"People have tried to kill [them] before, yes, but in the current political limelight they have plenty more chances. Seems they're flaunting it in public a lot more these days, " writes one contributor, who suggests acquiring weapons from the Red Hand Commandos, a UVF offshoot.

Another proposes local loyalists would be willing to kill the Sinn Fein leaders: "We could always lure them around to an awards do, drug them, tie them up and dump them in Rathcoole at about 23:00 on a Friday. I'm sure there would be hundreds of young scrotes who'd do the job for you and there'd be no witnesses."

The British army has been keen to portray a positive image recently with demilitarisation and the reduction of troops in the North. The discussion, entitled 'PIRA revenge assassination', is on the ARRSE website, which gets over five million hits a month and describes itself as "the unofficial British army community website". Posters include serving and ex-soldiers.

Although the lives of republicans are unlikely to be in real danger from any British soldier, there is huge hatred of Sinn Fein and IRA figures. The British government's bridge-building with the Sinn Fein leadership appears not to be emulated by the army at a grassroots level.

One contributor writes: "Adams and his lickspittle McGuinness are from the same heartless, worthless and cowardly mould. Both of them are tossers in their own right using politics as an excuse for killing and terrorising the public for years. Personally I would happily contribute to a worthy individual who would slot them and not think a second about it. Couple of quid should be enough for their pathetic lives."

Another suggests alternative means than shooting:

"Why slot them anyway? A variation on the Sergey Markov theme . . . infected HIV/Aids needle/capsule in calf muscle. Takes a bit longer but well worth the wait."

The debate was initiated last Tuesday by a blogger who says Adams, McGuinness and IRA army council member Thomas 'Slab' Murphy have got away "with countless murders".

He writes: "Now this is all hypothetically speaking, of course. If I wanted to pop over the water and start to take out the old players as revenge for innocent blood on their hands, I don't think it would be very hard. Arms are readily available in NI, big open spaces to test fire and zero the weapons, their locations are quite well-known, photos are numerous from all the various Troubles books, websites etc.

"They wouldn't have a clue who or how it was happening, living off the land in the way the military taught me, stalking down my prey one at a time in no particular order. I have a list of 15-plus."

Other contributors advise against continuing the online discussion as it could be considered conspiracy to murder and lead to prosecution. One argues Adams and McGuinness must be let live. "[They are] the glue that keeps the republican tradition on the constitutional path. Were they to fall, then the Mary Lou McDonalds of this world (shoe-ins from FF latching on to the PSF bandwagon) would take over and all the serious players from PIRA would walk into the welcoming arms of RIRA which would not be a very good day."

Another contributor says: "McGuinness would be top of the 'slow and painful torture to death' list, with Adams watching and knowing what was coming. After that it would be the rest of the PIRA/RIRA/OIRA/CIRA commanders dispatched in Nazi concentration camp guard style, lined up in a long line and done with the minimal amount of rounds. Unfortunately, the majority of these murdering c***s are vital to the continued peace. The lesser of two evils I'm afraid."