Bernie Linnane

War and peace The past 100 years changed the nature of war. With conflict worldwide showing no sign of abating, historian Eric Hobsbawm assesses the prospects for stability in the new century

Oh. Another war. That fixes everything every time. Nobody gets hurt, children aren’t obliterated, limbs aren’t lost, trauma is totally avoided and everybody is happy all the time.

Read this a few years ago. It’s a long piece. It’s also startling and terrifying. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Thinking of you and hoping you're OK.

A Vagina Museum for Limerick? #OhPleaseOhPleaseOhPlease

A brilliant piece from Kathy Sheridan in today's Irish Times:
"Is it possible that such concentrated malignancy can pulse around that one small village, but not yours or mine?"
We need to educate our children. It is the only hope.
#GiselePelicot

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you!

Reading reports that last week's dreadful shooting in Canada had been carried out by a transgender teenager, my heart sank, as I knew there were some in the media who would weaponise this tragedy against trans people in general. As I read Brenda Power's first column for your paper today, I scanned for even the smallest expression of sympathy for the families bereaved by such a senseless act, but none was forthcoming. Instead, it seems, Ms Power used the shooting as a pretext to shoehorn in as much anti-trans sentiment as her word-count would allow. Is this a taste of things to come? Bernie Linnane Dromahair, Co. Leitrim.

Sunday Independent...

Periodic reminder that none of my rights are sex-based.

Aide Wearily Begins 5th Explanation Of Why Trump Can’t Pardon Prince Andrew

Aide Wearily Begins 5th Explanation Of Why Trump Can’t Pardon Prince Andrew https://theonion.com/aide-wearily-begins-5th-explanation-of-why-trump-cant-pardon-prince-andrew/

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest prompts calls for justice in the US US lawmakers say action by UK authorities on matters arising from release of Epstein files compares unfavourably with a lack of accountability in the US

Can we now stop pretending that Andrew Windsor is an aberration and not just the latest in a long line of dissolute, disreputable and debauched reprobates who got away with all of it through undue deference to their entitled status?
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Martin hits out as full copy of report leaked in advance of Cabinet meeting Report on digital and AI strategy 'not clear' and it was 'open to interpretation' as to what the Government intended to restrict

Look, Ireland can’t legally restrict 16 year olds access to social media or demand people’s ID to let them use the internet.

But certain Ministers have announced they will do those things.

So either they knowingly pass unconstitutional laws.

Or they parp on.

www.irishexaminer.com/news/politic...

Dear Editor, Liz O'Sullivan tells us that abortion is a "profound decision." Once again, decisions around pregnancy termination are portrayed as being taken on a whim, by flighty women incapable of understanding the consequences of their actions. How ridiculous. By the time a person seeks abortion, they have given a great deal of thought to their situation and made the choice that is best for them. To insist they re-think is patronising and insulting. In fact, the three-day waiting period seems only to suit those who who don't actually need, want or approve of abortions, but would like to influence other people's private decisions. It serves no medical purpose for those who seek, or provide, this type of healthcare, and should be scrapped. Bernie Linnane Dromahair, Co. Leitrim.

Irish Independent...

notorious radical left communist rag says tax the rich

I remember a time before DCU!

Whose amazing daughter was just elected President of
DCU Students Union by a landslide?
Proudest mama in Ireland this evening!

I saw someone say you can tell the patriarchy is real because women are being arrested for having miscarriages but men aren't for sexual assault and pedophilia, and I can't stop thinking about that.

It’s frustrating to see even pro immigrant voices in Sweden mostly focusing on people who “speak fluent Swedish” and “do jobs no one else wants” and, worst of all, “who behave themselves” which are basically far-right and authoritarian framings. A lot of “being here is a privilege, not a right”

Just a few headlines from a short trawl of a newspaper today.
What the fuck is wrong with men?

Odlums’s website is down for maintenance. The ONE night anybody would be visiting the Odlums website

We already have a two-tier marriage system: marriages that work and marriages that don't.

Thai masseuse in Connemara stops taking male clients due to barrage of enquiries for sex services Yosita Fitzpatrick receives offensive enquiries asking for sexual services ‘pretty much daily’, she said.

#notallmenbutenoughofthem

Thai masseuse in Connemara stops taking male clients due to barrage of enquiries for sex services jrnl.ie/6958557

Tóibin said it was shocking the Minister did not know how many people arriving in Ireland had originally applied for asylum in another EU country. “What information they do have shows a big increase in the numbers of asylum seekers coming from other countries,” he said. “We have a lot of people who are coming into my constituency offices who originally applied for asylum in Italy. Last year there was a period where many people coming into my constituency office had applied originally in Sweden.”

“Of the 417 Dublin III transfer decisions issued last year only two happened. That’s a stunning failure to implement the law,” he said. “That’s an effectiveness of less than 0.5 per cent. The Government has failed miserably to implement agreed European law.”

Peadar Tóibín's constituents come to his office for help. He goes to the Minister and the press to complain about them not being deported.

www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

#speirghorm

She’s such a melt. She just wants extra ways to make herself feel superior to others. Look at my religion, it’s better than yours. Look at my handbag, it’s more expensive than yours. Look at my marriage, it’s top tier compared to your marriage.

The Holy Joes want less sex. They also want more babies. Someone needs to have a chat. The old Catholic sex education seems to have missed a bit.
#FeckOffIona

Maria Steen, she of the Holy Handbag, argues in the Times that we should introduce a form of marriage with "no possibility of divorce." Maybe she is too young to remember that we already tried this. It ended very badly for some - that's why we introduced divorce.
#FeckOffIona

This is exactly it.

Eoin O’Malley thinks you’re a punchline.

The Letters page of today's Irish Independent contains one with a warning against "loveless copulation".

I had to check that I wasn't reading a 1940s version of the Irish Catholic. #DownWithThisSortofThing

Dear Editor, Sarah Carey tells us that the three-day mandatory waiting period for abortion care "has an impact". How right she is. For some people, this wait pushes them over the time limit in which they could legally access an abortion in this country, forcing them to act outside the law or to make the lonely journeys we hoped the 2018 referendum would end. For others, it acts as a barrier to their accessing care in a timely manner, as it was designed to do, resulting in distress and trauma to people who are already in difficult situations. There is no medical justification for this waiting period, introduced as a sop to a Fine Gael politician. Why should more women have to suffer to salve the conscience of a conservative man? The three-day wait should be scrapped and Irish people should be trusted to make their own medical decisions. Bernie Linnane Dromahair, Co. Leitrim

Irish Independent...