I used to live near the old Chapel Allerton Hospital. Where people went for artificial limbs. As a schoolboy I used to go down and listen to the stories of the men in their pale blue uniforms. And even as a schoolboy I’d be in tears. With their arms off, and their legs off. And they used to tell me stories of how they had to go and they were frightened to death. Confronting the… just young lads. Terrible.

We all remember the terrible times of The Troubles. In the late 1960s an incident happened to myself and my wife that will stay with me for the rest of my life. We had just visited my wife’s sister in Ballymena and were returning to our hotel near Belfast. At about 10pm our car (which was English registered) was stopped by two armed soldiers. A series of very personal questions were asked and then the taller one (about 6’ 2”) poked his rifle through the open window and prodded it in my chest. He held it there for about five minutes. The thought that if someone had disturbed him he could have pulled the trigger was truly unnerving. I love Ireland, my late wife was originally from Belfast, but this happening somewhat spoilt the romance.