Of all the many strange things I’ve seen since migrating from Belfast to Tyrone, two elderly men fighting in the chapel in the middle of Sunday Mass is up there.

There they were, grappling on the floor near the main door, grunting and grabbing each other’s collars like characters in a cartoon. The only thing missing was the dust and the expletives.

In the solemn and sacred surroundings of the church, the scrap seemed to go on forever but in reality, it was probably seconds before some of the men loitering at the back separated the pair and escorted them outside.

The priest, to his credit, acted like nothing had happened and soldiered on. I thought: how powerful this act of prayer that can never be derailed.

Fabien McQuillan: Did you see that fight at the back of Mass last Sunday?

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Outside the chapel, everyone seemed to be in a hurry away so I kept schtum until we were back home peeling the spuds for the........

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