Just to answer a few points made.
I never said that Curran shouldn't be held responsible for his actions. He was held responsible in 1973, 40 years ago, he did a long time in prison. I'm also not saying that his past should be forgotten just that you have to put it into perspective, it was 40 years ago. If we constantly hold someone's past against them then how is that person going to move on and change. People do change, criminals turn their back on crime, racists can become anti-racists, homophobes can become pro-gay rights.
As for his current or more recent views, that would take more of an in depth look at what exactly his views are. Is he one of those in Sinn Fein that pushed for the ceasefire and agreeing to the Good Friday agreement or one of those who was dragged along reluctantly, or just went with whatever the party said. Is he currently working to resolve differences and build bridges between the two communities or is he just interested in what he can get out of politics or constantly complaining that the Catholics are hard done by and not getting a fair deal from the British.
Funerals were mentioned. What isn't understood by most people in Britain is that for Irish Catholics (including the atheist ones) is that funerals are for the family, not the dead. When I was working at a factory in Ireland the company sent a senior manager to a funeral of the father of an employee. This was a company that didn't give a toss about its employees and dead bloke had no connections with the company at all but it was seen as compulsory that the company sent a representative. There is also a feeling amongst the more religious that whatever a person has done in life, they are about to be judged by God and get what is coming to them, so past sins are set aside for the funeral.
As for those who think I just need educating about the situation there. I must admit, I'm a bit out of touch since I left, I have to rely on the media and friends over there to get an idea of what is going on. However, I did spend over 6 years living there, 4 of it in the murder triangle. I had friends and work colleagues on both sides of the divide from all sorts of backgrounds with all sorts of views. My first experiences of driving after passing my test were in the height of the rioting about the Garvaghy Road issue, trying to get to and from work around barricades and road blocks and never knowing whether I would get through unscathed. There were bad things done on all sides at all levels with every side justifying their actions by citing some bad done by the other side. Some of those actions are in the public domain, some are not, some are just in my head, things I witnessed, and that's where they are staying.