Martin McGuinness and a farewell to arms

The terror attack in Westminster last week distracted attention from the funeral of Martin McGuinness, a former commander with the Irish Republican Army, who later became a man of peace and played a crucial role in the signing of the "Good Friday Agreement" of 1998.

McGuinness, who became Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, died last week, aged 66.

His passing has again focussed attention on whether the Good Friday Agreement, which has brought peace to Northern Ireland after more than a century of civil strife between Catholics and Protestants, could serve as a blueprint to help resolve conflicts in other parts of the world.

After the momentous Good Friday Agreement - so called because it was signed on Good Friday, April 10, 1998 - Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) shared power in the Northern Ireland Assembly based in Stormont.

At McGuinness's funeral service in Londonderry, DUP leaders were applauded as they entered church.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams challenged those who described his long-time friend as a "terrorist" - which several newspapers in England continue to do, along with many who have lost loved ones from IRA bombs and bullets.

"Martin McGuinness was not a terrorist," Adams insisted. "Martin McGuinness was a freedom fighter. He was also a political prisoner, a negotiator, a peacemaker, a healer."

Whatever the differences between the two sides in Northern Ireland, at least they are culturally similar. Since this is clearly not the case with ISIS, al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists, a similar accommodation with the West just would not be possible - or so it is argued.

It will have to be fight to the finish. In Westminster last week, Khalid Masood (aka Adrian Russell Elms ) was shot dead but not before he had killed four people and injured 40.

Clinton magic

Despite all that has happened in his personal life — the Monica Lewinsky affair, for example — Bill Clinton, now 70, has lost none of his magic.

The man, who as US President from 1993 to 2001 pushed the Good Friday Agreement, was the star turn at Martin McGuinness's funeral - in marked contrast, England's political leaders such as Tony Blair considered it prudent to stay away.

Clinton used his funeral oration to urge today's leaders to pick up where McGuinness had left off: "He made honourable compromises and was strong enough to keep them and came to be trusted because his word was good."

McGuinness's widow Bernie and their four children looked on as Clinton added: "Our friend earned this vast crowd today. Even more, he earned the right to ask us to honour his legacy by our living. To finish the work that is there to be done."

Lone wolf

Psychiatrist Raj Persaud has written a remarkably perceptive paper suggesting ways in which a "lone wolf" - such as the Westminster terrorist Khalid Masood - can be picked up before he strikes.

The conventional wisdom is that "lone wolfs" are harder to detect because they are not members of a larger organisation.

But Persaud's paper, written jointly with a medical colleague, Peter Bruggen, suggests there may be telltale signs.

They quote work done by acade-mics Paul Gill, John Horgan and Paige Deckert, who analysed 119 lone wolf attacks in the US and in Europe and published their analysis in the Journal of Forensic Sciences .

It appears that lone wolfs "engaged in 'dry runs' of their intended attacks"; "changed address within the five years prior to the terrorism"; experienced social isolation which "was often not enduring, but instead arose from more recent interpersonal conflict"; picked soft public targets rather than closely guarded military ones; and told family and friends of their "intent to engage in terrorism-related activities".

Persaud recommends a public information campaign: "Possibly it is the wider community who are the key intelligence weapon against so-called 'lone-wolf' actors. Maybe it's the general population, basically you or me, which has to become the improved intelligence service or police force, by developing an improved understanding of the particular patterns to look for, if 'lone-actor' terrorists are to be better detected before attacks."

Jihadi Britain

One in 10 British terrorists, such as Masood, has some sort of link with Birmingham. But I cannot see the city's tourist board using the city's nickname in their promotional posters: "Come and see Birmingham, the capital of Jihadi Britain."

Tittle tattle

In the BBC comedy, Citizen Khan, "community leader Mr Khan" calls Birmingham "the capital of British Pakistan".

BBC's Bengali presenter Rita Chakrabarti last week ran a finger across her throat to warn a cameraman he was focusing on the wrong image. But given Masood's fatal knife attack on police officer Keith Palmer, her "cutting gesture" was called "insensitive" by TV critics.