Derek Barry
@derek-barry.bsky.social
Brisbane Irish Australian. Quondam journalist. Now unemployed writer. The dog is Basil. He’s a bad boy who thankfully lives with my sister but he likes my lap. The geese live at Ardfinnan. You can find my ramblings at woollydays.wordpress.com
Pinned
Irish Eye
Buy Irish Eye, Stories of Waterford and the south east by Derek Barry from Booktopia. Get a discounted ePUB from Australia's leading online bookstore.
www.booktopia.com.au
My ebook "Irish Eye: Stories about #waterford and the south east" is now available. If you are looking for a decent read about south east #ireland then look no further www.booktopia.com.au/irish-eye-de...
"When cars come first, everyone loses". This applies to Aus too www.thejournal.ie/readme/irela...
Ireland's dangerous roads: When cars come first, everyone loses
Sadhbh O’ Neill says that the reduction of road deaths in Ireland is being strangled by a lack of political courage.
www.thejournal.ie
January 26, 2026 at 8:34 AM
"When cars come first, everyone loses". This applies to Aus too www.thejournal.ie/readme/irela...
Focusing on the task at hand as I approach the finish line at Kelvin Grove #parkrun. Run 318, time 24.16 and did the pre-course check for volunteer credit 53
January 24, 2026 at 1:22 AM
Focusing on the task at hand as I approach the finish line at Kelvin Grove #parkrun. Run 318, time 24.16 and did the pre-course check for volunteer credit 53
Love Kneecap’s latest ad campaign belfastmedia.com/mystery-surr...
Are Kneecap behind 'Report Fenian Activity' van?
MYSTERY surrounds an advertising van that has been driving around Belfast today with the slogan 'Report Fenian Activity' on the side and rear.
belfastmedia.com
January 23, 2026 at 5:22 AM
Love Kneecap’s latest ad campaign belfastmedia.com/mystery-surr...
Even while praising the Canadian leader’s Davos speech, Chalmers like Carney avoids any mention of the US. Middle powers come not to praise or bury Caesar but to pretend he doesn’t exist. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Jim Chalmers says Canadian PM’s ‘stunning’ denunciation of Trump is being widely discussed in Australian government
Treasurer joins former PM Malcom Turnbull in praising Mark Carney’s comments at the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos
www.theguardian.com
January 22, 2026 at 5:39 AM
Even while praising the Canadian leader’s Davos speech, Chalmers like Carney avoids any mention of the US. Middle powers come not to praise or bury Caesar but to pretend he doesn’t exist. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
The People's William: Gladstone and the British century woollydays.wordpress.com/2026/01/21/t...
The People’s William: Gladstone and the British century
An 1893 portrait of William Ewart Gladstone. Photo: Library of Congress No British politician dominated the 19th century as much as William Ewart Gladstone, who sat in parliament for a mammoth 60 y…
woollydays.wordpress.com
January 21, 2026 at 7:39 AM
The People's William: Gladstone and the British century woollydays.wordpress.com/2026/01/21/t...
Russia to deploy an AI-powered internet censorship system. What could possibly go wrong? www.ukrinform.net/rubric-socie...
Russia planning to introduce AI-powered internet traffic censorship – CCD
Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) plans to launch an artificial intelligence-based internet traffic censorship system in ...
www.ukrinform.net
January 21, 2026 at 6:17 AM
Russia to deploy an AI-powered internet censorship system. What could possibly go wrong? www.ukrinform.net/rubric-socie...
I see lots of Irish agencies and government bodies taking the decision to leave X. It's well past time for Australian institutions to follow suit and leave this abusive platform
January 21, 2026 at 1:32 AM
I see lots of Irish agencies and government bodies taking the decision to leave X. It's well past time for Australian institutions to follow suit and leave this abusive platform
Well done Ballygunner GAA. Now if someone could only bottle what they've got for Waterford county level www.bbc.com/sport/articl...
All-Ireland GAA Club Finals: Ballygunner and Dingle land titles
It was a Munster double at Croke Park as Ballygunner beat Loughrea 1-20 to 1-14 to win the All-Ireland Senior club Hurling title, as Dingle beat St Brigid's 0-23 to 1-19 to win a classic All-Ireland c...
www.bbc.com
January 20, 2026 at 3:02 AM
Well done Ballygunner GAA. Now if someone could only bottle what they've got for Waterford county level www.bbc.com/sport/articl...
Well done RIA
Last year, we made the decision to step away from X.
The Royal Irish Academy is committed to creating, convening, and sharing knowledge for the public good and as an organisation we value Independence; Integrity; Curiosity; Openness and Rigour.
In our view, X no longer aligns with these values
The Royal Irish Academy is committed to creating, convening, and sharing knowledge for the public good and as an organisation we value Independence; Integrity; Curiosity; Openness and Rigour.
In our view, X no longer aligns with these values
January 18, 2026 at 1:14 AM
Well done RIA
At 72 David Byrne has still got it
January 17, 2026 at 1:06 PM
At 72 David Byrne has still got it
Hot and humid off the scale this morning. Captured at the start and finish line of the Petrie #parkrun. Third run there, my 317th run and a PB for Petrie at 24.35.
January 17, 2026 at 5:47 AM
Hot and humid off the scale this morning. Captured at the start and finish line of the Petrie #parkrun. Third run there, my 317th run and a PB for Petrie at 24.35.
And they’re off. The annual mass escape from Dublin Castle, commemorating the real jailbreak of 1592 by Red Hugh O’Donnell & the O’Neill Brothers. Competitors will cover 62km through the night, across the mountains to Glenmalure Valley. That’s if they make it, unlike Art O’Neill, who died en route.
January 17, 2026 at 12:33 AM
Was listening to a selection of music and songs from the great Sean O'Riada and just found out An Poc ar Buile singer Seán Ó Sé died this week aged 89 www.rte.ie/news/regiona...
An Poc ar Buile singer Seán Ó Sé dies at age of 89
One of the country's best known Irish traditional singers Seán Ó Sé has died.
www.rte.ie
January 17, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Was listening to a selection of music and songs from the great Sean O'Riada and just found out An Poc ar Buile singer Seán Ó Sé died this week aged 89 www.rte.ie/news/regiona...
America in the throes of imperial boomerang chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-machin...
The Machinery of Terror
The Trump administration is consolidating the familiar machinery of terror of all authoritarian states. We must resist now. If we wait, it will be too late.
chrishedges.substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 11:16 AM
America in the throes of imperial boomerang chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-machin...
Reposted by Derek Barry
Antidepressants or Tolkien's character?
antidepressantsortolkien.vercel.app
January 15, 2026 at 2:49 AM
Reposted by Derek Barry
Can't hit the repost button often enough on that one.
Great takedown of his _Anxious Generation_ airport book in none other than Nature, BTW:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Great takedown of his _Anxious Generation_ airport book in none other than
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Banning social media for kids may be good or bad but that guy is a comically obvious bullshit artist with entire books full of trite lessons extrapolated from anecdotes that are themselves barely half-true.
January 14, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Can't hit the repost button often enough on that one.
Great takedown of his _Anxious Generation_ airport book in none other than Nature, BTW:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Great takedown of his _Anxious Generation_ airport book in none other than
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
My favourite #straya roadsign. This is 40km north of Bedourie, Qld en route to Boulia. Photographed in Dec 2018. Not sure if still there as it used to always get nicked
January 14, 2026 at 9:26 AM
My favourite #straya roadsign. This is 40km north of Bedourie, Qld en route to Boulia. Photographed in Dec 2018. Not sure if still there as it used to always get nicked
The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a global world woollydays.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/t...
The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a global world
Joseph Conrad on arrival in New York on the S.S. Tuscania in 1923. Photo: Library of Congress As Maya Jasanoff wrote in The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World (2017), the difference betwee…
woollydays.wordpress.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:57 AM
The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a global world woollydays.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/t...
Things are generally AF as AF and now apparently the fruit flies have taken over. The only crumb of good news is that the fuss over Greenland could spell the end of the lying reign of the Mercator Projection
January 10, 2026 at 10:08 AM
Things are generally AF as AF and now apparently the fruit flies have taken over. The only crumb of good news is that the fuss over Greenland could spell the end of the lying reign of the Mercator Projection
Setting off this morning at Old Esk Railway Station #parkrun. A nice two-lap scoot down part of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail with a diversion into the Esk Showgrounds. My 316th run, 122nd course and time of 24.30.
January 10, 2026 at 5:46 AM
Setting off this morning at Old Esk Railway Station #parkrun. A nice two-lap scoot down part of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail with a diversion into the Esk Showgrounds. My 316th run, 122nd course and time of 24.30.
“Be it thy course to busy giddy minds with foreign quarrels" Someone in Trump world has read Henry IV Part 2
January 8, 2026 at 8:25 AM
“Be it thy course to busy giddy minds with foreign quarrels" Someone in Trump world has read Henry IV Part 2
God's executioner: Oliver Cromwell in Ireland woollydays.wordpress.com/2026/01/04/g...
God’s executioner: Oliver Cromwell in Ireland
Samuel Cooper’s painting of Oliver Cromwell. Photo: National Library of Ireland Few Englishmen have a reputation as jarring as that of Oliver Cromwell. At home he is revered. The BBC named hi…
woollydays.wordpress.com
January 3, 2026 at 11:49 PM
God's executioner: Oliver Cromwell in Ireland woollydays.wordpress.com/2026/01/04/g...
"Please don't eat toilet seats" makes a late but glorious charge for the not on my bingo card end of year awards
you think i’m joking when i say tasmania is awful never come here
December 31, 2025 at 2:07 AM
"Please don't eat toilet seats" makes a late but glorious charge for the not on my bingo card end of year awards
My ebook "Irish Eye: Stories about #waterford and the south east" is now available. If you are looking for a decent read about south east #ireland then look no further www.booktopia.com.au/irish-eye-de...
Irish Eye
Buy Irish Eye, Stories of Waterford and the south east by Derek Barry from Booktopia. Get a discounted ePUB from Australia's leading online bookstore.
www.booktopia.com.au
December 29, 2025 at 8:30 AM
My ebook "Irish Eye: Stories about #waterford and the south east" is now available. If you are looking for a decent read about south east #ireland then look no further www.booktopia.com.au/irish-eye-de...