We were about to land. The captain had indicated some time before that we were “10 minutes to landing”. Then almost unbeknownst to us all, the plane began rising slowly. The captain came back on: “Brussels air traffic control has informed us that the airport is closed and we are diverting to Liege.”

That was a little over two weeks ago, the morning terrorists bombed Brussels. I was heading for the Forum for the Future of Agriculture, of which Matt Dempsey of these parts is an integral part. Usually I fly there the night before and get the metro from Maelbeek station to cover the short journey to the square near the centre of Brussels, which hosts this annual event. But the cost of flying in on Monday night was prohibitively expensive, hence the early Tuesday arrival.

When we landed in Liege, I switched on my phone and noticed a missed call from home. Something was up. Then everyone on the plane began to check their phones and iPads to see what had happened. Brussels airport had been bombed by terrorists, most likely Isis. After about half an hour sitting on the runway in Liege, the captain came on again to inform passengers that those who wished to return to Dublin could stay on the plane. I was now going to miss the conference and my arranged meeting with European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan. I reverted to news-gathering mode.

The airport was calmly chaotic, if there is such a thing. There were police dogs and machine guns all over the place. I shouted out to a group of Irish who had disembarked if anyone wanted to share a taxi to Brussels. A husband and wife who were here to celebrate their wedding anniversary, and had decided to proceed onwards regardless, agreed to split the fare for the one-hour journey to Brussels.

When we arrived in Brussels, I made my way to my hotel in the EU quarter. Always bustling, it was now deserted save for soldiers, police and camera crews. I set about interviewing people around there and in the city centre for various RTÉ radio programmes on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. I stood by the sealed-off road outside Maelbeek metro station, which had also been bombed. It was sad and eerie. Exactly two weeks previous, I had been in that metro during morning rush hour. Earlier this year, I had tea in the Starbucks which was blasted by one of the airport bombers.

When one is so familiar with an area that has been affected like this, it makes what happened all the more shocking, particularly this city which has been crawling with armed soldiers and police for the best part of the past 12 months. But as one colleague noted, it doesn’t matter. If terrorists want to attack, they will attack.

I was back in Brussels for a meeting this week. Was I fearful? No. That is what they want: a sense of fear among us. But that’s not to say that we don’t live in very scary times.

Presidential race taking its toll

Next week, the Irish Farmers Association should have a new president at the helm. I was at one of the hustings and by all accounts it was little different from the others. Formal, dignified and uneventful, if not a tad boring. This went on for 25 nights around the country. For the victor, a worthwhile endurance. For the vanquished, after all of that, could you pass them the number of a good psychological counsellor please.