Rob

The story here isn't the mess made while scavenging for cans. It's that our government have so thoroughly failed people, they've turned to scavenging bins in desperation. The "solutions" offered here are to the problem of *visible* deprivation, not the problem of the deprivation itself. #Spéirgorm

Response from Labour today. Bit middling tbh, but supportive of DRCC and saying the Minister's intervention raises serious concerns. bsky.app/profile/pixi...

Cathal Crowe TD here showing why you always need to read the voter’s email before you send your pre-written reply.

I finally got an email response from 1/4 TDs. It was Cathal Crowe expressing support for the Minister's actions and apparently taking some credit for the pressure that led to them. He ignored my question "Is it your position that children should not be able to object to unwanted physical contact?"

Have you ever wondered, “what does a TD get up to when the Dáil's not sitting?” The answer is... a lot For Gary, it's all about engaging with constituents, and the people and organisations doing vital work across the community

Jim O'Callaghan has caused these students all this stress and delay. When they have plenty of stress living through a genocide. And he's done it with our money and fought it in the high court with our money. Jim O'Callaghan needs to resign. For this and so much more.

Exactly how much of taxpayers money is Jim O’Callaghan going to keep wasting trying to look tough in front of FF bankbenchers and Russian Bots on Twitter.. High Court overturns decision to deny Gazan student visa www.rte.ie/news/courts/...

I live about 500 ft from a memorial to the mothers and children failed by this state, in a county where every sitting TD is from a party that came out against a video that teaches children about how consent matters in physical interactions with adults #Spéirgorm

The Taoiseach told survivors of paedophile Bill Kenneally that he would examine how two Fianna Fáil TDs failed to notify authorities of the risk he posed. 4 months later Fianna Fáil are leading the charge against children learning they can say no to unwanted physical contact from adults #spéirgorm

The Taoiseach is now backing the Justice Minister's actions in intervening to silence a charity. I'm not exaggerating. The Justice minister boasted about his role in pulling the ad himself. The government are intervening to silence messaging they don't like. Fascism is at your doorstep #spéirgorm

I won't tell you to suck it up and vote for the left parties if they're falling short on issues that matter to you. I am gonna tell you that picking the one that offends you the least, and working to improve them is a better use of your energy than lamenting the absence of your perfect party.

Did Reacher write this?

Listening to a report about Google chopping down a quarter of a million trees in Finland to build a data centre while washing out yoghurt pots for the recycling

A Taoiseach has to make hard decisions but they should have empathy and compassion. #spéirgorm

-- Some people saying grandparents would never force a hug, alongside comments (from a minority of commenters) saying they'll give a hug even if it's not wanted. -- As well as a low negative laughing faces, etc, there also seems to be a low level of negative replies to supporting comments...

I've looked at a lot of Facebook comments about the consent advert. A few observations: -- Far more people support the advert than I'd expect. -- Far less negative engagement (laughing faces, etc) than is usual with a backlash. -- A lot of people not liking the advert but then agreeing with it...

I was so preoccupied with whether a friend was developing AI psychosis, I missed the whole fucking government developing it #spéirgorm

Trying to get records through the Freedom of Information (FOI) process can be a pain. In this week's FOI Files, @investigates.thejournal.ie examines when public bodies try to delay access to records with no valid reason. www.thejournal.ie/investigates...

Sinn Féin: We should totally base all our policies on this.

You’re gonna want to see what the BlueSky guys have decided is too intolerant for you to read.

Views from Brazil:

Artist Hozier calls on the Irish government to swiftly approve the visa applications for 55 students in Gaza during Macklemore’s “Free Palestine” tour in Dublin, Ireland.

"It's so much easier to steal this than to rob a bank."

"Men are an embarrassing cringe gender" is objectively correct.

This is becoming a common pattern worldwide and if you're wondering it's because facism and patriarchy are twins.

Hi, my name is Alex Goldman -- you may know me as the host of Reply All. These days I am making a longform narrative podcast called @hyperfixedpod.bsky.social . I am making a small thread to ask to consider becoming a premium member of our completely independent show. hyperfixepod.com/join

"children in households that rely solely on state support are close to living in extreme poverty." www.thejournal.ie/ireland-soci...

If you get a new dangerous dog and you tell everyone it's dangerous and you let the dog off leash in a kid's playground and it bites a kid, the dog will be put down and you will be held responsible. Unless you're an AI company in which case you say "it could have killed us all!" and everyone claps

Heads need to roll for this. Cabinet ministers can't just lie to the public like this. #Spéirgorm

Hahahahahaha gas. I want them to keep going with this. how much water does Sally Rooney drink? How much electricity does her fridge use? How much disinformation does she spread and how many data privacy laws does she breach?

No. That's not what happened. Claude didn't do that, the company Anthropic did that and they should be held accountable - but it's been apparent for a while now that these companies can do whatever they like and they will never be held accountable www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Ireland has some responsibility on this. One of the greatest contributions we could be making to collective EU & global democracy & security (far more useful then disastrous attempts to remove the triple lock) would be having the courage to step up to our role as digital regulator in a serious way.

I am so tired of this Jack Chambers vs Jim O'Callaghan tough guy posturing impacting all our lives. #spéirghorm

So very this. The absolute state of the "everything" at the moment. DO something about it. Join a party, get voting rights within that party, create change. It really is that simple. It's a start. #SpéirGhorm #SpéirGorm #SpeirGorm

it's literally this simple - I mean, have you SEEN the fucking idiots progressive parties keep getting beaten by? Stop engaging with them in good faith (they don't), and just start incessantly repeating what you will deliver - homes, healthcare, childcare and dignity for all.

I said this to @tonygroves.bsky.social on the Tortoise Shack last week - forget winning debates, stop playing on your opponent's home turf, and start presenting a viable, inclusive, sustainable alternative to warmed-over fascism.

'75% of the far-right narrative volume mentioning Ireland comes from outside the state.'