Eamonn Sweeney
@sweeneyagonistes.bsky.social
Author. The Last Ditch, paperback coming out in May.
Freelance writer. Lapsed novelist. Cinephile. Substack coming soon.
Freelance writer. Lapsed novelist. Cinephile. Substack coming soon.
Reposted by Eamonn Sweeney
This is rather special. Marc Bloch was a titan of modern historiography, and a big influence on me as a young history student. He was a brilliant French medievalist murdered by the Gestapo for both his Jewishness and his contribution to French resistance, but they couldn’t kill his work
Marc Bloch, historien et résistant juif, entrera au Panthéon le 23 juin
Marc Bloch, historien et résistant juif, entrera au Panthéon le 23 juin
La date du 16 juin avait été dans un premier temps pressentie pour son entrée au Panthéon, mais la cérémonie a dû être décalée de quelques jours en raison du G7 à Evian-les-Bains.
www.lemonde.fr
February 8, 2026 at 6:23 PM
This is rather special. Marc Bloch was a titan of modern historiography, and a big influence on me as a young history student. He was a brilliant French medievalist murdered by the Gestapo for both his Jewishness and his contribution to French resistance, but they couldn’t kill his work
Every day one should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
February 12, 2026 at 9:16 AM
Every day one should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Man cannot live by Bread alone. But sometimes it's exactly what you need to start the day.
youtu.be/AeadLurGR1U?...
youtu.be/AeadLurGR1U?...
Bread - Everything I Own (1972)
YouTube video by Dvj Luiz Phanton
youtu.be
February 12, 2026 at 9:12 AM
Man cannot live by Bread alone. But sometimes it's exactly what you need to start the day.
youtu.be/AeadLurGR1U?...
youtu.be/AeadLurGR1U?...
Brilliant number from a great cinematic autobiography, a Hollywood counterpart to Tarkovsky's Mirror. All That Jazz has its harrowing moments but Reinking and Foldi's artistry reminds us that Bob Fosse's ultimate goal was to create transcendent moments. Dancing as Life.
youtu.be/ZRVv2b-hL_0?...
youtu.be/ZRVv2b-hL_0?...
Everything Old Is New Again, Anne Reinking and Erzsebet Foldi
YouTube video by hardballget
youtu.be
February 12, 2026 at 9:08 AM
Brilliant number from a great cinematic autobiography, a Hollywood counterpart to Tarkovsky's Mirror. All That Jazz has its harrowing moments but Reinking and Foldi's artistry reminds us that Bob Fosse's ultimate goal was to create transcendent moments. Dancing as Life.
youtu.be/ZRVv2b-hL_0?...
youtu.be/ZRVv2b-hL_0?...
Reposted by Eamonn Sweeney
FG just tried to get a motion passed on the environment SPC in Dublin City Council relating to bringing back the use of Roundup (glyphosate) herbicide.
Waiting for their motion next month on restoring lead in petrol.
Waiting for their motion next month on restoring lead in petrol.
February 11, 2026 at 6:59 PM
FG just tried to get a motion passed on the environment SPC in Dublin City Council relating to bringing back the use of Roundup (glyphosate) herbicide.
Waiting for their motion next month on restoring lead in petrol.
Waiting for their motion next month on restoring lead in petrol.
Reposted by Eamonn Sweeney
Rarely mentioned but about much of Ratcliffe’s business ‘success’ is based on draining public money (very common among these ‘self made tycoons’)
Eg democracyforsale.substack.com/p/ineos-set-...
Eg democracyforsale.substack.com/p/ineos-set-...
February 11, 2026 at 8:16 PM
Rarely mentioned but about much of Ratcliffe’s business ‘success’ is based on draining public money (very common among these ‘self made tycoons’)
Eg democracyforsale.substack.com/p/ineos-set-...
Eg democracyforsale.substack.com/p/ineos-set-...
RIP Bud Cort, star of that very definition of a cult movie Harold and Maude. They don't make them like that anymore. They rarely made them like that then. Hollywood didn't seem to know what to do with him after that but the perfection of this golden moment endures.
youtu.be/_ckWTn-y5Rw?...
youtu.be/_ckWTn-y5Rw?...
Harold and Maude - Trailer
YouTube video by Paramount Movies Digital
youtu.be
February 11, 2026 at 8:32 PM
RIP Bud Cort, star of that very definition of a cult movie Harold and Maude. They don't make them like that anymore. They rarely made them like that then. Hollywood didn't seem to know what to do with him after that but the perfection of this golden moment endures.
youtu.be/_ckWTn-y5Rw?...
youtu.be/_ckWTn-y5Rw?...
Michael Martin to Holly Cairns in the housing debate, "You hate the private sector. The Social Democrats just hate the private sector."
This really is the Day of the Gobshite. Who's writing this stuff for him?
This really is the Day of the Gobshite. Who's writing this stuff for him?
February 11, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Michael Martin to Holly Cairns in the housing debate, "You hate the private sector. The Social Democrats just hate the private sector."
This really is the Day of the Gobshite. Who's writing this stuff for him?
This really is the Day of the Gobshite. Who's writing this stuff for him?
Reposted by Eamonn Sweeney
"Eighty-two years after his execution by the Gestapo on June 16, 1944, the Jewish historian and resistance fighter Marc Bloch will be inducted into the Pantheon on June 23... His family requested that 'the far right, in all its forms, be excluded from any participation in the ceremony.'"
Marc Bloch, historien et résistant juif, entrera au Panthéon le 23 juin
Marc Bloch, historien et résistant juif, entrera au Panthéon le 23 juin
La date du 16 juin avait été dans un premier temps pressentie pour son entrée au Panthéon, mais la cérémonie a dû être décalée de quelques jours en raison du G7 à Evian-les-Bains.
www.lemonde.fr
February 8, 2026 at 7:02 PM
"Eighty-two years after his execution by the Gestapo on June 16, 1944, the Jewish historian and resistance fighter Marc Bloch will be inducted into the Pantheon on June 23... His family requested that 'the far right, in all its forms, be excluded from any participation in the ceremony.'"
Ooh Bothy, music sounds better with you.
Lunny, Keenan. Burke, O'Domhnaills x 2 and my father's old pal Matt Molloy giving it wosky at the Embankment in 1976. Fifty years old and eternally fresh.
youtu.be/I6YJAFbJPrA?...
Lunny, Keenan. Burke, O'Domhnaills x 2 and my father's old pal Matt Molloy giving it wosky at the Embankment in 1976. Fifty years old and eternally fresh.
youtu.be/I6YJAFbJPrA?...
The Kesh Jig - Bothy Band
YouTube video by TheBelfastBrigade
youtu.be
February 11, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Ooh Bothy, music sounds better with you.
Lunny, Keenan. Burke, O'Domhnaills x 2 and my father's old pal Matt Molloy giving it wosky at the Embankment in 1976. Fifty years old and eternally fresh.
youtu.be/I6YJAFbJPrA?...
Lunny, Keenan. Burke, O'Domhnaills x 2 and my father's old pal Matt Molloy giving it wosky at the Embankment in 1976. Fifty years old and eternally fresh.
youtu.be/I6YJAFbJPrA?...
RTE News covering the new rent legislation by talking about 'tough times ahead' for the government should rents rise and the 'pain' they might feel at the next election if this happens. The tough times and pain will be felt elsewhere. The effect on the government is almost entirely irrelevant.
February 11, 2026 at 6:28 PM
RTE News covering the new rent legislation by talking about 'tough times ahead' for the government should rents rise and the 'pain' they might feel at the next election if this happens. The tough times and pain will be felt elsewhere. The effect on the government is almost entirely irrelevant.
People should also stop talking about the 'Market Rate' as if it's some kind of value neutral ethically fair law of nature. It's actually the maximum amount of money which can be extorted from desperate people in a captive situation. Nobody is forced to charge it. It's a measure of private greed.
February 11, 2026 at 6:25 PM
People should also stop talking about the 'Market Rate' as if it's some kind of value neutral ethically fair law of nature. It's actually the maximum amount of money which can be extorted from desperate people in a captive situation. Nobody is forced to charge it. It's a measure of private greed.
One result of the legislation is that more sitting tenants will be booted out under various pretexts, (sale, housing family members, repairs) so that a new more lucrative tenancy can be set in motion. It won't be just foreign vulture funds who do this but good old Mammy and Daddy landlords too.
February 11, 2026 at 6:21 PM
One result of the legislation is that more sitting tenants will be booted out under various pretexts, (sale, housing family members, repairs) so that a new more lucrative tenancy can be set in motion. It won't be just foreign vulture funds who do this but good old Mammy and Daddy landlords too.
Pundits should stop treating the massive rise in rents as an unforeseen side effect of the government's new legislation. It's not, it's the primary aim. You can tell that because it's the one acknowledged immediate effect of this bill. All the stuff about increasing supply is just pie in the sky.
February 11, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Pundits should stop treating the massive rise in rents as an unforeseen side effect of the government's new legislation. It's not, it's the primary aim. You can tell that because it's the one acknowledged immediate effect of this bill. All the stuff about increasing supply is just pie in the sky.
Infallible antidote to your classic rainy Irish morning. The peerless Novos Baianos from 1972.
"Salvador became the centre of the world," Arabian Nights, Miguel Gomes 2015
youtu.be/ojeJ-DCMtls?...
"Salvador became the centre of the world," Arabian Nights, Miguel Gomes 2015
youtu.be/ojeJ-DCMtls?...
NOVOS BAIANOS - Brasil Pandeiro - EM CORES !
YouTube video by verdedalmata
youtu.be
February 11, 2026 at 9:59 AM
Infallible antidote to your classic rainy Irish morning. The peerless Novos Baianos from 1972.
"Salvador became the centre of the world," Arabian Nights, Miguel Gomes 2015
youtu.be/ojeJ-DCMtls?...
"Salvador became the centre of the world," Arabian Nights, Miguel Gomes 2015
youtu.be/ojeJ-DCMtls?...
Reposted by Eamonn Sweeney
Places like achill and Killarney that are impossible to find a place to live in create their own political consensus. cause the people who can't find anywhere to live there leave and the people who can are often landlords like MHR himself
U-turn on regulating short-term lets: striking a balance or a sop to Michael Healy-Rae?
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
U-turn on regulating short-term lets: striking a balance or a sop to Michael Healy-Rae?
With two rental properties and 300 Airbnbs, Killarney is a battleground for housing need versus tourism
www.irishtimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:02 AM
Places like achill and Killarney that are impossible to find a place to live in create their own political consensus. cause the people who can't find anywhere to live there leave and the people who can are often landlords like MHR himself
It's not all on Michael Healy Rae. This government is ideologically committed to the idea that the tenant's difficulty is the landlord's opportunity. They relish showing tenants the same gesture Michael Lowry gave to the Dáil. Balance has nothing to do with it. It's about looking after their own.
February 11, 2026 at 9:04 AM
It's not all on Michael Healy Rae. This government is ideologically committed to the idea that the tenant's difficulty is the landlord's opportunity. They relish showing tenants the same gesture Michael Lowry gave to the Dáil. Balance has nothing to do with it. It's about looking after their own.
Reposted by Eamonn Sweeney
Reposted by Eamonn Sweeney
U-turn on regulating short-term lets: striking a balance or a sop to Michael Healy-Rae?
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
U-turn on regulating short-term lets: striking a balance or a sop to Michael Healy-Rae?
With two rental properties and 300 Airbnbs, Killarney is a battleground for housing need versus tourism
www.irishtimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 8:01 AM
U-turn on regulating short-term lets: striking a balance or a sop to Michael Healy-Rae?
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
Shabana Mahmood refusing to condemn the behaviour of ICE because she,"doesn't have America brain," before boasting about, "record removals," and saying she'll "go further," shows the current rot in the British Labour Party. Would a Reform Home Secretary have answered much differently?
February 11, 2026 at 8:55 AM
Shabana Mahmood refusing to condemn the behaviour of ICE because she,"doesn't have America brain," before boasting about, "record removals," and saying she'll "go further," shows the current rot in the British Labour Party. Would a Reform Home Secretary have answered much differently?
Watched this again last night. Excellent movie. Gaslight just gaslights the heroine, Bunny Lake does it to the audience. So cunningly unnerving you don't see the plot holes till afterwards. Director Otto Preminger's reputation has slumped but he made some fine stuff.
youtu.be/Nmy8NFY_19k?...
youtu.be/Nmy8NFY_19k?...
Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) Original Trailer [FHD]
YouTube video by HD Retro Trailers
youtu.be
February 11, 2026 at 8:51 AM
Watched this again last night. Excellent movie. Gaslight just gaslights the heroine, Bunny Lake does it to the audience. So cunningly unnerving you don't see the plot holes till afterwards. Director Otto Preminger's reputation has slumped but he made some fine stuff.
youtu.be/Nmy8NFY_19k?...
youtu.be/Nmy8NFY_19k?...
Reassuring to see the Irish government appoint a 'Housing Tsar.' The Tsars having been bywords for democratic accountability and administrative efficiency.
February 10, 2026 at 12:13 PM
Reassuring to see the Irish government appoint a 'Housing Tsar.' The Tsars having been bywords for democratic accountability and administrative efficiency.
Two contrasting faces of Ireland abroad.
Peter Geoghegan has patiently built a reputation for important investigative journalism. Morgan McSweeney focussed on self-advancement and moving the British Labour Party to the right.
Sweet to see the former play a role in the latter's downfall.
Peter Geoghegan has patiently built a reputation for important investigative journalism. Morgan McSweeney focussed on self-advancement and moving the British Labour Party to the right.
Sweet to see the former play a role in the latter's downfall.
February 10, 2026 at 9:09 AM
Two contrasting faces of Ireland abroad.
Peter Geoghegan has patiently built a reputation for important investigative journalism. Morgan McSweeney focussed on self-advancement and moving the British Labour Party to the right.
Sweet to see the former play a role in the latter's downfall.
Peter Geoghegan has patiently built a reputation for important investigative journalism. Morgan McSweeney focussed on self-advancement and moving the British Labour Party to the right.
Sweet to see the former play a role in the latter's downfall.
This is just to say that I have left the Sunday Independent after 20 years of writing the Hold The Back Page sports column.
youtu.be/f9yTqFWxHpA?...
youtu.be/f9yTqFWxHpA?...
Hank Snow - I'm Moving On - 1967.
YouTube video by rockinkid58
youtu.be
February 9, 2026 at 5:06 PM
This is just to say that I have left the Sunday Independent after 20 years of writing the Hold The Back Page sports column.
youtu.be/f9yTqFWxHpA?...
youtu.be/f9yTqFWxHpA?...
Paperback cover of The Last Ditch published by Hachette and coming out in May.
Very fond of it, looks like the poster for a 1953 film noir about a retired safecracker trying to rebuild his life only to be dragged back into crime by an old colleague.
'There is no place to hide in THE LAST DITCH.'
Very fond of it, looks like the poster for a 1953 film noir about a retired safecracker trying to rebuild his life only to be dragged back into crime by an old colleague.
'There is no place to hide in THE LAST DITCH.'
February 9, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Paperback cover of The Last Ditch published by Hachette and coming out in May.
Very fond of it, looks like the poster for a 1953 film noir about a retired safecracker trying to rebuild his life only to be dragged back into crime by an old colleague.
'There is no place to hide in THE LAST DITCH.'
Very fond of it, looks like the poster for a 1953 film noir about a retired safecracker trying to rebuild his life only to be dragged back into crime by an old colleague.
'There is no place to hide in THE LAST DITCH.'