• Ireland

    Seán Carlson

    Bus to Ballybunion The five o’clock bus is nearly full by the time it leaves Tralee eight minutes after the hour. The transport lurches from the station, shifting between low gears in afternoon traffic. “This is ridiculous,” an older man says. “It is,” a younger woman affirms across the aisle. “Every day now,” one of them offers. The first temporary-protection permit holders arrived in Ballybunion six months after the Irish Times declared “Scores killed as Russia invades Ukraine from land, sea, and air.” A local crowd almost the same in size gathered on the beach in welcome beneath a cliff-top castle wall. At first, Ukrainian licence plates adorned some cars…