I often quote the late great Danny Blanchflower, former Northern Ireland football captain and manager, who was a bright, articulate and intelligent man; in a sport not exactly noted for those qualities.

Despite his sophistication, Danny was honest enough to admit that everyone got a thrill when they saw a fight breaking out on the pitch. As long, he said, as it was on the other side of the field!

In newspapers, there’s a saying that when it comes to circulation, conflict sells. Not just violence, but a good controversial row. And people love reading the court cases; I bet even those who would make out that they look down their noses at court reporting still have a sneaky read.

I like to think I’m a peaceful sort of person by nature, and we all would make out that we just want a quiet life. But I’m wondering if people generally are hard-wired to be too fond of a scrap, albeit verbal; you can’t argue that in this harsh world too many people are quick to reach for the mobile phone or tablet and fire off a withering (often foul-mouthed) putdown to someone they don’t even know.

The campaign for the British General Election is in full swing, and human nature’s magnet towards the personality rather than the policy is alive and well.

This week, both the Tories and Labour launched their manifesto. I wonder how many of the millions of voters sit down and study those policies in detail; instead, the focus in the media has been on the reputations and images of the leaders and their parties.

Issues are important, of course they are. From the economy to the Health Service, from immigration to membership of the EU, the voters are thinking. And the issues are being well publicised.

But the agenda sees Ed Miliband as a geek, apparently, and not Prime Minister material. David Cameron is a posh boy who doesn’t have a clue about ordinary people’s lives. Take any politician, from Ed Balls to George Osborne, and people have made their mind up about the type of person they are before they even open their mouths.

Did the Tories cross the line, though, when they said that Miliband “stabbed his brother in the back” when he contested the leadership of his party? And, therefore, can’t be trusted to defend Britain. Then we get poor old Ed’s previous girlfriend relationships laid bare.

Too far? Probably not, actually, as much as we may find it distasteful. I would imagine Miliband has known for some time the sort of game he was getting into; politics is a dirty old game when it comes to elections. In fact, it can be unsavoury in between elections.

It’s the same the world over; no sooner had Hillary Clinton declared herself a candidate to be the next President of the United States than her detractors went on to the personal attack.

In the Republic, with an election looming next year the advance of Sinn Fein will continue to see an agenda of highlighting their links to a violent past.

As the constituencies in Northern Ireland get nearer polling day, it becomes increasingly difficult to see a line that shouldn’t be crossed when it comes to personal attack or other abuse.

Surely, the line was crossed by Roberta McNally, who signed Upper Bann DUP candidate, David Simpson’s election papers. Ms. McNally has allegedly taken to Facebook to describe Catholic voters as “taigs”. She also described the Sinn Fein candidate, Catherine Seeley (the teacher who left her post at Belfast Boys Model) as a “tramp”.

Very nice.

In Fermanagh-south Tyrone, the campaign has been heating up, mainly due to the tight nature of the contest that is expected.

I’m sure that Tom Elliott is frustrated by constant references to his “scum of Sinn Fein” remark; but he’s been in the political game long enough to know he’ll have to keep explaining it. And while Michelle Gildernew may not like Maurice Morrow’s “get rid of the girl from the Brantry”, she’ll know that it’s grist to the mill of her colleagues who will use it against him.

Despite the intense nature of the campaign in this constituency, it hasn’t gone too far.

Or has it?

John Coyle, the SDLP candidate, gave an emotional interview last week to Rodney Edwards when he spoke about how he’d been bullied at school and the social media abuse he’d received following his appearance on The View on BBC television had brought back all the upset.

Mr Coyle, of course, has entered a tough and unforgiving world. His inexperience showed on television, and he didn’t come out of the debate at all well.

It’s legitimate for people to criticise his performance and his policies; even the fact that he’s standing at all is up for the critics to have a go at, even harshly.

That’s politics.

What isn’t acceptable, however, was the level of personal abuse the man took on social media. That’s part of a wider society problem, not politics. The trolls and the bullies now have an outlet to spew their bile and it is disgusting. Even after the interview was published, showing how personally upset he was, the bullies went back on the attack.

Some people, eh? Such lack of decency and respect for others.

I don’t much like the way political election campaigns are nowadays.

But like the weather, there seems little we can do about it.

So, expect another few stormy weeks before polling day.