StephDickenson.bsky.social

It’s become such a nice little neighbourhood event! We manage to do it pretty much every month, and we’ve been doing it for a year now. It attracts absolutely all kinds of people, which is something I really love about it, and it’s such a gentle accessible event for people to come to.

Love that one of their Irish names is lil' Siobhán of the road, they just love da streets

Do any good thing you can, no matter how small. No good thing is ever insignificant.

A photograph of an outdoor book swap with two tables of books, with 10 people browsing and chatting. The sun is shining and there is multi-coloured bunting.

Today’s particularly lovely Stoneybatter book swap. Around 100 books found new homes, including some now heading for a primary school library, and many chats were had. And the sun shone, and there were excellent dogs.

Iran's revolutionary guards tell ships passage through Strait of Hormuz 'not allowed', EU naval mission official says An official from the European Union's naval mission Aspides said on Saturday that vessels have been receiving VHF transmission from Iran's Revolutionary Guards saying "no ship is allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz".

Iran's revolutionary guards tell ships passage through Strait of Hormuz 'not allowed', EU naval mission official says reut.rs/4l4rJ0G

So, any other news yesterday?
Anything important?

As Democracy Volunteers are the source of the claim of "Family Voting" in the Gorton & Denton by election, I got curious about their claims and thanks to @joenoonan.bsky.social I came across this claim about "Family Voting" during the 2020 Irish General Election.

A brief 🧵

Saturday 28th February it’ll be a year since our first monthly Stoneybatter book swap! So we’ll be at An Siol on Manor St from 11am-12.30pm if you want to pop by to browse, pick up a new to you book or just have a chat. All welcome. And it should - famous last words!! - be sunny!

Jesus. Netflix calls it quits, the Ellisons and Paramount will get all of Warner, including CNN. Bari Weiss's sphere of influence grows. And no matter what you think of CNN or news in general, it's a big legacy brand with a lot of reach, that will now shift rightwards pretty hard.

Just spotted that the openly racist candidate for Tommy Robinson's "Advance UK" was beaten by the Monster Raving Looney Party.

A healthy looking Fox spotted on the @tudublin.bsky.social campus at @grangegormandev.bsky.social this week. Thanks to @stephdickenson.bsky.social and Marie for the photo! @leafybatter.bsky.social @connectingcabra.bsky.social @phibsboro.bsky.social

It's AMAZING

Who will sit on the advisory board set to shape the future of Dublin city centre? Seven areas of expertise should be represented, said a recent council report.

Who will sit on the advisory board set to shape the future of Dublin city centre? Seven areas of expertise should be represented, said a recent council report.

A truly historic and (potentially) momentous win for the Greens. They’ve never won 10% in a by election before. Now they’ve won in a part of Manchester Labour has held since 1931.

Chat, is it good that three companies now own all communications and entertainment?

A whopping 41% for the Greens in Manchester 😱

Gorton and Denton by-election result:

GRN: 40.7% (+27.5)
REF: 28.7% (+14.7)
LAB: 25.4% (-25.3)
CON: 1.9% (-6.0)
LDEM: 1.8% (-2.1)

Green GAIN from Labour.

I mean they inarguably got the better deal than the men's team, didn't they. On a food level and a personal level.

A clear indication how much British politics has changed on the Newsnight by-election panel, featuring The Green Party, Reform UK and Labour. Big shifts evident in the political landscape. #GortonandDenton

At least 22 dead after record rainfall triggers floods and landslides in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Up to 191 mm within a day, of which 100 mm in 3 hours!
watchers.news/2026/02/24/a...

Ancient stepwells brought back to life as India begins to run out of water Centuries-old wells restored to provide drinking water as parts of the country head towards “day zero” when no water will be available

Ancient stepwells brought back to life as India begins to run out of water

Green Party 25 February 2026 Dear Lucy On the eve of the by-election, your Labour party spokesperson has admitted to the Huffington Post that a Labour party leaflet has been delivered through doors with your imprint recommending a vote for Labour by a tactical voting organisation which does not exist. This is deeply troubling, it is actually lying to voters. Did you approve this? Do you feel the Labour Party in government should be held to different standards in terms of honesty to the British public? In your last letter to me you mentioned your 'very extensive data' and 'having spoken to over a third of eligible voters' which led you to an understanding that the by election was a contest between labour and Reform'. Clearly this latest development only tells voters one thing - you will employ any type of political deception (or in Urdu "Dhoka" ) to win. You will be very aware that all three real tactical voting organisations are recommending a vote for the Greens as the best way to stop Reform. Lying to the voters, as you have been caught doing, raises the real prospect that Reform will be the beneficiaries, something you have said that you don't want. As this is such an important issue, for the sake of your own reputation, I would strongly urge you to apologise to the voters of Denton and Gorton before the polls open in the morning." Kind regards, Jack Po Manche THE LEFT BIBL Zac Leader セ een Party of England and War.

I was at a friend in Levenshulme house yesterday - they had just had a leaflet through the door saying tactical vote Labour if you want to stop Reform - looks like dodgy games from Labour to me

my local park is full of hundreds of snow sculptures and someone has been adding museum labels

💚 Good luck to Hannah Spencer in the election in Gorton & Denton, representing @greenparty.org.uk.

🗳️ Dear British friends, grab your umbrella and get yourself to the polls this Thursday to stop Reform!

👀 Did you know that if you’re 16 or over you can vote in the UK?

Help us report: How are journalists in Ireland using AI these days? We're curious what you're using it for, and what you think about that.

Will you help us report by filling out a short survey? If you're a journalist working in Ireland, we're curious what you're using AI for (if anything), and what you think about that.

Excellent.

Galway councillor claims RSA messaging amounts to ‘victim blaming’ – ‘Children are not killed because of a lack of high-vis vests’ A Galway councillor has called for a “no confidence” vote and a major overhaul of the Road Safety Authority (RSA), claiming its education campaigns place responsibility on vulnerable road users rather...

“Children are not killed because they're not wearing high-vis vests. Children are killed because people are speeding, they are inattentive, they are drink driving, they're on their mobile phones, or the design of our roads is not appropriate.” Cllr Alan Curran

www.independent.ie/regionals/ga...

Facial recognition technology to be trialled on passengers at Holyhead Testing this week follows previous pilot by UK authorities in 2025 which saw more than 7,500 faces analysed

“‘When there are new technologies put on the table, we always have to consider what that looks like in the hands of a non-democratic ruler.”

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...

Read this thread. It’s really important.

You, an individual, cannot "fix" the whole world. You can act at the scale of your life. You should act at the scale of your life.