iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Damn, invasive Harlequin ladybird in the garden Harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) is an invasive, non-native insect species that is established in parts of Ireland and poses a serious threat to native biodiversity.

Photo of black and red ladybird in green Coriander leaves

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Shurely shome mishtake? Data centre article by the excellent Mark Paul, photo places Slough (UK) in west Dublin (poss. Blanchardstown?) And Blanch Debenhams is also closed @irishtimes.com @ruaidhrioc.bsky.social

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Scale Ireland event, for @irish-tech-news.bsky.social Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris stated today that the government's proposed personal investment accounts could "absolutely" be used to back Irish entrepreneurs and scale-ups. @simonharrisireland.bsky.social

Tanaiste Simon Harris meets the Scale Ireland community of Founders at Avolon HQ in Dublin

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Hard not say these 14 storey buildings are in the wrong place - when located right beside the Royal Canal? Canal is a green lung, a wildlife corridor and amenity for all. #Ashtown

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Glenveagh has 40 ideas to fix Ireland’s housing problem – now it wants action www.businesspost.ie/companies/gl...

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Faded flag 🇺🇦 in my window will not be taken down, until Ukraine is victorious. 4 years, 6 months since Russian invasion #SlavaUkraïni #ukraine

Russian Invasion of Ukraine: How Putin lost in 10 days
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Since the initial attack, pain, destruction and bloodshed has been caused, with hundreds of thousands killed and millions more displaced from their homes. But it wasn’t supposed to be like this.

According to research by the think tank RUSI, when Vladimir Putin began his invasion, he expected to take control of Ukraine within 10 days.

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

It's all go at Dublin Maker today! From 3D printing, to felt-making, Lego, uileann pipe craftsmen, epilepsy support dogs and of course Steampunk read all about it next week in @irish-tech-news.bsky.social @dublinmaker.bsky.social #dublinmaker #maker #stem #steam

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Another betrayal and loss of trust’ — Blackrock College sex abuse survivor criticises Spiritans for lack of transparency with Irish victims, again by Joe Little Religious order’s appeal over Fr Ted Colleton has only been published online in Canada, and not Ireland www.independent.ie/irish-news/a...

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Real hair, real beards or wigs? New photo of Harris Dickinson, Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn and Barry Keoghan as the Beatles #Beatles

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Tomato Times, weeks early in my Dublin garden, 'fresh taste makes toil worthwhile'

4 different types of tomato from a Dublin garden, Dublin 15

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

2. No balance in this Irish Times report on @mannadronedelivery.bsky.social share.google/9lOflq63nQMH...

Hit piece in Irish Times on Manna Drone company

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

It is not connected with the ongoing Tolka water pollution at Mill Road Bridge, Blanchardstown, which has affected a 1km stretch of the river for several years

Photo of water pollution sludge from culvert at Mill Road bridge, Blanchardstown village

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Swan flotilla sailing on Royal Canal, under Granard Bridge, Castleknock Rd. Blanchardstown Bridge view under threat from planned cycling bridge, as part of Fingal Active Travel scheme

2 adult swans and 4 cygnets on waterway approaching bridge.

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

What do we want? Protests & polycrises. Gaza, Trans, Colonialism, Palestine, data centres, Big Tech, climate crisis, anti West, anti capitalism Or? Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar, women's rights, antisemitism, Afghanistan,

Cartoon by Fiona Katsaukas in The Guardian.

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Blanch Bat Gang are out and about in August🦇 Our 4th year participating in the Daubenton bat national survey, organised by Bat Conservation Ireland, along the Tolka River and the Royal Canal in Blanchardstown and Castleknock. Interested? email blanchbatgang@gmail.com. #bats #batconservation #fingal

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Tales of the Scald Wood 1 Well done to Fingal Council for treating the widespead invasive cherry laurel along the banks of the Tolka river near Blanchardstown village It outcompetes slow-growing native deciduous trees and ground flora, severely degrading habitats @fingal.ie @bgormley.bsky.social

Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) is an aggressively invasive evergreen shrub that devastates local ecosystems by forming dense, light-blocking thickets. Its leaves release cyanide and are highly toxic to herbivores. This creates sterile, ungrazeable "dead zones" where native flora and local wildlife struggle to survive.

Cherry Laurel had spread to such an extent that it had outcompeted other plant species and is having a detrimental impact on the woodland dynamics and biodiversity of the site.

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I hate the gambling ads on RTE, just before World Cup match, online.gambling is a hidden curse for many Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland @endgamblingads.bsky.social

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Deer sheltering from the sun, in the shade of the Magazine Fort, Phoenix Park, Dublin

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Lovely to visit the inside of the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park The 1735 bastion fort located in the south-east of the Park. Built to store gunpowder and arms, occupied by the British Armed Forces until it was handed over to the Irish Defence Forces in 1922. @opwireland.bsky.social

The Bastion and Lookout: In the background stands a whitewashed, fortified stone bunker structure featuring narrow vertical loopholes (slits) originally used for musketry defense and lookouts.
Stone Staircase: A narrow, open-air stone staircase with a green iron handrail leads up to the elevated rampart walk and defensive bastion platform. A modern rope barrier blocks the stairs for visitor safety.
Ground Surfaces: The courtyard floor is divided into distinct zones, transitioning from light-colored river pea gravel around the structures to dark asphalt or packed earth along the walking path. Large, flat granite paving blocks sit prominently in the foreground.
Defensive Walls: A high perimeter stone blast wall frames the right side of the area, typical of 18th-century artillery fortifications designed to absorb or contain potential explosions.

One of 4 magazines where gunpowder was stored. Note original oak floor with wooden dowels.
Structural Blast Vaulting: The thick brick-vaulted ceiling formed a blast protection layer. If an accidental ignition occurred inside one vault, the massive architecture was engineered to funnel the shock wave straight upward through a weak roof rather than blowing outward horizontally into adjacent powder rooms or garrison quarters.

The Gunpowder Kegs
The wooden casks shown in the image are tailored to safely hold volatile explosive material:
Materials: These casks were typically made of sturdy white oak staves. Unlike standard liquor barrels, the hoops binding them together were strictly made of copper, brass, or wooden hazel saplings. Utilizing iron hoops was banned because striking iron could generate a friction spark and cause a catastrophic detonation.
Sizes: In a typical British ordnance facility like the Magazine Fort, powder was packed into varying capacities:
Barrels: Held 100 lbs of powder.Half-Barrels: Held 50 lbs of powder (the size likely being carried by the soldiers in the foreground).Quarter-Barrels (Kegs): Held 25 lbs of powder.
Sealing: The barrels were tightly sealed and occasionally lined to prevent the highly hygroscopic black powder from absorbing ambient atmospheric moisture or dampness, which would render it useless.
Storage and Handling PracticesThe design of the storage chamber in the artwork demonstrates the advanced safety protocols of the era:The Stacking Configurations:
Horizontal "Ricking" (Left): Barrels are stacked on their sides in structured rows. This distributed the immense weight evenly across the floor and allowed inventory handlers to rotate or check individual barrels for dampness.
Vertical Stacks (Center): Barrels are stacked on end to maximize space while awaiting transport or immediate inspection.
Spark-Free Flooring: The floorboards were entirely constructed using wooden pegs (dowels) instead of iron nails, ensuring that shifting barrels or soldiers' footsteps would never strike metal-on-metal sparks.

Active Surveillance: The elevated wooden catwalk allowed an officer or ordnance supervisor to watch operations continuously from a safe vantage point, ensuring workers did not drop barrels or bring illicit metal tools into the room.

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

All the way to Tulsa, from Blanchardstown to Oklahoma, what a loss?

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Savage score in 90th minute by Argentina, who lead 3-2 #EGYVARG

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Comma butterfly in back garden today, Dublin 15. Rare enough for Ireland?

The comma, is a food generalist (polyphagous) butterfly species belonging to the family Nymphalidae. The angular notches on the edges of the forewings are characteristic of the genus Polygonia, which is why species in the genus are commonly referred to as anglewing butterflies. Comma butterflies can be identified by their prominent orange and dark brown/black dorsal wings.

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Signpost near pollution site, and other pic of pollution sludge deposit on riverbed. Note there is also light reflection. If interested, contact me. Tolka river at Mill Road bridge, Blanchardstown village, Fingal

Signpost of the Scaldwood, Tolka valley walk near Blanchardstown village

Water pollution incident in Tolka river beside start of Scaldwood pathway, Tolka valley .. near Blanchardstown village

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Toxic sludge is back in Tolka River at Mill Road bridge, Blanchardstown Reported many times to @fingal.ie Council Supposedly from premises in Coolmine Industrial Estate? Little river life for a km downstream @ellamcsweeney.bsky.social @bgormley.bsky.social #tolkariver #waterpollution #dublin

Culvert feeding into Tolks river, facing downstream from Mill Road bridge.
River is lifeless for a km downstream.
This is ongoing, seen first several years ago.
Local group used to stock trout here.

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Encouraging to see Fingal Council tackling invasive cherry laurel in Scaldwood, Tolka valley, Blanchardstown village. Large areas have been treated that will help restore the native woodland over time. Follow-up will be important, excellent conservation work. Well done. @fingalcoco.ie

The start of a wider restoration project in Scaldwood, it will be interesting to see what regenerates naturally over the next few years. Once the laurel canopy is removed, native species such as holly, hazel, hawthorn, elder, bramble and woodland flowers will begin to recover

Cherry laurel readily heals wounds. This scrape-and-treat technique is specifically designed to introduce herbicide into the plant's vascular tissue. Cherry laurel often requires a follow-up inspection 12 to 24 months after treatment, with any surviving regrowth retreated - see new green regrowth.
Well done Fingal!

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

⚽️ The "Habsburg Derby" is LIVE at the World Cup! Spain and Austria battle in the Round of 32 - winner advances, loser takes it on the chin. Literally. Final Habsburg rulers Spain: Charles II 1665-1700 Austria: Charles I 1916-1918

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Toxic sludge is back in Tolka River at Mill Road bridge, Blanchardstown Reported many times to @fingal.ie Council Supposedly from Coolmine Industrial Estate @antaisce.bsky.social @foeireland.bsky.social @envpillar.bsky.social @deptcee.bsky.social #tolkariver #waterpollution #dublin #fingal

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Finally Malta opens trial of the alleged mastermind behind murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia Wealthy Maltese businessman appeared in court, suspected of having ordered the murder 9 years ago. Case shook Malta, and sparked a wave of condemnation worldwide www.france24.com/fr/europe/20...

Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia (née Vella; 26 August 1964 – 16 October 2017) was a Maltese writer, journalist, blogger and anti-corruption activist who reported on political events in Malta. She was known internationally for her investigation of the Panama Papers and subsequent assassination by a car bomb. Wikipedia

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

So disappointing, toxic sludge is back in Tolka River at Mill Road bridge, Blanchardstown Reported many times to Fingal Council over the years @epaireland.bsky.social @swanireland.ie @elainemcgoff.bsky.social @tolkabranchbwi.bsky.social @connectingcabra.bsky.social @rodericogorman.bsky.social

A substantial area of opaque grey-white discolouration beside the outfall.
The material appears to spread from the outfall into the river.
The surrounding Tolka water is relatively clear by comparison, making the affected area distinct.
Sediment or sludge appears to have settled over rocks and the riverbed immediately downstream.
Photos are owned by Billy Linehan

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Eoin Costello opens Dargan Forum in Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, harnessing technology for local communities, small businesses make towns. - announces this is his last Forum. #darganforum #dunlaoghaire #connectedhubs

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Dargan Forum 2026: Turning Ireland’s Green and Digital Transition into Action Artificial intelligence, regional development, digital trust, tourism, offshore energy and public service innovation will feature at Dargan Forum 2026, in Dún Laoghaire on 24/25 June. www.darganinstitute.ie

From the use of AI to analyse public consultation submissions to discussions on Connected Hubs, digital communities, tourism innovation and offshore renewable energy, the emphasis is on sharing examples of what is already working and what lessons can be applied elsewhere.
https://www.darganinstitute.ie/#dargan-forum-main-event

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Watching out. White heron, Royal Canal, near Granard Bridge Canal is a green lung through Dublin 15, lets keep it that way #royalcanal #blanchardstown #dublin15 #fingal

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Another woman receives 74 lashes in Iran writes Masih Alinejad

She photographed a concert held in a historic caravanserai, no audience, just a female, singer, music, and freedom. Then they shared the video on YouTube.

Yes, this is the 21st century. In Iran, women can be punished simply for singing. And if you attend their performance, or even take a photo or video, you can be punished too.

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Champions! Great performance from Leinster, imposed from the start #LEIvBUL

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Lots of Irish tech news this week, Manna Air Delivery suspend drone operations nationwide (thousands of Dublin 15 customers will miss their efficient, fast, low carbon delivery service during the hiatus) Hey Manna, don't be away too long! @mannadronedelivery.bsky.social #drones #Blanchardstown

19 Jun 2026

Drone aerial delivery operator Manna has announced it is ceasing delivery operations in Ireland to concentrate its growth on the US, UK and other international markets.

In a statement released this afternoon, the company said:

> "The lack of a clear national framework has left the sector reliant on local planning processes and created uncertainty around the infrastructure required to support drone delivery at scale."

It said the US, UK, China and the UAE are:

> "demonstrating rapid regulatory progress and strong commercial momentum".

> "As a result, Manna has decided to concentrate its investment, talent and operational resources in markets where large-scale drone delivery is now a reality," said the statement.

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

What an interesting museum to visit in Dublin, the Irish Jewish Museum - thanks to Edwin for answering so many questions and sharing so many stories #irishmuseums #museums #dublintourism #jewishmuseum

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Dreams to Startup Success: StartUp Ballymun Turns 10 Join Ireland's oldest (?) startup event in Ballymun, Whan? 10 June, from 4pm #startupballymun #ballymun share.google/O5ROVVVHrr8K...

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

50 Years of UCD Students Union celebration in @ucddublin.bsky.social this evening - some changes from my days in UCD SU #ucd #studentsunion

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Billy Linehan 🇪🇺🇮🇪 @billylinehan.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Data centre debate is based on assumptions that are already being challenged by new technology Latest generation of AI data centres are becoming more efficient digital factories, driven by innovations in cooling, power management and infrastructure design. irishtechnews.ie/ai-rethink-o...

Schneider Electric and Motivair showcase how AI is reshaping cooling and power systems inside modern data centres

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