When the national anthem was announced, with a request for all to stand, I watched Mandela's expression harden with resolve, and his hands press on the armrests in an effort to rise.
As a result, efforts to build up tourism in Northern Ireland took another summertime hit: who would want to visit the land of the petrol bomb, the riot shield and the blazing car?
Such, then, is the way things stand: on the left angry critics, on the right stupid supporters, and in the middle, as usual, the majority of earnest people trying to get on in life.