Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
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deshocks.bsky.social
Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
@deshocks.bsky.social
5.2K followers 2.7K following 2.3K posts
Opinion Editor, Irish Examiner |
Host, The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast | Mother of three.
Interested in news, books, politics, culture, science, climate and life in Ireland - and everywhere else. Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine.
Posts Replies Media Videos
deshocks.bsky.social
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Public service media in a united Ireland: RTÉ, BBC and beyond?
A new model of public media with regional hubs in Cork, Limerick and other cities could become a positive facilitator rather than a problem to be solved, write Dawn Wheatley and Roddy Flynn
www.irishexaminer.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:30 AM
deshocks.bsky.social
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
A month after Bondi attacks, Jewish diaspora remains in shock
Politicisation of the tragedy to attack anti-genocide movement is a further affront to Jews everywhere, writes Ria Czerniak-Lebov
www.irishexaminer.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:30 AM
deshocks.bsky.social
Bringing back patience would be good for democracy, says @vittorio66.bsky.social
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Bringing back patience would be a good thing for democracy
By seeking shortcuts, we are issuing an open invitation to totalitarians
www.irishexaminer.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:29 AM
deshocks.bsky.social
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Judge's comments show bias against cyclists is 'deeply embedded' in Irish society
There are five actions we can take to save lives on our roads, if we choose to implement them
www.irishexaminer.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
matthiasfeist.bsky.social
The resistance to Greenways also shows this culture of motonormativity. I live in the countryside and outside of our Greenway there is no safe roadway to cycle, walk, or roll.
January 14, 2026 at 7:04 AM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
billcorbett.bsky.social
People not in Minnesota: please read this excellent summary of what life is like in Minneapolis since the murderous scum ICE swarmed here. And more are on their way. By local reporter / writer / bike dude / legend @dbrauer.net .
Text: “A friend said those of us who live in Minneapolis should write about what's going on here for folks who live elsewhere. You need to know that whether you're a Republican, Independent or Democrat, the Constitution is being violated by our federal government. This is not about catching criminals, or even deporting people. It is about punishing an entire state, including citizens, for not supporting the president. Everyone in my part of Minneapolis is affected. On our streets, ICE is stopping people of color and demanding their papers. In America. US citizens do not have to prove citizenship to ICE. Yet people are being intimidated, some cases beaten up and detained, for requiring ICE to follow the law. ICE needs a judicial warrant to enter homes. Yet there are documented cases of them ignoring the law - violating a bedrock constitutional principle. Americans of color are staying home, afraid to go to work, school, to grocery shop, or fill their cars with gas. This isn't just "illegals" or immigrants with valid work permits, it is citizens who have had their cars rammed by ICE for merely looking Hispanic. Businesses are closing. Schools are 50 percent full. When they are open, fascists are calling in bomb threats because the president decided to make us a meme. After a daycare teacher with a valid work permit (through 2030) was snatched from her workplace, parents (and grandparents) have had to organize to watch their SCHOOLS, to make sure conditional rights are observed. This is being repeated throughout Minnesota. Imagine trying to do your job or live you life while also taking volunteer shifts to make sure the federal government doesn't act extrajudicially. Because of ICE's documented abuses, neighbors have organized to monitor federal actions. This observation is legal, as long as it doesn't interfere with a valid action. Yet since ICE killed Renee Good, they are increasingly stopping this observation, breaking car windows and …”
January 13, 2026 at 10:38 PM
deshocks.bsky.social
Just the five tantrums since 6pm… lovely evening thanks. The good news is there are only 3 more school lunch prep days left before we get our school meals and I for one will be ceremonially burning the lunchboxes

*metaphorically, that would be a waste and very messy
January 13, 2026 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
gregsargent.bsky.social
This is appalling: Top DOJ officials are actively pushing for a criminal investigation into the widow of Renee Good, leading prosecutors to quit en masse, NYT is reporting.

Who in the White House ordered DOJ to do this? That's the next thing to establish.
January 13, 2026 at 6:44 PM
deshocks.bsky.social
From running some of Cork’s most loved pubs, to being arrested after days spent wandering barefoot around Rome clutching a bottle of whiskey, today’s podcast guest Michael Droney has overcome child sexual abuse, addiction & alcoholism to tell his own story.

open.spotify.com/episode/6yXS...
A publican’s story of addiction and recovery, with Michael Droney
open.spotify.com
January 13, 2026 at 8:18 PM
deshocks.bsky.social
A timely op-ed from @ciarancannon.bsky.social today on making cyclists safer

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Judge's comments show bias against cyclists is 'deeply embedded' in Irish society
There are five actions we can take to save lives on our roads, if we choose to implement them
www.irishexaminer.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
aidanobrien.bsky.social
When you're begging people not to be negative about your product/economic model, you know things are going great!
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has apologised for comments he made in a speech this morning in which he suggested that he did not know how people who engaged in moaning about the economy did not commit suicide.
January 13, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
josefoshea.bsky.social
TL is full of this now - masked 'police' randomly grabbing non-white or non-obviously Amuricans - and the US Media is furiously both sides-ing it. It's insane.
gaykwon.bsky.social Street Sharks Explained 🇨🇺🇵🇸 @gaykwon.bsky.social · 1d
This woman is harder than goddamn steel dealing with these goddamn thugs. I want her to be my neighbor.
January 12, 2026 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
sundersays.bsky.social
Ukip have submitted a new logo and slogan to the Electoral Commission, swapping the £ pound sterling symbol for a cross, that looks very much like it is modelled on the Iron Cross used by Prussia & Germany 1871-1918 and Hitler's Nazi regime from 1933-45
January 13, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
julietemckenna.bsky.social
In case you are unaware that digital images are also being manipulated to depict women and children as victims of physical violence. It's not just about bikinis.
January 11, 2026 at 8:23 AM
deshocks.bsky.social
IBEC writing in today’s @irishexaminer.bsky.social with a warning that changes to immigration rhetoric and policy are bad for Ireland

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Prejudice against migrants is a threat to Brand Ireland
Any policy shift or public sentiment that undermines Ireland’s reputation as a welcoming destination represents a significant risk to future prosperity, our values, and our collective quality of life
www.irishexaminer.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:52 AM
deshocks.bsky.social
Nooooooo
soren.bsky.social Soren Iverson @soren.bsky.social · 1d
Google Meet show how late people will be based on meeting history
January 12, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
maxberger.bsky.social
The DOJ is more than three weeks late in delivering the Epstein Files. In those three weeks:

- Trump declared himself acting President of Venezuela
- ICE murdered a woman in Minnesota
- Trump is preparing an invasion of a NATO ally
- Trump initiated a criminal investigation of Fed Chair Powell
January 12, 2026 at 1:47 AM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
miafarrow.bsky.social
I keep having to remind myself that
ní mhaireann aon drochlá go deo

( no bad day lasts forever)
January 11, 2026 at 11:07 PM
deshocks.bsky.social
Wow… a US bishop telling clergy to get their wills written in case they are killed by the State while defending the vulnerable.

This is…

I don’t even know the word for this.
clairenf.bsky.social Claire Nevin-Field @clairenf.bsky.social · 3d
“I have asked the clergy of the diocese to make sure their affairs are in order and they have written their wills.,not the time for statements. It is time to put our bodies between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable”. Rob Hirschfeld, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire
Redirecting...
www.facebook.com
January 11, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
sharrow.bsky.social
There is no reason the Irish Gov departments can't do simular.

Run it's own server here in the country.

ec.social-network.europa.eu/about
January 10, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
nkalamb.bsky.social
Kind of wild there has been almost no coverage of the fact that the federal government unleashed chemical weapons against literal kids *at school*.

workdaymagazine.org/minneapolis-...
Only a few hours after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Minneapolis resident and mother Renee Good on January 7, federal immigration enforcement agents descended onto Roosevelt High School property during school dismissal as students were exiting the building. MFE members say that ICE agents tackled and detained a school staff member and union member who was working at the time. The MFE member was since released, according to a union spokesperson. The agents also deployed a chemical irritant against students and staff on school grounds, MFE says. A school official, speaking to MPR News on condition of anonymity, said many students sheltered in a nearby library.
January 10, 2026 at 12:24 PM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
lorak.bsky.social
Elon Musk and xAI's Grok got suspended by Indonesia because the country not only has -- but will actually enforce -- a regulation that tries to protect people from having their images used in rampant AI generated CSAM / NCII, apparently... www.cnbc.com/2026/01/10/i...
Indonesia temporarily blocks access to Elon Musk's Grok over sexualized images
The move comes after governments and regulators from Europe to Asia have condemned and some have opened inquiries into sexualized content on the app.
www.cnbc.com
January 10, 2026 at 5:14 PM
deshocks.bsky.social
This is a Bad Take.

I left X this time last year, reluctantly. My Twitter community built my career. I had (I think?) about 50k followers.

But it became clearer and clearer after Musk took over where it was going. Bots, nazis, all manner of hate speech and vileness. No going back.
January 10, 2026 at 2:35 PM
deshocks.bsky.social
Jennifer Horgan’s lovely column about Jessie Buckley’s equally beautiful speech this week was in a similar vein but expressed a lot better. You can read it here: www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/colu...
January 10, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
statsepi.bsky.social
Badly underfunded Irish universities (realize to EU accounting for the size of population and economy) are in a tough place, now over-reliant on exorbitant fees for international students, and external research funding, some with hidden strings attached.

www.irishexaminer.com/news/spotlig...
When a written exam exposed an uncomfortable truth in third-level education
An extraordinary exam saga has reignited debate about overseas student recruitment, English proficiency standards, and the pressures facing Irish universities
www.irishexaminer.com
January 10, 2026 at 1:20 PM