The latest bombing in Enniskillen was not only an outrage, which could have resulted in the loss of many lives, but also reflected the astonishing arrogance of dissident republicans.
They were prepared to return to the town where one of the most viciously sectarian attacks ever carried out by the Provisional IRA left 11 Protestants dead in the Poppy day atrocity of 1987.
Dozens of innocent civilians were also wounded in the no-warning blast, including one who was crippled by his injuries and eventually died more than a decade later.
Enniskillen was one of the main events which helped to finally convince republicans that what they referred to as the armed struggle could not be justified and that they should employ purely constitutional tactics.
It is quite incredible that a tiny group, backed only by a handful of fanatics, should claim the right to revert to methods which have been decisively rejected by the people of Ireland.
In case there is any doubt about the matter, dissident republicans should know that they are regarded by ordinary nationalists as the blood brothers of Johnny Adair and his cohorts.
The idea that the presence of the British army in border areas may somehow have provoked Monday's incident is too ludicrous for comment, and reflects seriously muddled thinking in some quarters.
All reasonable observers want to see advances over demilitarisation, but the Enniskillen explosion can only delay this process.
A similar mindset was at work when bizarre attempts were made to blame the police for a series of drunken assaults which were followed by street rioting in Omagh at the weekend.
Those who wandered out of pubs in the
early hours of the morning and engaged in alcohol-fuelled confrontations were entirely responsible for their own behaviour.
At a much more serious level, dissident republicans must be held completely accountable for their own despicable actions in Enniskillen.
Violence should be directly condemned, rather than explained away, whenever and wherever it occurs.
