Liam Thornton

Bullying universities The Trump administration's pressures go beyond bespoke deals and attack all the ways universities are funded.

My latest for the Contrarian on how Trump has weaponized the national budget to destroy university autonomy. open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

Why is it still getting EU grant money?

‘They are very weak, they’re thin, their minds have stopped’: Stranded fathers’ anguish over children in Gaza Separated from their families by war and closed borders, Gazan workers describe life in limbo — haunted by hunger, loss and the voices of children they can no longer protect

In Jericho, the occupied West Bank, I met Palestinian fathers who were working in Israel before October 7, 2023, and have spent almost two years since unable to be reunited with their families.
Report here: www.irishtimes.com/world/middle...

IDF firing ‘warning shots’ near diplomats sets an unacceptable precedent in international relations Intimidation of diplomats is unacceptable and threatens the basis of international relations.

🚨IDF firing 'warning shots' near diplomats is a violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations and sets an unacceptable precedent in international relations.

My new piece in @theconversation.com

theconversation.com/idf-firing-w...

'All States, including the UK, are legally obliged to take all reasonable steps within their power to prevent and punish genocide; to ensure respect for international humanitarian law... The UK’s actions to date have failed to meet those standards.'
lawyersletter.uk

Join our team! We are advertising a Senior Lecturer post in Medical Law and Ethics in our Derry Londonderry Campus. Deadline 2 June. Full details and to apply at www.ulster.ac.uk/peopleandcul...

I joined colleagues in RTÉ to once again express our outrage at Israel’s continued killing of journalists in Gaza. Apart from the huge personal tragedy, targeting & killing journalists is also killing media freedom and the truth. #SupportPalestinianJournalists

UCD launches new Master’s scholarship in law UCD Sutherland School of Law has launched a new Master’s scholarship in law memorialising the late Declan McCourt.

UCD Sutherland School of Law has launched a new Master’s scholarship in law memorialising the late Declan McCourt.

Research Fellow: Penal Supervision in Comparative Context (Part Time, Fixed-term) at University of Nottingham Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Research Fellow: Penal Supervision in Comparative Context (Part Time, Fixed-term) on jobs.ac.uk!

There's still time to apply for this p/t post on project comparing penal supervision across 5 nations. Working with great team @bethweaver.bsky.social @fergusmcneill.bsky.social @drhannahgraham.bsky.social @jakephillips.bsky.social Fern Gillon & Sarah Doxat-Pratt. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMY924/r...

Open letter from lawyers and academics on Ireland’s international law obligations concerning Palestine Dear Taoiseach Micheál Martin, We, the undersigned, members of the legal profession and academy, are writing to express our deep concern at the Irish Government’s continued failure to take the nece…

Open letter from lawyers and academics on Ireland’s international law obligations concerning Palestine ichrgalway.org/2025/05/23/o...

"The Slovak law is a pivotal step in following the Kremlin’s playbook ... The draft Hungarian legislation represents a Rubicon. If enacted, it will forbid civil society organizations (CSOs) critical of the government to receive any form of support from abroad, including EU funding"

Eilis Barry: What rows over public toilets and skorts reveal about Irish attitudes to equality and human rights The two controversies bely the reality that Ireland has had 25 years of anti-discrimination legislation in relation to services, including public toilets, sports and sporting facilities

Eilis Barry of FLAC:

What the rows over skorts and public toilets reveal about Irish attitudes to equality

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

Marriage equality 10 years on: 'I lost count of how many times I was called a pervert in my home town' Forcing a community to plead on doorsteps for their rights has had long-term impacts on many LGBT+ people, argues Maria Ní Fhlatharta

On the tenth anniversary of Marriage Equality, an eloquent piece from Maria Ni Fhlatharta on the personal cost of the campaign.

“A survey conducted after the referendum found that fewer than ​​one in four LGBT+ people would be willing to go through it again.”

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

Food and yet they starved. Editorial in Irish local paper sees atrocity in Gaza and parallels with Irish experience of man-made hunger in a time of plenty.

Food and yet they starved.
Southern Star editorial.
West Cork newspaper, based in Skibbereen.

Sinn Féin banned from Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin march after period of engagement with party leaders Last month, Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin released a statement calling on Sinn Féin to clarify their position on the UK Supreme Court and the ban on puberty blockers in Northern Ireland. This statement was released in light of public statements from David Cullinane and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn supporting the ruling. Since then, Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin has undergone a period of engagement with the party, with numerous opportunities to explain their position, including: Being questioned by national media about the party facing a ban, including a Late Late Show interview with Mary Lou McDonald An email being sent to Mary Lou McDonald's office regarding their position A community engagement meeting with Mary Lou McDonald, David Cullinane, and other LGBTQ+ organisations across the island A 1:1 discussion meeting with Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin Organiser Jenny Maguire We engaged in order to seek clarity on their positions on the Supreme Court ruling; whether they would oppose attempts to implement the ruling in Northern Ireland (currently the Supreme Court ruling has no basis in Northern Ireland due to different equality laws; however, there have been attempts to implement the ruling in councils); whether they continue to support the Northern Irish Executive (of which Michelle O'Neill is First Minister) decision to ban puberty blockers; and whether they would support a ban on puberty blockers in the South of Ireland. After this period of engagement, Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin is not satisfied with the clarity received around their position on the Supreme Court ruling, with the continued defence of the banning of puberty blockers (including not supporting an amendment to reverse the puberty blocker ban in Stormont last Monday), and with the recent Journal article that claimed a conference to discuss its position on trans rights has been pushed …

"Sinn Féin officially banned from Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin after period of engagement," says this press release from Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin.

You might also be interested in a sneak peek reading by the brilliant Evgenii Shtorn, 'Refugee Chronicles: Extracts on Friendship, Instrumentalisation and Loss', which comes from his memoir, 5.45pm, Thurs 15th May, School of Education, North Campus, Ground floor. All welcome! @maynoothuniversity.ie

My latest for the PublicPolicy.ie at @ucdgearyinst.bsky.social on housing policy actions to address discrimination against migrants in Ireland.

I propose an human rights-based policy recommendations to enhance the housing experiences for everyone living in Ireland.

Our Intertwining #criminal justice & #migration control book v/N. Vavoula & V. Mitsilegas out in Aug! www.routledge.com/Intertwining.... Check out @ssrn.bsky.social papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... @profjacob.bsky.social @stevepeers.bsky.social @lawinmaastricht.bsky.social @majagrundler.bsky.social

Want to join me & my @erc.europa.eu team @lawinmaastricht.bsky.social as an #MSCA postdoctoral fellow? Check out the new call: europa.eu/!fBTMgF (d/l 10 Sep.), our webinar w/tips for applicants www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jPZ... & feel free to reach out w/ideas!

Matheson Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Corporate Governance and Law at University College Dublin An opportunity for an academic position as a Matheson Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Corporate Governance and Law is available, as advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Apply now and explore other academic job o...

The second position @ucdschooloflaw.bsky.social is hiring for:

Matheson LLP Assistant Professor in Corporate Governance and Law. 🗓️Deadline 02 June 2025

🔗 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNB177/m...

Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Criminology - Temp 5-year at University College Dublin Apply now for the Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Criminology - Temp 5-year role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

Come 💼work with us in @ucdschooloflaw.bsky.social
Assistant Professorship in Criminology, 5 yr temp.🗓️ Deadline 03 June 2025: 🔗https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNB652/lecturer-assistant-professor-in-criminology-temp-5-year

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🇭🇺 ‘s descent into fully-fledged authoritarianism has accelerated in past year & yet @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu @ec.europa.eu continues to act in a too little too late fashion while also continuing to pretend Orban’s regime remains a democracy rather than a mafia state with rigged electoral framework

Journalist and bestselling author Sally Hayden in today’s Irish Times on the conditions in a blockaded Gaza

How should legal education respond to AI? Together with 11 UCL Laws colleagues, this paper is our vision for the sector. It's rooted in academic integrity, fundamental competences, and concerns around impacts on learning to learn and intellectual risk taking. (🧵)

discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...

The programme for the 25th Summer School on the International Criminal Court is now out. Terrific line-up of speakers.

Taking place @uniofgalway.bsky.social from 9-13 June 2025.

Registration closes 31st May.

Madeleine Allen: Jim O’Callaghan’s unsettling public theatrics mask the truth about asylum seeker deportations Most men arriving to seek protection aren’t provided accommodation, and end up in sanitations conditions that, according to one volunteer, were worse than those in refugee camps in South Sudan

Madeleine Allen: Jim O’Callaghan’s public theatrics mask the truth about asylum seeker deportations - The Irish Times

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

Grace is not a victim of unfortunate oversight, but a citizen whose rights were repeatedly violated Grace is not a singular failure but a symbol of systemic neglect

Thanks to Dr Rosaleen McDonagh for writing this piece for us about the Grace scandal, our framing of disability and vulnerability, and remembering at the heart of this story is a citizen whose essential human rights have been disregarded.

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

That's all very well but I think we'd be better off if we just continued to lose our shit about Kneecap...

And we all know how much you stanned Scalia 🤭