“In fairness, we also seem to believe that over one-in-three Irish people are accessing social housing compared to the real figure of 9.2%, which begs the question: how much social housing do these people think that Ireland has?” Here is this week’s column.

Woah - this cd have some far reaching consequences; even in a world that has abandoned public masking. If WHO admits that surgical masks are useless against airborne pathogens like Covid it will unleash a host of consequences. And if they don’t, it will likely come back to haunt them anyway….

This is called critogenesis, the harm caused by the legal system itself, not by the original matter. It is to the legal system what side effects, or iatrogenesis, is to medicine. The courts do not favour victims of gendered abuse #ViolenceAgainstWomen

Such a relief that Sean Binder has been acquired of all the ridiculous charges against him. The Greek authorities tried to make an example of him - and they have; he’s an absolute legend! Maybe they won’t try to criminalise being a decent human being in the future…. www.thejournal.ie/sean-binder-...

Hard to read the print on this but the main point is clear; a single data centre using as much power as 200k homes. Two hundred thousand! Absolutely nuts. And this is what the Irish govt is promoting wholesale?! #spéirgorm #spéirghorm

Look who joined Bluesky. Do as you will. bsky.app/profile/iceg...

Urgent - deadline Jan 15th for submission on Irish govt draconian proposed planning restrictions. #spéirgorm #spéirghorm

“The idea that there are wide-scale biases because we live in car-centric society is often denied but research published last year found that there are clear biases in society when it comes to people forgiving the behaviour of motorists and being less forgiving of transgressions by people who cycle”

A typical reaction “but if the government bow to prisoners being held indefinitely without trial, then simply everyone will go on a 71 day hunger striker to the point of death to get what they want”

The government sits and watches as Heba dies. It's heartbreaking, horrible, almost impossible to compute. Didn't people vote in the hope (however forlorn) of ending the Tories' psychopathic mode of government? Yet on it goes, under Keir Starmer. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Hard to imagine an article with more hypocrisy/ irony than this one. Also; Michéal Martin, addressing the attack on protestors by Iranian govt but omitting those in the US. He never fails to disappoint - at least he’s consistent, I suppose…. www.thejournal.ie/iran-protest...

2026 has already left us reeling but we can’t let slide that the Irish government has capitulated to Elon Musk and his rancid women/children sexual abuse material factory. The racism + fascism was enough for me but not for our gov apparently. Now not even *this* is a red line. Absolute shame on FFG

Heba Muraisi is on day 69 of her hunger strike. Kamran Ahmed is on day 62 of his hunger strike. They are at risk of dying at any moment. This is a political choice by Keir Starmer’s Labour government. Immediate bail for remand prisoners NOW.

"Israel Is Banning the 'Last Foreign Witnesses' to Its Genocide in Gaza" In a likely deadly move, the Israeli government told 37 foreign aid groups, including Doctors Without Borders, they could no longer operate in Palestine. Where is the outrage, asks Diana Buttu for Zeteo?

I've signed this petition calling for the government to shut down X for producing sexual abuse images. Will you do the same? my.uplift.ie/petitions/sh... @uplift.ie

Figures are for UK. Twitter/X is no longer essential for engagement. Stop feeding the fascists. Complements of @robblackie.bsky.social

If the Palestine Action hunger strikers die - which they could do at any moment, as they are now very close to the end - it will be the government that killed them. Today’s column explains why. Please share, and write urgently to your MP. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The UN expert group reports that the UK Government denied medical care to the hunger strikers, used excessive physical restraint, denied them contact with family members, denied them legal counsel, and prevented independent medical oversight. UK Labour ministers refuse to speak with their families.

Watch this video before you do any last minute holiday shopping on Amazon.

FREE GRETA FREE THE HUNGER STRIKERS FREE PALESTINE 🍉

This Christmas cookie “factory”has finished its production run for the year. Maybe next year I’ll save time, precious energy & a fortune in organic ingredients & buy everyone a box of chocs!!Time now to put the feet up & have a cuppa with something other than a Christmas cookie; sick of them now!!

Pat o Toole in the Farmers Journal and a village near Bethlehem www.farmersjournal.ie/news/news/fa...

The rise of the fash in Ireland- some of us have been shouting into void about this for several years now but govt, police and MSM have been either asleep at the wheel or encouraging them. Enraging and depressing.

Hunger strikers in hospital now, ill from their last-resort protest against being imprisoned without trial for supporting Palestine Action. The British govt MPs laughed, *yes laughed*, when Jeremy Corbyn asked them to meet with the hunger strikers. Meanwhile the genocide continues unchecked…

This is the Irish president, in her first Christmas address. Am just so glad we elected her and not the business-as-usual, gombeen alternative (or the basket of deplorables who dropped out of the race). #spéirgorm #spéirghorm

A leaked draft of legislation for MPAs that nearly passed in 2024 indicates that the government is taking a minimalist approach with low ambition for restoration of marine life. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ou...

The Irish govt needs to stop bullsh*itting and pass the Occupied Territories Bill already - for goods AND for services! Also; Blinne ní Ghrálaigh KC rocks! #FreePalestine #spéirgorm #Spéirghorm

Some rare political good news, from the UK. The new Unison leader sounds great - *actually* left wing & a Palestine & trans ally. Hopefully she can bring the union along with her & make meaningful change. Maybe even switch to supporting Zak Polanski & the Greens, as they’re proper (eco-)socialists

Francesca Albanese : Perhaps the UK gov has not enough on its conscience that can let Anti-Genocide activists die?? I trust the UK people will appreciate that this is not about Palestine anymore: it is about their own freedoms. Full solidarity to PalestineAction hunger strikers and their families

Day 1 of the Fianna Fáil leadership contest. All candidates are invited to say which fundamental human right do they think is a threat to our corporation tax receipts. #FFContest

The Plain People of Ireland: Our priorities are housing, infrastructure, justice in foreign policy Fianna Fáil: we, too, are very concerned about how we came to pick a nonentity who got no votes in the Presidential election and pledge to deliver a report on that, also, racism.

The exclusion of trans people from public and academic spaces, removal of protections by human rights institutions, dehumanising language used by state news media, judicial tolerance of trans directed hate crime, withdrawal of medical care: all of this is very familiar to genocide scholars.

Weird I’m the only person I know who says they have Long Covid (hard to avoid whinging when it’s fucked my life up so much.) But nobody else’s that I know - surely must be a similar % in Ireland?? “6.9 to 8.4% of the U.S. population has ever had long COVID..' #LongCovid #spéirgorm #spéirghorm

Surprise: Greens out of govt and the spending ratio on public/active transport vs roads shifts in wrong direction! “Research commissioned by Engineers Ireland found four of five adults (79 per cent) use private cars for daily trips, making Ireland one of the most car-dependent countries in Europe”

Did you know about these young people currently on hunger strike ? www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releas...

Meta has removed or restricted dozens of accounts belonging to abortion access providers, queer groups and reproductive health organisations in the past weeks in what Repro Uncensored call one of the “biggest waves of censorship” on its platforms in years.

So important to realise; the holidays can be a tough time for a host of reasons. Many people don’t live the “dream” that is peddled by advertisers and can feel a failure because of that. Do what you need to get through,+ rem; once we’re thru the Solstice the days start getting brighter. Cannot wait!

It’s never been a real ceasefire; just a distraction blanket under which they cd continue with the war crimes…

Excellent article from @elainemcgoff.bsky.social on the many, many failures that have led us to where we are. Nobody asked the people of this country if we were willing to sacrifice our waterways so the dairy industry could wallow in profits www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

I signed the letter calling for the release of Marwan Barghouti. Overnight, I've received some 2,000 attack emails, identical text but different purported senders and subject headers. Still coming through now. Other signatories also getting it. Definitely an op. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

They’ve called this storm Bram. Bram Soaker. Chuckle. Very clever.

Oof. Morto for them. Of course, it’s not “the Government” who’ve produced this embarrassing vid, just “the Housing Agency”. Not at all connected. So no need for any policy change or action to end the housing crisis then. Right so…..

Murdered on 6th December 2023

In * 1955 * the urban development expert Lewis Mumford wrote a series of essays in The New Yorker in which he memorably stated that adding more roads, and more lanes to highways to cure congestion, was like believing you can cure obesity by loosening your belt. railforthevalley.com/latest-news/zwei…

It never ended

Having the kind of day where this seems disproportionately funny😄