Lucy Michael: Ireland’s Taser pilot is bad science and bad policy

🧵 I think it would help if people stopped ‘feeling’ whether or not a person or party is/was extreme or far right. There’s actually a fairly respected definition. Let me take you through it & then you can decide if someone meets the definition. This is aimed, in particular, at journos [1]

"If progressive or left-wing critics of government policy are portrayed as anti-government, their democratic role as checks & balancers gets blurred.. It significantly decreases the space for critical engagement" @lucymichael.bsky.social on reductive media framings open.substack.com/pub/lucymich...

‘Lower socioeconomic groups, people working in healthcare and social services, and marginalised groups face a higher risk of poor mental health’. Suicide is leading cause of death for young people in Europe, new research shows jrnl.ie/6805543

Governments should not lose sight of their human rights obligations when negotiating deals to transfer asylum, return and border control functions to other countries, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner has warned. @commissionerhr.coe.int

Irish NGOs Afri & Comhlámh, "are urging all Irish civil society organisations & concerned individuals to use their voices now to end Ireland's complicity in genocide of Palestinians & to demand urgent government action", including that Ireland join the Hague Group docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

In today's @irishexaminer.bsky.social , Siobhan Kangataran addresses recent racist attacks. www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

Part 2 of our series looking at threats to our native seals. This one beggars belief, especially after the outrage in 2022 when a seal pup was killed after being picked up by a tourist for a selfie 😔 ⬇️

A few weeks ago while I was on vacation in Copenhagen (a wonderful city!) I went to the museum of Danish Resistance - both because I was interested in Denmark’s unique history during WW2 and to find out if there was anything to learn about our country’s slide into authoritarianism. 🧵 1/?

NEW: More than half a dozen prominent authors have pulled out of the Bendigo Writers Festival after being told to sign a code of conduct that would inhibit criticism of Israel. www.deepcutnews.com/p/authors-wi...

Working with refugees or international protection applicants and want to upskill? A small number of spaces left on our new micro-credential at UCD! 50% subsidies available for eligible learners www.ucd.ie/microcredent...

A significant part of our work at lucymichael.ie is reporting on human rights and equality in Ireland for the EU Fundamental Rights Agency. We regularly conduct desk-based reviews and field studies for EU FRA on a wide range of rights issues as part of the FRANET 27-country research network.

Minister for Integration Colm Brophy hopes incoming Garda Commissioner will prioritize racism attacks, but denies that a crackdown on immigration was emboldening people who might attack migrants.

Jones has lost control of his media empire to a newly-appointed receiver who will sell it off to pay the Sandy Hook Elementary School families who sued Jones for defamation after the 2012 shootings.

Despite demographic changes in N. Ireland, the PSNI is completely unrepresentative in religious & black and ethnic representation. The post-conflict arrangement of 50/50 recruitment was dropped and they've engaged in egregious discriminatory policing unchecked. 'A police force for all communities'

We even have some real world experimental data on what happens when a government compels tech to open a surveillance backdoor, from the US. There, in Nov 2024, it turned out that Chinese spies had also strolled through that same backdoor and were using it to track millions of phones.

If you need more ideas on how to explain to a TD (who may get their secretary to print out emails and then handwrites the replies in fountain pen) why this is a bad idea, I have a few extra ones here (no paywall) www.thegist.ie/the-gist-a-b...

Please read this piece by the irreplaceable Olga Cronin explaining why the Government’s plans to legislate to break encryption are a Bad Idea, and then explain it by email (good), phone call (better) or personal visit (amazing) to your local TDs. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

This latest madcap Internet plan from the Irish Govt will have EU-wide consequences as many of the most critical encrypted messaging systems companies are based here. Use Apple’s iMessage or Meta’s WhatsApp in the EU? You should be contacting your Govt and getting them to object to Ireland’s plan.

BREAKING: A federal appeals court affirmed that Louisiana's state legislative districts dilute the power of Black voters and must be redrawn.

The latest spate of attacks on Indian people is simply the outworking of a renormalisation of racism within our public discourse.

The vigilante group are now raging that the PSNI are patrolling the areas they are operating in.

“We’re here to talk about A levels” “Free Palestine the BBC is complicit” 💀💀

Policy research role, Dublin - apply by 3 Sept. 1 year contract, 3 days a week, Dublin. #hiring Research in equality, integration, human rights and justice. Postgraduate degree and research experience essential. Applications encouraged from underrepresented groups. lucymichael.ie/contact/vaca...

@migrantsrights.bsky.social found the 4 UK post codes subjected to the highest rate of immigration raids & enforcement are in N. Ireland and routes in and out of NI. BT3 (Belfast – Airport & Port) BT29 (Airport) CH41 (Birkenhead – Ferry to N. Ireland) DG9 (Stranraer – Ferry to N. Ireland) [2/2]

... around N. Ireland are enforced east – west, north – south, and within the 6 counties at a higher rate than across the UK. Migrant Rights Network has found that the 4 post codes in the UK subjected to by far the highest rate of immigration raids and enforcement are in Northern Ireland ... [2/5]

This report from Belfast-based human rights activist @queensips.bsky.social, sheds light on racism experienced by children of migrant families in NI and calls for more determined action from government and society to address the issue 👉 socialchangeinitiative.com/through-the-eyes-of-young-migrants

🚨Ireland has approved its plan under the new EU Migration Pact - impacting migrant children arriving here. The OCO is calling for children’s rights to be front and centre. 📄 Read our key recommendations to the Dept. of Justice: 👉 www.oco.ie/library/oco-...

New research out today: Amnesty International has found that X/Twitter played a central role in the spread of false narratives and content which incited violence against Muslim and migrant communities in the UK last summer

New publication: . Stronger Together: Findings from ICTU’s Anti-Racist Trade Unions and Workplaces Research Project, for the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. www.ictu.ie/publications...

Minister for Integration Colm Brophy hopes incoming Garda Commissioner will prioritize racism attacks, but denies that a crackdown on immigration was emboldening people who might attack migrants. share.google/jcJBnnzlhk05...

This is a great TEDx talk from Kriti Sharma, Founder of AI for Good on how to keep human bias out of AI. If you'd like to know more about how AI is impacting on your hiring ... www.ted.com/talks/kriti_...

This headline buries the lede. Communities with high immigrant pops able to live within the community have similarly positive views as urban areas. The rise in racism, I think, can be linked to the gov’s inability to solve the housing crisis and their unwillingness to invest in the people of Ireland

People from ethnic minority groups say an increase in protests against immigration and asylum seeker accommodation, and experiences of racism, has left them feeling afraid in Ireland. jrnl.ie/6771483

In Ireland a 6 year old Indian girl was racially attacked to the point where she is now too traumatised to go outside alone, and asks her parents constantly if “scary boys” will come and get her. Racism towards Indians in Ireland has gotten so bad the Indian gov has had to put out a travel warning.

“Racist attacks in Ireland are not a new phenomenon, just ask anyone who isn't white & doesn't speak with an Irish accent. But the latest spate of attacks on Indian people is simply the outworking of a renormalisation of racism within our public discourse.…” #spéirghorm #IrishPol #Racism

Three young children traumatised by an arson attack on their home by legitimate concerners in Newtownabbey. "Move out or be burnt" www.irishnews.com/news/norther... #Ireland #Racism

Dublin's Church of Ireland Archbishop has urged people to stand firmly against racism and to stand with the people who are impacted by it.

Shamim Malekmiam has written an excellent account of current immigration detention policy in Ireland in the Dublin Inquirer. *Suspects* in immigration offences excluded from temp release, as Irish Prison Service says more serious high-risk *convicted* offenders released early to make space.

One thing to consider when looking at AGS data on reports of hate attacks is that some immigrants don't turn to the guards because they want a PULSE data check to return absolutely nothing, even their names as victims, for the citizenship vetting process. My sister was like that (now a citizen)

Plans to disclose the ethnicity and immigration status of criminal suspects in the UK have been condemned by race campaigners for setting a dangerous precedent for “dog-whistle politics”, which will make “Black and brown communities more vulnerable”. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Francesca Albanese on the epic failure of international law to date. Alt text on image.

Francesca Albanese on the epic failure of international law to date. Alt text on image.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is seeking new members of the Commission for a 5 year term. I want to encourage the widest range of you all to consider the role. As a Commission member, I want to highlight the opportunity. Pls note words are my own & I have no role in process.

Friends, I want to read what you're writing. Do you have a blog, substack or social media account where you write with effort? Please share! I'm hungry for your words.

New statement in from Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights calling on the international community to ensure safe passage for the Madleen.

Friends, I want to read what you're writing. Do you have a blog, substack or social media account where you write with effort? Please share! I'm hungry for your words.

Govt has just has announced that PAVA spray will be authorised for use in children’s prisons Hard to imagine a more profound failure than arming prison officers in the name of keeping children safe Follow @thehowardleague.bsky.social for updates across the day howardleague.org/do-not-let-p...

No more LGBT-free zones in Poland! Today, after 6 years of existence, the last resolution was repealed.