Brianna Parkins: 'A dream opportunity has come up in Australia so that’s me away now.' Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
I’ve never had to pretend to understand or enjoy James Joyce, which is one of the few privileges we working-class people have in life. But this city, this country gets under your skin, and you’re never the same again. It’s not the buildings or green fields or stone walls. Ireland is its people. It’s the “fair plays” and “mind yourself nows”. It’s being able to leave work to attend a funeral without putting in a form, needing only the knowing, understanding nod of a boss on your way out. It’s a society guided by and founded on the invisible but omnipresent rule of soundness.