Banning, even for an hour, should be reserved for pure vandalism. Disagreements about content seldom rise to that level.
I think that Jimbo has the right idea here.
Yes. Where's the fire, anyway? It's not like the final version of any article is due tomorrow.
Maybe I'm emphatically naive, but I think Lir can still be a valuable contributor. I believe that so much that I've unblocked Lir--or tried to, anyway. There are two entries about Lir at http://www.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Special:Ipblocklist&action=s..., and only one of them disappeared. Anyway, I'd rather be wrong about something generous than right about something cynical.
kq