He had been playing Gaelic football for Lisnaskea Emmets, his local team in County Fermanagh, against a team from nearby Brookeborough, when someone from the opposing team called him a ‘black cunt’. ‘Black’, in this case, was a reference not to the colour of his skin but to his religion. It is short for ‘Black Protestant’, a long-standing term of sectarian abuse.

Q. All the time that he was on the force? A. I cannot say that; but there were men on with me when I was on the force who were very good Republicans. Q. During all this time you have been on the police force?

The visitor … returned several times to the pictures of little Armande in her bath, pressing a proboscidate rubber toy to her shiny stomach or standing up, dimple-bottomed, to be lathered.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?