Ireland has dared to recognise Palestine. Will it dare to do the right thing at home too? | Katherine Butler

Politicians capable of international leadership on Gaza can also defeat the dishonesty that says Ireland is full

The poet Patrick Kavanagh was inspired to write sonnets about the leafy-with-love" banks of the Grand Canal near Baggot Street bridge in south-central Dublin. There was not much poetry or love on the same stretch of the canal the other day, as rain whipped a row of brightly coloured tents neatly lining the towpath, side by side.

The occupants I met were mostly keeping hidden from the rain and, perhaps, from those who kick the tents and attack volunteer helpers, or the self-styled patriots" who travel the country burning down designated refugee accommodation sites, chanting that Ireland is full.

Katherine Butler is the Guardian's associate editor for Europe