We don’t live in the same country any more. Those old enough to remember another one will attest to that. It happened fairly quickly too. In a few shorts generations Ireland moved from a place of economic stagnation and moral rigidity to something very different.
Russell Crowe is embedded in our consciousness as an action hero from the time of his cinematic prime. He had the sort of on-screen sex appeal and innate integrity that makes for great leading men. Think Gladiator and Cinderella Man.
What was a gentle and almost imperceptible shift in temperature has become unmistakably wintry. People who would have been too polite to think aloud on the sensitive subject of migration are suddenly energised and increasingly vocal.