Claire Nic Fhinn

A brilliant couple of days this week in Maynooth University at the Equitas Conference. Open & honest panel discussions & workshops about the challenges & opportunities for EDI & ESVH work right now across the HEI sector. Great to also share our HEA-funded toolkit on Engaging Men in Gender Equality.

President Higgins has ‘no intention’ of remaining silent while democracy ‘under threat’ Michael D Higgins uses last Bloomsday speech in office to denounce treatment of people in Gaza and decry ‘dangerous authoritarianism’ in US

President Higgins has ‘no intention’ of remaining silent while democracy ‘under threat’

Soon as I touch down in old L.A. He said, "Oh, my god, you look just like Shakira No, no, you're Catherine Zeta!" "Actually, my name's Marina."

I die a little inside whenever I hear those lyrics.

"We've let capitalism hollow out our institutions for so long that americans are having doubts about democracy, as opposed to capitalism. They think it's democracy that failed them and not capitalism. And that's a serious problem we cannot let continue."

The Gist: Not Mandatory, Not Compulsory, Not Legal The DPC has fined the Department of Social Protection €550,000. This is the Gist.

New Gist: Not Mandatory, Not Compulsory, Not Legal
The DPC has fined the Department of Social Protection €550,000. This is the Gist.

(at no point do I use the words "I told you so")
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-not...

White billionaire from her yacht cites Audre Lorde in defence of a white writer for a Far Right newspaper complaining about the criticism she got for her bigoted attack on a woman of colour.

What times!

The candidate of the pro- European, reality-based center in Romania is ahead of the candidate supported by Russia and the international far-right.
Just an exit poll, but still

😂😂

This is precisely the kind of thing I’m talking about: We need to have a basic understanding of how many kids are using these tools and how they’re affecting education before we resort to catastrophizing.

bsky.app/profile/aedw...

*coverage!

I am addicted to the #Conclave coverge. 🗳

👏👏👏👏

Statement in solidarity with the UK trans and non-binary community As campaigners focusing on gender-based violence within higher education, we are extremely concerned about the consequences for trans and non-binary people of the recent Supreme Court judgement on …

Our statement in solidarity with the UK trans and non-binary community:
1752group.com/2025/05/02/s...

A thread 🧵

My little sister got married on a beautiful day in Toronto. ❤️🇨🇦

It's really hard to overstate how hugely favored conservatives were up until two months ago.

Here's the graph of Canadian polling between March 2023 and March 2025. (Reminder: blue is conservative.)

Those are months and months of 20+ point leads for Tories.

Attacking the rights of a marginalised group isn’t a win for feminism.

Demanding that women be defined by our biology isn't a win for feminism.

The people driving this are not acting in the interests of women. They're taking us all backwards and ushering in the far right.

What Comes After D.E.I.? Colleges around the country, in the face of legal and political backlash to their diversity programs, are pivoting to an alternative framework known as pluralism, Emma Green reports.

A long but equally fascinating and frustrating read about the current state of DEI on US college campuses - and where it may go from here and to what end(s).

www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Commission pushes to water down gender mainstreaming in Horizon Europe The European Commission wants to water down gender mainstreaming requirements in Horizon Europe despite facing resistance from member states and research stakeholders. The changes proposed by the Comm...

Commission pushes to water down gender mainstreaming in Horizon Europe sciencebusiness.net/commission-p...

It is a demented take, as Sylvia points out. Stuff keeps being made, and everyone else keeps trading. In fact, all the fast fashion comes even more to Europe when it's harder to sell in the US.

📷 A child in Gaza this month.

The evidence of Israeli war crimes continues to proliferate but much of the media and the political establishment in the West mostly refuses to see what is directly under its nose, or to say what it is seeing.

Photograph: Omar al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty

Red C Poll: Fine Gael slumps to lowest level of support with party five points behind Fianna Fáil Latest Business Post/Red C poll comes as government gears up for trade war with the United States

POLL: Business Post/Red C
(March 21-26, MoE 3%)

Sinn Féin 22 (-1 in five weeks)
Fianna Fáil 22 (+2)
Fine Gael 17 (-3)
Social Democrats 7
Labour 4
Ind Ireland 4
Aontú 4
Greens 3
PBP-Solidarity 3
Independents 13 (+2)

www.businesspost.ie/news/red-c-p...

Trinity warns staff not to answer US government request for diversity and equality information A questionnaire seeks to establish whether funded research aligns with the Trump administration’s interests.

Trump fascist regime wanting to extend it’s greasy anti human fingers into other countries’ education & research. www.thejournal.ie/us-governmen...

From interview of Lee Bollinger, 1st Amendment scholar who served as dean of @UMichLaw, president of @UMich, and president of Columbia University.
www.chronicle.com/article/were...

Among the material devastation to everyday people, Senate Dems have now blown a hole in their ability to work with the House.

We had an agreed upon plan, House took immense risk, then Senate turned around midway and destroyed it w/ a fear-based, inexplicable abdication.

They own what happens next.

"Donald Trump and Elon Musk have offered the Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across America. Let's be clear: neither is a good option for the American people. But this false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable. I salute Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his courageous rejection of this false choice, and I am proud of my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their overwhelming vote against this bill. Democratic senators should listen to the women. Appropriations leaders Rosa DeLauro and Patty Murray have eloquently presented the case that we must have a better choice: a four-week funding extension to keep government open and negotiate a bipartisan agreement. America has experienced a Trump shutdown before - but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse. Democrats must not buy into this false choice. We must fight back for a better way. Listen to the women, For The People."

In a new statement, Nancy Pelosi is calling on Democratic Senators to go against Chuck Schumer.

“Democratic senators should listen to the women…”

Full Statement:

If you're at the point of anti-woke moral panic that you're questioning whether NORTHERN IRELAND needs public investment in equality and inclusion initiatives, it's safe to say you're out of your fucking mind.

‘There is no doubt some go into homelessness as a result of domestic violence’ – Cuan chief Stephanie O’Keefe The heartbreaking practice of using rape victims’ counselling notes in court cases should be banned, the head of the State’s first domestic and gender-based violence agency has said.

The heartbreaking practice of using rape victims’ counselling notes in court cases should be banned, the head of the State’s first domestic and gender-based violence agency has said.

www.independent.ie/news/there-i...

Just got an email from the Fulbright Association. As of right now, funding has been cut off to 12,500 US citizens currently abroad and and more than 7,400 foreigner scholars and students in the United States

The ladies’ gallery in the temporary House of Commons Continuing our series on parliamentary architecture, and marking Women’s History Month, this blog from our assistant editor Dr Kathryn Rix looks at the provision made for women to witness debates i…

Ahead of #InternationalWomensDay tomorrow we are sharing some of our favourite blogs on women’s participation in 19thC politics. Last year our assistant editor @kathrynrix.bsky.social researched the facilities provided for women to view Commons debates: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/t...

As every US president has done since 1991, it should be noted. This isn't just a Trump thing.