Irish people take up cudgel for human rights abroad

REVOLUTIONARY tourist, left-wing crustie, noble-minded philantropist or adrenalin junkie, whatever way you look at it, there’s a certain breed of Irishman making his name abroad.

Take Colm Breathnach, a 38-year-old school teacher from Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Instead of sticking to the history of schoolbooks, he decided to create some of his own.

On a study-break from a PHD in geography at Trinity College (after 15 years teaching at Coláiste Mhuire in Dublin’s Parnell Square), he headed off to Israel and now finds himself caught up in one of the world’s most complex conflicts. He has come down on the side of the Palestinians and is currently occupying a house near the West Bank town of Nablus, in an attempt to stave off Israeli rockets.