Finished up my almost 12-year stint with RTÉ News earlier this month. To mark the occasion I managed to get exactly one (very cliché) photo where my eyes are slightly open.

How a false claim about a Donegal church fire went viral - and the network of anonymous accounts using outrage, disinformation, and profit-driven tactics to target Ireland online

Michael O'Brien, the child sexual abuse survivor who spoke powerfully of his experiences on an episode of RTÉ’s Questions and Answers in 2009, has died

Society has definitely gotten worse since they stopped including a little chocolate-themed mug with the Easter eggs

The graves of thousands of people in a famine-era Belfast burial ground are finally set to be officially marked

Wrote this about Mick O'Dwyer, Laois and getting to witness just a little bit of the magic

"Ms. Loomer, a Sept. 11 conspiracy theorist who is viewed as extreme even by some of Mr. Trump’s far-right allies, apparently wields more influence over the staff of the National Security Council than Mr. Waltz, who runs the agency."

He'll be mainly remembered for his many other achievements, but those few years in the 00s when Micko was over Laois really were special. Sunny days in Croker with the buzz of big crowds - buses up from all over the county - and the possibility of actually winning a trophy. A great few years.

Dublin Half Marathon - worth the stupidly early start

The CSO figures show robbery and related offences were down 10% while drugs offences fell by 7%, largely because of the decrease in people caught in possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use or supply www.rte.ie/news/crime/2...

Donations to Irish people from indigenous communities in Canada during the Great Famine - valued at around €12,000 today - have been "hidden in plain sight".

Not sure it gets more Irish than a photoshoot in Antarctica in T-shirts, just surprised no one is wearing shorts

My most right wing opinion is that people who walk or run 3/4 abreast on narrow footpaths with no concept of their surroundings should be sent to jail

Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a week after his wife Betsy Arakawa died of a rare infectious disease at their home, a pathologist has said

Death, taxes and Manchester United continuing to lurch from catastrophe to catastrophe

Irish language campaigners have welcomed the decision by the UK government to repeal an almost 300-year-old ban on the use of any language that is not English in the courts in Northern Ireland

I don’t care if the Sun’s in my eyes today. As long as it’s somewhere

Great yarn here from @harrymanningrte.bsky.social

Watching 1923 for my latest Yellowstone fix and honestly don't think I can put up with these 'Irish' accents any more

North East Correspondent Marc O'Driscoll meets ESB technicians who have been working long days away from their families who themselves may be without power and water

More than half a million homes and business are without power after 'unprecedented' damage to the energy network from Storm Éowyn, ESB Networks have said. Power restoration expected to take 'a significant number of days'

New nominative determinism has (almost) just dropped

Glad to see the 'reporting the weather forecast is scaremongering' trend hasn't reached here (yet) #sneachta

Normally get a clatter of books for Christmas, but only got one so far this year so going to treat myself to a bit of a shopping spree - with that in mind, any good book recommendations?

Everyone laughed when I bought the youllneverguesswhosedead.ie domain name, but guess who's laughing now.

The overvalued property market: the further it climbs the more risky it becomes for buyers. Analysis: www.rte.ie/news/busines...

Brian Óg is up to absolute 90 #LateLateToyShow

Stephen Donnelly and Catherine Martin were two of the highest profile TDs to lose their seats in Election 24, but despite that they will remain ministers until a new government is formed

That's a statement of intent if ever there was one

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has lost his seat on the final count in Wicklow #GE24 #Election24 www.rte.ie/news/electio...

Who got the biggest vote of #GE24? Well, depending on how you look at it it was either Pearse Doherty in terms of total numbers or Simon Harris if looking at the percentage share www.rte.ie/news/electio...

It remains all systems go on Day Two of the #GE24 count. With you through the night on the @news.rte.ie website and app

There's at least a first count results now in from all 43 constituencies so we know the final breakdown of first preference votes in #GE24: Fianna Fáil - 21.9% Fine Gael - 20.8% Sinn Féin - 19% Independents - 13.2% SocDems - 4.8% Labour - 4.7% Aontú - 3.9% Independent Ireland - 3.6% Greens - 3%

At the helm of the @news.rte.ie #GE24 operation into the wee small hours. Plenty of sugar on hand to keep us going through the night at least

Some very interesting data from the latest batch of Exit Poll numbers. Sinn Féin the biggest party by far with those aged 25-34 (36%), with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil on 11% each. That flips entirely for over 65s, with FG on 28%, FF on 27% and SF on 13%.

Exit Poll suggests things are *extremely* tight in #GE24 Sinn Féin are just ahead on 21.1%, with Fine Gael on 21% and Fianna Fáil on 19.5%. Of the rest, the Social Democrats are the best performers on 5.8%. We could be in for a long weekend!

Irish language rap group Kneecap has won a discrimination case over the British govt's refusal to award them an arts grant

Ah yes, this Manchester United match should be a fine way to relax and unwind before a weekend working on General Election coverage 🙃

3,689,896 people are eligible to vote tomorrow.

Just saw someone walking around with slits cut into the bottom few inches of the seam of their jeans. It's like being in the mid 2000s all over again.

My last article for @news.rte.ie compares all #GE24 polls with aggregated estimates. Around 10% of voters are still undecided. Thanks to Patricia O’Callaghan, @markcoughlan.bsky.social & @peterfarr.bsky.social for their thorough reviews and edits over the past month. ➡️ www.rte.ie/news/electio...

Global Witness submitted 14 ads in English and 14 ads in Irish to TikTok containing disinformation about voting. The platform approved three of the English ads and eight of the Irish ads

This is worth a read for anyone who wants to catch up on the details of Nikita Hand's civil action against Conor McGregor

Nikita Hand has won her civil case against Conor McGregor | Follow live

As someone who tries to run 3 or 4 times a week I have my doubts about this particular theory www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Judges at the ICC in the Hague have issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity www.rte.ie/news/world/2...

RTÉ News is now on Bluesky. Appropriately for an Irish audience, the first post is about the weather.

My analysis of the big election debate on RTÉ’s Upfront www.rte.ie/news/electio...

This week’s #GE24 article focuses on transfers, examining Exit Polls and all candidates since 1948. – Voters typically express 3–4 preferences – 30% of votes transferred at least once – Inter-coalition transfers are common – 10% of TDs decisively elected through transfers www.rte.ie/news/2024/11...