The unrest in Paris reported on the evening news is nothing new, it would perhaps be more newsworthy if Paris were to be passive on May Day.

It is some seven years since I was last in Paris, it was May Day and there was a thought that Sean O’Casey might have found inspiration for The Plough and the Stars character the Young Covey among those gathered in the Place de la Bastille on that May Day morning.

In a Dublin bar with Rosie Redmond and a barman, the Young …