Fergal Lenehan

Books Upstairs is a great shop. Possible also to order online. @booksupstairs.bsky.social

Books Upstairs is a fine store with a particularly excellent poetry section. Why not support them by ordering your books online instead: booksupstairs.ie

Wow. 3,000 Euro is such a small sum to him that he can't remember if he paid it or not?

Greta Thunberg is held prisoner by Israel at a jail in the Negev. Read what Sweden’s embassy in Israel reports are the conditions of her detention ⬇️

Now just imagine: if Israel treats a world-famous Swedish activist this way, how badly are its prisons abusing Palestinians?

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In pictures: Portraits of Irish writers as you have never seen them before Former New Yorker photographer Steve Pyke has compiled a striking book of portraits beginning with Neil Jordan in 1985 and including Marian Keyes, Edna O’Brien, Sebastian Barry

In pictures: Portraits of Irish writers as you have never seen them before. Former New Yorker photographer Steve Pyke has compiled a striking book of portraits beginning with Neil Jordan in 1985 and including Marian Keyes, Edna O’Brien, Sebastian Barry (and me!)

www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

Israel accused of detaining Greta Thunberg in infested cell and making her hold flags Activist tells Swedish officials she has been subjected to harsh treatment, including insufficient food and water

““They dragged little Greta [Thunberg] by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others,” the Turkish activist ErsinÇelik, a participant in the Sumud flotilla, told Anadolu news agency.”+

After Declining to Give Trump a Sword for King Charles, a Museum Leader Is Out

Very Trump-era story.
1. The sword has no meaning for Charles, but matters for the Eisenhower Museum.
2. Illegal for the museum to give away US property!
3. Trump makes no distinction between personal/public property.
4. The person who did the right thing was fired.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/a...

‘These are the flotilla terrorists’: Israeli minister taunts detained campaigners Last boat in aid flotilla detained by Israeli military on Friday

Israel is now parading Irish citizens in front of cameras while its security minister, a convicted terrorist, stands and berates them

www.irishtimes.com/world/middle...

Prof. Dr. Julia Kuhn, vice dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Jena, with @fergallenehan.bsky.social and Luisa Conti at the inauguration of the Centre for Digital Interculturality Studies.

At the inauguration of the Centre for Digital Interculturality Studies Prof Dr Julia Kuhn vice dean of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities @uni-jena.de stressed the accomplishments of the ReDICo project and the importance of the Centre. We're grateful for the support and hope for long-term cooperation.

Fintan O’Toole: Catherine Connolly should keep her inner Basil Fawlty under wraps Accusing our EU allies of being proto-fascist warmongers is not a winning strategy

@fotoole.bsky.social is absolutely 100% on the mark here.
Connolly is de facto turning a country wanting to defend itself into the aggressor. She is consistently on the wrong side. A thundering disgrace before an election has even been held.

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

The Misogynistic Abuse Directed at Rory McIlroy’s Wife at the Ryder Cup Is Deeper Than Golf It shows a cultural shift, one in which men feel emboldened to attack women in public without shame or consequence.

“The behavior was pure misogynistic abuse, and it’s a growing movement in American culture right now.” www.glamour.com/story/the-mi...

Michael McDowell: Why I didn't nominate Maria Steen for the presidency As a liberal, I felt Maria Steen’s election would have been a step backwards for the Ireland I believe in

He doesn't need to explain himself like this. But he does, and he does it well.

Why I didn’t nominate Maria Steen for the presidency

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

Environmental damage is putting European way of life at risk, says report EU officials warn climate breakdown and wildlife loss ‘are ruining ecosystems that underpin the economy’

European way of life jeopardised by eco-collapse, EU report finds.

If the threat were from any other quarter, our whole economy, political system, society, *everything* would be mobilised to head it off, like during COVID.

But it's only nature dying, so nothing.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

State of Europe’s environment not good: threats to nature and impacts of climate change top challenges Significant progress has been made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, but the overall state of Europe’s environment is not good, especially its nature which continues to face degr...

Straight talk from the European Union's Environment Agency: with Europe warming twice as fast as the global average, now is not the time to lose sight of our climate and nature goals. www.eea.europa.eu/en/newsroom/...

Tony Blair steht für den Bruch des Völkerrechts im Irakkrieg (zusammen mit George W. Bush natürlich). Er steht also für die Doppelmoral des Westens. Ihn zum Verwalter eines UN-Gaza Schutzgebietes zu machen ist eine absurde Vorstellung. Wer kommt als nächstes: Putin?

They could use that for their citizens or cities, but, alas, it’s easier to destroy than to create.

Fintan O’Toole: Catherine Connolly should keep her inner Basil Fawlty under wraps Accusing our EU allies of being proto-fascist warmongers is not a winning strategy

"(..)the parties backing Catherine Connolly might remind her that accusing our EU allies of being proto-fascist warmongers is not a winning electoral strategy. Most voters know that the EU is the safest place we can be in a dangerous world."

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

Available here: www.newstalk.com/podcasts/hig...

Going to be on live radio, on Newstalk with Sean Moncrieff talking about Elizabeth Shaw & "How I Came to Berlin: An Artist's Journey from Belfast and the London Blitz to a Cold - War City" in about 30 minutes. Listen in.

I don't do DMs.

Very nice.

Yes, I was there.

Tech bros used to be progressive. What happened? We used to think technology was inherently liberatory. Now it’s empowering corporations and conmen

The tech world's lurch to the right is the subject of my latest column for Prospect: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno... - it offers a super-brief history from the Whole Earth Catalog to cryptoconmen and anti-labor AI.

Banville does give good Banville. Fairplay to @martindoyle.bsky.social. Not an easy interview, I would think.

In Gaza, a child carries the body of his cousin to the cemetery after the Massoud family massacre, where an Israeli bombardment killed 33 members, leaving only the father and his young son alive.

About 100k people went out to demonstrate for Gaza,in Berlin, Yesterday

“Yes the Russian dictatorship is invading European countries, slaughtering thousands of people for 3+ years, and now also sending drones into the EU on a weekly basis, but EU countries should not spend anything on defence because…. George Bush and stuff!“

Remembering the black history of Weimar Berlin - The Berliner Three Cameroonian Berliners from a century ago were key figures in Berlin's black history, remembered for their fight for self-determination.

Remembering the black history of Weimar Berlin: www.the-berliner.com/politics/bla...

Maybe in terms of the overall situation, yes. But democratic 2025 Germany, under the Christian Democrats & the Social Democrats, is obviously a world away from Nazi Germany for God's sake. She keeps alienating her own natural voters & does herself no favours at all.

Joe Haslam: Why Real Madrid, too, is more than just a club - The Currency My father was on the board of Cuspóir, a forerunner of the Irish Sports Council. He had studied Spanish at university and had visited the country many times as a young man. In 1981, he travelled to Ma...

This is a great piece.

thecurrency.news/articles/200...