Siobhán McElduff
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siobhanmcelduff.bsky.social
Siobhán McElduff
@siobhanmcelduff.bsky.social
1st gen Irish (Donegal/Sligo) settler in Canada. Author of obscure academic books and slightly less obscure OERs on Roman culture. Translator of, and far too fond of Cicero. She/her nó sí/í

Opinions my own


siobhanmcelduff.com
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
I'm delighted to see that Mícheál Martin has found his missing magic wand 🪄
Ministers sign off on further five-figure pay rises for semi-state bosses
Ministers have signed off on pay rises for CEOs at another three commercial semi-state organisations.
share.google
February 10, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Weird, because I seem to recall proscribing these people as equivalents to Al Qaeda or ISIS was justified by senior politicians claiming they had Sekrit Damning Evidence Of Terrorisms that they couldn’t disclose. Perhaps it was too Sekrit for Channel 4?
February 10, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
If Bad Bunny can cover the history of Puerto Rico, colonialism, transatlantic slavery, hemispheric consciousness, as well as contemporary life and politics in under 14 minutes, you can do your 15- or 20-minute conference presentation with time to spare.
February 9, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Cág, colm aille, meantán gorm agus gealbhan binne / Jackdaw, pigeon, blue tit and house sparrow

In a world where there is so much hatred, division, exclusion and fear between people, it brings me immeasurable comfort to watch four different types of bird eat and share food

#birdsky
#spéirghorm
February 10, 2026 at 1:35 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
In 6 weeks, Minister O'Brien has fast-tracked LNG infrastructure, lifted the moratorium on data centres and the Dublin Airport passenger cap. All under the banner of 'strategic infrastructure'.

Irresponsible moves that lock us into climate havoc and US dependency.

www.rte.ie/news/politic...
Proposal to end Dublin Airport passenger cap approved
The Cabinet has approved drafting the required legislation to end the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
www.rte.ie
February 10, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
I am delighted to let you know that I produced the audiobook Displaced in Gaza - 27 Stories from the Gaza Genocide, and thanks to Haymarket and the AFSC, you can listen now for free.

All proceeds from the book sales are going to We Are Not Numbers

podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/d...
February 10, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Abject cowardice is always the core feature of FFG governments

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/hous...
Short-term let restrictions will only apply to towns with populations over 20,000 after Government rowback
Minister for Tourism says opposition from Norma Foley and Michael Healy-Rae not the reason for change of approach
www.irishtimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

Smoking, drinking, sex, movie age limits don‘t require government data on people following or not these limits. Digital age verification, eg PPSN, DL, will mean govt/3rd party knows 1/
February 10, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Also "everyone, even me and my mates, was looking the other way over this" leads to further questions about why *more* people aren't resigning in disgrace, does it not? Surely it points to a system riddled with corruption and self dealing, unable to police itself? No?
Lewis does make some good points here, but look: Mandelson is not just some guy here. He has been at the core of the Labour right for decades; he was clearly right in the middle of McSweeney’s project all along, both the secret wrecking campaign and after; he was *literally picking candidates*.
February 10, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
The lesson here folks is, if enough pressure is applied over a controversial issue a decision will eventually be taken out of the hands of the local authority and ruled on directly by Cabinet. A great day for local democracy in our country
February 10, 2026 at 7:49 AM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Meet the 1591 cat man. I am counting 7 cats on and near him. #catcontent
February 10, 2026 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
It’s very good of Prince William to distance himself from his horrific uncle Andrew, while on a visit to hang out with journalist-murdering bastard Mohammed bin Salman. I
February 9, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
5/ “I have already spent more than 60 days waking up eating the same repetitive meals…going to the doctor and that the only thing they tell you is to drink more water and the worst thing is that it seems like the water is what makes people sick here…”

From 12-year-old Ender, detained 60+ days
February 9, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Two of our terrific graduate students in UL English, Emma Barrett and Jack Reid, have established a new journal! _Early Modern Society_ has a #CFP out currently for its first issue -theme = gender & the supernatural! #ecr #graduate @ulresearch.bsky.social @unioflimerick.bsky.social #research
February 9, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
This is Campaigning on fear, and the concept of “crime“ becomes EVERYTHING such manipulative propaganda tells people to fear

“Save Our Streets“ is a group of businesses and private security and developers funded by Jimmy Pattison

they are calling for a police state
February 10, 2026 at 7:13 AM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
GOD IS REAL
February 9, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Marketing is - unsurprisingly - lying to us. They tell us about the wonders of several successful surgeries guided by AI tools, while hiding the gruesome reality of its many deadly failures. AI is "inconsistent, inaccurate, and unreliable" and, for all of the above, dangerous.
When AI was added to a tool for sinus surgery: “Cerebrospinal fluid leaked from one patient’s nose. In another… a surgeon mistakenly punctured the base of a patient’s skull. In two other cases, patients suffered strokes after a major artery was accidentally injured”

www.reuters.com/investigatio...
As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts
Medical device makers have been rushing to add AI to their products. While proponents say the new technology will revolutionize medicine, regulators are receiving a rising number of claims of patient ...
www.reuters.com
February 10, 2026 at 5:53 AM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
aaaaand it's already proven false (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...
February 10, 2026 at 3:06 AM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
It's 1852, and you've just given birth to a baby boy, so you and the proud papa put your heads together, gaze into his sweet baby face, and name him ...

Pokey Hontas!

I love researching family history, the people & their stories!

#Genealogy

www.findagrave.com/memorial/525....
Pokey Hontas Goss (1852-1931) - Find a Grave...
Find a Grave memorial for Pokey Hontas Goss born 15 Nov 1852 and died 5 May 1931. Buried at Belmont Cemetery, Belmont, Gonzales County, Texas, United States of America, North America
www.findagrave.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:15 AM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
My friend Debbie wrote this great thread about the context of Surya Bonaly’s famous backflip and the history of backflips in the sport as well as Surya’s prestigious career.

A large account on here decided to only read every other word and dunk post and that’s why we can’t have nice things
Surya Bonaly is a multi Olympian, world medalist, euros champion, and French national champion, and did it all during a time when #figureskating wasn’t exactly the friendliest to its skaters of color.

But sure, let’s reduce her to fake news about her doing a (really awesome) one footed backflip.
February 10, 2026 at 12:41 AM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Yeah this is one of those things that just has to stay in your mind whenever you cover RCMP
What's your favourite Canada fact? Mine is that the RCMP bombed an oil site in Alberta in 1998 "with the full support of the energy company that owned it" and blamed a farmer for it.
RCMP bombed oil site in 'dirty tricks' campaign | CBC News
www.cbc.ca
February 10, 2026 at 1:29 AM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Gentle correction: if we lose Starmer as prime minister, it won't be because 'a guy who worked for him hung out with Epstein'.

The immediate cause is that Starmer appointed Mandelson knowing his reputation and that Mandelson leaked confidential commerical information to Epstein.
February 9, 2026 at 5:11 PM
So far, all that's actually happened is Andrew has moved into a smaller house, Mandy *might* be in legal trouble but probably not, and I've heard a fecking endless stream of men saying how sad they are about all the lies a known liar told them.

That's it in actual outcomes.
U.K. might lose a prime minister because a guy who worked for him knew another guy who hung out with Epstein. Meanwhile the U.S. opposition party is telling our President, who was Epstein's best friend, that his secret police should get better training so their public street murders look less messy.
February 10, 2026 at 1:18 AM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
SCOOP
A year ago, the Alberta government said it was building 2 drug jails for detainment and forced withdrawal of people who use drugs, in Calgary and Edmonton.

Turns out another was planned for Grande Prairie.

Any others? Seems likely.
drugdatadecoded.ca/alberta-gove...
Alberta government hiding additional drug jail plans
Newly obtained documents reveal a hidden plan to build a drug jail in Grande Prairie, raising questions about how many additional facilities are in the works.
drugdatadecoded.ca
February 10, 2026 at 1:00 AM