Eemer Eivers

Photo of a page from Omar El Akkad's ONE DAY EVERYONE WILL ALWAYS HAVE BEEN AGAINST THIS that reads: Some of the least established writers I know, the ones who have to work all manner of side jobs just to make ends meet, are actively putting their literary careers at risk by calling for an end to the wholesale murder of a people. Meanwhile, so many of the most established writers are either totally silent or engaged in the tritest finger-wagging about just how terrible it would be for the art if we get too shrill about this sort of thing. Yes, the killing happens now, but there'll be plenty of time later to write very moving stories about the shape and shade of the bones.

"Yes, the killing happens now, but there'll be plenty of time later to write very moving stories about the shape and shade of the bones."

The precision of this. My god.

Silicon Valley is lighting hundreds of billions of dollars on fire to generate this slop.

Independent Panel to review Baseline School Funding announced Education Minister Paul Givan has announced the independent panel to undertake the Review of Baseline School Funding Provided Through the Common Funding Formula (CFF).

🚨Minister Givan has appointed me to a panel to review aspects of Northern Ireland's school funding model. I worked on the last major review (way back in 2012-13) & have published on effects of different models, so looking forward to it!
🔗 www.education-ni.gov.uk/news/indepen...
#edusky #speirgorm

I'm not generally a big fan of the clergy but Brother Kevin will be greatly missed. The incredible work of the Capuchin Day Centre in providing meals and supports to those in need is quite a legacy. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
#RIPBrKevin #SpeirGorm

School fees: how to save €50,000 to pay for children’s school or college costs When should you start saving? ‘When a child is born’

Another @irishtimes.com article flogging the services of private schools. Research shows NO academic "added-value" from them. Want your child to succeed? Read & talk to them as much as possible, as young as possible. Be a parent, not an investor. #SpeirGorm #edusky
www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2...

... 2/2
Ysandre & Saidhbhin, both in second level:
museumofchildhood.ie/b-s-is-my-na...
museumofchildhood.ie/not-just-col...

All 10 fabulous finalists listed below, & will be published in the next few weeks. Well done to all our writers.
museumofchildhood.ie/bloomsday-20...
We'll be in touch.

Thrilled to announce the 10 finalists in @museumofchildhood.bsky.social #Bloomsday young writer competition.

Caterina's entry was the judges' fav:
museumofchildhood.ie/sarjena/
And she's still in primary school! Wow.

She just pipped ... 1/2

Mykonos & Santorini are equally awful. I know Naxos is not like it used to be but still lovely compared to the gruesome twosome. Rural Crete still offers a real escape from crowds.

😂Fair point.

Santorini is the Temple Bar of Greece. A cultural and ecological dead zone. Some of the nearby Cyclades like Syros and Naxos place much more value on local products, local farm traditions, with at least some awareness of the environment.

Apparently coordinated political assassinations at this early stage in Trump’s dismantling of democracy is beyond my worst imaginings. Just awful.

Image shows a young Victorian woman wearing a form of bloomers, being gleefully pushed on her bike by female friends, dressed in more conservative clothes

Rare to write about bloomers, cycling, sexism & State Exams in one article! Blog on the almost total absence of teen girls cycling to school, why it matters & what we must do.
🔗 museumofchildhood.ie/where-are-th...
#cycling #school #SpeirGorm
@dublincycling.bsky.social @roisiningle.bsky.social

Journalists are adding extra checks to keep ahead of the fake experts Fake experts and SEO: How journalists must adopt new checks to keep one step ahead of AI-generated responses provided by fake experts.

"Barbara Santini is a psychologist who has been quoted hundreds of times in news publications around the world - including the Telegraph, BBC and Independent - and who, I can now state with certainty, does not exist."
pressgazette.co.uk/news/fake-ex...

Image shows a young Victorian woman wearing a form of bloomers, being gleefully pushed on her bike by female friends, dressed in more conservative clothes

Rare to write about bloomers, cycling, sexism & State Exams in one article! Blog on the almost total absence of teen girls cycling to school, why it matters & what we must do.
🔗 museumofchildhood.ie/where-are-th...
#cycling #school #SpeirGorm
@dublincycling.bsky.social @roisiningle.bsky.social

Today I asked AI to summarise an academic paper. The actual results were the opposite to what was hypothesised (and to what others had shown). The AI summary assumed the study had found what everyone else had found. Hot tip: don’t use a stochastic parrot to summarise an outlier paper. #academicsky 🧪

The Irish summer is a no-show, so channeling a bit of Greece to cheer me up. Homemade Freddo Espresso, the coffee of the Gods! Not a bad effort for an ιρλανδέζα but it doesn’t taste the same in the rain.☔️ ☹️

Our @museumofchildhood.bsky.social blog for #Bloomsday!
A chance encounter with a Joyce book in a dusty Indian library changed Jinan Ashraf's life forever. Her journey from Kerala to @nlireland.bsky.social @dculibrary.bsky.social
#JamesJoyce #BooksChangeLives
museumofchildhood.ie/reading-joyce/

kermit the frog is typing on a typewriter . ALT: kermit the frog is typing on a typewriter .

2/2
👩‍⚖️Our fab judges are now reading entries the 10 finalists.

🪧Results TBA on Bloomsday.

👏To all who entered, with so many brilliant entries, you really made us work hard. Please keep writing.

1/2
A busy Education team in @museumofchildhood.bsky.social. After prelim scoring, we had an *8-way* tie for the last place to get through to the final round of our Bloomsday Writing Competition! Cue a second round of ratings. We are wrecked!😅
#Joyce #Writing #YoungAuthor #Bloomsday

We Knocked Until Our Hands Broke Gaza-based Palestinian author Alaa Alqaisi asks herself the question posed more than half a century ago at the end of Ghassan Kanafani’s “Men in the Sun”: Why didn’t they knock on…

Heartbreaking piece from Palestinian writer and translator Alaa Alqaisi.
We screamed through every outlet we had — in Arabic and English, in poems and press releases, in death tolls and testimonies... And we got the answer. We got it loud and clear.

arablit.org/2025/05/23/w...

Book covers - May new titles for age 3/4+

Book covers - Irish children's books for age 8+ out in May.

Some amazing new Irish children's books out in May for all ages.

Thanks to @bexsheridan.bsky.social for creating the @irishkidsbooks.bsky.social posters.

Please do share this post and let everyone know about these brilliant new books. Together let's help children #discoveririshkidsbooks

1/ Thrilled that the new Milly McCarthy has landed - she’s off to the Gaeltacht - a rite of passage for many!! You can order Milly McCarthy’s Wild Atlantic Antics at halfwayupthestairs.ie/product/9781... or pick up a copy in store! @leonaforde1.bsky.social
@sarahwebbwriter.bsky.social

😂

Finally sharing pics of @childrensbooksireland.ie Reading for Joy Forum. It highlighted some good work in Ireland to support reading. ANNDD I'd a keynote on the Reading Communities evaluation (great to get a physical copy of the report!). Between MOLI, enthusiastic readers & sunshine, a great day!

Fair points about non-attendance. The simplest way to improve attendance is to reduce massive illness rates. Since 2020, most countries have shown large increases in missed days in school/work, from kids & adults. Surveys won’t fix it, but cleaner air just might. #edusky #SpeirGorm

For National Childhood Services Week
@museumofchildhood.bsky.social are hosting a read-along & draw-along with Tarsila Kruse.
🔗 tinyurl.com/5a8z9369
Access it any time, all you need is a Little One & something to draw on. Prepare to feel happy!
#CSW25 #Reading #ShapingYourDreams

Which one? Algonquian, Cherokee or others, or moving south, Gurani, Mayan or others? So many choices… 🙄

Ringsend & Irishtown Community Centre is proud to present Bloomsday Villages: Ringsend & Irishtown on June 12-16th.

The events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated. For more information, please email ringsenddistricthistorical@gmail.com.

What: a @childrensbooksireland.ie initiative
Funder: Late Late Toy Show Appeal
Aim: Show the importance of school libraries in fostering a love of #reading
Context: Between 2008-2022, Irish schools received ZERO in grant aid for library books.
(Yes, you read that right 😠)
#edusky #SpeirGorm

My "Every Child a Reader" evaluation is out! When schools get 1,000 books & a Champion of Reading:
➡️ Changes in pupil behaviour, teacher attitudes
I discuss how we must:
➡️ support primary school libraries
➡️ address lingering FX of lockdown on some pupils
childrensbooksireland.ie/sites/defaul...