The IRA may be on ceasefire but, as Gerry Adams reminded us, it has not gone away. Donegal Celtic made the mistake of challenging the republican autocrats. Did they really think that the boys in the ski-masks who spend their weekends breaking the arms and legs of “anti-social” teenagers were going to let a puny football club best them? Was the organisation which had spent 30 years trying to kill RUC men about to allow a Catholic team to play games with off-duty policemen? Never. Only 8 per cent of its 13,000 members are Catholic (this a function not only of minority mistrust but also the IRA’s ruthless targeting of Catholic officers).But as I say, this is not only about the future of the RUC It also has to do with control. Reform of the police is at the very top of the list, identified by Gerry Adams as a core function of the peace agreement.

The RUC is not now and never has been a cross community institution. Sinn Fein has had the RUC in its sights (metaphorically of course, the more literal expression being left to the IRA) for many years. Having agreed a brave compromise on Good Friday, indefinitely postponing its sacred goal of a United Ireland, the party needs to deliver on issues where it has some leverage over the government. Without the controversy generated by Sinn Fein, the game would have gone ahead. A lot of nationalists would certainly have disapproved but the game would have not have been stopped. Donegal Celtic would probably have won and gone on to compete for the cup on Christmas morning. But Sinn Fein had another agenda and the small ambitions of a bunch of junior footballers did not rate highly on the party’s list of priorities.This is about hard politics and control.

The kind of stuff you hear from bullies everywhere but backed up by the fearsome reputation of the IRA. Only a fool would have decided to play on in those circumstances. For the record, Sinn Fein describe the reports of intimidation as “absolute nonsense” Sure lads. Donegal Celtic simply saw the error of their ways and pulled back, overwhelmed by the deeply felt anger of the masses.But Donegal Celtic didn’t jump, they were pushed. It does not take too much imagination to conjure up the scenarios that might have been placed before individual members. The club house that might be burned down, the car that might be torched, the streets it might not be safe to walk down.