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Mark Hennessy

@markhennessy.bsky.social

Ireland and Britain Editor, The Irish Times Leading The Irish Times’ Common Ground project exploring relationships on the island of Ireland, and between Ireland and Great Britain https://www.irishtimes.com/common-ground/

7,398 Followers  |  4,920 Following  |  335 Posts  |  Joined: 30.09.2023  |  1.673

Latest posts by markhennessy.bsky.social on Bluesky

In Boston ICE randomly pulled over this huge white Irish guy with a Mass drivers license, 20 years in the states, legal status, pending green card and have held him for 5 months, his citizen wife paid a $4k bond that was ignored(!) ICE forged his signature on deportation agreement, no appeal

09.02.2026 12:42 — 👍 1667    🔁 748    💬 20    📌 23
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The Irish Constitution: Leading judge on how it could impact the drive for a united Ireland The Constitution, designed to achieve unity, ‘may ultimately complicate that ambition’, not ‘because it was weak and inflexible’ but ‘rather because it was sufficiently flexible and strong’

The Irish Constitution: Leading Irish Supreme Court judge on how it could impact the drive for a united Ireland

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

09.02.2026 09:48 — 👍 7    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

06.02.2026 09:09 — 👍 46268    🔁 18970    💬 1327    📌 771
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Ex-SAS commander in North: ‘The idea that we played hard and fast with the law is nonsense’ Former British special forces soldiers reject allegations the regiment was central to a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy during the Troubles

Ex-SAS commander in Northern Ireland: ‘The idea that we played hard and fast with the law is nonsense’

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

07.02.2026 10:48 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 2    📌 0
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Melania Trump is not Rapunzel in the tower, pining to be saved from the ogre imprisoning her Melania is where she wants to be: in the bosom of a corrupt family that is prostituting the People’s House

Melania Trump is not Rapunzel in the tower, pining to be saved from the ogre imprisoning her

www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

01.02.2026 14:17 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

28.01.2026 17:02 — 👍 97341    🔁 40970    💬 4310    📌 5386
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Social networks could be treated as publishers if they host illegal content, Minister of State says Government considering law that would ban ‘deepfakes’, Niamh Smyth says

Wouldn’t that be nice - rather than the Wild West from which all of the social networks have grossly profited for years / Social networks could be treated as publishers if they host illegal content, says Irish Minister of State says

www.irishtimes.com/politics/oir...

28.01.2026 08:00 — 👍 12    🔁 2    💬 2    📌 0
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Walz: "To Americans who are watching this, I've got a question for you: What side do you want to be on? The side of an all powerful federal govt that can kill, injury, menace, & kidnap its citizens off the streets? Or on the side of a nurse at the VA hospital who died bearing witness to such govt?"

25.01.2026 20:24 — 👍 50397    🔁 14758    💬 891    📌 615

More right than he knows, probably. The Titanic’s captain needed to slow down, to watch where he was going, to listen to wiser counsel, and to have turned left, or right in time to miss disaster

22.01.2026 18:23 — 👍 9    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0
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File describing Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly as IRA leader returned to National Archives Historian disputes Minister’s assertion that withdrawal of file was ‘normal’

File describing Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly as IRA leader returned to National Archives

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

17.01.2026 23:08 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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File describing Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly as IRA leader returned to National Archives Historian disputes Minister’s assertion that withdrawal of file was ‘normal’

File describing Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly as IRA leader returned to National Archives after being pulled the week before, and being reported on

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

17.01.2026 22:48 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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‘We haven’t had one bad experience’: Why cross-Border trade has leapt fourfold since Brexit InterTradeIreland offers assistance, including up to €21,500 to put a salesperson on the ground in the other jurisdiction for a year

Trade INCREASES four-fold between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland since Brexit - ‘We haven’t had one bad experience’: Why cross-Border trade has leapt fourfold since Brexit

www.irishtimes.com/business/eco...

16.01.2026 09:04 — 👍 5    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0
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Government withdraws file alleging Gerry Kelly IRA leadership role from National Archives Letter written by senior Garda Noel Conroy outlined group’s most influential figures in 1996

Irish Government withdraws file alleging Gerry Kelly IRA leadership role from National Archives

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

10.01.2026 10:37 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 1
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Studio Ulster: ‘We can create environments that are impossible to find anywhere else’ Studio Ulster, which opened earlier this year in Belfast, offers film-makers cutting-edge technological capabilities

The future of the film industry is being made in Belfast - the single most impressive place I visited anywhere in 2025….https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2025/12/27/belfasts-field-of-dreams-by-the-lagan/

02.01.2026 12:37 — 👍 5    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0
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Spanish villagers devastated by forest fire win €468m in lottery prizes Mayor says Christmas windfall created ‘a cascade of emotions after such a terrible year’

The Christmas story of the year 😀Spanish villagers devastated by forest fire win €468m in lottery prizes

www.irishtimes.com/world/europe...

23.12.2025 15:22 — 👍 7    🔁 4    💬 0    📌 0
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Reluctant pop star Chris Rea felt ‘Monty Python-silly’ in Slane but was beloved in Ireland The singer-songwriter’s streak of earnestness elevated him beyond other hitmakers of the day

The reluctant showman ….. a fine piece, this on the life of Chris Rea Reluctant pop star Chris Rea felt ‘Monty Python-silly’ in Slane but was beloved in Ireland

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...

23.12.2025 09:46 — 👍 4    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Always entertaining to start Saturday with Anton Savage on Newstalk link.goloudplayer.com/s/pN77bjedu4tf

13.12.2025 13:31 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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John Magnier gave ‘entirely false’ evidence in Tipperary land dispute, judge finds Businessman faces legal bill of €6m as judge says ‘lying ... is what happened’ in High Court case

Billionaire, John Magnier gave ‘entirely false’ evidence in Tipperary land dispute, judge finds

www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/co...

12.12.2025 19:32 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0

It’s the neediness that gets you, really

05.12.2025 22:04 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

It takes hard work to be this dumb….

04.12.2025 21:54 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Drones spotted near Zelenskiy’s flight path to Dublin, triggering major security alert Irish navy ship spotted five drones operating near route of the Ukrainian president’s aircraft by Howth coast

Drones spotted near Zelenskiy’s flight path to Dublin, triggering major security alert

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...

04.12.2025 19:42 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

The most incredible letter I have ever read.

02.12.2025 09:51 — 👍 6    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0
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Manufacturing in North Ireland definitely not a thing of the past Nearly 100,000 people work in a sector critical to the North’s economic success

“Never drive a better car than your customer”- Northern Ireland’s manufacturing firms, the community that rarely speaks of its success

Manufacturing in North Ireland definitely not a thing of the past

www.irishtimes.com/business/eco...

02.12.2025 11:32 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Dublin’s Herzog Park set to be ‘denamed’ by city councillors over Israel connections Chief Rabbi says Jewish story deserves not to be ‘whitewashed or erased’

A shameful act that will disgrace Dublin if the full council supports it - Dublin’s Herzog Park set to be ‘denamed’ by city councillors over Israel connections Dublin’s Herzog Park set to be ‘denamed’ by city councillors over Israel connections

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dubl...

29.11.2025 23:32 — 👍 20    🔁 5    💬 3    📌 0

This will end well…

28.11.2025 13:23 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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100 Irish websites for all your Christmas presents: Shopping guide for the festive season A curated, all-Irish roundup of the best places to shop for gifts — online and on time

Perhaps make a “favourite” of this? - let’s not complain this year about the challenges facing small Irish businesses. There are alternatives, and they are online - 100 Irish websites for all your Christmas presents: Shopping guide for the festive season

www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2...

24.11.2025 09:35 — 👍 28    🔁 15    💬 1    📌 0
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Reform UK’s former Wales leader jailed for more than 10 years for taking pro-Russia bribes Nathan Gill was paid thousands of pounds to give pro-Russian TV interviews and make speeches in EU Parliament, where he was an MEP

Gill is far from being the only Brexiteer who should have faced charges - including more than a few who should have been charged with treason -
Reform UK’s former Wales leader jailed for more than 10 years for taking pro-Russia bribes

www.irishtimes.com/world/uk/202...

21.11.2025 18:34 — 👍 9    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 0
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Noel Dorr: ‘To understand the Troubles, you must go back much further’ Forty years after the Anglo-Irish Agreement, the former diplomat still sees Sunningdale as the peace deal that got way

A life of wisdom, and the lessons learned along the way - former Irish diplomat, Noel Dorr: ‘To understand the Troubles, you must go back much further’

www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...

17.11.2025 10:12 — 👍 6    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0
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Flautist James Galway to be honoured in native Belfast for ‘extraordinary contribution’ to music James Galway says his home city gave him his ‘grounding in music’

Flautist James Galway to be honoured in native Belfast for ‘extraordinary contribution’ to music

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

14.11.2025 20:35 — 👍 7    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0
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The Irish expert helping Ukraine reclaim its dead: ‘You feel responsibility to every one of them’ Limerick’s Niamh Smith oversees exchanges of fallen soldiers at border with Russia as part of the International Committee of the Red Cross

The Irish expert helping Ukraine reclaim its dead: ‘You feel responsibility to every one of them’

www.irishtimes.com/world/europe...

13.11.2025 19:35 — 👍 7    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

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