Last Friday night in Oriel Park, what was supposed to be a great occasion between two local rivals turned into something more sinister.
I've previously written about flares in the League of Ireland. I’ve defended them at times. I’ve spoken about the colour, the smoke, the edge they give to a big night.
There is something undeniably striking about seeing a stand illuminated in club colours, the anticipation they can provide before kick-off.
It makes the occasion feel bigger. It looks good in photographs. It sells the league to the outside world.
But Friday night changed the tone.
The damage to the pitch was one thing. Costly, unnecessary, and frustrating for a club already juggling tight budgets.
The real story of the night was a young boy leaving a football ground with a facial injury. A child. That is the line being crossed.
What should be a display designed to create atmosphere and buzz can in an instant become something far more dangerous.
And that is precisely why this issue now feels different. It feels too risky. It feels like something has to be done to prevent situations like this happening again.
The FAI finds itself in an unenviable position. What do you do when it is the actions of a tiny minority that threaten to damage the reputation and safety of the whole?
Financial penalties? They hurt clubs already operating on margins. Point deductions? Feels a bit draconian and potentially season-defining. Banning travelling supporters? Collective punishment that damages the spectacle and the balance sheet in equal measure.
Every option feels heavy-handed when most supporters simply want to watch a game in safety.
Yet the governing body had to take action and that they did on Thursday evening.
We also had the Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan seeking an opportunity.
His initial comments were strong. He described the behaviour as "gougerism and thuggery". On that, there can be little argument on his perception of what happened even with his choice of words being so strong. A pitch was damaged, and a child was injured.
He went further: "It is through the luck of God that somebody wasn’t killed, or their hair set on fire." Again, dramatic language perhaps, but not without logic. The potential for catastrophe was there.
It was his proposed response that jarred.
"I've asked the department to pause all astro turf investments into League of Ireland clubs until I get what I would see as a sufficient response from the FAI and the League."
That is not targeted action. That is a blanket threat.
To suspend state investment into facilities used predominantly by children and communities because of the behaviour of a minority at a senior fixture feels excessive.
The grant in question, reportedly around half a million euro, is hardly the type of "massive" state outlay that warrants such rhetoric.
Particularly in a country where infrastructure projects regularly overshoot into the billions.
Astro pitches are not vanity projects. They are hubs. They keep young people active. They provide structure, belonging and health benefits.
They are part of the preventative side of public health we rarely credit enough. Helping keep our young people out of the National Children’s Hospital which has yet to be finished and whose budget have run over into the billions.
Then came another line: "Unfortunately now, it is a plague on all their houses."
It is a striking phrase. My wife explained to my uneducated brain that it’s a Shakespearean quote. I see it as MAGA-esque. But it carries the tone of collective blame. And that is where his contradiction emerges.
When speaking about Ireland’s fixtures against Israel, the minister said: "People need to be very clear about separating the actions of a government from the actions of a populace. The Israeli national team is not the Israeli government. I would hope that the Irish people, with their deep understanding and love of sport, would have the sense to make that distinction."
Although I have a different belief on the subject, I can understand his logic. Separate people from the actions of a few. Avoid collective punishment. Keep politics out of sport.
Yet in the same conversation, the suggestion of pausing funding for an entire league because of the actions of a minority does exactly what he is warning against.
We shouldn’t tolerate that sport should be insulated from political interference on one hand while welcoming broad political sanctions on the other.
None of this detracts from the seriousness of what happened at Oriel Park.
Perhaps the answer lies in stronger surveillance, lifetime bans for identified offenders and genuine collaboration between clubs.
But if the reaction is disproportionate and over the top from our political leaders, it becomes political theatre rather than practical solution.
The league does not need a plague on all its houses. It needs accountability for those who cause harm and leadership that matches the scale of the problem without inflaming it further.
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