Seán Patrick Donlan

Does One Battle After Another actually meet the moment? NPR's Bob Mondello and Marc Rivers join host Andrew Limbong to talk about Paul Thomas Anderson's new film and other films that reflect the politics and tensions of our time.

PTA was working on it for a decade or so and it was completed before Tr*mp's re-election. I was assuming it was roughly from 2008/9-present. It could be from the present to the future but I don't remember clear clues to suggest that. I'm not in a hurry to rewatch it. 😬 www.npr.org/2025/10/05/n...

A ★★★½ review of One Battle After Another (2025) ‘I want you to create a show, Pat [Bob]. Okay?’ - Perfidia ‘Man, come on - what kind of revolutionary are you, brother? We're not even in the same room here. We're talking on the phone, like, man!’ - ...

The events of the *novel* take place in the 1960s-1980s, when its plot and politics might've had some meaning. The *film* has contemporary technology and desperation, with audiences projecting a polemic or program on its ineffectual, self-referential, and performative revolutionaries.
boxd.it/bdCeVL

'An Cailín Ciuín, That They May Face the Rising Sun and Small Things Like These, with their sources, present significantly different pictures of the early eighties in Ireland.... Each suggests something about us, now.'

Me, at newsagents everywhere or historyireland.com/quiet-people...

Highly recommended.

'If this dawn is to be followed by a real daybreak for the left, its light has to illuminate a path to power. For that path to open up, the left has to show that it is ready to turn its noble aspirations into convincing propositions.'

How much do you know about Irish movies? Time to take a well-deserved break from all things election and test your knowledge on Irish movies.

We've put together a quiz on Irish movies, so test your knowledge and give it a go.
jrnl.ie/6852760

I hope, as a precautionary matter and at her discretion, that the new President consults with the Council of State, including her appointees, before doing anything rash. Otherwise, there could be a constitutional crisis before we can share pints, perhaps even in advance of next month’s conference.

The President’s part of the Oireachtas as the Crown was part of Parliament, not as policy maker or legislator. Allowing them, or the Presidential Commission, ‘public criticism of a government programme or specific policy pronouncements’ through Article 45, or 45.1 alone, excludes almost nothing.

*modestly*

In short, I think a convention of restraint is settled; it doesn't change merely because it's challenged modesy by Labour* presidents. And even if we accept general comments, that wouldn't permit, eg, public criticism of a government programme or specific policy pronouncements. And references ...

Do we really want an activist President? Robinson reimagined the role as one that could push the boundaries of constitutional convention — but worked within its formal limitations

I'm with Laura on this (though I'd love to discuss it over pints). '[A] presidency that begins to regularly criticise policy, or take political stances, risks undermining the very authority it seeks to strengthen.' Such policy activism's a recipe for disaster. www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

I'm biased, as the journal's founder and first editor, but this is a great opportunity to work with a publication that sets the standard for the discipline. Pass it on.

Obviously, left-wing 'togetherness' was largely a collective hostility to the traditional parties of government, in an election with very low turnout, for a post with merely formal powers. Competing with a patchwork of policies in an election with meaning consequences may yield the usual results.

But this 'togetherness' was, of course, largely a collective hostility to the traditional parties of government, in an election with very low turnout, for a post with merely formal powers. Competing with a patchwork of policies in an election with meaning consequences may yield the usual results.

Fintan O’Toole: Catherine Connolly deserves her emphatic victory, but it’s a hollow crown She has a tough task ahead: speak for the established State, represent a radical opposition to it and give hope to those who are increasingly disenchanted

Great analysis - even if I’m more anxious about how this plays into external perceptions of Ireland as being smug, self righteous and disregarding of serious security threats.

“Catherine Connolly deserves her landslide victory, but it’s a hollow crown”

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Disappointing. This a crass political perspective, not a principled one and would be aggressively, appropriately, attacked if the positions were reversed. We'll have to see how the new President, and her followers, responds. The signs aren't good.

analysis.irelandthinks.ie/polling-day-...

Left behind? Presidents, Politics, and Principles… Seán Patrick Donlan  is a Professor of Law at Thompson Rivers University (Canada). He formerly taught Irish law at the University of Limerick and has published on comparative legal history, as well as...

'President Connolly may ... surprise us with political restraint and decorum, successfully containing her political conceits and natural loquaciousness. If so, it’ll be interesting to see how her passionate supporters respond to such to such principles.'
sluggerotoole.com/2025/10/25/l...

Not my take but I'm curious to see how audiences react ...

'Age yourself with a movie you saw in theatres as a kid'

This Sunday, Margo Harkin will join Sara Greavu (Director of Fire Station Artists’ Studios) for an in-depth, illustrated, career-spanning conversation about a life in film.

Don't miss out on the final event of our Margo Harkin retrospective!

🎟👉 https://ifi.ie/film/margo-harkin-career-interview/

YouTube video by Irish Film Institute IFI Schools Programme 2025-26 | Trailer

Very exciting 25/26 school year ahead here @irishfilminstitute.bsky.social

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPui...

RIP Claudia Cardinale (1938-2025)

Highly recommended.

Hush-a-Bye Baby – Cries and whispers Ahead of its re-release at the IFI, Seán Patrick Donlan explores Margo Harkin’s Hush-a-Bye Baby, calling it essential viewing and a classic of Irish cinema.

Tomorrow at the Irish Film Institute (IFI).

'[A] significant Irish film from an important Irish voice.'

www.scannain.com/review/hush-...

Anyone near Limerick looking for Culture Night plans? 🌙 I’m delighted to be chatting with filmmaker Ross Whitaker tonight at the Desmond Complex, Newcastle West, about the gorgeous doc Birdsong he produced with director Kathleen Harris.

Anyone near Limerick looking for Culture Night plans tonight? 🎬 Join our editor in the Desmond Complex, Newcastle West, for a special chat with filmmaker Ross Whitaker about Birdsong, directed by Kathleen Harris.

It was beyond fascinating to hear about how the logistics of the classification process works... have a listen back to our chat with Dr. Ciaran Kissane here.

THE 1939 DIARY OF A BELFAST CINEMA-GOER - Film Hub NI

I found the diary of a 1939 Belfast cinema-goer and wrote a piece on what I found for @filmhubni.bsky.social

👉 filmhubni.org/blog/the-193...

They made 183 trips to to see 325 films at 25 cinemas! But sadly the diarist's identity remains a mystery. Please help us identify them if you can.

If you're interested ...

Margo Harkin: Hush-A-Bye Baby - New Restoration

A significant film; an important voice. A wee gem.

Harkin's 1990 film rewards repeat viewing, especially as newly restored by the Irish Film Institute (IFI). It's already available on the IFI site and will be shown at the IFI on 23 September 2025.
journalofmusic.com/listing/02-0...