I left Ballymun in 1998, before the billion-euro improvement plan which saw much valuable land released and the community without a shopping centre. In the towns neighbouring Ballymun - Santry, Glasnevin and Finglas - I often cycled on wild goose chases to find some person or place I wasn't sure existed. I hadn't found a gang for protection so I learned to line up my bicycle at an angle and bolt out of the lift through the squat, doorless lobby into the daylight beyond. On m

A year ago I did a medical test as part of applying for permanent residency. I went for a Government-mandated chest x-ray, HIV test and "physical examination". I weigh 84 kilograms, measure 183cm in shoes and I bleed profusely when pricked. I also laugh when tickled, die when poisoned, and seek revenge when wronged. I'm from a country with expansive public health coverage and, at least in the 1980s, a near-100% vaccination rate so I didn't have to do the tuberculosis exam. Ha