Rob
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robosullivan.bsky.social
Rob
@robosullivan.bsky.social
Science Communicator. Lefty. Irish.

Hobbies: Wild food, gardening, playing music. Star Trek nerd.

I won't follow back if you're not using alt text on images.

I can't share every fundraiser I'm tagged in but I'll do my best to share what I can
Pinned
Bluesky buds outside of Ireland. I realise I'm posting more frequently about Irish politics to the point of potential annoyance. If you want to see less of it I'd recommend muting the terms FFG and #FFG as a start. That'll cover like 90% of my rants. Apologies but we've got some work to do here.
Reposted by Rob
Hypocrisy is an undeclared EU core value.
January 16, 2026 at 5:09 PM
The one consolation in all of this is the impending Wikipedia entry entitled
"End of Fianna Fáil Leadership and Term As Taoiseach". #spéirgorm
January 16, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Sincerely. Is there any legitimate reason for a typical vehicle to be capable of exceeding the top legal speed limits?
“Selling a machine that can go at a speed in excess of what is allowable is a huge anomaly” Seán Canney, Minister of State for Road Safety

👏👏 hear, hear

Oh wait, that was for e-scooters.
Where are these calls when it comes to private motor vehicles?
A Fianna Fáil TD has been convicted of dangerous driving after a court heard he was driving at over 190km/h on a motorway last March
January 16, 2026 at 10:54 PM
Reposted by Rob
“Selling a machine that can go at a speed in excess of what is allowable is a huge anomaly” Seán Canney, Minister of State for Road Safety

👏👏 hear, hear

Oh wait, that was for e-scooters.
Where are these calls when it comes to private motor vehicles?
January 16, 2026 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by Rob
3 hours ago, The Taoiseach posted photos on X of school children from a visit he made to Gorey.

How is that not a severe safeguarding issue, given what can be done with any photo on X now?

#IrishPol
The Taoiseach can't decide if the gov should stop posting pictures on X which can be turned into CSAM or other illegal content by anyone.

And what other issues on other platforms are as illegal as being a CSAM generator?

Well done Richard for being the voice of the sane here.

#IrishPol
He did say Apple & Google should remove it from app stores.

He also said the Govt wouldn’t give “kneejerk” response by immediately coming off X, saying other platforms have issues too.

I interjected to say those other platforms don’t generate CSAM.

He accepts that but said other issues exist.
January 16, 2026 at 4:18 PM
I think we're so numb to the impotence of this government we actually managed to gloss over the fact that Micheál Martin is here saying "We have issues with other platforms as well" as if it's a defence for further inaction.
It's bad that they have no control over Meta too. #spéirgorm
Taoiseach: “We have issues with a lot of platforms at different times…”

🗣️ “But they’re not generating child sex abuse material… this is a different scale.”

Taoiseach challenged on X and Grok, and admits they should be “pursued” in respect of generated intimate images of children.
January 16, 2026 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by Rob
The Minister for Justice is very good at controlling the narrative..

A true politician for this post-truth age. Failing upwards. Spectacularly. Our next Taoiseach.
Question to Minister for Justice from @garygannontd.bsky.social: So, how many people have you been prevented from deporting because of the ECHR?

Minister's reply: Uh, dunno.

www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-01-13/1646/#pq_1646
www.oireachtas.ie
January 16, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Reposted by Rob
Close them down until they do. Stop behaving like a vassal state.
January 16, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Rob
He’ll make the excuse that he needs to drive to Dublin for work and there’s a solid chance he’ll get the likes of Judge James “cyclists are a nightmare” O’Donohoe who will give him his full sympathy.
January 16, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Rob
"It went agaisnt me on the day" - his words. speaks to the only remorse is being caught.
January 16, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Rob
"I’m not making excuses here,"

Pretty much everything he then said comes across as a string of excuses...
January 16, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Rob
Did a video on graduated speeding fines recently - this lad makes huge money as a TD and was absolutely taking the mick with his speeding. He should have been fined so much that he'd have to sell the Audi (which he's now banned from driving).

[I messed up posting it last time, this is a do-over]
January 16, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Rob
I'd have asked if he was planning to resign rather than planning to appeal
January 16, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Rob
When Mr O’Keeffe referenced his client as driving in “the fast lane”, the judge interrupted him, and said:

“You see one of the failures here is it’s not the fast lane.
It’s the overtaking lane."

💅
January 16, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Remind me again how the government are making road safety a priority?
He accepts what he did was wrong but didn't immediately rule out appealing the conviction? If he agrees what he did was wrong and is remorseful, on what grounds would he appeal the conviction?
January 16, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Rob
ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY KMPH.
!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!

www.rte.ie/news/2026/01...
FF TD detected at 190km/h convicted of dangerous driving
A Fianna Fáil TD was convicted of dangerous driving after a court heard he was driving at over 190km/h on a motorway last March.
www.rte.ie
January 16, 2026 at 3:48 PM
The Taoiseach has had at least 8 days to contemplate whether the government should be sharing a platform with CSAM. How much more time does he need before he can safely say he's avoided a "kneejerk" response?
My word.

The Taoiseach, in China, says "platforms can be misused and abused or they can be used for positive reasons as well..." and says that should be considered carefully "before jumping to conclusions" on whether it's appropriate for the Government to be on X.
January 16, 2026 at 3:27 PM
It's CSAM. There is no more universally reviled evil. There is no nuance needed. If Martin can't react quickly and decisively to something so self-evidently wrong, what value does he hold as a leader?
Point to add there - he said government was reviewing its use of X but wasn’t going to rush into it or “kneejerk” response, as he characterised it
January 16, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Rob
Absolutely. We'll get a taste of it campaigning for the Galway West By Election.

In the meantime till the next election, not to focus solely on electoral politics, we have an opportunity to try and make the case for a better future for Ireland. Hopefully we can do that.
January 16, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Rob
Dereliction bill in the Dáil -
'All carrot no stick' - Cork TD demands dereliction fine enforcement
'We are not seeing any war on dereliction in Cork city'
www.corkbeo.ie
January 16, 2026 at 1:13 PM
For sale: Peace prize. Never used.
January 16, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Reposted by Rob
Question to Minister for Justice from @garygannontd.bsky.social: So, how many people have you been prevented from deporting because of the ECHR?

Minister's reply: Uh, dunno.

www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2026-01-13/1646/#pq_1646
www.oireachtas.ie
January 16, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Rob
Games can be a wonderful way to learn about topics, directly or via tangential learning. but it very much depends on the tone of the game and how the topic is handled.

I wouldn't have high hopes tbh. Esp if the game is reductive.
I don't know enough about this game to comment on how respectfully it handles the source material, but the concept of using games as a learning tool is valid and there's plenty of research to back that up. The value of GBL can't be ascertained by uninformed conjecture. It's determined through study
The designer of a board game that is centred on the Irish famine has defended it against criticism that it is "offensive" and "insensitive". jrnl.ie/6928622
January 16, 2026 at 1:06 PM