Another masterclass in communication from Dublin City Council 🙃
Dublin City Council official ‘sick of people’ saying capital ‘filthy’Wheelie bin users face fines for leaving waste containers on street after collection timeswww.irishtimes.comSaw the restored version of DREAD BEAT AN BLOOD for the first time this week. So wonderful. What a remarkable artist Linton Kwesi Johnson is. Go see if it’s showing near you.
DREAD BEAT AN BLOOD • Official Trailer HDYouTube video by Seventy-Sevenm.youtube.comShocking and so sad. Thinking of all of his family, friends, bandmates, and wider music community in Dublin and around the world.
The Irish TimesOscar-winning musician and actor Glen Hansard dies in Dublin motorbike crash
Taking a short break from my Monday Irish Times column, and delighted to get the opportunity to be in such great company at Medill.
Medill accepts 10 Fellows into George R.R. Martin Summer Intensive Writing Workshop - Medill - Northwestern UniversityTen writers have been accepted into this year’s George R.R. Martin Summer Intensive Writing Workshop at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communicat...www.medill.northwestern.eduThousands attend Trans and Intersex Pride in Dublin.
Thousands attend transgender and intersex pride march in Dublin‘Our bodies, our lives, our right to decide’: demonstrators call for bodily autonomy and better access to healthcarewww.irishtimes.comWorth revisiting this great profile on Robyn while her current tour brings so many people such great vibes.
Robyn, on Her OwnThe pop star brings motherhood and middle age to the dance floor.www.newyorker.comHard to keep impressing upon people in Ireland how wild this is as government has normalised it and are working to rewrite the legislation underpinning our electricity infrastructure to facilitate more data centres.
The Irish TimesData centres account for almost one quarter of Irish electricity usage in 2025
Wrote about the rise of “competitive socialising” as an entertainment (and commercial property) phenomenon.
Una Mullally: From axe-throwing to augmented darts: what’s behind the rise in ‘competitive socialising’?Arcades used to primarily be the preserve of children’s birthday parties, but a changing attitude to socialising means games are no longer just for kidswww.irishtimes.comIf you're heading to Beyond the Pale this weekend, I'm doing a bunch of stuff: - Friday: Grianstad: the Trip (8.30pm) - Saturday: Sliver Salon (3.30pm) - Sunday: Seán Ronayne's birdwatching walk (11am) and Untold Sounds talk (1pm) Weather forecast is looking good, and the lineup is excellent.
Beyond The Pale | FestivalCaribou, Soulwax, Father John Misty headline Beyond the Pale In Glendalough, just 30 mins from Dublin, Ireland this June.www.itsbeyondthepale.ieAlways nice to read and hear about the impact my dad had (and continues to have!) as an English teacher. Some lovely words from Fiachna Ó Braonáin here.
Fiachna Ó Braonáin’s Leaving Cert: ‘I stayed up very late at night, drinking coffee and cramming’The musician and broadcaster sat the exams in the summer of 1984www.irishtimes.comWhy does the Irish government insist on telling a uniquely positive story about the scale and impact of data centre development? I wrote about how Irish exceptionalism underpins this attitude, while common sense tells us something different.
Una Mullally: Over 870,000 jobs created by data centres? Don’t make me laughYou simply cannot attribute that many jobs to data centres, no more than you can attribute every job in Ireland people commute to by car to the existence of traffic lightswww.irishtimes.comInteresting piece by Megan Specia on Ireland's defence, shadow fleets, spy ships, and spending. Great imagery from Paulo Nunes Dos Santos as usual.
Ireland, Seen as a Weak Link in Europe’s Defense, Is Trying to Bulk Upwww.nytimes.comIf you're in Dublin, I highly recommend seeing THISISPOPBABY's 0800 Cupid by Emer Dineen at Project Arts Centre. It's funny and moving and brilliant. Runs until June 13th.
0800 CUPID - Project Arts Centreprojectartscentre.ieThe week Ireland's Department of Enterprise published a report they commissioned KPMG to author, titled The Value of Data Centres to Ireland.
The Irish TimesIreland’s data centre strain a ‘cautionary tale’ for rest of world, UN says
An interesting article, and more stuff the Dublin jobs market won't like to hear.
FT EditAccenture has suffered a market rout on fears that AI could do in a fraction of the time the tasks carried out by its 786,000-person workforce. Other consultancies are similarly struggling. Does AI sound the death knell for the business of consulting? Read the story on #FTEdit 👉 ft.trib.al/QLWdtIN
"Capitalist billionaires aren’t necessarily good even for the clubs they own but, in terms of what is actually worse for the wider game, autocratic state influence is at the most extreme end of the spectrum. It has become far too easy to forget this."
Miguel DelaneyIt’s now World Cup build-up week Last time, there was fury about Qatar’s issues There’s now nothing even though it all applies to PSG The rhapsodising of Saturday and Pep’s exit shows how this all works And this is as Qatar change how football works www.independent.co.uk/sport/footba...
Dublin is blighted by dereliction, so it's hardly a surprise when some people engage in direct action to occupy buildings. I wrote about the local and citywide context that gives rise to the Revolutionary Housing League's attempts to turn a former pub in the Liberties into a community centre.
It is no surprise people are inclined towards radical direct action given the level of dereliction in DublinLeaving aside issues of trespass and safety, there is an ethical question as to why buildings remain derelict or vacantwww.irishtimes.com