I WATCHED THE protests and blockades of late that partly paralysed this country from a unique vantage point. I was fortunate not to have to be in Dublin during the first two days of the disquiet, then arrived more than four hours early to Terminal 2 at the airport in order to ensure that I would make a transatlantic flight and subsequently took in the media coverage of what transpired over a long weekend in my native Boston.

Interestingly, though perhaps unsurprisingly, attention was paid there to events “back home” by the abundant population of Irish-born people and Irish Americans who have very close ties to their motherland. As was seen by hundreds of thousands online, this included a convoy of large trucks and vehicles, draped in tricolours and driven by building contractors, proceeding through Adams Corner in the Dorchester section of Boston. I was in the neighbourhood’s legendary Éire Pub the following day, and it was still being discussed in its environs.

In what remains the “most Irish” territory in the United States, sympathies lay ardently with those who obstructed the roads to express their anger at what they see as the Government’s failure to shield them from the skyrocketing costs of fuel, and plenty more perceived transgressions besides. Rather than attempt to at least contextualise the entirety of the situation and all of the realities in the place where I actually live, and potentially invoke furious reactions in so doing, I just listened.

The Boston Irish were on the side of the protesters. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

And what I heard near unanimously from residents........

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