Lisdoonvarna’s reluctant union has mostly paid off as fear of new arrivals gives way to friendship

It seemed a match made in hell. The village did not fancy the asylum seekers. The asylum seekers did not fancy the village.

Residents of Lisdoonvarna in County Clare, on Ireland’s west coast, rejected a government plan to settle asylum seekers there in a lopsided vote: 197 against, 15 in favour.