I don't know why anyone thinks this is a good day for the armed forces when the judge said this:

America: No Kings Britain: No Dukes of York

The council are flying the national flag at half mast today to mark that it is 10 years today that ten of our neighbours in Carrickmines lost their life in a fire at their homes. Go raibh suaimhneas síoraí dá n-anam.

perfect detail

I can never cope how French books write the titles upside down on the spine

it’s so stupid we have to pretend everyone was ‘wrong’ about the law for 15 years and not just say the actual objective truth that the Supreme Court changed the law

Feel like this little sob story *could* have mentioned that Boyne's Polari nomination came five days after he wrote a piece referring to trans-inclusive women as the evil wives in the Handmaid's Tale, "ready to pin a handmaiden down as her husband rapes her". www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

I’m desperate for publicity for my book, for it to be read far and wide (as surely all these authors are), for it must be read to change minds - but at any cost? I hope I’d have been as principled as these amazing writers including the lovely @sachacoward.bsky.social on here. Go buy their books.

Yet another problem Keir Starmer just refuses to address www.ft.com/content/60b5...

The bullet train in 🇯🇵-as glorious as everyone says. A reminder the Japanese built their first high speed train for the 1964 Olympics and it became national by the 80s. They’re now building Maglevs (floating trains). Meanwhile in 🇬🇧 we can’t be sure we’ll connect HS2 to Euston. Pathetic.

Golden eagles were reintroduced to Ireland, but are now struggling. How come? Severe ecosystem imbalance due to overgrazing and other factors, causing a lack of prey. Rewilding *must* take a holistic approach to restoring nature, or it won't work. theconversation.com/golden-eagle...

#Stunday #Photography #EastCoastKin Of all the bird sights in all the world, nothing fills my heart with joy more than seeing mallards in flight. Four Mallards Rising in the Dawn Sky

Happy Pride 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 #SpéirGorm

British decline in one story. Any state which finds itself incapable of managing a project as basic as rolling out a 20th century tech between its biggest cities needs to ask itself some profound questions about what hope it has of managing the technologies of the 21st.

My letter to the editor in the Irish Times today on why we ought to target one million people cycling every day instead of one million EVs on Irish roads by 2030. #ActiveTransport

Bród shona 🏳️‍🌈

Twins screaming at each other upstairs. Go and see what's going on. They're doing revision and bitterly disputing the details of the Yalta conference. Can't say I'm not proud.

6 June 1897 | A Scottish woman, Jane Haining, was born in Dunscore. A Church of Scotland missionary in #Budapest. In #Auschwitz from 14 May 1944 No. 79467 She perished in the camp on 17 July 1944. Haining was recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.

@newstalkfm.bsky.social had broadcast my documentary on Ireland and the Holocaust. ☘️✡️ It was a labour of love and contains interviews with three survivors. Special thanks to @alfdubs.bsky.social who was so interesting to talk to. www.newstalk.com/podcasts/new...

Thanks to Sheffield Libraries for asking me to talk about Men At War this evening. It's always a joy to hear stories about LGBT+ lives during the war years, tonight including gay men working in air raid rescue, and Louise Jennings, a local trans artist who was at and painted Dunkirk

England’s green and pleasant land this evening

a very happy Pride Month to the lovely Gen Z lesbian who happily told me about her six months anniversary with her girlfriend while cutting me arguably the worst bob I've had in years 🌈

Its great to see the NPWS continuing to purchase strategic nature reserves that will help to restore species like corncrake and bolster the efforts of private landowners. m.independent.ie/regionals/ma...

This moment when the penny drops that trying to implement bathroom bans is an impossibility for the former Tory Chief Secretary Simon Clarke is delicious.

Every month I write a little column about nature for my town. This month I wrote about one of my favorite creatures, and one that is so vital to recover for the health of Western lands: California condors

Last night, Wicklow County Fire Service were called out after reports of a fire on Coillte forestry land in Djouce Woodlands.   📸Wicklow Fire Service #SpeirGorm

Éire mo chroí #SpeirGorm

Does anyone in Northern Ireland have any experience with smuggling?

They are right. More than 50 former BBC World Service senior journalists and executives warned in a letter to The Times that China and Russia will step into any gaps left by the broadcaster due to funding cuts: “There could hardly be a more critical moment.” www.thetimes.com/article/b12d...

This Austrian newspaper was printed #OnThisDay in 1938 and reveals the support that German troops received from the population of Austria following the Anschluss The headline reads: 'German troops on Austrian soil, welcomed by the population with tremendous enthusiasm...' buff.ly/PDHo6KS

Chaith mé an deireadh seachtaine ar Inis Mór 🌊

Hi @clodaghfinn.bsky.social, Hope you’re well. We were chatting on Twitter about Mary Elmes last year. Could you please follow for a DM? Best wishes, James

The White House has referred to Keir Starmer as the Prime Minister of ‘Great Britain and Ireland’.

This ancient, wild oak in my place is about 12m from the edge of a road. It has stood there for 100s of years, supporting a whole web of life, bothering nobody. Now they're talking about removing it and countless others, because in Ireland (1% native forest left), nature ALWAYS has to pay.

🌈 Day 3 of LGBTQ+ History Month! Today, we honour Marsha P. Johnson, a Black transgender activist and fearless leader in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. A key figure in Stonewall and co-founder of STAR, she dedicated her life to supporting homeless trans youth. Her legacy still inspires today.

Somewhere between 5,000 - 15,000 homosexual men were sent to the concentration camps. The death rate for these men may have been as high as 60%. The liberation of the concentration camps did not grant liberty to these men, many of them were reimprisoned under buggery laws. #HolocaustRemembranceDay

Pretty much exactly 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the richest man in the world uses the Nazi salute at the inauguration of his close ally as US president. What should rationally not be surprising is still so deeply shocking and simply difficult to comprehend.

Just sickening. “When confronted in a message condemning the transphobic nature of her actions, she responded coldly: "IT deserved it."

Often, when paying my rent or swishing some water in a bottle of fairy liquid so it goes a little further, I am reminded of this Charles Moore spectator column from 2015, and the fact that financial hardship knows many forms.

Had the privilege of sitting in on a lesson about Ettie’s life in her old school, St Catherine’s, in Dublin 8 recently. It was really lovely to see how her memory is being kept alive by staff and students there. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

A recent series of sudden and unexplained cancelations by local authorities of appearances by her dance troupe has sparked fears Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s authoritarian drive is ensnaring the country’s most prominent openly transgender personality

4 January 1914 | Pole Stanislaw Szczepanik was born in Chybie. A football player, in 1929-37 a defender in Wisła Krakow club. In #Auschwitz from 25 August 1943. In 1944 he was transferred to Mauthausen, where he perished.

Yesterday, I spoke on the Pat Kenny Show @newstalkfm.bsky.social about the ongoing death of Ireland's tiny remaining native rainforests, down from around 80% to only 1%, of which less than a tenth is ancient, mostly due to overgrazing by invasive sika deer + goats: www.newstalk.com/news/invasiv...

A hidden aspect discovered during our research into women killed violently, is the small amount of information reported by the media on the victim, with some barely getting a mention in reports on their violent death.  http://www.thejournal.ie/investigates-violent-deaths-women-6576152-Jan2025/

I'll post more when the box lands but if you know Ukrainian folks in Dublin, do let them know - should be a mix of kids and adult, probably all fiction (I'm excited to see myself what arrives!)

Tonight is the last night of Chanukah. May we all be able to find the light in times of darkness.

"Go raibh an saol ar do thoil agat An grá ina rabharta agat An buaireamh ina thráigh agat Do ghrá geal ’do leaba agat Sláinte is beatha agat Aoibhneas cheithre ráithe agat Deá-mhéin go deo ort Beannacht na bliana úir’ ort Urnaí agus guí Go mbeirimid beo ar an am seo arís!"

I’ve just withdrawn from my panel at the OLF. Joyce is an absolutely chilling character: on record as saying that ‘every one of those [trans] people is a huge problem to a sane world'