Ukrainian foreign policy analysts are quite optimistic about the results of the Bulgarian elections. They say, even if the new govt program is vague, it is committed to a just peace in Ukraine and they are broadly pro-EU/NATO. Hopefully! www.eurointegration.com.ua/articles/202...

Bishop Paul Colton retired today. It has been an incredible honour to get to know him. His kindness and the kindness of Church of Ireland in Cork and the parishioners have been of immense support to my family here in Ireland. It has truly been a privilege to be part of this community.

*checking my stash of 6kg flour and a few kg of cereals* Maybe I'm not a home-cooking foodie but a hipster version of a Ukrainian granny who stockpiles food not to starve.

I take it back. The US lifted sanctions from Russian oil for 30 days (maybe) again. What a morbid circus.

Post the best picture of you pet that you've ever taken.

If anyone was interested, the definition of genocide in the UN Convention did not include extermination of a particular class, as devised by Lemkin, because of the USSR opposition. It would have made the Holodomor, extermination of UA farmers, a genocide. Stalin worried it would look bad, I guess.

A pleasant surprise here

Ach tá gá leis an alt sa Ghaeilge - an Úcráin. Ní bhaineann an díospóireacht amaideach sin i measc Béarlóirí le gramadach Gaeilge.

If you see certain 'independent Russia experts/academics' parroting this obvious lie, you know where they go it from. Their handlers in Moscow 🙂

Fico? Anyone?

Thank goodness

З Великоднем усіх, хто пече. @nadiadobrianska.bsky.social

Was looking for someone to estimate how long before food shortages now.

Rewarding the enemy they had bombed is one hell of a theory of victory for the US 🤑

The call for papers is out! www.show.org.uk/2021civilwar...

Cork this morning was so quiet. It was like a lazy weekend morning on the roads. Had hard time explaining fuel protests to my dad 🫥

Britain is drifting towards Russia from the left and right. Some achievement!

In this world, Trump is only afraid of Russians 😂

Obran is clearly going full Lukashenko but inside the EU

It's an in-joke but hear me out. The second President of Ukraine once published a book called 'Ukraine is not Russia'. www.goodreads.com/book/show/22... To paraphrase the classic:

Watching the Arrival and imagining how the US would have handled the story under Trump 🥸

A friend and a former lecturer of mine from the US of very liberal persuasion was telling me back then that Hillary was corrupt so he'd vote Trump 🤫

I decided to bake Easter cakes this weekend, even though Orthodox Easter is in a week. Was too lazy to go out for icing sugar, so this year it's only eggwash and sprinkles. Happy Easter! (Might bake again next week).

🔔I am really excited to announce this🔔 Myself & Cónal Creedon will be discussing the fascinating life of Stephen Moylan during the American Revolution and his family back in Cork See you in Cork City Library on Saturday, 18 April at 12noon All welcome, please register👇🏻

It's time to repost this Easter masterpiece

There is really nothing wrong with cheap and easy. My take on #legodrones www.worldpoliticsreview.com/germany-rhei...

In other news, Project Hail Mary has been a highlight of the cinema. If you haven't seen it, I really recommend it. Cried my eyes out but in a good way 🥹 I had tried watching Báite and Midwinter Break last week and was severely disappointed with the writing.

Does anyone recognise a saying along the lines that 'Derry begins and Belfast finishes' about the Troubles? I am wondering if I read it somewhere before. It works for my thesis on the 1920s troubles, so I'm trying to find a source. Would appreciate any advice on it!

The Belfast Riots of 1864. 11 people were killed, over 300 injured in ten days of rioting in Belfast in August 1864. Flashpoint for the riot was govt banning of Orange marches and allowing a nationalist parade in hounr of Daniel O'Connell in Dublin theirishstory.com/2020/04/09/i...

See also our review of Gerry's previous bio of Liam Lynch. www.theirishstory.com/2023/03/22/b...

I guess the notion of treason is no longer familiar to the US. Must be just me.

It is awful to watch Hungary become a new Belarus but inside the EU.

war_iran_final-blow_v1.pdf war_iran_final-final-blow-v2.pdf war_iran_final-blow-no edits.pdf war_iran_final-blow-no edits (1).pdf war_iran_final-blow-no edits (1) APPROVED.pdf IRANWARPLANSFINALFINALFINAL.pdf IRANWARPLANSFINALFINALFINAL (1).pdf

Sure, it's grand, you know yourself. It's just helping kill Ukrainians, stop complaining. All these concerns were raised back in 2022 and no action was ever taken.

Poland going pro-Russian was not on my bingo card but we're in 2026 now and it's a brave new world.

My greatgran survived two world wars, Russian civil war, three Soviet famines (some more man-made than others), died aged 95 in 1990s. She said that serfdom was better because their landlady had them work only two days per week, whereas at the Soviet collective farms she had to work all the time.

Given the degree to which the Belarusian state now functions as an extension of the Kremlin, sanctions relief for Belarus, like the "temporary" lifting of oil sanctions on Russia should be understood as part of this longstanding pattern of Trump looking to kill sanctions on Russia.

The timing of the Trump administration's lifting of oil sanctions on Russia and potash Belarus is, of course, due to the economic crisis caused by the Iran war, but the underlying reason is the years-long desire by Trump and those around him to lift sanctions on Russia. 🧵

Little by little the US is helping Russia wage its war against Ukraine. More to come, sadly. I hear a lot of screaming on Russian socials about the horrible state of economy and even sudden anti-Putin sentiments among Z-bloggers. The US is sending Russia a lifeline at this critical juncture.

It can always get worse and it does

Lots of chatter about Ireland's neutrality in WWII at the moment. Here's a piece laying out the basic facts: A short history of Ireland during the Second World War www.theirishstory.com/2018/05/21/t...

A guy with a Mossad pager negotiating with top Iranian officials is a suspenseful saga 🤫

Europe really has no sense of self-preservation.

At least Americans have burned through their supply of missiles in Iran, so they can't bomb us comfortably with Russians. I take a win.

Reducing women to victims of men's wars is a dishonest simplification at best. Women work in military factories, they work in chains of supply for armies, they take part in state militarisation of children as mothers and teachers. Some of them encourage men to volunteer to provide for the family.

Reducing women to victims of men's wars is a dishonest simplification at best. Women work in military factories, they work in chains of supply for armies, they take part in state militarisation of children as mothers and teachers. Some of them encourage men to volunteer to provide for the family.

Dead IR experts, I think Trump's admin developed a new theory of international relations - degeneracy. Don't thank me.

The US is lifting sanctions from Russia and the EU is not giving Ukraine a 90 billion loan to survive through the war (there is no way around Hungarian/Slovak veto). Twas nice while it lasted, the illusion of long-term support.

I'm gonna lose my mind.

Imagine Russian soldiers ticking boxes in their Shengen visa applications for the Paralympics. Promising that they haven't committed crimes against humanity, the crime of genocide and didn't do other bad things 🤝