itcouldbesaid.substack.com/p/it-could-b... I read @sjamcbride.bsky.social & @fotoole.bsky.social's For & Against A United Ireland. A fascinating intellectual exercise that gave me the push to put down my thoughts on how any possible Irish Unification vote should be approached.

A memory of Martin Parr www.irishtimes.com/culture/2025...

WOW c 10k people have now watched Democracy for Sale's video about our new undercover investigation, with Led By Donkeys. An ex-Tory MP introduced our fake Chinese AI investor into MPs and ministers - and all for just £5k! 😱 Watch the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKof...

This one from Manorhamilton is also a fave

This is a lovely conversation I had with Martin Parr about his Irish work. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHrr...

I think this early shot of O'Connell Bridge in Dublin is my favourite Martin Parr photo. All the artistry and all the comic love of the absurdity of everyday life is here.

A brilliant, insightful discussion this morning @houseofcommons.parliament.uk Thanks to @clairehanna.bsky.social and @robinswannmp.bsky.social for hosting us and thanks to all who came! @fotoole.bsky.social @ndirishstudies.bsky.social @ria.ie @notredame.bsky.social

This week we had informative conversations in London around For and Against a United Ireland (RIA, 2025) by Fintan O’Toole (@fotoole.bsky.social) & Sam McBride (@sjamcbride.bsky.social). Thanks to @clairehanna.bsky.social & @robinswannmp.bsky.social for hosting a Westminster briefing on the subject

Just finished this brilliant book by @fotoole.bsky.social and @sjamcbride.bsky.social . Well worth anyone's time. Rather than restate the simplistic, partisan reasons for either case, it holds a mirror up to all of us. A proper debate in other words. Well done Royal Irish Academy for publishing.

RIP Martin Parr

#RIP Martin Parr. So sad.

RIP the great Martin Parr

Desperately sad to hear of the death of the wonderful Martin Parr. I had the pleasure of doing the text for A Fair Day in 1984 and again for his recent collection of Irish photographs. He was warm, funny, brilliant and utterly dedicated to his art. His infinite curiosity will linger infinitely.

“One thing we can say for sure is that failing to deliver will probably aggravate the existing affordability gap” DELIVERING the housing plan will aggravate the affordability gap High priced unaffordable housing & price inflation IS THE PLAN #Speirgorm #Housing www.irishtimes.com/business/202...

Amazon announced 14,000 layoffs. Its CEO made over $40M last year. UPS announced 48,000 layoffs. Its CEO made over $24M last year. Intel announced 20,000 layoffs. Its new CEO's pay package is valued at nearly $69M. This is what I mean when I say the system is rigged.

“Trump does not look like he’s enjoying the memory of the days when he and Epstein were close friends.” —@fotoole.bsky.social https://go.nybooks.com/47CJ4IX

If you could vote for our book, that’d be lovely thanks. The book is For and Against a United Ireland by @fotoole.bsky.social and @sjamcbride.bsky.social www.irishbookawards.ie/vote/

I don’t do book reviews very often, but @sjamcbride.bsky.social and @fotoole.bsky.social’s essays are one of very few intellectually and politically generous treatments of the #UnitedIreland question to date, while @philipstephens.bsky.social #OurDividedIsles provides rich historical context…

From @fotoole.bsky.social's essay in the current Atlantic: "The pleasures that Trump offers his followers are sadistic ones, predicated on his invitation to enjoy the pain of others. His happiness is a zero-sum game: 'Real' Americans can experience it only if others are miserable."

I was wondering what @fotoole.bsky.social thought about all this Both a fair assessment of how we got here and a call to arms going forward (I’m an old pinko so i agree w his conclusions) Really interesting essay I’d highly recommend and I’m insisting my son read

“Being the party that feels the world’s pain is not a good answer to a president who invites his supporters to share the unalloyed joy of being able to inflict it.” — @fotoole.bsky.social on Kamala Harris’s new memoir

One of the heroines of modern Ireland www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...

Heaney, by @fotoole.bsky.social : observer.co.uk/culture/book...

Typically brilliant essay by @fotoole.bsky.social on the Democrats and their inability to move past internal recrimination: www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

On the Democrats www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

@fotoole.bsky.social on Heaney's initial reluctance to engage with the Troubles in his poems. "He resisted gut instincts that could not be transmuted into art, steering clear, like Odysseus, of both the whirlpool of propaganda and the monster of indifference." observer.co.uk/culture/book...

This @fotoole.bsky.social piece is one of the best things I have ever read in a newspaper. observer.co.uk/culture/book...

We are thrilled that our publication For and Against has been shortlisted! 🗳️ Vote here: www.irishbookawards.ie/vote/ @fotoole.bsky.social @ndirishstudies.bsky.social @ria.ie #APIBA #ReadersWanted #StoriesMakeUs

Commission by the ARINS project, For and Against a united Ireland, is available in book shops and online: shop.ria.ie/products/for... @arinsproject.bsky.social is a collaboration between the University of Notre Dame and the Royal Irish Academy. @fotoole.bsky.social @sjamcbride.bsky.social

Sam and myself will be at the NCH in Dublin to present For & Against a United Ireland on Nov 30th www.nch.ie/all-events-l...

Excellent review of For & Against a United Ireland by the ever-illuminating Katy Hayward www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

Today in 1983 Stanislav Petrov saved the human race. On duty at the Soviet early warning command centre, he refused to warn superiors of radar reports of an incoming US strike. It proved to be a false alarm. If the Soviets had responded it would have been all out nuclear war.

Very much looking forward to joining in this glorious tribute to the great Tim Robinson at the NCH on Sunday afternoon. I think there are a few tickets left. www.nch.ie/all-events-l...

if you're interested in this area. Irish journalist Fintan O' Toole covered a lot of "the english question" back in 2018. This missive outlines the gist of his book "Brexit and the politics of Pain" I recommend that too. he's on here and well worth a follow. @fotoole.bsky.social 2/2

These two texts - to left of image - sound excellent and their review by @fotoole.bsky.social in the @thetls.bsky.social a superb piece of writing. I’ve been thinking about it all so much.

The first 500 copies have been signed by @fotoole.bsky.social and myself. Most have been pre-ordered but there are still some available from the publisher. Those copies should also arrive before the publication date of 20 October. ➡️ shop.ria.ie/products/for...

A vital conversation ahead: For and Against a United Ireland, chaired by Sarah Carey. Experience the book brought to life at the National Concert Hall, November 30th. 👉 bit.ly/4p6klU8 @fotoole.bsky.social @sjamcbride.bsky.social

A new book by the wonderful Lucy McDiarmid is always worth celebrating

NEW EPISODE OUT NOW! Today it’s the first of two episodes with journalist & historian @fotoole.bsky.social about the trials that followed the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland. How and why did the British get it so wrong by court martialling the ring leaders in secret? Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com

Fintan O’Toole @fotoole.bsky.social on Trump’s Epstein problem