Paddy Matthews
@paddymatthews.bsky.social
Weary rural cynic preparing a bolthole just in case. До біса Трампа.
Really sorry to hear this - sympathy to you both.
January 26, 2026 at 10:56 PM
Really sorry to hear this - sympathy to you both.
Just to clarify, I am not referring to the British Labour Party here.
January 25, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Just to clarify, I am not referring to the British Labour Party here.
McSw**n*y is a product of a party which has been consistently useless at governance but exceptionally skilled at internecine warfare.
January 25, 2026 at 6:50 PM
McSw**n*y is a product of a party which has been consistently useless at governance but exceptionally skilled at internecine warfare.
Probably proportionally more recent emigrants from Ireland in the US which contributes to that.
January 12, 2026 at 2:44 AM
Probably proportionally more recent emigrants from Ireland in the US which contributes to that.
archive.ph
January 5, 2026 at 7:24 PM
Was in a car crash with Moya from Clannad (Enya's sister). Neither of us were at fault (or hurt); an idiot came through a red light, hit the car in which she was travelling side on, which then collided with mine (minor damage). Realized who she was when giving her a lift home.
December 30, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Was in a car crash with Moya from Clannad (Enya's sister). Neither of us were at fault (or hurt); an idiot came through a red light, hit the car in which she was travelling side on, which then collided with mine (minor damage). Realized who she was when giving her a lift home.
Would have said Wesley was a reasonably common Ulster Protestant forename (although among an older generation) and has metastatised into younger urban demographics in the South via America.
December 29, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Would have said Wesley was a reasonably common Ulster Protestant forename (although among an older generation) and has metastatised into younger urban demographics in the South via America.
The other UK correspondent with Irish links from that era who comes to mind and would have been a frequent presence would be Patrick Cockburn.
December 24, 2025 at 1:33 AM
The other UK correspondent with Irish links from that era who comes to mind and would have been a frequent presence would be Patrick Cockburn.
The general public are/were not Irish Times readers (although my memory is of Fisk being a reliable go-to for RTÉ Radio/TV on Middle East issues in the 80s just as Pilger was on 🇹🇱). Michael Jansen was the IT correspondent in the region.
December 24, 2025 at 1:28 AM
The general public are/were not Irish Times readers (although my memory is of Fisk being a reliable go-to for RTÉ Radio/TV on Middle East issues in the 80s just as Pilger was on 🇹🇱). Michael Jansen was the IT correspondent in the region.
We're talking here about relative sympathy among the general public shifting towards Palestinians - insofar as they thought about I/P - rather than being an all-consuming priority as with the activist types (although the attention of that group was shared with South Africa and Latin America 🇨🇱🇸🇻🇳🇮).
December 24, 2025 at 1:16 AM
We're talking here about relative sympathy among the general public shifting towards Palestinians - insofar as they thought about I/P - rather than being an all-consuming priority as with the activist types (although the attention of that group was shared with South Africa and Latin America 🇨🇱🇸🇻🇳🇮).
Harder republicans were always a minority and, along with the further left, form(ed) the basis for the PSC equivalents.
December 24, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Harder republicans were always a minority and, along with the further left, form(ed) the basis for the PSC equivalents.
There was a large degree of "soft" republicanism - sympathy with the situation/aims of Northern nationalism though not with the more extreme methods of paramilitaries - among the general population.
December 24, 2025 at 12:36 AM
There was a large degree of "soft" republicanism - sympathy with the situation/aims of Northern nationalism though not with the more extreme methods of paramilitaries - among the general population.
Would put it a bit earlier - early to mid-70s when the parallels between settlements and land confiscation in the WB and Irish history (particularly Ulster history) began to strongly resonate.
December 24, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Would put it a bit earlier - early to mid-70s when the parallels between settlements and land confiscation in the WB and Irish history (particularly Ulster history) began to strongly resonate.
r/Cork/Macroom
December 18, 2025 at 4:47 PM
r/Cork/Macroom
Not sure that stuffing the electorate's mouth with gold in two pre-election budgets is an option for UK Labour.
December 18, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Not sure that stuffing the electorate's mouth with gold in two pre-election budgets is an option for UK Labour.
How to say you're from SoCoDu without saying you're from SoCoDu.
December 17, 2025 at 6:53 PM
How to say you're from SoCoDu without saying you're from SoCoDu.
That *is* looking after them. Never underestimate the recuperative power of tea.
December 14, 2025 at 5:33 PM
That *is* looking after them. Never underestimate the recuperative power of tea.
Eco-chair warmer.
December 8, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Eco-chair warmer.
They do: it's a particular Anglophile substratum that I'm referring to.
December 7, 2025 at 12:52 PM
They do: it's a particular Anglophile substratum that I'm referring to.
A representative of an exceptionally Anglophile substratum of the South Dublin upper middle-class which I'm not sure really exists any longer (though you would know better than I) - I suppose some of the Gript set might try to LARP it (meta-LARPing?) - who after a wayward youth has returned home.
December 6, 2025 at 9:25 PM
A representative of an exceptionally Anglophile substratum of the South Dublin upper middle-class which I'm not sure really exists any longer (though you would know better than I) - I suppose some of the Gript set might try to LARP it (meta-LARPing?) - who after a wayward youth has returned home.
To the extent that Bibi & Co care, it's about using it as a weapon in the culture war and showing that a "silent majority" support them.
December 5, 2025 at 3:10 PM
To the extent that Bibi & Co care, it's about using it as a weapon in the culture war and showing that a "silent majority" support them.