Ireland: life under one of the harshest lockdowns in the world

‘The mood was edgy, even a little paranoid …’ As Ireland moves out of lockdown, our writer recounts what it’s been like over the past year

‘Are you over from England?” Just five words. A simple enough question. Yet delivered by a supermarket manager in a small town in County Kerry last year, shortly after Ireland had been forced into the first of its many lockdowns, the innocent question seemed to take on a new dimension.

People had been ordered to stay within 2km of their homes, but there were rumours that rogue elements, in these early disbelieving days of the pandemic, had ignored the restrictions and were continuing to travel. There was talk of holiday homes being occupied, of visitors arriving from elsewhere in Ireland – and across the sea from Britain.