I'm firmly of the opinion that at least 30% of drivers are not actually competent to be trusted to be in charge of heavy machinery in a public place, and all drivers should have to retake the practical exam every 3 years to keep their license

Say the line, Israel

A proud day for those of us in the Irish media and music spheres. The Eurovision has long been dismissed as pomp, spectacle and cheese - but at a time when everything is apparently game for reputation-washing and content-marketing, D4 has done the right thing. #spéirghorm #ireland

Honestly surprised that RTE stuck to their guns. Fair play to all involved. I’ll be sad without Eurovision but this is the right decision. #speirgorm

Nikita Hand, who won her civil case against former MMA fighter, Conor McGregor has welcomed a decision by the Supreme Court not to allow a further appeal by Mr McGregor against a High Court jury's finding that he raped her

The right thing to do. Eurovision is finished. The Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia & Belgium all have withdrawn from 2026 Eurovision due to Israel being allowed to remain in the competition. RTE also state that they will not broadcast the competition.

It's not often I praise RTÉ, but they got this right. Strong messaging, and fair play to the other nations who followed suit #spéirgorm

People. Powered. Change ✊️🇵🇸 Ireland will not compete in Eurovision 2026 after Israel allowed to remain in competition jrnl.ie/6893728 #speirgorm #bds @rte.ie 👏

Spain and Netherlands have officially pulled out of Eurovision.

Ireland will not take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 after it was confirmed that Israel would be allowed to participate in the competition. Spain and the Netherlands have also confirmed that they have withdrawn from the contest. jrnl.ie/6893728

So it seems the claim of 30% increase in judicial review in 2025 was based on the number to 26 June & *a guess* at a number for July to Dec (which wasn’t fact checked & is wrong) .. & that erroneous claim is the entire justification for govt plan to limit access to the courts #Speirgorm #Planning

The tenants of "The Complex" the brilliant arts space just off Capel St Stop are being evicted in January and the city can't afford to lose yet *another* cultural space. Please sign & share the petition to save The Complex

This is shite. The Complex serves so many artist tribes in Ireland. All artists need is a space, they'll do the rest because they've had to. It's so frustrating that €10m can be given to the NFL but Dublin CC can't open a basic event space for artists without trying to commercialise everything.

Militiamen in street cafe, Plaça Catalunya? Barcelona 1936. By Juan Guzmán (born Hans Gutmann in Cologne). Guzmán, who fought in the International Brigades, took some 1300 photos of the war, many of them brilliant, including the famous image of Marina Ginestà brandishing a rifle. Archivo EFE

Bellingcat has pieced together a detailed view of a crisis that has left much of Mali in the dark. Learn how the attacks behind the fuel shortages brought daily life to a halt here: www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/12...

Min Jack Chambers claim: “number of judicial reviews rapidly growing. 2024 saw 43% increase on 2023, & 2025 a further 30% increase in cases in Court” Factcheck “number of JR decreasing year on year..members of public to take 40% fewer in 2025 & overall JRs will be 15% lower this year” links below

CNN investigation now points to the Israeli military bulldozing the bodies of some of those killed near the crossing into shallow, unmarked graves. At other times, their remains were simply left to decompose in the open, unable to be recovered in the militarized area. edition.cnn.com/2025/12/03/m...

Denying people help, in this case the disabled, because someone _might game the system_ is at best faulty logic & at worst actively harmful. If you can't think through that - keep your opinion to yourself. I can't help you.

The Victorian insistence on fencing away help from the undeserving is a mental trap that causes misery for everyone, including its advocates. Basic Income looks this in the face and says “Cash for all. No questions asked.” It is why it works. It is why the evidence for it is never enough for them.

🤨 “weaponised”

So here's the thing. Recently, Labour have cast doubt on the legitimacy of the poor, the mentally ill and trans people. That doubt is the weapon of the right.

A walk I took through a eucalyptus forest in Galicia. Correction... It's a plantation. No more woodland than a sunflower field is a meadow. When it burns, it's a crop not forest in smoke. An insectless, birdless, flowerless place, I fancied for a moment like walking in the Devonian

Fantastic work. Depressing story, the inevitability of it, but great work.

I've been lurking in crypts again. Big fan of this Lucio Fulci-ass worm-ridden skull on the casket of Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken...

Woohoo! "The move was blocked after the country’s Socialist Left Party said it would not support the government’s budget unless it scrapped the first licensing round, set for 2025. Environmental scientists had warned the move could be catastrophic for marine life." www.bbc.com/news/article...

Sooo, this was seen in Wexford, Dublin, Limerick and even in the UK (see link). Maybe an ice pillar. Tis a mystery... www.edp24.co.uk/news/2566871...

Surprise!

It's horrific watching this play out, in exactly the same step by step way the trans community has been warning about for so many years now.

We're watching the wholesale burning of every scrap of dignity afforded to trans people in the UK, their rights, their medical services, their employment, their place within society, their bodily functions. It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.

“The purpose is to prevent the dead from becoming the missing and to allow for memorialization, chiefly by their families,” Janina Dill, co-director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, said.

'"Once we adjust for the family home and ensuring sufficient cash buffers and pension provision, many households have far less investable wealth than the headline figures suggest," he said.' www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

Rules Of The Road: 1) Run red light and hit a schoolgirl at the crossing, knocking her 3 meters into the air and breaking bones 2) Drive off without seeing if the girl is alive 3) Conceal it with work to car 4) Deny it when questioned 5) Get let off with fine www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/co...

If you think the gowls in power in Ireland are going to pass the Occupied Territories bill, I have some magic beans you might be interested in ...

Reminder: If a country is responsible for "only" 0.1% of global emissions, then it's responsible for 1 million of the 1 billion climate refugees estimated by 2050.

This is a really nice piece in Hot Press about how we're differently to other businesses and why. It'd be great if you could read and share. My perhaps naive hope is that a big business might see it and copy us. It works. #speirgorm www.hotpress.com/lifestyle-sp...

This is a broken social contract Hoarding homes while families struggle on the streets/emergency accommodation is akin to hoarding food in a famine Shameful This is down to government policy that puts rights of property owners over those who need a home #DerelictIreland #RestPlayWork #SpeirGorm

If you thought Bishop Lucey Park was the only nature lost in #Cork lately, think again. Today, Cork City Council removing trees and grass to lay concrete for parking of council vehicles in Blackpool. No planning permission, no 'Part 8', no public consultation. Just green space & nature wiped out...

We've been trying to buy in West Cork and keep getting screwed over because the people who bought properties as holiday homes/AirBnBs made changes without planning permission and we can't get a mortgage unless those issues are resolved. We want to live in the community but cash investors win out.

A West Cork classic for sure. Going years now, but only got worse year on year with no sign of improvement in the short / mid term.

Three in One: a White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, and Great Egret share a moment in a dark pond. 🪶

Another amazing day for watching Humpback Whales off the south Mainland of Shetland with still at least seven individuals recorded along a 10km stretch of coast between Levenwick and Fladdabister! #MarineLife #MarineMammals #CetaceansUK #UKWildlife

Founded in 1935 American Beach facilities included restaurants, motels & nightclubs including Evan's Rendezvous, which hosted Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway & many more. American Beach businesses were listed in the Green Book, & the resort had up to ten thousand visitors a day at its peak.

Not a great shot, but I spotted my first Coyote for the winter. Usually I'll see them off and on until their mating season in February, then not again until next winter. #Mammals #Animals #Coyote #Nature #Photography #PhotographersUnited #Canine #EastCoastKin

A portrait of the playwright Tom Stoppard (RIP) for The Irish Times 20 years ago… #TomStoppard #theatre #Ireland

We should not have 184 thousand empty homes like We're driven by this desire and passion to make the world better We get so upset and fustrated when we see inequality and social injustice #DerelictIreland #VacantIreland #everyoneshouldhaveahome #spéirgorm

My friends Neil & Katy from the Gougane Barra Hotel organized this raffle for Gaza. It ends in a couple of days. Please check it out www.idonate.ie/raffle/Gouga...

The only difference between this and any other day of the year is that it was caught on camera and couldn't be suppressed in time before we got to see it. If we trade with the settler ethnic cleansing project in the West Bank then we are a participant in this, not an onlooker. #Ireland #OTB

ok Missals track-by-track … Morning Portal felt like Michael Rother to me, although there’s probably a bit of John Martyn in there too https://mirlo.space/robert-dallas-gray/release/missals/tracks/20707

Last month a small group was granted permission by the Port of London Authority to undertake a walkover survey of the #TowerBeach: the team was interested to examine the remains of structures recorded during the 1990s-2010s & to collect any significant artefacts found on the foreshore surface. 🏰🏺🧵