians. They need to take care of this business in a way only they know how; silently and efficiently. The PK need to be eliminated down to the last man and woman; the more public the disposal the better.

A reaction such as this sends a message to any others who think that the long suffering and traumatized community in Northern Ireland can be subjected any more of this opportunistic fear and violence.

The IRA may have given the indication that they are gone; they're not. They still exist and carry as much power now as they did when an IRA sniper peered through the sight of a .50 caliber Barrett rifle at that 23 year old British soldier in 1997, seconds before he squeezed the trigger to mark the end of an age-old conflict.

What happens next in Northern Ireland is up to the real powers that be in the community; those who have the ability to police their own.

And it needs to happen soon.