ALMOST 50 years ago, the acclaimed Co Tyrone writer Benedict Kiely, who came from a firmly nationalist background, published one of his most discussed novels, entitled “Proxopera - A Tale Of Modern Ireland”.

Set at the height of the Troubles, it described how an entirely innocent man was confronted at gunpoint by a masked gang, and ordered to transport a bomb which was placed in his car into a nearby town, with all the consequences which followed.

Similar tactics were regularly used in real life by the Provisional IRA across the north during the period, primarily resulting in death and destruction on an enormous scale, but also terrifying many men, women and children who were affected by the appalling events.

It came as an enormous relief when the Good Friday Agreement largely........

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