RateTheRef

I went to Walter Johnson’s funeral last week; an almost packed crematorium with a true celebration of his life and well attended by many from the local football association.
One thing i was intrigued to learn is that during the height of the troubles in Ireland in the 60s a number of referees from England were asked to take games there when it was felt Protestant/Catholic tensions merited a neutral referee. Walter, a referee on the Lancashire Combination at the time,  was one of those who helped out occasionally, which involved taking the boat to Ireland on the Friday, reporting it the Irish F A to see which game he was being allocated, reffing it and returning home on the Sunday. Walter found it challenging but rewarding and helpful in his rise up the ladder.
Has anyone come across this before and, if so, know of any other English refs who also helped?

I hve referred to this before-quite some time ago.Mostly West coast referees-I have mentioned CF Duxbury before.I also have a vague idea R.Tinkler once was mentioned.I can't specifically remember names now but West Lancashire referees of the time were involved.Information was from the Sunday Post,a famous Scottish newspaper that had a comprehensive soccer section.The English edition also covered teams from the NE and NW of England,together with a report on the top Irish match of the day.