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Brian Burke

@bburke88.bsky.social
503 followers 271 following 13 posts

Seabird Scientist for Birdwatch Ireland, with a particular interest in Terns and Gulls. S-permit bird ringer. Wicklow/Roscommon.

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Reposted by Brian Burke
Oonagh Duggan @naturenymph.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Nature Restoration works. We know what needs to be done, we just need to scale up the action & with the much needed funding. www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
irishtimes.com
Endangered lapwing seen as national symbol benefits from ‘bumper breeding season’
Birds at Annagh Marsh Nature Reserve in Co Mayo receive ‘much-needed boost’ as 143 chicks raised this summer
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Mark Sugrue 🇪🇺 @marksugrue.com · 03/09/2026
Looked it up: Apparently Dublin Bus earns around €400m from fares per year. DART passengers spend about €80m on tickets. So ~€500m would make public transport free in the capital.
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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
You cannot placate fascists because they have neither a ceiling nor a floor. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...
You’re the sensible centrist government watching this take place. 

The far right pulls off votes to independents and fringe parties from you, the very sensible moderates whose managerial capitalism has actually caused the degradation they ascribe to foreigners. 

But they’re small enough in number that you dismiss them, and continue with the self-same policies which actually impact their voters’ lives.

Next time, they do well enough that you take notice. It is at this point you enter the spiral that has redrawn the electoral map of the Western world for the past decade.

You say you recognise ‘legitimate concerns’ and take a tougher line on, say, refugees. 

You accept the far right’s entirely false premise that immigrants increase crime, that the housing crisis is due to migrants rather than your own bad policies, or that foreigners are swamping the health service, rather than holding it up with their bare hands in the face of your own drastic underfunding of the system.

And you become less popular. You, the sensible moderate, continue to slide in the polls against the very parties whose policies you were trying to steal. A sizeable number of your own base are appalled, and you have failed to impress a single racist. 

Because everywhere, from France to Germany to the Netherlands to the UK, as with Fanta and its supermarket imitators, it turns out people prefer the original to the copy. 

You’ve driven away your traditional base, while sanitising the racism of the far right for low information voters, who now consider them more reasonable. 

You have moved the sensible middle position toward the far right — where you now stand, boxed in, by the ghouls you’ve just baptised as moderates.

And the slide continues. Because you cannot placate these people. You cannot reach an end. 

Round up every refugee in camps and they’ll want the next cruelty. 

Their concerns are not about society, the economy or public safety, they’re an ever-moving target of fear and hatred that cannot be sated, it has to be challenged. 

And now it’s too late, because you thought that you — and you alone! — would be the first centrist to steal the fascist’s lunch by agreeing with them rather than fighting them with every fibre of your being.
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James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
'The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism'. It really amazes me how Arendt and Sartre so accurately discribed what we're now seeing on the right - it really is the same impulses repeated and the same tactics.
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The Irish Times @irishtimes.com · 01/08/2026
‘What was a beautiful habitat now is black soot’: Ireland’s wildfires devastate wildlife
irishtimes.com
‘What was a beautiful habitat now is black soot’: Ireland’s wildfires devastate wildlife
Mammals, small reptiles and amphibians losing shelter and food due to blazes in Tipperary, Wicklow and Waterford
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Reposted by Brian Burke
Elaine McGoff @elainemcgoff.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Can someone, anyone, show me the evidence that Ireland has been overly cautious in implementing EU law, that we take an overly precautionary approach? Enough with the gaslighting.
static.klipy.com
Tom Cruise: Show Me The Money!
ALT: Tom Cruise: Show Me The Money!
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Elaine McGoff @elainemcgoff.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
If I read one more reference to 'gold plating' of EU law in Ireland....Can anyone show me the evidence? Should we look to the over half our rivers and lakes polluted? The trend which is getting worse? The 25% of our most pristine waterbodies now lost? A 🧵 www.irishtimes.com/ireland/hous...
irishtimes.com
Top Government adviser calls for action to roll back ‘gold-plated’ environmental law
Laws exempting key projects from national climate goals should be followed by moves to curtail environmental screening, says taskforce chief
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Oliver Moran 🌻🇮🇪🇪🇺 @oliver.ie · 04/07/2026
"'gold-plated' environmental laws"
A map of ecological integrity in Europe.
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Dr Panti Bliss-Cabrera @pantibliss.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Trans people have been around your whole life. You’ve been sharing bathrooms with them your whole life. They’ve been in your communities your whole life. They’ve even been playing sport your whole life. And you didn’t care *at all* till a few years ago when every right wing org decided you should
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Rob @robosullivan.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
The ONLY valid metric for assessing whether the government is addressing the homelessness crisis is whether the number of homeless people is falling. The ONLY valid metric for assessing affordability of rents/houses is whether rents and house prices are falling. They're not. They're getting worse
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Oonagh Duggan @naturenymph.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
A trip to Albania reminded me how important the Birds and Habitats Directives are. Yes our habitats are in poor condition, yes 63% of wild bird species are in danger, but we have habitats we can restore. Without them we have no hope. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
irishtimes.com
Opinion: Two thirds of Ireland’s wild bird species are in danger. So are the rules protecting them
Nature directives protecting the habitats of species such as the ‘fairy bird’ of Belmullet are being threatened in the name of progress
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Pádraic Fogarty @whittledaway.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
"Scientists surveying the area found three times more seabed organisms and twice as many species compared to nearby unprotected waters" news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
news.mongabay.com
Seabed life triples after bottom trawling ban in Scotland protected area
Nearly a decade since Scotland established the South Arran Marine Protected Area and banned bottom trawling across much of it, life on the seafloor has thrived, a new study has found. Scientists surve...
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Awkward Egg @sleepwalkingdog.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Me, bleeding profusely from my balls: "Actually it's a herring gull" www.suffolkgazette.com/seagull-rips...
suffolkgazette.com
Seagull rips off man's testicle as he sunbathes naked
A rogue seagull ripped off a man's right testicle as he sunbathed naked in his back garden, it has emerged.
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UK Seabird Monitoring Programme @smp-seabirds.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
The 2025 Northern Ireland Seabird Report has now been published! Head to: www.bto.org/our-work/sci... to read about how Northern Ireland's breeding seabirds fared in 2025 #seabirds #birds @btobirds.bsky.social @bto-ni.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social
Image displays a lighthouse on a small island with the text 'Northern Ireland Seabird Report 2025'. The BTO logo is in the bottom right hand corner.
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Cape Clear Bird Observatory (CCBO) @ccbowarden.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
It's not too late to apply to be the recipient of the 2026 Steve Wing Memorial Bursary. Submissions can be sent to ccbo@birdwatchireland.ie. The closing date for applications is Tuesday 31st March 2026. See the BirdWatch Ireland website for further details. Visit birdwatchireland.ie/our-work/cap...
birdwatchireland.ie
Steve Wing Memorial Bursary - BirdWatch Ireland
The Steve Wing Memorial Bursary, named after our late friend and colleague, helps with support training, mentorship and direct experience.
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Brian Burke @bburke88.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
DEADLINE DAY for applications for some great seabird jobs with @birdwatchireland.bsky.social ! We're looking for wardens and surveyors for tern and cliff-nesting seabird colonies, plus a Seabird Conservation Officer working across all of these projects with me! Details: share.google/AS4deAzk0KrQ...
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Nigel Monaghan @nigelmonaghan-nh.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Happy St Patrick’s Day from #Ireland where the only Irish snakes are in museum jars. These are escaped pets. Full story in the link #StPatricksDay www.museum.ie/en-ie/collec...
Three glass jars with coiled snakes preserved in alcohol
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BTO Northern Ireland @bto-ni.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
⏰ Don’t miss our Seabird Report Launch this month! Come along to hear BirdWatch Ireland’s Senior Seabird Conservation Officer Brian Burke @bburke88.bsky.social talk about Little Tern #Conservation in Ireland Registration closes 19th March! Book your free place 👇 bit.ly/NI-SeabirdReport-2025
Promotional image for the Northern Ireland Seabird Report Launch, featuring photo by Brian Burke. Text reads: Talk by Brian Burke, Senior Seabird Conservation Officer at BirdWatch Ireland, Little Tern Conservation in Ireland. Location: Coffee Cure, Bangor. Date: Thursday 26th March. Time: 6pm to 8pm. Book your tickets here: bit.ly/NI-SeabirdReport-2025
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Sammy Ball @sammyhareball.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
🦇We're Hiring! 🦢 Research Assistant position at ATU to determine the feasibility of establishing a radio receiver (Motus) network in Ireland for migrating bats and birds March 26th deadline! www.atu.ie/connect/jobs... @atu-ie.bsky.social @birdwatchireland.bsky.social @shrewgod.bsky.social
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Oonagh Duggan @naturenymph.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Substantial fine but not max of €250k which shd have been imposed for flagrant breach of law & destruction of hedgerows. Coolmore statement that they werent aware of EIA regs doesnt hold water.Every beneficiary of CAP money receives a booklet with all the regs. www.farmersjournal.ie/news/news/co...
farmersjournal.ie
Coolmore-linked company fined €100,000 for hedgerow offenses
Shem Drowne Ltd has two months to pay the fine which was handed down by judge Deirdre Browne in Clonmel circuit court, Rachel Donovan reports.
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Brian Burke @bburke88.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
We are currently hiring for a range of #seabird jobs at @birdwatchireland.bsky.social , with a deadline of 22nd March. If you'd like to join our Seabird team this summer see birdwatchireland.ie/get-involved...
A Roseate Tern, standing beside a list of seabird jobs being advertised by Birdwatch Ireland.
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Brian Burke @bburke88.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
We are currently hiring for a range of #seabird jobs at @birdwatchireland.bsky.social , with a deadline of 22nd March. If you'd like to join our Seabird team this summer see birdwatchireland.ie/get-involved...
A Roseate Tern, standing beside a list of seabird jobs being advertised by Birdwatch Ireland.
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BirdWatch Ireland @birdwatchireland.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Biodiversity is not evenly distributed around the planet. In Ireland, 75 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) for seabirds have been identified. Where are these hidden hotspots? Tune into our webinar on March 10th to learn where our seabirds go and why these places matter: bit.ly/4l0ZoZ2
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BTO Northern Ireland @bto-ni.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Join us for a FREE evening of talks and refreshments to celebrate the launch of the 2025 Northern Ireland Seabird Report! Get your tickets here 👇 bit.ly/NI-SeabirdReport2025 🗓️ 26th of March 📍Coffee Cure, Bangor Registration deadline: Thursday 19th March
Promotional tile for Northern Ireland Seabird Report Launch. Text reads: Join BTO NI to celebrate the launch of the 2025 Seabird Report at Coffee Cure, Bangor on Thursday 26th March at 6 pm to 8 pm. Booking is essential! Book your tickets here: bit.ly/NI-SeabirdReport2025. Logos featured: BTO Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), Ards and North Down Borough Council and Seabird Monitoring Programme (SMP). Background photo is of a Little Tern by Philip Croft / BTO.
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Pádraic Fogarty @whittledaway.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group wants an end to tangle netting www.independent.ie/life/climate...
independent.ie
Climate Changemakers: The endangered species caught in the crossfire of a lucrative fishery
Tangle net fishery is a type of fishing that uses vertical net panels, usually kept underwater for a period of one to 10 days. It is considered an effective and inexpensive fishing method with nets ri...
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Philip Boucher-Hayes @philipb-h.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Angel Sharks are in real danger of going extinct locally, which would speed up their demise globally, because of the way the Irish government is issuing tangle net licences. #RTECountrywide Listen: 👉 www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...
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Elaine Burke @elaineburke.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
“A ban does not provide the clubs, the youth workers, the safe playgrounds, the links to their families and friends in the offline world that might nourish and support children.” Well said by Noeline Blackwell from the Children's Rights Alliance. www.thejournal.ie/social-media...
thejournal.ie
Government confirms plan to restrict social media for teenagers
It’s understood Cabinet will discuss measures concentrating on restrictions for under 16s.
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BirdWatch Ireland @birdwatchireland.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Ireland’s water is at risk and your help could make all the difference! The EU law that has been protecting our water and keeping us safe and healthy for the past 25 years is being torn down. Learn more and sign our petition today: birdwatchireland.ie/.../hands-of... #HandsOffNature
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John Gibbons 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 @thinkorswim.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
The next time you hear some politician blaming pearl mussels or the Habitats Directive for flooding disasters, might be a good time to point this out to to them.
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Fintan Kelly @fintankelly.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
The main east coast railway line runs on the other side of this fence, which is about to collapse into the sea. How much longer can politicians ignore the reality of climate change?
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Saoirse McHugh @saoirsemc.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
So in a week of catastrophic flooding the government have decided to move climate from its own section to a subsection under infrastructure and lift the Dublin airport passenger cap. Mighty
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Pádraic Fogarty @whittledaway.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
"Figures from a fish counter in Waterville... show sea trout stocks have decreased by 95.6 per cent since 2002" The sea is empty, fishing as an economic sector is over, the only thing that will turn things around is strict protection www.independent.ie/regionals/ke...
independent.ie
South Kerry fish species near extinction new data shows
Recent data has revealed a near obliteration of a Kerry fish species over two decades.
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Fintan Kelly @fintankelly.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
"The most cost-effective & impactful way to protect our collective future is through large-scale restoration, which can only happen with a truly steadfast commitment of long-term funding in the billions. It’s peanuts compared to what the alternative would cost." 💯 www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
irishtimes.com
Environmental breakdown isn’t a distant possibility – it’s a threat to world stability
The message is clear: climate change should be prioritised as a security crisis, not just an environmental one
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The Journal @thejournal.ie · 06/02/2026
After flooding in the past, successive governments promised protections, but instead, doubled down on dredging and delayed land-use reform, leaving communities exposed, writes Pádraic Fogarty. jrnl.ie/6946724
jrnl.ie
Ireland in the storms: Flood barriers won't save us if we keep draining the land
After Midleton, government promised flood protection, but instead, doubled down on dredging and delayed land-use reform, leaving communities exposed, writes Pádraic Fogarty.
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Sam Bayley @sambayley.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
I caught this bird the day the day it arrived (17th) and it stayed until 25th. It was then seen on 28th 289km away in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh. It would seem that the regular wintering bird at both locations is actually the same bird….🤯 🪶📷 Ronan Owens @birdguides.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social
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Fintan Kelly @fintankelly.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
"In a disaster, the skeleton of society is laid bare. Politicians need scapegoats when their inability to make hard strategic decisions is exposed...But who rezoned the floodplains,...who has drastically underfunded climate-adaptation measures for the past 20 years?"
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The Seabird Group @theseabirdgroup.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
#Seabird Journal issue #37 is complete and has been sent out to those who requested a physical copy 😊 Remember to check your mailboxes! It is also available to read online here ➡️ www.seabirdgroup.org.uk/seabird-37 #science #seabirds
This image shows the cover of issue 37 of SEABIRD journal by The Seabird Group. It is of a ringed guillemot with two small chicks, standing on a rocky wall. There are other parent birds with chicks in the background.
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The Irish Times @irishtimes.com · 02/02/2026
Third of Ireland’s wintering waterbirds vanish in just 30 years
irishtimes.com
Third of Ireland’s wintering waterbirds vanish in just 30 years
Some species increased numbers but others have declined by more than 50%
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Pádraic Fogarty @whittledaway.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
A periodic reminder that very little has been done to address the biodiversity crisis www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
irishtimes.com
Third of Ireland’s wintering waterbirds vanish in just 30 years
Some species increased numbers but others have declined by more than 50%
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Dru @drumarland.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Happy St Brigid’s Day! Oystercatchers are called ‘Gille-Brìghde’ in Gaelic- ‘Brigid’s servant’ - because they saved her life once
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Helen Shaw - Athena Media @athenamediaie.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
We need to get real. Met Éireann is not to blame for flooding damage - poor planning, building on flood plains, not implementing over 20 years of remedial action are. We were warned decades ago winter rain would increase, but continued doing nothing and built on space needed for water #spéirghorm
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Carl Kinsella @carlkinsella.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Imagine if there was an epidemic of pubs selling alcohol to children and instead of shutting the pubs responsible the government imposed a nationwide curfew on everyone under 16.
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Richard Chambers @newschambers.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Sitting across the Oireachtas Children's Committee on online safety for children. Very much getting the impression that a lot of politicians are reaching for the Under-16 ban. Momentum behind that rather than a deeper understanding of platforms, algorithms and any alternative view.
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Fintan Kelly @fintankelly.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
We’re not serious about tackling flooding as long the arterial drainage scheme continues to be treated as untouchable. It was built for mid‑20th‑century land drainage, not 21st‑century climate change charged flooding. Its time to store flood water in flood plains not in towns.
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Pádraic Fogarty @whittledaway.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Ireland’s plan to weaken legal protections for waterways will push many of them beyond recovery www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
irishtimes.com
Why is Ireland planning to all but give up on protecting its waterways?
Ella McSweeney: The Department of Housing is proposing to give up trying to restore or naturalise many of our rivers
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Pádraic Fogarty @whittledaway.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Late last year the government designated 466 rivers as 'highly modified', meaning they will continue to be dredged for the purposes of agriculture, ensuring towns and villages face greater flood risk www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
irishtimes.com
‘Worst not over’ warns Met Éireann as Storm Chandra floods homes and businesses in Wexford, Dublin and Wicklow
Met Éireann says risks ‘persist for the rest of the week’ amid more rainfall and slow drainage
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Dr Alex Bond @thelabandfield.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
There should be a one-month moratorium on new work. Just give everyone the month of February to do the things they are already doing. Nothing new. No additional projects. No new initiatives. No requests. Any email asking someone to do something is automatically rejected and replaced with a cat gif.
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Tim Jones @timsbirding.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Yorkshires only Little Tern colony relies on paid wardens to protect them from predators and disturbance, the team have achieved amazing numbers of fledglings in recent years and it would be a great shame if it doesn’t run this year, much appreciated if you can help out with this funding gap 🙏
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Sally Hayden @sallyhayd.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
“Family reunification accounts for little more than 1% of migration into Ireland. Telling people granted refugee status to wait three years – until their children no longer recognise them – is not the stance of a country that professes to cherish the family unit.” www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
irishtimes.com
Justine McCarthy: Ireland celebrates Hamnet and Jessie Buckley’s success. It should feel shame
Separating refugee parents and their children betrays the family values of the film and of our constitution
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