Why can no one find the eye hospital?

‘Where’s the eye hospital?’ shouted pretty much everyone standing outside a building signposted eye hospital in Irish.

‘An tAonad Oftailmeolaiochta’ read the sign on the brand new building and then in much smaller letters underneath ‘Opthalmology’, which is one of those English words that twists the tongue and isn’t much easier.

Good for the Irish, I say, because even though I don’t speak it, I respect the fact they are trying to preserve their own language and identity. In any case, let’s say I did mind, what has it to do with me? I’ve only just got here.

There is a funny sort of person who goes to live abroad and instantly demands the place adapts to them. The builder boyfriend was fixing a roof when the English gardener of the lady he was working for started expressing his contempt at the local horse fair which was happening that weekend.

‘They’ve had a lot of trouble,’ he said, making a face. ‘Well, it’s been going 450 years so I suppose the odd bit of trouble is inevitable,’ said the BB, who was brought up by Irish tinkers and always defends the travelling folk. But leaving aside prejudice against travellers, which is the last kind of racism being universally and disgracefully defended, the BB agrees with me about Irish nationalism.

He likes the fact they have Irish flags flying everywhere as standard and everything official is written in Irish, and if you don’t like that, as a newcomer, then please know that they’re not bothered.

The only slight problem when they put the Irish word first and the translation beneath in small letters is the Irish don’t speak much Irish any more, as a rule.