Antisemitism is a lot like Qanon child abuse conspiracies in that there’s this real and bad phenomenon and, parallel to that, what can only be described as a large scale mass psychosis about a mostly fictional version of the same phenomenon

Ers yer man @crispbap.bsky.social immortalised in print (At @apope.bsky.social's new book launch in Pigment Space tonight 8-10pm)

It would be one thing having a "debate" on immigration if people meant they wanted a "debate" based on facts. But what most people seem to mean when they say they want a debate is that is they want us to pretend a bunch of entirely made up bullshit is true.

Simon Harris truly has less intellectual curiosity than your average woodlouse. He's in the paper saying that he wants an informed debate on migration, and then immediately shows that he hasn't bothered to learn the first thing about it. The first image is his remarks, the second is the actual law.

“as incomes catch up, houses will become more affordable” - TCD Economist Barra Roantree on RTE Primetime ..I’m not an economist, but wanting wage inflation in order to put more money into housing, & damaging Ireland’s competitiveness in the process? Very high risk & very unnecessary #Speirgorm

👀 Irish data centres are now using 22% of all electricity generated in Ireland, more than all urban homes combined & drawing an unquantified amount (lots) of Ireland’s water capacity Could AI demands be related to recent push to fast-track infrastructure, side-step safeguards & reduce court access?

Here are the Irish MEPs who just sided with the far-right (fascists, racists, sexists, homophobes, climate deniers) from across the EU They've voted to gut protections that would have made businesses check and report their supply chains for child labour, human rights abuse or nature destruction

🎤 What is wrong with Ireland’s #housing & #planning system My discussion today with Hugh Linehan, @irishtimes.com Inside Politics & Sean Keyes, Progress Ireland #Speirgorm Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0KXu... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/i... Web: shows.acast.com/inside-polit...

90 seconds spent answering the question "what is a starter home" without once getting near answering what a starter home might actually be. "Starter homes are absolutely crucial" "People just want to get into their starter home" "It's about having that right starter home"

Excited to announce the first book on my press. Plan Life Go, by Julie Fogarty, Sliver Editions, Spring 2026. An incredible debut memoir rooted in 1990s Dublin's explosive rave scene and devastating heroin epidemic. Design by Matt Lambert. More details here ⬇️ www.sliverpress.com/editions

All Airbnbs being rented year round are in contravention of planning laws. Houses built for private residential tenancy need to apply for change of use. If you built a house without following the rules it could be torn down. We could solve this Airbnb problem overnight, there’s no political will.

Again if you find yourself wondering about things like Judicial review because politicians and some right wing journos say this is the reason we can’t get things done, just remember this is complete bollix and the real reason is lobbyists, lobbyists, lobbyists and politicians who become lobbyists.

All Airbnbs being rented year round are in contravention of planning laws. Houses built for private residential tenancy need to apply for change of use. If you built a house without following the rules it could be torn down. We could solve this Airbnb problem overnight, there’s no political will.

Here's an essay I wrote and read for The Business at the weekend about Tech CEOs and their silly little outfits www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

I honestly don’t get the value of this company. They hoover up energy and water. Their product constantly gets things wrong and, in extreme cases, coaches people into suicide. And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft. What does OpenAI offer the world?

The Government's new stated aim is to make it so unattractive for lawyers to take good cases against the State that they will stop. Not bad cases. Good ones. Successful ones. This new rule only applies if you *win* your case. Doesn't that worry anyone slightly? m.independent.ie/irish-news/o...

“Objectors will be on hook to pay six-figure legal costs under JR clampdown” Judicial Review is about ensuring public bodies comply with the law. Upholding democratic laws isn’t “objecting” Language matters @conalthomas90.bsky.social @wayneoconnor.bsky.social www.independent.ie/irish-news/o...

"You may not know this, but there exists, among certain cohorts of the public, a perception that Ireland’s political establishment and media establishment are too intimately connected. And what on Earth would give them that idea?" Happy Saturday, it's time to read my column.

If you have lived your adult life in Ireland you will know instinctively that politics & media is 'One big club and you ain't in it'. There is hope w/commentators like Carl pullling this apart. The stifling consensus between media & politics brought us the disaster of austerity, among other ills.

An 88 percent increase in the number of whole homes to rent in Gaeltacht areas on Airbnb – in just six years 'The history of the Gaeltachts as places of radical and forward thinking gets forgotten now when they've become a holiday destination,' say @CnaG www.ontheditch.com/airbnb-expan...

This generation of FF’s ‘going forward’ sound bite for government inefficiency. Funny how the solution is never let’s tax the bejaysus of dereliction and build not for profit housing.

Bobby Ten Gaffs complaining about the system his party created over a century of dominating the political landscape? The sooner these gaslighting clowns are fired into the sun, the better.

🗣️ "We are talking ourselves into autocracy here, by taking away people’s rights," says Fred Logue, Solicitor Specialising in Planning & Environmental Law, highlighting the value he sees in the judicial review process. #TonightVMTV

🗣️ "So you’re saying it’s not judicial review but it’s something else?" asks Fine Gael TD Naoise Ó Muirí. "Yeah, it’s the permitting system," replies Fred Logue, Solicitor Specialising in Planning & Environmental Law, as they disagree on what is holding up progress on new developments. #TonightVMTV

they're treating a Nazi takeover of the federal government as no big deal and the possible election of Zohran Mamdani as the end times. it's a remarkable job of failing to meet the moment, and the most revealing sign yet they don't want to do anything at all except cling to party power.

Oh so it turns out we are allowed criticise the EU after all, but only when it's about [checks notes] upholding environmental standards

Really at a loss of what to make of the David McWilliams effort in today's paper. Equating the Connolly victory as somehow hearalding Peronism is quite the stretch, to the point of failure. But wait, there's more: Describing "drift toward populist economics" in the shadow of the latest budget... /1

Ive seen some wild takes in the last few weeks from establishment media types but this is just… www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

“Individuals on the ground sent a message that reached us Monday morning that 1,200 were dead,” Nathaniel Raymond, the lab’s executive director, said. “By that evening, they said 10,000. By Tuesday, we couldn’t reach them anymore. We assume our ground contacts are dead.”

Remember - the Irish government was told years ago when the total was still well under 10,000 how to eradicate homelessness by the man who did so in Finland, and it just ... didn't bother. And since then, the majority of you kept voting for them. Well done, everyone. Well done. 👍

The colonisation continues, have no doubt this is disgusting state enabled violence, should be no place for evictions in 21st century Ireland Shame on successive governments led by @finegael.bsky.social @fiannafailparty.bsky.social & their buddies for enabling this #DerelictIreland #HousingCrisis

A secretive group lobbying government for the arms industry is working with Lockheed Martin to connect Irish businesses with international weapons manufacturers for 'partnering opportunities' One of its co-founders is a regular contributor to Irish media www.ontheditch.com/irish-lobbyi...

My entry in the Trump ballroom discourse. It’s a monument to Trump’s insecurities, a symbol of our descent into authoritarianism, and a gaudy bribery palace all in one. Read at @liberalcurrents.com www.liberalcurrents.com/trump-loeil-...

Another good piece of writing from @benfraser.bsky.social on how the story of #Aras25 has shifted to focus not on a left-wing victory, but on right-wing grievances. "If they wanted a right-wing candidate, they need only have followed the rules and nominated one."

The Overlooked Gap

I think you can see the evident disgust on the part of much of the Irish political and media establishment and calls for "something to change" in the presidential election process as a desire to essentially discipline the electorate for how it voted

More than 80 people killed by the IDF overnight in Gaza, including many children. This morning: "Oh the ceasefire is back on."

I was opening a bunch of PDFs in acrobat yesterday and my computer's fans were going wild. I have a lot of RAM so this was surprising to me. Turns out Acrobat now generates AI summaries by default when you open a file, instead of just asking if you want one (which I never do).

I wonder why so many male columnists are susceptible to Maria Steen's message and so few female columnists are? Probably nothing to worry about.

We tried to place this story - very expensive polling, the first of its kind, strong quantitative data about what trans people feel about Britain: bluntly there is no better way to tell the story - with the BBC but it said it was "too weak". But it will pick up any old piece of transhating garbage.

Sum up #Aras25 media coverage in one pic.

Catherine Connolly supporters are ‘quite MAGA like’ says a columnist on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland. The claim goes unchallenged. #Áras25 #Media

AI is not sentient. It doesn't have a survival instinct. What's happened is that corporations have decided that we'll all obey capital if it can pretend to talk.

Every time a pundit says ‘woke’ they should be asked to define it. On the spot before anyone can move on with the discussion. Every single time

By failing to even get nominated for the Presidency while another independent candidate scored a record victory, I have of course been proven right

Catherine Connolly got more votes than any other president in history - any pol corr or commentator trying to convince you that the story is actually the spoiled votes is showing you their whole arse, and should be treated accordingly.

When the left win something it doesn't mean what it looks like, but when the right win something, we all must pay attention. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Just in from the Catherine Connolly gig in Vicar street tonight. Amazing energy and positivity. It’s not done yet, get out the vote on Friday.

Emmet Kirwan on home ground tonight in Vicar Street. Brilliant. @emmetkirwan.bsky.social @catherinegalway.bsky.social #Áras25 #spéirghorm #SpokenWord #NotASuitInTheRoom