fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole
@fotoole.bsky.social
8.5K followers 270 following 53 posts
Writer, Irish Times columnist, New York Review of Books contributor, We Don't Know Ourselves author.
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · 1d
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Fintan O'Toole on Budget 2026: What’s another year to a hungry two-year-old?
Nobody disagrees on the value of a second tier of child benefit. So why has it not been introduced? Lethargy
www.irishtimes.com
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · 2d
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Fintan O'Toole: What on earth was Micheál Martin thinking? Jim Gavin clearly wasn't ready
Getting your followers to agree to a proposition that makes no sense is the ultimate ego trip
www.irishtimes.com
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Reposted by Fintan O'Toole
thehistoryguy.bsky.social
Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 12d
Today in 1983 Stanislav Petrov saved the human race.

On duty at the Soviet early warning command centre, he refused to warn superiors of radar reports of an incoming US strike. It proved to be a false alarm. If the Soviets had responded it would have been all out nuclear war.
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · 12d
irishtimes.com/politics/2025/09/26/barack-obama-in-dublin-there-is-no-military-rationale-for-continuing-to-pummel-gaza/
Barack Obama in Dublin: There is ‘no military rationale for continuing to pummel Gaza’
Former US president told a capacity crowd in the 3Arena that both sides were in a ‘prison of the past’
irishtimes.com
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · 14d
Very much looking forward to joining in this glorious tribute to the great Tim Robinson at the NCH on Sunday afternoon. I think there are a few tickets left.
www.nch.ie/all-events-l...
Tradition Now: Our Time in Space - A Tribute to Tim Robinson | National Concert Hall
The National Concert Hall is a national cultural institution and the designated home of music in Ireland.
www.nch.ie
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · 16d
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Fintan O'Toole: How can you live with the knowledge that you have facilitated mass murder?
One term encapsulates the way Israel and its enablers are dealing with the genocide in Gaza: instant amnesia
www.irishtimes.com
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Reposted by Fintan O'Toole
gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social
GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 27d
if you're interested in this area. Irish journalist Fintan O' Toole covered a lot of "the english question" back in 2018.

This missive outlines the gist of his book "Brexit and the politics of Pain" I recommend that too.

he's on here and well worth a follow. @fotoole.bsky.social

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Fintan O'Toole | Brexit, Ireland and the English Question
YouTube video by World Affairs
www.youtube.com
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Reposted by Fintan O'Toole
bookwormvaught.bsky.social
BookwormVaught - Dr Anna Vaught @bookwormvaught.bsky.social · 27d
These two texts - to left of image - sound excellent and their review by @fotoole.bsky.social in the @thetls.bsky.social a superb piece of writing. I’ve been thinking about it all so much.
TLS section of text - literature on understanding the far right
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Reposted by Fintan O'Toole
sjamcbride.bsky.social
Sam McBride @sjamcbride.bsky.social · 27d
The first 500 copies have been signed by @fotoole.bsky.social and myself. Most have been pre-ordered but there are still some available from the publisher. Those copies should also arrive before the publication date of 20 October.
➡️ shop.ria.ie/products/for...
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Reposted by Fintan O'Toole
arinsproject.bsky.social
ARINS Project @arinsproject.bsky.social · Sep 3
A vital conversation ahead: For and Against a United Ireland, chaired by Sarah Carey.
Experience the book brought to life at the National Concert Hall, November 30th.
👉 bit.ly/4p6klU8
@fotoole.bsky.social @sjamcbride.bsky.social
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · Sep 8
A new book by the wonderful Lucy McDiarmid is always worth celebrating
mcdiarmidlucy.bsky.social
mcdiarmidlucy.bsky.social @mcdiarmidlucy.bsky.social · Sep 5
@evepatt.bsky.social @deschocks.bsky.social @aidanbeatty.com @dralicekelly.bsky.social @ianduhig.bsky.social @johnghoakes.bsky.social @lcollins232.bsky.social @rabarr.bsky.social @fotoole.bsky.social @gihnyu.bsky.social @rosamundtaylor.bsky.social @jesstraynor.bsky.social @maryburke.bsky.social
book cover: grey cat with mysterious eyes
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · Sep 8
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Fintan O'Toole: What the presidential election needs is a candidate I wouldn’t dream of voting for: Maria Steen
There are still a lot of orthodox Irish Catholics and people of other faiths who share their views on issues like abortion, homosexuality, gender and marriage
www.irishtimes.com
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Reposted by Fintan O'Toole
ppfideas.bsky.social
Past Present Future Podcast @ppfideas.bsky.social · Aug 28
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!

Today it’s the first of two episodes with journalist & historian @fotoole.bsky.social about the trials that followed the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland. How and why did the British get it so wrong by court martialling the ring leaders in secret?

Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · Aug 26
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Fintan O'Toole: The pain and shame that Bertie Ahern caused this country is not forgotten
Does Fianna Fáil really want to nominate him for the Áras and deliver us a sharp reminder of what that felt like?
www.irishtimes.com
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Reposted by Fintan O'Toole
nybooks.com
The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · Aug 12
Fintan O’Toole @fotoole.bsky.social on Trump’s Epstein problem
‘A Guy Who Never Dies’ | Fintan O’Toole
On July 26 Donald Trump played a round of golf at his own Turnberry course in Scotland. Over footage of the event from Sky News, we hear a reporter
buff.ly
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · Aug 12
My thoughts on Trump and Epstein (and Dracula)
www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
‘A Guy Who Never Dies’ | Fintan O’Toole
On July 26 Donald Trump played a round of golf at his own Turnberry course in Scotland. Over footage of the event from Sky News, we hear a reporter
www.nybooks.com
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · Aug 12
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
We in Ireland forget how recently we were the crap-job migrants
If we were serious about stopping people coming here to work in low-paid jobs, we would have to be willing to do three things
www.irishtimes.com
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · Aug 5
irishtimes.com/opinion/2025/08/05/gaza-is-also-a-war-on-the-human-instinct-for-compassion/
Fintan O'Toole: Gaza is also a war on the human instinct for compassion
When we learn to shut down pity, we summon the pitiless to power
irishtimes.com
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · Jul 29
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Fintan O'Toole: Ireland in the 1980s was bloody awful, but there was at least one good reason not to emigrate
Galway’s Druid theatre company had a superb, stubborn belief that a basket case of a nation could also be a Moses basket
www.irishtimes.com
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Reposted by Fintan O'Toole
sjamcbride.bsky.social
Sam McBride @sjamcbride.bsky.social · Jul 3
Tickets now available for the Dublin launch event accompanying the release of For and Against a United Ireland with @fotoole.bsky.social. Despite it being in the National Concert Hall, I promise not to sing.
🎟️Book tickets: www.nch.ie/all-events-l...
📙 Pre-order the book: shop.ria.ie/products/for...
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Reposted by Fintan O'Toole
michaelnugent.bsky.social
Michael Nugent @michaelnugent.bsky.social · Jul 1
Wonderful piece as usual, Fintan. I've written an analysis of the relevant AI models here, along with the cautionary tale of Scronkfinkle the sparrow. micknugent.substack.com/p/who-does-g...
Who Does Google AI Think You Are?
Featuring Fintan O’Toole’s fictional AI family
micknugent.substack.com
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Reposted by Fintan O'Toole
nybooks.com
The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · Jul 1
Fintan O’Toole @fotoole.bsky.social on Trump’s make-believe war—played with real guns—in Los Angeles
A Show of Force | Fintan O’Toole
What Trump was trying to demonstrate in Los Angeles is that he can project his armed power into every American community at any time.
buff.ly
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Reposted by Fintan O'Toole
nybooks.com
The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · Jun 30
“[America’s attack on Iran] can be thought of as a FOMO war, triggered by Trump’s fear of missing out. In a development that may be without parallel in US history, a president entered a foreign war as a follower, not a leader.” — @fotoole.bsky.social
Flicking the War Switch | Fintan O’Toole
On July 21, 2021, after Donald Trump had finished his first term as president, he gave an interview at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey to a ghost
buff.ly
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · Jul 1
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Fintan O'Toole: I have had more wives than Henry VIII. It's news to me too
Artificial intelligence has trouble distinguishing fact from fiction, so it has to spew out absurd ‘factoids’ instead
www.irishtimes.com
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fotoole.bsky.social
Fintan O'Toole @fotoole.bsky.social · Jun 29
It's a brilliant book by Charles Nicholl called The Reckoning. Reads like a thriller but also takes you into Shakespeare's world.
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