Irish Republican Army militants memorialized on a banner in Belfast, Northern Ireland.(Photo: Mark Oltmanns, GlobalPost)
For 30 years, Belfast, Northern Ireland stood alongside Beirut and Baghdad as one of the world's terror hotspots.
Vicious fighting between Catholic nationalists seeking to join Ireland and Protestants loyal to the British crown claimed more than 3,500 lives. Bombs, bullets and horrific crimes inflicted incalculable damage across Britain in a war it seemed would never end.
But in 1998, the Good Friday Agreement brought peace to Northern Ireland. The fighting stopped. The world moved on. And a generation of combatants who'd dedicated their lives to war found themselves with nothing left to do.
GLOBALPOST
When Terror Gets Old | GlobalPost
At a time when it feels like Britain and the U.S. are waging an endless war on terror, Northern Ireland is a reminder that all wars end eventually.
So what happens when the fighting stops? What happens to terrorists when they retire? What happens to extremist movements that ended in peace, but not victory?
Find out in
When Terror Gets Old, a short documentary from GlobalPost. United Kingdom Senior Correspondent Corinne Purtill and video journalist Mark Oltmanns meet the ex-fighters of the IRA and other paramilitary groups of Northern Ireland's war. They find men and women in their 50s and 60s discovering that survival comes with its own struggles, and find out what they think about redemption and regret.
CHECK OUT THE ENTIRE SERIES FROM GLOBALPOST:
GLOBALPOST
Even terrorists get older. Then what happens? (VIDEO)
GLOBALPOST
What Northern Ireland teaches us about today's war on terror
GLOBALPOST
This man used to hunt Belfast Catholics with a .357 Magnum. Here's his story.
GLOBALPOST
Booze and anguish haunt Northern Ireland's retired terrorists. Some regret not putting ballots first
GLOBALPOST
How Irish anger turned into decades of revolt
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