My article in Tuesday's Irsish Times asked whether it is time to make Shakespeare an option at Higher Level English rather than being compulsory, as he is now.

Fortnightly 192: Nicholas Carr's 'Superbloom' | Rachel Cusk | @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social on reading in crisis | @conorsmurf.bsky.social on Shakespeare | @timothysnyder.bsky.social on Ukraine and kindness | AI guidelines from @irishsciteach.bsky.social juliangirdham.substack.com/p/192-wherev...

I have been waiting a good many years for a new Shane Meadows to come along and it turns out he is Irish. Canty is a major talent.

Anyone know where I can get a DVD copy of Song of Granite? Want to use it in school. (Easier when it's a dvd)

Highest 2 Lowest doesn’t quite work. The pacing is off and the a turning point feels unearned. But the film is fascinating in its exploration of culture, of doubles, of "class." It's a film with lots to say, and lots for us to discuss. Watch it.

To be fair though the oral is mentioned, and they don't seem capable of implementing it, so isn't this just a fantasy text?

Has Shakespeare been removed as a requirement for HL Leaving Cert English? He's not mentioned in the new spec, published today. He was in the Requirements section if the draft, but absent from it now! www.curriculumonline.ie/getmedia/cea...

Fortnightly 190 is out: Florence Knapp, Adrian Lester on Othello, R.C. Sherriff, Anne Enright and Joseph O’Connor on John McGahern, essays on Leaving Certificate English, Oscar Wilde's trials and more. juliangirdham.substack.com/p/190-all-th...

This blog asks whether it's time for Shakespeare to be optional at Higher Level Leaving Cert English. It opened up an interesting debate on Facebook, but not much on twitter. Which is interesting. thevideotrolley.blogspot.com/2025/08/is-i...

Drama, Film and Theatre, an LC subject, update: 1. No equipment 2. Last minute text change 3. Possibly no computers. Thus, no ability to actually complete the Film aspect of the course. (That's 50% of the course) 4. Schools still struggling with finding, adapting, rooms

Our latest episode is now online, with @conorsmurf.bsky.social and @natashawaugh.bsky.social joining us to talk about Celine Song’s “Past Lives”, which is on the new Drama, Film and Theatre Studies course on the Irish Leaving Certificate. www.soundcloud.com/the250/431-p...

Our latest episode is now online, with @conorsmurf.bsky.social & @niallmurphy.bsky.social talking about "The Quiet Girl", one of the films on the new Leaving Certificate Drama, Film & Theatre Course. We discuss the Irish language, stocism and - of course - biscuits. soundcloud.com/the250/430-a...

An article in The Echo about my wife, Aislinn, and the work she does. This one looks at the gender affirming tattooing she offers.

Our podcast schedule for the next few weeks. AUG. 2: "I'm Not Scared", w/ @conorsmurf.bsky.social AUG. 9: "An Cailín Ciúin", w/ Conor & @niallmurphy.bsky.social AUG. 16: "Past Lives", w/ Conor & @natashawaugh.bsky.social AUG. 23: "The Green Mile", w/ Charlene Lydon & @cethanleahy.com.

This week, we're kicking off the first of three weeks looking at the films added to the Irish Leaving Cert Curriculum with @conorsmurf.bsky.social. This week, a film making a surprise return to the English curriculum, Gabriele Salvatores' "I'm Not Scared." soundcloud.com/the250/429-i...

Ryan has clearly been told to keep an eye on Skelton. Love it.

Darcy Graham coming off upset is the highlight of the tour so far, it shows us cynical tyoes that the team does matter. Feel sorry for the guy. I'd have him over VDM.

SPOILER FOR UNTAMED Yes, that is the twist in Untamed. You knew from the first episode.

This has been an uneventful #Lions tour, this game is more of the same. All just feels like an ad for Lions merch.

The slight time delays between sound and vision is irritating.

He didn't release. We all knew he didn't release. God only knows why the ref didn't make that decision at the time.

Your morning read. AI doesn't write, it merely gives a representation of writing, so why should we ask it to give feedback on students' writing? thevideotrolley.blogspot.com/2025/07/can-...

Hansen is playing well.

Pollock should have given it to Ryan.

I once wrote a film that he was going to star in. He was offered the part of "the baddie" but instead wanted to fly in, do a scene as a seanachai in a pub in Leap, stay for a bit, and fly out. We wanted €10,000. The film was, obviously, never made. Only script I got paid for.

When I met Ryan Coogler several years ago, we were standing in a group of people chatting, when a woman with visible hearing aids walked up, and he casually began to sign the whole conversation so she could participate. She mouthed “thank you”. He nodded and just kept doing his thing.

Today's film is Through a Glass Darkly, Ingmar Bergman, 1961.

Joe McCarthy is having a great game.

I put together a 4-page doc for those wary of the rush to integrate in K-12 schools (though much applies beyond). Four of the main arguments for teachers using AI tools & introducing kids to AI as early as kindergarten are addressed with rebuttals linked to sources.

A clear outline of the current state of LC reform, with an acknowledgement that the CAO is the real issue. www.rte.ie/news/educati...

He blew the whistle...

Well, well, well... www.thejournal.ie/department-o...

I wrote about where we are after 10 years of Junior Cycle English. Spoiler: not in a great place. I tried to keep it short but it still runs over a bit. I could have written a few thousand words more... thevideotrolley.blogspot.com/2025/06/juni...

"My texts did not present humans as paradoxical, but they were presented as contradictory..."

Paper 2 was more difficult than paper 1. That always seems to be the way (one straight forward, the other more challenging) The General Vision question was a bit of a kick in the balls, and the other Qs were challenging, but enough choice to compensate.

Nice to be quoted in the Irish Times today, balancing out some of the other comments. www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...

Meanness is right. But looking at paper 1; it was grand out, so the NCCA and their endless Spec design has to be rooted in the problem too. A longer paper with absolute choice questions,e.g. 14 to do 10, would reward kids for what they have studied and learned rather than the constant trickery.

Grandson is doing the JC and honestly is completely disengaged. He could use his severe dyslexia as the reason, but truth is he does read a lot, the whole thing simply seems a waste of time to him. As an academic I'm inclined to agree. Meanwhile his LC sister spent an hr talking to me about Lear.

The Junior Cycle exam is designed to tell teachers what to teach, punish students for slow writing, presume 15 year olds think like adults. The Leaving Cert paper 1 aims to give students room to express themselves. And which one are we changing?

I'm sick of the fucking nonsense that is the Junior Cycle English infinity machine. I genuinely want to just quit. We're in the classroom wanting to teach, to educate, to get students to think and create but all they want us to do is "get shit covered." Fuck 'em.

If you think us teachers are a bit over the top in our reaction to exam papers, have a look at the title of this section, in a purely written exam. Written in a silent exam hall. This is the nonsense we are dealing with.

So, how many English teachers are going to admit that short stories took a back seat due to the overwhelming content of the JC? I know many teachers that simply don't have the time to fit them in. And now we get a 15 mark question on the exam Time to surface cover everything!

You better all watch #DeptQ because I want another season!!

I was at a couple of events at the Fastnet Film Festival this morning and, once again, I can't believe such a quality event is just down the road from me. Barry Keoghan was fascinating. Such an articulate artist. Wish I had gone to more!

RIP Leslie Dilley A highly accomplished & dazzling Oscar-winning art designer & production designer who worked on too many classics to mention here. His toughest but most striking work was on The Abyss, whose influence can still be felt today on the submarine sequence in The Final Reckoning.

Watching this scene from Malcolm X and all I can think of is how shit Shawshank is.

Films on the new JC English text list.

We're seeing the true value of Gavin Coombes in the last few games. Sensational in the least sensational aspects of the job.

What are you doing when you get AI to correct your students' essays? You are giving away students' intellectual property without their permission, for the app to profit from. The student might even be the one paying the app for advice based on the student's own writing.

I hope people realise that these new LC targeted AI apps are setting themselves up as ready to "assist" in the completion of AACs. Offer it "free" now, to collect the data from teachers and students. Then, when the AACs are to be completed, charge for the "premium assistant" AI.