the bus. you've once again invented the bus.

LOLOL "What stood out most was ꜱᴛʀᴜᴄᴛᴜʀᴀʟ ʙᴀᴄᴋ-ᴇɴᴅ ꜱʜɪᴘᴘɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀᴄᴋɪɴɢ, which feels like the kind of nuance that naturally sparks layered and honest conversation in our group."

if it's not a conflict of interest for an elected representative to be a working lobbyist, I don't know what is www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...

Sting looks like the Starfleet Admiral who arrives on the Enterprise and is a jerk to each of the characters in turn before Picard discovers he’s working for the Romulans.

I suspect if someone walked over to that door wearing a hi viz and carrying a clip board, everyone would assume whatever they did with those signs was an Officially Endorsed Action

I never posted about this at the time of the launch, so this is late, but here's a really cool project I got to work towards the end of last year, with Laois and Longford County Councils, with funding from Creative Ireland. It springs from two ideas, working with the elderly . . . 1/6 #SpeirGorm

Here's the serious bit for anyone who'd rather skip the 4000 words of jokes

So brilliantly well put @lizcarolan.com, I'm tempted to pin this to my wall for reference. From 'Why is Ireland's Government cheerleading for privately owned AI?' www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

“It’s the British class system with a climate-crisis spin: the more someone requires air conditioning to survive heatwaves, the less likely they are to be able to afford it.” My col. in today’s paper. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

1/ I have no legal training but this is a fascinating case: a routine application by a reputable firm quotes a statute which does not exist and the judge’s suspicion is raised. Cue an absolute trainwreck when it transpires the junior lawyer didn’t bother checking the LLM hallucinations (cont)

The article fails to mention the potential protests come on the heels of the British Museum removing the word Palestinian from exhibits, labels, info boards and maps, at the behest of pro Israeli groups. Which might add context. www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

Let's see the good ol' boys park their tractors on the motorway about this.

Less than one hour between these two stories.

FOI is basically a waste of time in Ireland, because public bodies just brazenly give completely ridiculous responses, probably knowing the Office of the Information Commissioner is too overwhelmed to effectively discipline them for this. 3/

There are parties who have been in government that are mistaking the left electorate's civility and patience for forgetfulness. We're not playing nice because we've forgotten the mistakes of the past. We're giving these parties a chance to make amends for them. Cautiously.

Folks, you're sick of hearing it but you NEED to join a political party if you want an end to FFG. If you leave it to politicians they will take your vote and screw you with it. Join a left wing party and fight like hell against this kind of self sabotage #spéirgorm

I feel like we're all working on way too many things at a time.

as always i am sympathetic to the fact that male loneliness is a real problem but the solution to male loneliness is robust afterschool and other social programs and shit like accessibility to public parks and the lonely men take industry opposes these things so i don't know what i'm supposed to do

The first of our Wych Elm seedlings for 2026 - only 10 days from collection to germination. These could be over a metre tall by October and have all been collected from trees which show signs of resistance to Elm disease.

My two cents: Ireland will (eventually) have a left-wing government that will make lots of mistakes, but as long as they make Mamdani-style changes in their first term, there will be no going back to Civil War politics. Big threat is FF/FG/big business/media lurching further right out of spite.

“An estimated cumulative average of €360 has been added to household electricity bills over recent years due to high #datacentre energy demand” #SpéirGhorm #Ireland www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...

Whatever about the impact on my own career, I am so sad and frustrated to see more and more artists I love struggling or considering leaving the field because of decreased sales, increased costs, and the impact of genAI. I don't want to lose the joy of seeing my favourite artists' beautiful work.

Yep - framing needs to be much more along the lines of "this is likely to be one of the coolest summers for the rest of your life"

Vermeer’s Girl With The Pearl Earring will be shown in Osaka, later this year, and the press conference was as Japanese as you’d expect #Vermeer

UK sensibly dynamically aligning with EU SPS standards, as it should have done from the start. Better late than never..

this fucking sucks ( from the creator of the cupcake character, lorynbrantz instagram - www.instagram.com/p/DY2v_qXIoQt )

THIS. Do I worry about the effects of social media on my 11-year-old? Obviously yes. Do I think she should be banned from it any more than young men falling into the manosphere on Reddit, middle-aged ladies being dragged into transphobia on Mumsnet, or pensioners radicalised by Facebook? 100% no.

Ireland's data centre energy drain: How our obsession with accommodating Big Tech has added €1.4bn to household electricity bills ... jrnl.ie/7052694

I strongly believe every school system in the US should offer a free meal. The thing is, if only poor folks get food, it becomes a shameful thing that no one with power cares about. If rich folks are in the same system, they'll make sure the system is decent because they don't want crappy stuff.

I knew it was gonna be a tough week, but this absolute armpit weather is making it six times harder. Yearly reminder that many if not most SSRIs, blood pressure meds, ADHD meds, and more lead to heat intolerance. Don’t forget to check, and if that’s you, make every effort to stay cool!

The rich idiots have overinvested in technology that doesnt work and need to make money via land grabs and establish precedent for privileged access to water and electricity.

I didn't think I could hate a new category of thing more tha Funko Pops

In the end we were just his latest casino and whatnot.

That's part of the broken social contract that I don't think the no-take-only-throw-ass economics overlords don't get. I now see any funds I have as my only defense against indiscriminate predation. I have figured out you will kill me and drain my corpse.

Not half as difficult as being disabled in Irish society is Taoiseach

authors getting paid a living wage

Somebody else put it very well by saying that Bluesky is just fine for creating community, what it's not great for is creating a platform, and yeah, these guys don't want to be a member of a community, they want to be someone with a platform.

The reason certain people are still on Twitter or complain how this place isn’t Twitter is because for a brief amount of time Twitter allowed specialty journalists, opinion writers, pundits, etc a chance to feel somewhat famous, or that they actually had influence, and they miss that like heroin.

Facebook nostalgia addicts: "Remember the good old days when your grandad or the local schoolkids would cycle everywhere ?" Also; "If the council try to put in a bike lane I'll buy a JCB"

I don’t usually say watch videos but the payoff is worth it.

I agree that's a truly great tweet, so I'm reposting with ALT text:

One of the most remarkable things about Ireland is how Fianna Fáil both consistently expect to be back in power after every election, and consistently govern like a party happy to leave its mess for the next government to clean up #speirghorm

2026 Me: Hey 1996 me, in 30 years time you'll be furious at everything Tony Blair says and think John Major makes some pretty sensible points 1996 Me: Fuck, so I'm doomed to become more conservative as I get older 2026 Me: Well not exactly

As an anthropologist, I endorse this message!

A part of my book, Who Wants Normal?, that felt important to include was cultural prejudice around disability aids. I spoke with people who endure pain or stay indoors rather than use one. We can talk about helping people keep healthy as they age without stigmatising “ending up in a wheelchair.”

We're complaining to the Charity Commission about Sex Matters describing women who are trans using women's spaces as "deviants". The language is unacceptable (and the statement is wrong in law). We're looking for other examples of it (staff or Trustees) using inflammatory language. Share below?

In my office we are already seeing a lot of new enquiries from Ukrainians about applying for international protection. This is only going to increase the numbers. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.

Mad to think how rich id be if I was doing exactly the same thing but thirty years ago

In theory it is so that the witness pool isn't tainted with a preconceived narrative. But I believe in practice it is due to how Ireland's chilling defamation laws impact reporting.

Also yesterday: it looks like Garret Ahearn is the new Leader of the Seanad, taking over the position as the driver of government business from Seán Kyne who vacated his Senate seat through winning the by-election