Laurence Cooley
@lpcooley.bsky.social
Politics lecturer, University of Birmingham
Work on the politics of deeply divided societies (mostly Northern Ireland these days), including power-sharing, demography and the census. Currently also thinking about Lough Neagh. UCU rep. #firstgen
Work on the politics of deeply divided societies (mostly Northern Ireland these days), including power-sharing, demography and the census. Currently also thinking about Lough Neagh. UCU rep. #firstgen
Pinned
Laurence Cooley
@lpcooley.bsky.social
· Nov 24
The environment as a second policy dimension in a deeply divided society: The politics of Northern Ireland’s Lough Neagh crisis - Timofey Agarin, Laurence Cooley, Elliott Hill, 2025
Environmental concerns are often marginalised in post-conflict societies. Especially under power-sharing, political parties tend to prioritise their ethno-natio...
journals.sagepub.com
This article is now out in @bjpir.bsky.social! In it, we explain why government action to tackle the ecological crisis at Lough Neagh has lagged behind the apparent rhetorical consensus about its importance. Has Muir been set up to fail? #LoughNeagh #openaccess journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
Research article, 'Nationalists and unionists in a northern town (1914-1922): Lisburn, the Rising and the Swanzy Riots', by Ciaran Toal, is now available through the following link:
@universitypress.cambridge.org
@universitypress.cambridge.org
Nationalists and unionists in a northern town (1914–1922): Lisburn, the Rising and the Swanzy Riots | Irish Historical Studies | Cambridge Core
Nationalists and unionists in a northern town (1914–1922): Lisburn, the Rising and the Swanzy Riots
www.cambridge.org
January 15, 2026 at 11:08 AM
Research article, 'Nationalists and unionists in a northern town (1914-1922): Lisburn, the Rising and the Swanzy Riots', by Ciaran Toal, is now available through the following link:
@universitypress.cambridge.org
@universitypress.cambridge.org
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
Some good news here. When not drowning our streets in flags, "Raise the Colours" have been in France, driving to the living sites of Calais and Dunkirk to scream racist abuse at and harass refugees, filming all the while to make monetisable social media content. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
France bans 10 British 'far-right activists' over anti-migrant activity
French officials said actions by members of the Raise the Colours group were likely to cause public disorder.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 14, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Some good news here. When not drowning our streets in flags, "Raise the Colours" have been in France, driving to the living sites of Calais and Dunkirk to scream racist abuse at and harass refugees, filming all the while to make monetisable social media content. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
IPSA Research Committees Colloquium: Minorities under Siege? Plural Societies Facing Plural Challenges
www.ipsa.org/na/call-for-...
www.ipsa.org/na/call-for-...
January 8, 2026 at 8:08 PM
IPSA Research Committees Colloquium: Minorities under Siege? Plural Societies Facing Plural Challenges
www.ipsa.org/na/call-for-...
www.ipsa.org/na/call-for-...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
"We honor [Renee's] memory by living her values: rejecting hate and choosing compassion, turning away from fear and pursuing peace, refusing division and knowing we must come together to build a world where we all come home safe to the people we love."
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Renee Macklin Good’s wife says she nurtured kindness
On Wednesday, Renee Macklin Good was fatally shot by a federal ICE agent. Becca Good, her wife, shared the following statement with MPR News.
www.mprnews.org
January 9, 2026 at 5:28 PM
"We honor [Renee's] memory by living her values: rejecting hate and choosing compassion, turning away from fear and pursuing peace, refusing division and knowing we must come together to build a world where we all come home safe to the people we love."
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
Legend
Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).
January 8, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Legend
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
A despicable U.S. government murdered Renee Nicole Good with 3 bullets, then tried to assassinate her character with absurd lies
But brave resisters with cameras pulled back the mask and showed America the truth. Let Jan. 7, 2026 mark a turning point. My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/minn...
But brave resisters with cameras pulled back the mask and showed America the truth. Let Jan. 7, 2026 mark a turning point. My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/minn...
Minneapolis ICE murder is Trump’s Waterloo in America’s war for the truth | Will Bunch
After federal agents' senseless killing of Renee Good, will Americans believe a rogue government or their own eyes?
www.inquirer.com
January 8, 2026 at 5:27 PM
A despicable U.S. government murdered Renee Nicole Good with 3 bullets, then tried to assassinate her character with absurd lies
But brave resisters with cameras pulled back the mask and showed America the truth. Let Jan. 7, 2026 mark a turning point. My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/minn...
But brave resisters with cameras pulled back the mask and showed America the truth. Let Jan. 7, 2026 mark a turning point. My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/minn...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
Between 1969 and the peace deal in 1998, British soldiers killed hundreds of people in Northern Ireland, including many civilians.
Should such collective state violence fade from scrutiny? What is the best way to hold it to account?
politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/the-bri...
Should such collective state violence fade from scrutiny? What is the best way to hold it to account?
politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/the-bri...
The British Army's Historical Abuses in Northern Ireland Must be Held to Account
The British army on trial.
politicalquarterly.org.uk
January 7, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Between 1969 and the peace deal in 1998, British soldiers killed hundreds of people in Northern Ireland, including many civilians.
Should such collective state violence fade from scrutiny? What is the best way to hold it to account?
politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/the-bri...
Should such collective state violence fade from scrutiny? What is the best way to hold it to account?
politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/the-bri...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
A decade long transatlantic panic about the civilizational threat of left-wing cancel culture and we now have an "anti-woke" censorship campaign taking out Plato at a major American university. Absolutely pathetic.
From an email to one of our faculty members....
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
January 6, 2026 at 9:30 PM
A decade long transatlantic panic about the civilizational threat of left-wing cancel culture and we now have an "anti-woke" censorship campaign taking out Plato at a major American university. Absolutely pathetic.
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
BBC News - Blue-green algae to bluetongue - 2025 in NI agriculture and environment
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
NI agriculture 2025: From blue-green algae to bluetongue virus
BBC NI's Agriculture and Environment correspondent Louise Cullen gives her round-up of 2025.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 1, 2026 at 9:57 AM
BBC News - Blue-green algae to bluetongue - 2025 in NI agriculture and environment
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
New with @regret.bsky.social: Grok’s creation of harmful “undress” images is relentless.
Even today, after days of scrutiny, Grok was churning out ‘bikini’ and underwear images of women every few seconds.
Researchers estimate that Grok has become the biggest creator of sexualized deepfake images
Even today, after days of scrutiny, Grok was churning out ‘bikini’ and underwear images of women every few seconds.
Researchers estimate that Grok has become the biggest creator of sexualized deepfake images
Grok Is Pushing AI ‘Undressing’ Mainstream
Paid tools that “strip” clothes from photos have been available on the darker corners of the internet for years. Elon Musk's X is now removing barriers to entry—and making the results public.
www.wired.com
January 6, 2026 at 10:23 PM
New with @regret.bsky.social: Grok’s creation of harmful “undress” images is relentless.
Even today, after days of scrutiny, Grok was churning out ‘bikini’ and underwear images of women every few seconds.
Researchers estimate that Grok has become the biggest creator of sexualized deepfake images
Even today, after days of scrutiny, Grok was churning out ‘bikini’ and underwear images of women every few seconds.
Researchers estimate that Grok has become the biggest creator of sexualized deepfake images
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
The extremely easy capture of tech leaders, platforms, and initiatives by fascists interested in shutting knowledge production down should force us to rethink digitization as a sufficient or secure strategy for maintaining access to knowledge.
This story reminds us that:
a) Not everything has been digitized
b) Not everything digitized is accessible to the public
Also: What's happening at NASA is part of a broader trend of library closures in government & industry. (Even university libraries are moving away from physical books & journals)
a) Not everything has been digitized
b) Not everything digitized is accessible to the public
Also: What's happening at NASA is part of a broader trend of library closures in government & industry. (Even university libraries are moving away from physical books & journals)
They're going to *throw out* one-of-a-kind NASA archives?!
Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
January 6, 2026 at 9:06 PM
The extremely easy capture of tech leaders, platforms, and initiatives by fascists interested in shutting knowledge production down should force us to rethink digitization as a sufficient or secure strategy for maintaining access to knowledge.
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
this is how every outlet should refer to X
January 6, 2026 at 5:11 PM
this is how every outlet should refer to X
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
Applications now open. Find out more at birmingham.ac.uk/gender-ma
January 6, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Applications now open. Find out more at birmingham.ac.uk/gender-ma
This questioning of the science is something @tagarin.bsky.social, Elliott Hill and I discuss in our analysis of the party politics of the #LoughNeagh crisis, recently published in @bjpir.bsky.social. #openaccess journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
January 6, 2026 at 12:23 PM
This questioning of the science is something @tagarin.bsky.social, Elliott Hill and I discuss in our analysis of the party politics of the #LoughNeagh crisis, recently published in @bjpir.bsky.social. #openaccess journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
“Some people are taking an awful lot of flak for standing up for migrant rights” - our director, Prof Peter Shirlow, quoted in @theguardian.com article by Rory Carroll revisiting Ballymena 6 months after the race riots.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Ballymena riots six months on: fear, formidable obstacles and official silence
After attacks on immigrants’ homes, groups patrol the streets to intimidate potential victims, who try to keep a low profile
www.theguardian.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:35 AM
“Some people are taking an awful lot of flak for standing up for migrant rights” - our director, Prof Peter Shirlow, quoted in @theguardian.com article by Rory Carroll revisiting Ballymena 6 months after the race riots.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
2025 goes down as the ~3rd-warmest year on record (based on ERA5).
Like in 2024, every single day this past year was warmer than the average of even the most recent reference period (1991-2020).
Like in 2024, every single day this past year was warmer than the average of even the most recent reference period (1991-2020).
January 4, 2026 at 5:38 PM
2025 goes down as the ~3rd-warmest year on record (based on ERA5).
Like in 2024, every single day this past year was warmer than the average of even the most recent reference period (1991-2020).
Like in 2024, every single day this past year was warmer than the average of even the most recent reference period (1991-2020).
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
End game of climate denialism:
“We’re going to have our very large US oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, & start making money for the country”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/b...
“We’re going to have our very large US oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, & start making money for the country”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/b...
January 3, 2026 at 7:37 PM
End game of climate denialism:
“We’re going to have our very large US oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, & start making money for the country”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/b...
“We’re going to have our very large US oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, & start making money for the country”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/b...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
‘Some nights I do not sleep’: Families remember 16 sectarian killings in 24 hours in North. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Kingsmill, O’Dowd and Reavey murders, I spoke to relatives of the victims, who are angry at the insults added to injury over the years.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
‘Some nights I do not sleep’: Families remember 16 sectarian killings in 24 hours in North
Relatives reflect on 50th anniversary of Kingsmill, O’Dowd and Reavey murders
www.irishtimes.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:07 AM
‘Some nights I do not sleep’: Families remember 16 sectarian killings in 24 hours in North. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Kingsmill, O’Dowd and Reavey murders, I spoke to relatives of the victims, who are angry at the insults added to injury over the years.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
There is, to my mind, no justification for the continued use by the UK Government of X as a platform for official comms. There hasn't been for some time, in fact, but if the latest developments around AI-generated image abuse and CSAM don't change the policy I really don't know what will.
NEW: People are using Elon Musk's chatbot, Grok, to alter images to depict real women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt, and even killed.
futurism.com/future-socie...
futurism.com/future-socie...
Grok Is Being Used to Depict Horrific Violence Against Real Women
People are asking Elon Musk's Grok chatbot to alter images to depict women being sexually abused, humiliated, and even killed.
futurism.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:18 PM
There is, to my mind, no justification for the continued use by the UK Government of X as a platform for official comms. There hasn't been for some time, in fact, but if the latest developments around AI-generated image abuse and CSAM don't change the policy I really don't know what will.
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
They knew: Declassified files prove Stormont understood Lough Neagh’s pollution decades ago – but then made it worse. Stormont explicitly knew that intensive agriculture was killing our waterways, but then used public money to encourage more factory farms.
They knew: Declassified files prove Stormont understood Lough Neagh’s pollution decades ago – but then made it worse
Stormont officials knew about the chronic pollution of Lough Neagh decades ago - and also knew that it largely stemmed from intensive agriculture, declassified files prove.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
December 30, 2025 at 8:48 AM
They knew: Declassified files prove Stormont understood Lough Neagh’s pollution decades ago – but then made it worse. Stormont explicitly knew that intensive agriculture was killing our waterways, but then used public money to encourage more factory farms.
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
Day 516 of Birmingham's declared road safety emergency...
Car flips on roof in Birmingham crash
Bus routes were disrupted while emergency services attended the scene
www.birminghammail.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Day 516 of Birmingham's declared road safety emergency...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
With the average weekly UK air temperature set to hit 10.05 degrees Celsius (50.1 degrees Fahrenheit), the UK is on track to have experienced its hottest year on record. www.bbc.com/news/article... , climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications...
December 27, 2025 at 3:01 PM
With the average weekly UK air temperature set to hit 10.05 degrees Celsius (50.1 degrees Fahrenheit), the UK is on track to have experienced its hottest year on record. www.bbc.com/news/article... , climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
The road to autocracy is paved with false equivalences.
This is not a “duel,” which suggests both sides are equally culpable, but the latest salvo in the Trump administration’s ideological war on Harvard and higher education.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/u...
In Private Letters, Harvard and Trump Administration Escalate Duel
www.nytimes.com
December 25, 2025 at 1:06 PM
The road to autocracy is paved with false equivalences.
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
During its worst drought in a century, Iraq signs a water security for oil deal with Turkey. The once rich Tigris & Euphrates rivers are drying up from climate change & mismanagement, leading to crop losses & a water crisis. edition.cnn.com/2025/12/21/c...
Grappling with its worst drought in a century, Iraq bets on a controversial oil-for-water deal | CNN
The historic “land between two rivers” faces a crisis as the Tigris and Euphrates shrink dramatically amid severe drought and the increasing toll of upstream dams, helping create the country’s worst w...
edition.cnn.com
December 21, 2025 at 3:04 PM
During its worst drought in a century, Iraq signs a water security for oil deal with Turkey. The once rich Tigris & Euphrates rivers are drying up from climate change & mismanagement, leading to crop losses & a water crisis. edition.cnn.com/2025/12/21/c...
Reposted by Laurence Cooley
Irish nature is in crisis. We know what needs to be done & we know we can succeed. We only need the political leadership to deliver an ambitious Nature Restoration Plan and the funding to make it happen.
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Habitats report a stark contrast to nitrates decision
Biodiversity collapse is not a lost cause, but Government failure to prioritise it is devastating for all those working on nature restoration
www.irishexaminer.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Irish nature is in crisis. We know what needs to be done & we know we can succeed. We only need the political leadership to deliver an ambitious Nature Restoration Plan and the funding to make it happen.
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...