Any Irish people who hang around Westminster have been hit with the same question many times in recent years from curious British politicos: “What’s the deal with the anti-immigration protests in Ireland?”
Moderates, especially those from the left, often deliver the inquiry with narrowed eyes and a slightly incredulous tone, as if they can’t quite get their heads around the idea that sections of the famously-welcoming Irish populace might object to people coming into the country from outside.
Meanwhile, many from the right wing of British politics – and the more right they are the truer this becomes – usually ask the same question with barely restrained delight.
It is…