Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Clare Rice @clarerice.bsky.social · 13h

Have I missed something..? Christmas lights going up already?! ❄️

Clare Rice @clarerice.bsky.social · 3d

Interesting question - I guess it'd depend on who is conducting the poll and what specific info they are wanting to assess 🗳

Clare Rice @clarerice.bsky.social · 3d

Enjoying that news of Jim Gavin's withdrawal from the Irish presidential race has brought so many people back into action on this site - have missed the lively vibe it had in the early days!

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Richard Chambers @newschambers.bsky.social · 3d

Breaking: Jim Gavin withdraws from Presidential Election.

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Joelle Grogan @joellegrogan.bsky.social · 5d

Looking for a really simple explainer?

The #ECHR and #HRA on post-it notes.

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David Phinnemore @dphinnemore.bsky.social · 6d

Joint Statement from today's EU-UK Specialised Committee on the Implementation of the Windsor Framework.

Work still to be done on 'full, timely and faithful' implementation.

More detail than in past statements

Value of stakeholder engagement flagged

commission.europa.eu/document/dow...

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Clare Rice @clarerice.bsky.social · 6d

Now available on catch-up 📺

www.itv.com/watch/news/v...

Clare Rice @clarerice.bsky.social · 8d

Back on the airwaves tonight, joining @vickihawthorne.bsky.social and Jon Tonge on View from Stormont to discuss the Labour Party conference

10.45pm on UTV 📺

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Clare Rice @clarerice.bsky.social · 14d

A 200-page report and still serious questions remain - a step in an on-going process of unveiling the full picture rather than the end

Full report available here: www.psni.police.uk/about-us/our...

And a summary of developments available here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Police in Northern Ireland used journalists' phone data to detect staff leaks - report

There were 21 unlawful uses of covert powers to try to uncover reporters' sources between 2011 and 2024.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Belfast Telegraph @belfasttelegraph.co.uk · 19d

The man who announced the result of the Good Friday Agreement referendum to the world in 1998 has passed away.

Patrick Bradley organised key elections in Northern Ireland throughout the Troubles, and later worked as an electoral adviser for the UN and EU around the world.

Man who announced result of defining vote in NI’s history dies after short illness

The man who announced the result of the Good Friday Agreement referendum to the world in 1998 has passed away.

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 21d

Academia dot edu licensing agreement says it can use your likeness and voice and publications in any manner they want, world wide.

Ordinary Notes @hystericalblkns.bsky.social · 21d

If you’re on academia dot edu, let me suggest that you strongly consider deleting your account.

The new TOC from academia dot edu.

By creating an Account with Academia.edu, you grant us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable license, permission, and consent for Academia.edu to use your Member Content and your personal information (including, but not limited to, your name, voice, signature, photograph, likeness, city, institutional affiliations, citations, mentions, publications, and areas of interest) in any manner, including for the purpose of advertising, selling, or soliciting the use or purchase of Academia.edu's Services.

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Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 22d

A new Explainer out from @aoifemod.bsky.social and me detailing the UK's ECHR commitments under the 1998 Agreement in response to recent speculation. It is short, because there is very little to say - the UK's obligations are evident on the B/GFA's plain text:

caj.org.uk/wp-content/u...

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Clare Rice @clarerice.bsky.social · 27d

When people here in NI say the healthcare system is broken, it's no exaggeration. This is just a partial snapshot of how bad things are...⬇️

Peter Donaghy @peterdonaghy.bsky.social · 27d

Figures for the Belfast, Northern and South Eastern Trusts show that median times have increased since 2023, with one in twenty waiting around six years or longer on waiting lists (306 weeks).

A chart showing median and 95th percentile waiting times at Belfast, Northern and South Eastern HSC Trusts

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Dr. Megan A Armstrong (she/her) @meganannarms.bsky.social · 27d

The call for papers and panels for #ECPG26 is now open! There's a very exciting academic program in place for conference which you can find here: ecpr.eu/Events/343

Come join us at @nclpolitics.bsky.social 😀 Deadline for proposals is 7 November!

European Conference on Politics and Gender, Newcastle University, 15-17 June 2026

European Consortium for Political Research

ecpr.eu

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Karen Gregory @karengregory.bsky.social · Sep 8

The sign here says "strike for fair pay" but this strike is really over the plan to cut upwards of 1,800 jobs from the University, despite not being in deficit. The entire "plan" has no justification or, well, discernible plan. We've already had 350 people leave on vol severance. What of workloads??

Karen Gregory @karengregory.bsky.social · Sep 8

Strike day @ Edinburgh

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Carole Lyons @carolelyons.bsky.social · Sep 7

The ECHR has been under threat from some in the UK for years; for more light than heat in this debate, these three links are excellent: explainer from @ukandeu.bsky.social; the Good Friday Agreement and the ECHR from @anuragdeb.bsky.social ; the Brexit deal and the ECHR by @stevepeers.bsky.social

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Clare Rice @clarerice.bsky.social · Sep 5

First time seeing 'The Election Badge' episode of Hey Duggee today 📺

If you're also a nerd for elections, or just need a chuckle at the end of a long week, this is a great watch 🗳

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Hey Duggee - Series 3: 26. The Election Badge

When Eugene unexpectedly drops out of running the summer fair, Duggee and the Squirrels hold an election to choose the best candidate for the job.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · Sep 4

I ... splutter ... cry ...

Will Tullett @willtullett.bsky.social · Sep 4

So basically Vallance has announced there won't be new announcements/work on REF for 3 months, implying that there will potentially be big changes announced in 3 months time, but the deadline for the REF is going to remain the same?! How er... helpful. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/patrick...

Patrick Vallance hits pause on Research Excellence Framework

Science minister announces review of controversial changes to research environment assessment

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Aoife O'Donoghue @aoifemod.bsky.social · Aug 28

As leaving the #ECHR is back (again) on the agenda here is myself @colinmurray.bsky.social & Ben Warwick on why for #NorthernIreland this is nigh on impossible & why renegotiating the 1998 Good Friday Agreement is not to be done lightly

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

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The Implications of the Good Friday Agreement for UK Human-Rights Reform

Speculation is rife as to the impact of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement upon the Conservative Government’s plans to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998. In the f

papers.ssrn.com

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Citizen Participation @oliverescobar.bsky.social · Aug 25

📚 new open access book: "Climate Assemblies - New Civic Institutions for a Climate-Changed World" 🌍

✅ 25 co-authors examine the state of the field and the reasons behind the growing hope and hype about climate assemblies

✅Free PDF available here 👉🏼 www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Climate Assemblies - New Civic Institutions for a Climate-Changed World
Edited by Oliver Escobar and Stephen Elstub
Published by Fe Gruyter

Book cover depicts the globe, with people gathering around it
Colours: yellow, black an d blue

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Clare Rice @clarerice.bsky.social · Aug 23

Usually love seeing Christmas stuff starting to appear in the shops, in autumn/winter. Was in no way prepared for this sight earlier today! 🎅

Shelves in a shop filled with Christmas confectionary

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John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · Aug 1

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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · Jul 21

Again - the reason the Irish government/nationalists in Northern Ireland wanted a reference to the ECHR in the Good Friday Agreement is that the European Court of Human Rights had held the UK accountable for human rights abuses in NI - whereas "domestic UK and common law principles" had not

Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · Jul 20

One does not simply... rewrite the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

😅😅😅😅😅...😭

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Clare Rice @clarerice.bsky.social · Jul 16

Interesting work here confirming what all Politics ECRs have been experiencing in recent years with the academic job market - something that will only continue to get worse as unis move through crisis after crisis...

Ralph Scott @ralphscott.bsky.social · Jul 16

I've been working on something on this and here's a sneak peek of recent trends in Politics job adverts on jobs.ac.uk

Here's a scatterplot and (GAM) trendline showing that the number of advertised politics jobs has pretty much halved since 2021.

A scatterplot and (GAM) trendline showing that the number of advertised politics jobs has more or less halved since 2021

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Dr. Paula R. Curtis @paularcurtis.bsky.social · Jun 26

If you're getting notifications from Academia(.)edu about AI versions of your papers now being podcasts, that's because the (predatory) platform has opted you into AI-enhanced outputs, which you can turn off in your Account Settings here.

A screencap of Academia.edu's Account Settings under the header "AI Settings" showing their AI-enhanced Outputs feature is automatically turned on with a green switch unless you turn it off and do your part to de-enshittify the internet.

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