Merrion Square, Dublin. Credit: Nelro2 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
There are some subjects that should never be brought up in polite conversation. Traditionally, Northern Ireland (part British, part Irish) was one of them. Colonial buildings are another. As design objects, they often have great charm (and make romantic ruins), but they are politically provocative. Opinion on them divides along an obvious line—between those who have no personal or historical experience of colonisation, and those who do.
