Hear Her Training Programme is BACK! Are you a woman curious about running for election? Hear Her is a two-part online workshop for women who want to run for election! 🗓 Part 1: 11 March | 6:30–8:00pm 🗓 Part 2: 18 March | 6:30–8:00pm 📍 Online 🔗 Sign up via Eventbrite : shorturl.at/LOsKr

BREAKING Keir Starmer confirms that Chris Wormald, the cabinet secretary, will be stepping down. No 10 says this is "by mutual agreement" but senior officials say that he was pushed out.

Looking for more analysis on what has been happening in UK politics this week? Want to know what politicians in NI make of it all? Catch up with View from Stormont, live last night at 10.55 and now available to watch back (with some thoughts from me in part two): 📺 www.itv.com/watch/news/v...

Tomorrow's Headlines The Telegraph: Starmer Next! The Guardian: Morgan McSweeney's Gone, Thank God! The Irish Times: Irishman forced out of UK Labour Role The Irish (Cork) Examiner: Having Completed Michael Collins' Work, and brought low the British Government, Macroom Calls it's Son Home

What a strangely worded statement from someone unelected and without the power to make the appointment...

Social media tech firm X is to snub the Oireachtas Media Committee today, despite facing calls for the company to answer questions on the Grok AI-generated non-consensual images controversy. jrnl.ie/6945608

A great opportunity to work with the Human Rights Consortium on a Bill of Rights for NI. Further information here: www.humanrightsconsortium.org/job-advertis...

A combined nationalist vote share of 38% would be tied with the 2016 Assembly election as the lowest since 1992 in an Assembly or Westminster election.

But what difference to those who only care about the follower count on their X profile 🤷‍♀️

🚨 Ireland will not join Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ “as currently constructed”, Simon Harris tells the Dáil (only an hour or two after Mícheál Martin said it was being considered) @virginmedianews.bsky.social

Thank you Mr President, that clears things up.

Ireland’s *last* EU presidency kicked off negotiations on a full, comprehensive, free trade agreement between the EU and U.S. Utterly wild how much things have changed ahead of the next stint…

Northern Ireland's own @niallstanage.bsky.social 👏

🚨 NEW: UUP confirm that Jon Burrows is the sole candidate for the leader position, having met the nomination threshold of 35 signatures from at least nine constituency associations. Full statement 👇

BREAKING: Nigel Farage confirms that Robert Jenrick has defected from Tories to Reform UK - the most high profile defection yet. He says Jenrick wasn't planning to join Reform UK any time soon and "might not have joined at all... you never know until the deal is signed".

A late one last night for View from Stormont with the wonderful Alex Kane 📺 Available to watch here: www.itv.com/watch/news/v...

Full coverage of very interesting Media Committee meeting with Gardaí currently focusing on X / Grok.

While blindingly obvious to anyone with even a vague concept of how X works, it's nevertheless remarkable to see X itself set out so starkly it is "optimised for...hatred & calls to (or justifications of) violence...the design isn't neutral — it's profit-optimized for emotion": x.com/i/grok/share...

So, at what point will the conversation start to seriously include the increasing potential harms to children of their images being posted online by schools, creches, baby/toddler groups, play settings and other 'safe' environments? Or are we just going to keep pretending that it isn't an issue?

More MPs are coming off X and I assume that means they will be posting more on here @politicshome.bsky.social has a handy list of all the MPs on Bluesky Please point out anyone who is missing!

'Despite all their difficulties, universities remain an enormous and irreplaceable national asset. As well as educating millions of people, they generate about £24bn in export earnings, which is about 1% of GDP – more than aircraft manufacturing and legal services combined'. 1/2

Look what arrived in the post today 👀 Huge thanks again to @aoifemod.bsky.social, @ruthhoughton.bsky.social and Cher for the chance to contribute to this book! A lovely way to end 2025 📚

A thread to send a shiver through academics everywhere. Sadly not the first example to emerge, and it won't be the last ⬇️

New post that I hope anyone who cares about human rights/the rule of law reads. If the UK Govt can use a 30 year old threat of terrorism to conceal the release of *outline* information about its agents' connection to murder, it really can act with impunity: ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/12/18/a...

'Institutions including the University of Cambridge and Queen’s University Belfast joined the list of those reporting deficits in their newly-published financial accounts as universities of all sizes continue to face financial challenges.' Leicester, Derby, LMU & Liverpool John Moores also noted.

New article out in the @nilegalq.bsky.social in a significant special issue edited by @livunislsj.bsky.social's Katie Johnston. A wake up call for both the NI Bill of Rights debate and to public lawyers across the UK to watch out for developments under Scotland's UNCRC Act: doi.org/10.53386/nil...

Blog on @globalpolicy.bsky.social about the Research Handbook on Global Governance @elgarpublishing.bsky.social edited by @aoifemod.bsky.social, Cher Weixia Chen and me www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/08/12/2...

Literally everyone watching the #LateLateToyShow right now

Barely started an I'm already an emotional wreck watching it #LateLateToyShow

"Where departments were women-led or explicitly feminist in ethos, our research participants reported feeling “seen”, trusted and able to talk about their caring responsibilities without penalty...belonging isn’t created by forms, it’s created by norms." theconversation.com/how-uk-unive...

Very happy to see this significant new book published, and to have had the opportunity to contribute to it 📖 My chapter examines the concept of equality in NI and Belgium, and explores how lessons from these two cases can help advance intersectional approaches to issues of global governance 🌍

Cross-party support for the UCU Edinburgh rally this lunchtime @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social #WeAreTheUniversity #Solidarity

A wonderful end to the week with returning to Stormont to deliver a lecture for Government and Politics teachers in NI, this year assessing the Assembly and Executive's performance. Always great to contribute to this annual event!

Now available on catch-up 📺 www.itv.com/watch/news/v...

Office for the evening, alongside Suzanne Breen from @belfasttelegraph.co.uk and with Paul Clark presenting 📺 On air at 10.45pm

Academia: plus ça change... 😅

NDNA, agreed in January 2020, feels equally a lifetime and no time ago! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Glad to see this issue finally getting some wider attention. Realities of life for people in Northern Ireland an ever-increasing mystery to UK authorities it seems... www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

"...The blame lies firmly with the British state, with the RUC who failed to investigate the murders on Bloody Sunday properly or indeed at all." The crux of so much in Northern Ireland's past that is still very much part of its present www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cg...

This closes tomorrow at 5pm - please give it one last share if you can!

Book launch at the #PSAI conference! Happy to have contributed a chapter to this significant collection, in which I address a frustrating gap in introductory academic literature on NI and analyse it in the post-Brexit context 📚

Good to see the @lordsniscom.parliament.uk report on 'Strengthening Northern Ireland’s voice in the context of the Windsor Framework' published today. Was very happy to provide oral evidence as part of this inquiry and to see this used in the report: committees.parliament.uk/work/9002/st...

For anyone who listened to the #BBCTalkback discussion on 'middle ground' politics in NI: - The book below contains the research that was mentioned academic.oup.com/book/58114 - It also contains data on how Alliance members view the constitutional qtn (TL;DR - it's nowhere near a priority issue)

A far-right agitator called for protests to be moved to politicians’ offices within hours of being released by a judge — and shortly before a mob showed up at the east Belfast home of Justice Minister Naomi Long.

WRDA is carrying out research on VAWG offences, especially domestic abuse, exacerbated by the use of firearms. The survey is completely anonymous. Read more about the research and find the link to the survey on the WRDA Website. www.wrda.net/blog/wrda-is...

Have I missed something..? Christmas lights going up already?! ❄️

Enjoying that news of Jim Gavin's withdrawal from the Irish presidential race has brought so many people back into action on this site - have missed the lively vibe it had in the early days!

Breaking: Jim Gavin withdraws from Presidential Election.

Looking for a really simple explainer? The #ECHR and #HRA on post-it notes.

Joint Statement from today's EU-UK Specialised Committee on the Implementation of the Windsor Framework. Work still to be done on 'full, timely and faithful' implementation. More detail than in past statements Value of stakeholder engagement flagged commission.europa.eu/document/dow...