Well, my nose still runneth over. Goodness. Blame Ireland's wettest July in record: day after day of rain and damp house; one night I glimpsed the moon and realised, until then, I had not seen it in over a month. Tomorrow I'll be wandering the ancient stones of Edinburgh in a haze of sodden snot-rags and Lemsip.

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My dripping nose and I visited the castle cafe this morning, just as an Irish language group began their salon. They meet here every Wednesday. The salon is quite lively, drawing a fair crowd and usually striking a collectively amiable and demure demeanor. Unfortunately a fortnight ago, two members began to rant about refugees and immigrants in English. I recognised both of them, older beardy hippie-looking men, who apparently eschew good physical hygiene. One was the notorious Mummer, known for standing at the crossroads in a conical straw hat drawn to his collarbones, spewing anti-vaccine or racist and homophobic screeds while banging on a drum.

"Show me one honest Nigerian!" "Ireland is getting like England now." This went on for ages, while others responded in Irish, or got up, agitated. On passing my table, Gabriel greeted me and shook my hand. Unable to listen anymore and too shy to confront them (knowing me, I would probably just shout, "Fuck off, racist cunts" and then scurry off), I left, explaining why to a cafe worker.

The next week the group was down to three. A, cafe worker, sat down with them and told them that there had been complaints about the last meeting, with some people opting to not return. "Hate speech will not be tolerated." Alas, the Mummer wasn’t present, only the other dude, who pretended he hadn’t participated. Later A said to me, "They do this, these fascists, infiltrate community groups and spread their hate." No pasarán!

Today, just as the salon was kicking off, the Mummer came in to join it. V, another cafe worker, swooped down and said, addressing the Mummer by name, "There will be no denigration of marginalised groups." Afterwards he was quite subdued. For without hate, what else would a puny soul like his discuss?

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