28 years old today. 🎂 So much has changed in NI since 1998 but the devolved institutions will have to continue to evolve to survive.

There’s broad acknowledgment that reform to the devolved institutions is necessary -but no consensus on how to do that. There are insufficient incentives to encourage cross party cooperation & a lack of recognition of non aligned ‘others’. Dysfunctional definitely. Worth preserving? Also definitely.

Job alert 🚨 two excellent opportunities to join a fascinating research project with @julesskotnesbrown.bsky.social #health #biodiversity #conservation ⬇️

So much going on here! Picture is Ed Davey, Starmer arrives after a ceasefire is sorted out -and it seems he is trying to resolve the conflict by having talks with everyone except those actually fighting the ‘war’ ie America Israel and Iran.

It's now been 3 hours since our supposed "ally" Donald Trump threatened genocide on a country of 93 million people. We've had absolutely nothing from the UK government. This doesn't come in a vacuum either - every day the US & Israel have been murdering innocent people.

The silence of UK government at announcement of genocidal annihilation of civilians in Iran is deafening. The lack of condemnation makes him and his government complicit in what takes place.

Uncanny likeness -and we know where that ended up!

Most interesting thing about his ‘vulgar’ message was the implicit admission that Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz and they (not 🇺🇸) control whether, and when, it reopens. It exposes how Trump fundamentally misunderstands the nature of power in asymmetric warfare

Well -his boss is almost completely Orange!

Nothing but LIES!!!!! #Iran #Epstein #EpsteinFiles

The unusual amount of detail reads to me like an attempt to infer guilt, without having any actual evidence to support it . So, a nod and a wink gaslighting to the effect that the legislation prevents them from pursuing the scant evidence available. I suppose at least they are adhering to the law!

Didn’t know felons were allowed to vote?

Obvious that Trump’s statements have been designed to play market insecurities. Given that he is all about grift and using public office for personal profit -it would be on brand for him to engage in large scale insider trading and roll it out to his family friends and favoured cronies.

RTÉ Culture: 1996 - the North's 'Year Zero' for literature, 30 years on https://www.rte.ie/culture/2026/0324/1564044-1996-the-norths-year-zero-for-literature-30-years-on/

He was to third level education what Jonathan Gullis was to secondary education.

Congratulations-In my view the best @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social of the new slimmed down iteration have been the special in depth themed progs focusing on ‘ordinary’ people. The one on homeless a while ago was also superb. 👏👏👏

An excellent and admirably restrained review Mic -He famously ingested one of his books in an act of public humiliation on TV for being completely wrong. Perhaps this output represents the natural outcome of that digestive process?

Scare the markets cream off the profits, calm the markets cream off the profits. Scare the markets cream off the profits…. I assume Insider-Trading is a crime in the US but the guy’s a convicted sex pest and buried his ex-wife on his golf course -so he’s probably not too bothered by such rules?

The monetisation of HE has played a part in this infantilisation of students. Quite possible to get a 1st & never step foot in the library, know how to find a book, or discover something you love that isn’t (shock/horror) on the course outline. Ironically it has deskilled a generation of students.

They didn’t call them ‘strikes’ though @news.rte.ie did they? Why are you reframing and mis-reporting the tone of their condemnation of Israel’s bombing of Syria?

Iran launches ‘missiles’. Israel and the US launch ‘strikes’. The media kills people less directly by assigning legitimacy through language. Framing matters @news.rte.ie

Fascinating piece here @irishtimes.com which shows that despite the endemic problems that persist in NI, there is space now for the younger generation to define themselves as British, or Irish, or both. #GFA

Great cover — Though would have gone with ‘Helmet’

Sometimes I think his remarks can’t get any more ignorant or crass -then…. He opens his mouth! At least he didn’t start humming Enola Gay when she walked into the WH.

The prospects of a Reform UK government are truly frightening. From time to time the racist mask slips but for most part they couch it in avuncular populism -aided & abetted by the media. But make no mistake -if they do win power, the UK will become a scary place for many people to live.

What’s interesting here isn’t so much that he said the blindingly obvious -but why now and was it licensed by the government-Part of Starmer’s typical MO of leading from behind. And does it signal start of a policy shift in response to electoral threat of the Greens?

I thought the highlight was his remark: ‘you cannot have a rogue state with a nuclear weapon’ -quite a spicy take down of 🇺🇸 there!

In olden times the resignation of a war hero green beret over a matter of conscience linked to a patriotic commitment to his country would have outweighed support for a convicted serial abuser of women sex pest who dodged the draft, and has set fire to the world. Not these days.

An Irishwoman in New York: ‘You can be who you want here if you learn to climb the ladder’

Snakes alive! Where is St Patrick when you need him?

Amazing post-doc jobs here with world class researchers. Scholarship at its finest with an academic team that will nurture careers. If you meet the job spec you’d be crazy not to apply.

Well it was deliberate and targeted at a children’s school -rather than ‘accidental’. I’d call that a war crime. So yes let’s add it to his ever expanding rap sheet.

Gove wouldn’t recognise ‘bias-free reporting’ if he snorted it up his nose.

What this indicates is that the Cabinet is riddled with the pox. Internal discipline is breaking down by the day in similar way to implosion of spaffer Johnson’s tenure. The PMs colleagues know it is only a matter of time (well…May) before the end and are positioning themselves accordingly.

Getting strong Targaryen vibes now

😂 I’m old enough to remember when Mr Badloser would have a social media account dedicated to him 😉

On the day that’s in it #Worldbookday worldbookdayuk.bsky.social here’s my favourite book. Frank Ormbsy’s fabulous A Rage for Order: Poetry of the Northern Ireland Troubles. With magnificent cover by artist Rita Duffy. A treasure trove of epic poets and poems ❤️

There’s a new Nasty Party in town. Morally bankrupt, strategically inept. Unclear now what the point of the Labour Party is?

One for Labour’s ideas box: nationalise all his UK golf courses & build wind farms across the fairways -& what the hell on the greens too. Then build a 1000 new eco homes all with solar etc exclusively for families of asylum seekers from all the countries he has bombed. You’re welcome Sir Keir 👍

Historic Irish newsreels digitised and made available for free online

@ledbydonkeys.org 👏

True -But this gov would see such a description as praise rather than criticism.

Framing kills. Israel ‘launches strikes’. Hezbollah ‘fires missiles’. It’s not random it’s deliberate. It shapes perception of legitimacy in conflict. And it is pervasive.

Streeting’s response is exactly the sort of language Starmer would have used when campaigning to be leader of the Labour Party. And Starmer’s response is exactly the sort of language Streeting would use if he replaces him -which is one of several reasons why that is highly unlikely.

We've entered the stage of the news cycle where the clear initial information has been reported, fresh reporting is hours or days away, and the gap in between is full of talking heads either constantly re-stating the bleeding obvious and/or speculating wildly based on nothing.

The man just has a tin ear politically -I mean it’s quite astounding…Truss-level standard. Effectively calling all the core Labour vote that deserted him and the potential non Labour vote that he needs, either stupid or divisive and sectarian! Not sure what he’s smokin?