Thanks @conorom.bsky.social for writing this piece for us setting out the legal position on X and CSAM… in short, yes, they could be prosecuted. www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

Remember when this appeared in the national gallery and politicians were so swift to take it down and make a big hullabaloo? Wonder why they aren't so pushed this time around #SpéirGorm

Funnelling more passengers through Dublin Airport, without firstly upgrading the transport links to get people to and from it, is absolute madness

My letter in today's Irish Times. When tax revenues are at an all-time-high and we risk massive fines in 4-5 years' time, why are we not investing in decarbonising? www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...

Funnelling more passengers through Dublin Airport, without firstly upgrading the transport links to get people to and from it, is absolute madness

There's no doubt that Ireland has had bad governments in the past century, with failings ranging from deference to the church, to corruption, to reckless fiscal control. I think what sets this one apart from others is its insidious combination of status quo bias, negligence, and moral cowardice.

X is based in Ireland. Under Irish law what they are doing is illegal. I didn't have "Irish government arguing against removing CSA images" on my 2026 bingo card. I'm fully astonished by FFG here. Anyone who voted for them want to weigh in? #Speirgorm

Section 5(1)(f) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 (as amended) makes it a criminal offence to knowingly facilitate the production or distribution of sexualised images of children. The problem here isn't the law - it's the political willingnesss to enforce it against X.

The only logical conclusion from this now is that the Government here, and governments around Europe, are absolutely terrified of being dragged into another battle with the richest man in the world who is hellbent on their removal; or with his ally in the White House over regulation.

4chan and Truth Social (and others) can presumably be used for positive reasons as well, why doesn't the government have official presence on those platforms?

My letter in today's Irish Times. When tax revenues are at an all-time-high and we risk massive fines in 4-5 years' time, why are we not investing in decarbonising? www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...

Minister for Justice has been very quiet this week hasn't he

Anyone else on #speirgorm who was a Young Scientists participant? And did you enter for the love of science or for the few days away from school up in Dublin? In my case it was about 50-50 and we spent most of it trying unsuccessfully to impress the much smarter team of girls at the stand next to us

the good news: got my delivery from @thebookshopie.bsky.social's end of year sale the bad news: my 'to be read' pile

changing our transport system is also crucial for breaking some of the influence that arseholes like trump and putin have over us – the less oil we burn, the more free we are

None of this makes sense. Decarbonising transport is key to us meeting emissions targets and avoiding €28 billion in fines, but decisions have been made to delay all key public transport projects

"kids don't play on the streets no more", "in my day we'd leave at 8 and come home for lunch and dinner" eh yeah me too, fewer cars by a long shot and the cars weren't the size of tanks

it makes me laugh how people sharing boomer / gen x nostalgia slop about how things were 'better in the good old days' are at the same time horrified at the thought of cycling or taking public transport to work

Harris has been subjected to the most horrific abuse and threats on X, surely he's reflected on this before now

love this movie so much. brilliant performances all round but Donal Donnelly / Freddy Malins was an absolute scene stealer

I miss the days when éminences grises were shadowy, influential, behind-the-scenes characters. This psycho is on my timeline every few hours and I don't even live in the hellscape that he apparently now half controls

The video in the thread redacts the images, mercifully. But you can see from the prompts what is happening. This is obscene, vicious and intolerable. X and Grok should be shut down until this grotesque harassment can be stopped. Those responsible should face the full force of the law.

Not even the prompts. If you are a Twitter user in the UK and Twitter sticks a Grok CSAM image in your feed for WHATEVER reason, well congrats your device just downloaded child porn. And you are legally responsible for that.

Starmer has said that what has been allowed to happen at X is "outrageous" and that those responsible should face the "full force of the law," calling their tactics "pathetic" no wait sorry, I got confused, that was him describing Just Stop Oil protesters who put some cornflour on Stonehenge.

Horrific. If you're thinking it seems like a vulnerable road user is killed on Ireland's roads every couple of days you'd be almost right. In 2025 a pedestrian, motorcyclist, cyclist or e-scooter user was killed every 4 days.

Noticing a lot of discourse on the Twitter/X/Grok/AI nastiness & I just want to say: 🚨 Could people PLEASE stop referring to what’s being created as “child porn”? It’s CSA Material, whether it’s AI-generated or not. 🚨 Also: if you’re still posting etc. on that vile site, you’re endorsing the CSAM.

Congestion pricing is a heckuva street safety strategy www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I'm writing about the Palestine Action hunger strikers at the moment, any of whom could die at any moment, and the astonishing media and government silence surrounding them. The Establishment seems to have become even crueller than when Thatcher was PM.

hadn't posted there in a long time and account was private, but this was definitely overdue

Just saw a clip of Jimmy Carr on a podcast (not linking it) bemoaning how 'woke' has made young white mean feel they're not valid any more

interesting

it's probably not under-analysed but it's a bit mental how US and international media has played a part in normalising this new era of imperialism and colonisation. "Mr. President, are you going to invade Iceland and enslave its w entire population?" "Maybe, who knows. We might take a look at it"

What do Greenland, Honduras, Venezuela, and Nigeria have in common? The “network state” cabal—which includes Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, & Joe Lonsdale—has been circling them like vultures. 1/

Anti-Imperialist posters seen in Quito, Ecuador

Just saw a clip of Jimmy Carr on a podcast (not linking it) bemoaning how 'woke' has made young white mean feel they're not valid any more

I take it he's going to reduce default speed limits to 30km/h, implement progressive fines for speeding, roll out automated camera enforcement and set up a dedicated traffic unit for the Gardaí. I could go on, these are just the first 4 things that sprung to mind (without turning over any stones).

The weak response from Can, EU and UN to Trump's flagrant crimes in Venezuela is striking. It exposes that much of the world has been cowed. Most notable exception: the Latin American left. That is why the Trump Admin has gone to enormous lengths to defeat the left across the continent. 1/3

As Irish schools return from the Christmas break, a thought for principals: if your school is still on X and you are posting pictures of students there, there is a non-zero probability of dickheads there using Grok to create CSAM images from your school photos. #HellSite #SchoolHeadaches

what he says here could equally describe Ireland's political relationship with the US, albeit our side of that relationship is significantly more dependent and vulnerable. And there are no plans to address that risk – the 2025 PFG contained a whole section about prioritising US relations

what he says here could equally describe Ireland's political relationship with the US, albeit our side of that relationship is significantly more dependent and vulnerable. And there are no plans to address that risk – the 2025 PFG contained a whole section about prioritising US relations

Financial barriers to environmental litigation are against the law, because protecting the environment is an important public interest. The government now wants to make it super expensive (>€100,000) for ordinary people to go to court to protect the environment Please read and take action 👇

It's actually important that, to the extent you are able, you stop using oil

"What we need is a transport system that supports heath. This means safe, high-quality infrastructure for walking and cycling integrated with high quality public transport that is complimented by car use when needed." Excellent article by Dr. Catherine Conlon. www.thejournal.ie/readme/road-...

poor Venezuela is about to be seriously shock doctrined isn't it

if you are talking today about how bad maduro was and were alive, at all, during the run-up to the iraq war you are potentially the dumbest person to ever live

dreadful reflection on the majority of the Wolves squad so far this season that an 18-year-old has been its main source of intensity and leadership. Not that I'm complaining, Mateus Mané you're a diamond #wwfc #WOLWHU

"international law must be followed" is european for "thoughts and prayers"