3 people killed by assorted paramilitaries in the last 72 hours. Lost sons, a lost husband and father. It's...scary. Scary that there are still people out there prepared to kill because of politics and nationality. I lost any hint of naivete at quite a young age; that's what happens when you ask questions and get answers you don't expect.

I know that extremists, especially in the context of the Troubles, will never quite go away. There are too many people who take it seriously enough to educate their children and their peers in this way; they're vastly out-numbered by the rational population of Northern Ireland, but still they manage to cause fear.

The maximum amount of fear caused by the minimum amount of 'work'; that's what they're looking for. It can't go back to the 'bad old days' no matter what journalists will speculate. We've grown too much as a society, to let this drag us back. I may not agree with a lot of what my politicians say; I may not follow a popular church; but I know that I can't be the only one that gets frustrated when Northern Ireland is reduced down to Catholics and Prods, orange and green and blood red.

When I was small I was scared of everything. The politics and military edge to everything just made it confusing and violent. Now I understand it, I have my own opinions and my own voice. I refuse to be scared by a few 'wee ganches'. Murder and harming others is not the way to go about getting what you want. It may be an effective scare tactic, but you won't convince people for long.