The wee bit o' Irish in me (from Grandma Broadbent, Dad's mother) always pulsates a little greener on St. Patrick's Day. Grandma was born a Foley. In Gaelic, that would be Foghladh, translated as "plunderer." Much as I would like to claim more, I'm just one-fourth Irish. Thus, only one of every four words spoken or written comes glibly.

But this is not about glibness or shamrocks or the pouring of the Guinness; it's about politics and death and peace.

On Jan. 30, Northern Ireland resident Robert McCartney was brutally killed outside a Belfast bar. His sisters say his death came at the hands of Irish Republican Army members who, afterward, reportedly destroyed forensic evidence and threatened witnesses. The sisters want the killers brought to justice, but say that the IRA and Sinn Fein, the political arm of the IRA, are protecting them.

President Bush invited the sisters to the White House as part of the St. Patrick's Day celebration, but he snubbed one of the usual guests of recent years, Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein's leader, because of the killings. Even Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., refused, for the first time since 1998, to meet with Adams.

This much everyone can agree on: McCartney's killers must be brought to justice. But that's not going to happen just because politicians here say it must. The pressure must come from London, from the British Parliament, from Prime Minister Tony Blair and from the appropriate law enforcement officials in Northern Ireland.

This much all people should, but don't, agree on: The IRA most likely has deteriorated into a gang of thugs. Such behavior among people who have lived for nore than 30 years in an atmosphere of hate where violence is the rule rather than the exception should come as no surprise to anyone.

This much all should, but don't, demand: Those involved in the peace process need to go after all paramilitary forces in Northern Ireland. On the Catholic side, that includes the Provisional IRA and the Real IRA, both offshoots of the IRA. On the Protestant side, that would include the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defense Association.

Turning the death of McCartney, as tragic as it is to his family, into a cause celebre doesn't help get to the root of the problems in Northern Ireland: sectarian violence spawned by religious hatred. And it doesn't lead to the outcome needed to bring about peace: Britain ceding its dominion over the five counties of Northern Ireland and letting the Irish people become one nation.