A Tale Of Two Cities

In Texas, there's a famous border town called El Paso. A century ago, in much different times, a much different El Paso was known as a haven for outlaws.

In Ireland, there's a town called Dundalk, near the Northern Ireland border. It earned the nickname El Paso, because of its reputation as a haven for the outlawed Irish Republican Army - the IRA.

Over the Summer, Dundalk rose up, in a effort to run terrorism out of town; to say that its people are tired of being identified with deadly violence. The last straw was an August carbomb attack on the Northern Ireland shopping district. Twnety-eight were killed and over 200 wounded.

That attack was claimed by a splinter group calling itself the AReal IRA@. Many believe it was planned in the Dundalk area by people who live and work there. The accused ringleader denies it. But since he has a long IRA history, and connections to the splinter group, Dundalk is not buying his story.

More than 10,000 rallied in the center of town to underscore the point that Dundalk Ain't big enough for them and terrorists. Others held a vigil near the suspect's home, just outside of town.

Wherever, and by whomever, that bombing was planned, Dundalk has still reached a crossroads. Just as America's El Paso outlives gunslingers, Ireland's El Paso seems poised to put terrorists in their past.

©1998 CBS Worldwide Corp. All rights reserved