(the largest first-preference surplus in the history of Irish presidential elections)

Looking forward to another 13 years of people saying the presidency is meant to be an apolitical role, which is a purely partisan viewpoint much repeated because FF hasn't won the Áras since the 90s and FG simply hasn't.

It is very important that we do not permit our government to let us be dragged into complicity in an unlawful war.

Irish air staff assist US bomber on way to Iran The Ditch obtained an audio recording.

An Irish air traffic controller guided a United States Air Force bomber on its way to attack Iran through Irish-controlled airspace.

In an audio recording obtained by The Ditch the AirNav Ireland employee assists the bomber’s crew.

www.ontheditch.com/irish-air-st...

sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I'm afraid you have to do the thing

highly necessary for full text search to be maintained when people in the public eye can have articles about themselves easily deindexed from search engines

there was also a Stanford study that found that a surge in AI slop by lazy people actually created significantly more work for others who had to decipher and correct it

this "I'm being efficient" (but not really) vibes well with the American obsession with artifice and appearing productive

Sarah Moss: Were many people always thirsty in the millenniums before water bottles? I rarely carry water and my bodily systems seem to run just fine

The Irish Times has again procured a writer of a certain age to write that back in my day nobody drank water or brought water bottles around (Sean Moncrieff last time) without reference to the decline in thirst response as we age.

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

Every so often I remember the Irish immigration system is so dysfunctional that the Brazilian community here had to set up a WhatsApp group to help find each other after the DoJ kept returning their passports to the wrong people #speirghorm

LET THE TRAINS SPEAK THEIR NATIVE TONGUE! TRAEIN GAN TEANGA, TRAEIN GAN ANAM

A billion a year, nearly two thirds of which goes directly into the landlord's pocket just to make the number right, while also massively de-risking their property speculation.

Dozens of our readers say they were evicted shortly before the new rental rules came in “I received an eviction notice on Friday – just one week before the change. I’ve barely slept since,” one reader said.

Landlords' rent-seeking is now so utterly divorced from the reality of employment earnings that on average, the State pays he rent for two months of the year for every registered private tenancy in the country (between HAP, rent supplement and rent tax credit).

www.thejournal.ie/your-stories...

Former state agency CEO told gardaí he was being ‘blackmailed’ by sitting senator The former chief executive of Inland Fisheries Ireland has said he made a statement to gardaí that he was “being blackmailed” by a sitting senator in a bid to force him to reinstate a suspended senior...

The former chief executive of Inland Fisheries Ireland has said he made a statement to gardaí that he was “being blackmailed” by a sitting senator in a bid to force him to reinstate a suspended senior employee.

www.independent.ie/irish-news/c...

(then there is the subtle difference in meaning between the nouns 'attaché' and 'attache'; the latter denoting some sort of clip or fastener and not a specialist diplomat who goes to things in uniform)

So disappointing to see the word "attaché" deployed here without its accent. Looks limp and uninviting on the page, like a deflated balloon. Surely half the point of this story is the fun of getting to use the word "attaché" in a headline in all its daring, dashing handsomeness.

ireland needs to grow up and take responsibility for its own defense, the time of nato freeloading is over

we must scrap our entire education budget and instead buy 3 fighter planes to instantly get shot down in a friendly-fire incident

there is no "magic wand" to wave to make this not necessary

Fianna Fáil insiders have bemoaned the loss in recent years of the Total Cunt vote, and the feeling within the Parliamentary Party is that Jim O’Callaghan is the man to win those Total Cunts back. Micheál Lehane, RTÉ News

As I have mentioned previously, the current government is composed of the stupidest remnants of the ancièn régime running on momentum and reactionary muscle memory.

"Shelter in place" has been the government's response to every outrage perpetuated by the Trump regime.

Only three years since 1,000 homeless children was considered a scandal:

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2024...

Dismissed flight attendant felt 'triggered' by passenger A dismissed Aer Lingus flight attendant accused of refusing to let a passenger go to the bathroom on a delayed flight told his bosses he was under strain in his personal life and that the man "trigger...

A dismissed Aer Lingus flight attendant accused of refusing to let a passenger go to the bathroom on a delayed flight told his bosses he was under strain in his personal life and that the man "triggered" him by swearing, a tribunal has heard

"These pictures.. of the deputy leader of the Labour Party Lucy Powell.. you can see written on her face what Labour MPs have been telling me darkly for a few weeks now, which is that this exact scenario, a Green win, Reform in second, Labour in third, is their worst nightmare"

The first time I’ve seen “anything could happen 🤷🏾‍♂️” in chart form.

Patrick O'Donovan doesn't have to consider this, because when you're on a crusade against anything that looks a bit too urban for your liking, the question of holding anyone else to your exacting standards doesn't arise.

Sports Minister and Taoiseach give mixed messages on restoring astro pitch funding Micheál Martin says he expects funding will be restored despite pause announced by FG Minister over Dundalk pitch damage from flares

Patrick O'Donovan's low-wattage reactionary hardcoding clearly doesn't stretch to consideration of the precedent this sets. What's he going to do next time there's handbags at a big Munster club match? Defund the GAA?

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

Ireland to buy hundreds of French armoured vehicles under military modernisation plan Move will significantly expand capabilities of Irish Army to conduct on-island defence

Much to be concerned about here, mainly that the Irish defence forces feels the need to prepare for an "on-island defence" but doesn't quite seem to think the need is pressing enough to buy any main battle tanks.

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

Snow in New York. Ireland cut off.

There seems to be a blindness to what has been done to the hills. The places in these photos are part of a 'Special Area of Conservation' and are acknowledged to be in terrible condition and yet nothing is done, even when downstream flooding affects people's lives

I don't ever remember seeing ashes that dark on someone's forehead, not least at the end of a long day. Perhaps there has been a renewed emphasis by the church on the performative aspects of Ash Wednesday, which might explain this (and the instant I've-been-cancelled).

Stephen Bourke

Freelance Forum Spring 2026: Saturday 21 March

* Reporting on Quasi-judicial bodies with Stephen Bourke, court reporter

NUJ members/students €5, others €20
ti.to/freelance-fo...