Fingers crossed

For almost 10 years now there has been relative peace in Northern Ireland and that is fantastic news given that many hundreds had died in the troubles in the previous 20 years.

In my opinion it is thanks to compromise and discussion that many lives have been saved.

Now we hear that trouble has re-emerged over the weekend but luckily there were no serious injuries, Shots were apparently fired and there are reports of bombs.

This is so sad and I pray we are not going to see a return to anything like the situation we saw for so many years.

It also made me think about football hooliganism.

Much has been done behind the scenes to stamp out football hooliganism in the last 20 years and we have nothing like the amount of trouble we used to see in the 70’s and 80’s.

As an avid football fan I have always believed the hooligans are still there, just under the surface and it will only take the slightest spark to see full blown violence once more at football matches.

But I am an optimist and I hope the events in Belfast over the weekend are something that will pass and things will be peaceful once more for the people of Northern Ireland. Similarly I want football to remain hooligan free.

Let us keep our fingers crossed for a peaceful future for the people in the province of Northern Ireland and for all genuine English football supporters.