It was the best of times, it was the worst of times is the opening line of the Charles Dickens novel “A Tale of Two Cities,” which is set in London and Paris. The phrase, I thought, could well apply to two other cities on our island in different periods of our recent history.

Dublin 2007 and Belfast 1993. And looking forward, what of Belfast 2028? There is something remarkable about the way major sporting events bookmark the mood of a point in history.

The Dublin date refers to the day Ireland played England at rugby; while the old Landsdowne Road was being rebuilt into the Aviva stadium, Ireland played internationals at Croke Park.

The game against the English was incredibly loaded with the weight of history.

Standing on the pitch in the ground where 14 people were shot dead in 1920 by British forces at a Gaelic football match between Dublin and Tipperary in the original Bloody Sunday, the crowd in 2007 stood quietly and respectfully as God Save the Queen was played. The symbolism was incredible. 

One of the images I will always remember was the face of Ireland’s prop forward John Hayes during the anthems. Nicknamed “The Bull”, the six feet four inch, 20-stone prop forward from a farming background was no softie; yet as the band struck up Amhrán na bhFiann he was in floods of tears as the emotion of the occasion got to him.

Sport reflects society, the best and worst of it. Croke Park 2007 represented a period of the best of times for renewed Anglo-Irish respect and in 2011 Queen Elizabeth II made her historic visit to Dublin which included the Garden of Remembrance.

The worst of times in a sporting context?

I remember being in Windsor Park, Belfast in November 1993 when Northern Ireland played the Republic in a football World Cup qualifier.

The atmosphere in the build-up to the match and inside the old stadium itself was horrible.

This was the year before the ceasefires when we seemed to have sunk into the abyss; the previous month had seen the Shankhill Road bombing and the Greysteel massacre. Tensions were high to say the least.

I’ve read reports trying to downplay it but from where I was sitting in Windsor Park that night the bitterness was palpable, the air was heavy with filthy language.

Yes, many people were there just for the football and the rivalry was intense. But dark sectarianism was bubbling away. That is undeniable, whatever way some would gloss over it.

The worst of times.

And so, to 2028 when there is the real possibility of a Northern Ireland team playing in the Euros in Belfast. You’d think that everyone, football and non-football people, would be excited at such an opportunity.

Imagine the optics. Top international teams coming here, the area being shown off as the new modern place it could be and NI fans singing “God Save the King” in a GAA stadium in West Belfast.

But there it is. There’s the rub. GAA. West Belfast.

And there’s a section of society that simply can’t stomach it and at the Northern Ireland game in Windsor Park last Saturday made that clear with an offensive chant of “You can stick your Casement Park up your ****.”

What sort of message did they send out.

Those making excuses about lack of money for the health service or a lack of football legacy are transparent and don’t fool anyone about the real reasons.

The plan is for the Euro 2028 tournament to be hosted jointly by England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic, with the games here being hosted at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and the new Casement Park in Belfast. Games cannot be played at the soccer stadium at Windsor Park because the European governing body’s rules say a stadium must have 30,000 capacity.

Nothing is ever straightforward here and even the benefit of having a high-profile international tournament has seen people looking a gift horse in the mouth. There is context in all this, some of which tends to be forgotten in the current controversy.

Some years ago, with the DUP and Sinn Fein in Government together with Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness as First Minister and Deputy First Minister it appeared a deal had been agreed to build a new all-purpose sports state-of-the art stadium at the Maze site.

It would be a home for the three major sports bodies, Ulster Rugby, the Irish Football Association and Ulster GAA.

However, at an advanced stage the plan was scuppered when Robinson faced internal opposition from the DUP.

Instead, it was agreed that all three sports would get funding to build their own home.

Windsor Park was converted into a modern all-seater stadium to accommodate 18,000 fans. Ravenhill was upgraded to modern standards for Ulster Rugby and there was funding for a new Casement Park which would be home to Antrim and the Ulster GAA.

But problems over getting Casement built persisted and the delays have seen costs of the new stadium rise sharply. Despite that, it should be remembered that the stadium was still the original promise; it just costs far more.

There are inescapable facts:

Casement Park will be built at some stage and will be a marvellous addition to Belfast’s infrastructure.

It will bring jobs and investment to the region. It will provide a top-class venue for concerts and other events, and yes will provide a superb GAA venue.

If those Northern Ireland fans now saying they won’t accept it don’t want to go to matches, then they’ll be cutting off their nose to spite their face.

And there are plenty of fans who will go.

The idea that Windsor Park could be upgraded to meet the UEFA’s capacity requirements is for the birds and a silly distraction.

And as a football person, I also agree that money should be found to fund improvements for the game’s infrastructure here, including Fermanagh.

The opening line of the Dickens “Tale of Two Cities” continues: “It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…….it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope.”

You’d like to think the foolishness of holding back progress is gone.