Reposted by Aidan O’BrienJim Lokay @jimlokay.com · 6hIf you want to really know how the outrage machine gets fired up: 1. Schmitt plans to drop “bombshell” on Smith 2. Someone plants story that Schmitt is a Vance VP contender to run same day 3. Right-wing Twittersphere gets talking points 4. Schmitt steps in it 5. Scheduled tweets go out anyway 2173336914
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienDr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 5hHuge congratulations to our colleagues at @iccl.bsky.social on this win! In a landmark ruling on 25 Sep, the ICCL secured a precedent that will reshape how Big Tech companies defend themselves in GDPR class actions that impact their operations across the entire EU enforce.ie/digital-data...enforce.ieICCL secures landmark precedent against Big Tech - EnforceLandmark ruling will reshape how Big Tech companies defend themselves in court for EU-wide GDPR class actions 13016
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienElizabeth Cantwell @eccantwell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Here to tell you that the chemistry and tension in this scene still hits for 2026 teenagers, as evidenced by the very vocal reactions of my students today 511445215
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienJen Keane @zenbuffy.bsky.social · 14hHey so in case you don't want to do the math, I've got you. 0.00006934% That's how much 150000 is of Zuck's estimated between worth of 254.4 billion. 52912
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 12hstatic.klipy.comThe Goldbergs Order SoupAlt: The Goldbergs Order Soup 1113
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienSean Jones KC @seanjones.org · 18hThe rush to speculate that asylum seekers are responsible for every crime in the news is a sort of opportunistic informational terrorism. Until it’s disproved it stokes fear and hatred. When it is disproved there are no adverse consequences and they know that they only have to be lucky once. 561552499
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienLuca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 28/09/2026I await the first time a politician proposing some nuts new immigration restriction is asked what is otherwise the media’s favourite question: how are you going to pay for it?? 218965
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienSimon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 20hThis is why, every year, the whole of Ireland is required to celebrate the Puck Fair. We can’t just say that hauling a goat into the air for days on end is something just for Kerry. We are a united country, which is why we have airborne goats everywhere. 810739
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienTyler King @tyleraking.com · 23hIt ALMOST feels like we’re just starting to reach the normies with “the federal government and Silicon Valley have joined forces to spy on every aspect of your life and it’s called Palantir” and it’s either going to be the turning point for radical privacy or cripple the concept forever. 131475
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienJohnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 20hGoogle event in Brussels this evening “to celebrate Ireland’s Presidency” of the EU Council. “Google is delighted to bring together Irish policymakers…” rsvp.withgoogle.com/events/irish... (they have wisely now removed some of this text) 43530
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienAsh @queerash.bsky.social · 28/09/2026one is about dumping a load in public, and the other is improper disposal of trash 06719
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Yuge day for American Bluesky, as many are getting their first experience of the quaint and traditional British rural pursuits, "dogging" and "flytipping" 29786155
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienIrish Council for Civil Liberties 🏳️🌈 @iccl.bsky.social · 28/09/2026We need your help. As we mark 50 years of ICCL, we're launching an urgent campaign to protect our rights, liberty and democracy. We're looking for 100 people who share our belief in rights and liberties, and our determination to defend them, to donate €500 each. www.iccl.ie/the-fight-of...iccl.ieThe fight of our lives.The rights and liberties that we have worked so hard to gain and protect are under threat. This is the fight of our lives. 145
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Notes from the Apocalypse Number 18,780 in an occasional series: A crypto casino, Betbolt, has teamed up with Tommy Robinson to do a live fundraiser for Danno Tommo's "legal defence fund"... 1102
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienTJ McIntyre @tjmcintyre.com · 28/09/2026Irish plans to exempt processing of your data for AI from the GDPR are "not in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights"; they amount to an "illegal change of primary law"; they "exempt AI from the guarantees in the Treaties and render them largely meaningless". Damning, from the leading expert. 23440
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Claims circulating on social media that the Garvaghy Road parade is a coordinated Sinn Fein/DUP psyops to distract from the "real issue" of uncontrolled migration.static.klipy.comSister Michael: You Might Want To Wise UpAlt: Sister Michael: You Might Want To Wise Up 1488
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienJohnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Important breakthrough in Europe's icebreaker Big Tech class action opens the path for class actions to hold Big Tech accountable using the GDPR. ICCL v Microsoft class action update... Full decision in link --> enforce.ie/digital-data...enforce.ieICCL secures landmark precedent against Big Tech - EnforceClass action will target “Real-Time Bidding” (RTB) data breach in Microsoft’s advertising system, and is anticipated to affect Microsoft’s operations across the EU 22727
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienIanMoore3000 @ianmoore3000.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Join a union jrnl.ie/7174957jrnl.ieFlahavan's workers win pay boost of up to 21.5% as unrest ends at porridge companyUnite said the new deal brings the pay terms of different workers in line with each other. 13013
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienJonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026This was an entirely predictable act of economic self-harm - both the Sunak and Starmer government decided that the priority was to cut migration *when it was already falling fast*. ukandeu.ac.uk/immigration-...ukandeu.ac.ukImmigration is falling but the economic cost may be high - UK in a changing EuropeJonathan Portes analyses the latest immigration figures from the Home Office and Office for National Statistics. 116150
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienDan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 28/09/2026As unprofessional as it may be, I suspect I will be shouting "we have been saying this for years" a lot today. Harsher immigration policies don't just ruin individual lives, they damage the economy, reduce jobs, and generally harm the whole country. 831799
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 27/09/2026People at the meeting are demanding the further extraction of fossil fuels. Repeating demands to remove the carbon tax get massive cheers. 030
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Fuel protests meeting going on. Gavin Pepper gets a huge roar when he says “The Carbon Tax had got to go, all of it”. The Fuel Price Blockade in Ireland, A Union of Fossil Capital and Racial Capital.verfassungsblog.deThe Fuel Price Blockades in Ireland 4253
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienTyron @tyron.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Just seen it's Wikipedia's 25th birthday. The greatest website online, and possibly the internet's greatest fruit 19761122
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienSarah Kay @k-interarma.bsky.social · 27/09/2026“The old hatred still lingers in some areas” Just wow 0154
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Sorry, the "we've (Loyalists) moved on further and quicker than (the Catholics) have" line is sending me. 43512
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienHeather Burns @heatherburnstech.bsky.social · 27/09/2026In an age where “free speech” is a culture war issue warped and won by how much US dark money a side has, I implore you to listen to literally anyone from Northern Ireland (or the west of Scotland) to understand what cultural “free speech” debates feel like marching in front of your actual house. 2338
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienSerge Egelman @v0max.bsky.social · 26/09/2026It’s probably a good reminder that Robert Morris was convicted of a felony under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for authoring a worm that broke into other systems. 0148
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienNazim Hikmet @nhazimhikmet.bsky.social · 27/09/2026The European governments which are mostly sold to the American techno-oligarchs, wants to sell our private data.. Tell me again how 'good is AI' and how much it will 'help our lives' so I can laugh one more time.. This is about Irish government, but trust me many others wants to sell citizens data. 041
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Meta can ban: - Adverts for a Virginia Woolf play because of “feminism” - Ads for a documentary about Elon Musk. Meta seemingly cannot ban: - Generative AI Child Abuse and Child Sexual Abuse Material, adverts and content. 18140
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienGavan Reilly @gavreilly.com · 27/09/2026Don’t be at all surprised if Stormont collapses one way or another this week – SF because the present-day structures don’t serve the interest of nationalists; DUP because the First Minister participated in an unlawful protest gathering – and for another stalemate that last for *years*. 610132
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 27/09/2026The Irish government wants to allow AI companies to scrap EU citizen's private data. - An industry which business models is based on a unprecedented theft of intellectual property. - Consistently fail to prevent their product from causing serious harms, and hide the evidence when they do. 23419
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienParis Marx @parismarx.com · 24/09/2026Just when I think I can’t hate OpenAI and Sam Altman any more, new details come out about how ChatGPT helped a shooter plan one of the worst mass shootings in Canadian history in Tumbler Ridge, BC. OpenAI made an explicit decision not to report the user to authorities.motherjones.comChatGPT helped the Tumbler Ridge school shooter focus on guns, tactics, and terror, our investigation revealsOpenAI’s chatbot fed the shooter’s violent fantasies and planning up to the massacre. 1633421481
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 26/09/2026The Garvaghy parade issue shows that no one, I mean *no one* does cultural warfare like the Orange Order. 2163
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienSharrow 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🇮🇪🦄💙📚🎃 @sharrow.eurosky.social · 26/09/2026Great coverage of the amazing #March4Choice run by @freesafelegal.bsky.social today. www.rte.ie/news/dublin/... #abortionishealthcare #spéirgorm #repeal #freesafelegallocalrte.ieMarch hears call for removal of rule over abortion waitCampaigners have called on the Government to remove the mandatory three-day wait for an abortion at the annual March for Choice in Dublin city centre. 04620
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 25/09/2026On Sunday, July 12th 1998, Jason (aged 8), Mark (aged 9) and Richard Quinn (aged 10) were killed in their home in Ballmoney when it was petrol-bombed by Loyalists, rioting after the Drumcree parade was banned from travelling the Garvahy Road that year. 3 brutal sectarian murders. 414774
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienDavid Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 24/09/2026if this is the actual argument, it's just frivolous. X not present or operating in europe? 😆 i also want to know - and think a democratic congress should inquire - how this particular intervention came about. 🤔 54922
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienWendy Lyon @wendylyon.eurosky.social · 25/09/2026The extent to which this government seems determined to commit economic self-sabotage is really beyond all comprehension. 1387
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Between June 7 & 10 Rupert Lowe posted about the assault in Belfast & subsequent pogroms over 20 times. His posts were incendiary & used a random act of violence as justification to call for ethnic cleansing in the UK. These posts received over 100 million views & earned Lowe thousands of pounds. 23124
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienSimon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 24/09/2026New Gist: On (and On) Bullshit "Bullshitters are more dangerous to public discourse than liars. Liars are laser-focused on reality and must know the truth to successfully deceive the listener. Bullshitters don’t care, so don’t even have to acknowledge reality. " www.thegist.ie/the-gist-on-...thegist.ieThe Gist: On (and On) BullshitI have been thinking about Bullshit, in its official categorisation. In his short and easy essay “On Bullshit”, the euphoniously-named American philosopher Harry J. Frankfurt posited that a person co... 24122
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienSimon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I think the relevant caselaw here is shaping up to be Rylands & Fletcher. If you collect up any inherently risky material or item on your property and it then escapes and causes damage, it creates strict liability. ie, you do not have to prove liability, you go straight to quantum of compensation. 35524
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienAlice-Mary Higgins @aliceeire.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Yesterday I demanded answers from the Minister about the Irish Government position on shocking proposals to give AI companies access to our personal data which are being negotiated right now on Ireland's watch. The public across EU want rights protected & more regulation of AI and big tech not less!position.to 311655
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien(Dr) Rena Maguire @justrena.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Grateful for today. Grateful for each snd all of you rascals here. Yiu may not know it but you make the difference. Thank you. 7603
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienNigel Monaghan @nigelmonaghan-nh.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Such sad news of the passing of Dr Rena Maguire @justrena.bsky.social who brought light, humour, horses in archaeology and simple humanity to us. She faced her short illness with dignity and courage #FuckCancer #SpeirGorm 3915749
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienThe Irish Times @irishtimes.com · 24/09/2026Gardaí to take industrial action on five dates next month, including budget dayirishtimes.comGardaí to take industrial action on five dates next month, including budget dayGardaí have agreed to refuse to take up overtime duties in the Dublin region on the dates, four of which are Saturdays 052
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienEd Morrish @edmorrish.com · 24/09/2026this is the guy i reposted the other day who interviewed meta employees with pervert glasses - meta have taken his video down for “harassment”. which makes it one of the most effective pieces of satire in recent memory 4567262
Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 24/09/2026This week we learned that the Irish government has proposed weakening Europeans citizens' fundamental right to privacy to favour AI companies. We also learned this week that 83% of Irish people under 25 want stronger government regulation of AI. Who *exactly* does our government work for? 4396151
Reposted by Aidan O’BrienPatrick Bresnihan @pbresnihan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Myself, Seán Fearon and Pat Brodie have published a report today examining the exaggerated benefits and significant costs of data centres to Ireland. Below is a short thread on some of the key takeaways. Read the full report here: mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/21... 1/6 25040