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Gerard Cunningham

@faduda.eurosky.social
2.9K followers 4K following 10.3K posts

Formerly a productive member of society. Denied a 2023 Hugo, probably.✒️ #journalist #writer Occasionally here, but mostly mastodon.ie/@faduda Recent(ish) project guth.ie/space-navigator • www.kobo.com/ie/en/ebook/space-navi…

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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 2h
"Four?"
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 5h
Good thing the taoiseach hasn't been seen hanging out with dodgy far right leaders..
Taoiseach with Giorgia MeloniTapiseqch with Donald Trump
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 6h
I mean, if the taoiseach is going there, then maybe he needs reminding of who he's in coalition with.
A group of Blueshirts offer a raised arm fascist salute to Eoin O'Duffy
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 13h
From @clickhere@mastodon.ie
It's the "We're all trying to find the guy who did this" meme, except Jim O'Callaghan TD's face is superimposed on the hot dog guy's head.

From @clickhere@mastodon.ie
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 18/10/2026
Go to your camera roll and search "boat" and then post a picture of a boat you like.
A small boat viewed from above, while seagulls circle
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 18/10/2026
‘New data centres? No thanks’ A new logo for the Danish campaign against data centres. Lovely work by @snittegodskontoret@helvede.net [mastodon] - a lovely, clever counterpart to the ‘Nuclear Power? No Thanks’ logo. (Also a Danish design) Angry cloud, water, electricity. www.datacenterinfo.dk/
Short version: Anti-data centre logo, blue with white cloud. Fuller description: Light sky-blue square. A white cloud making an angry-emoji face. Four dark blue drops of water raining down from it. Between them, a flash of yellow lightning. In a curve above the cloud, in simple sans serif black type in block capitals: ‘Nye datacentre?’ (‘New data centres?’) Underneath the cloud, same type, in a curve: ‘Nej tak’ (No thanks). 
 All credit and more info at the (a) @snittegodskontoret Mastodon account
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 10/10/2026
This applies in Ireland too, worth bearing in mind when ministers burble on about going private and outsourcing healthcare
In Dining across the divide (4 October), the young participant, Ted, is quoted as expressing his “desire to abolish the NHS and replace it with a social insurance model. This would still have provision for free treatment at the point of need, but people would pay through insurance systems, and they would choose the level of cover they’ve got. Those models deliver far better outcomes for patients.”

As a retired insurance underwriter, I must disagree profoundly with Ted’s assertion. Let’s concentrate on business fundamentals. Insurance comes in two “flavours”: first, events that become likelier as time goes on – eg, life assurance. The older you get, the more likely you are to die and the more premium is needed to cover the risk; and second, events whose likelihood stays essentially the same over time, eg home insurance – the likelihood of a house burning down is much the same for everyone and the cost is spread evenly between policyholders.Clearly, medical insurance is flavour one. Premiums need to rise with age. To reduce premiums and keep customers, insurance companies apply ever-increasing “excesses” and “co-pays” and can refuse to cover pre-existing conditions. The more you need medical insurance, the more expensive and difficult it is to get.

There is also the business case. When you buy an insurance policy, premiums are calculated to include the cost of claims (about 60%); administration (about 10%); sales (about 20%); shareholder profits (about 15%); less investment returns (about 5%).

In contrast, an NHS-style system does not require either sales costs or shareholder profits. Of course, there would be no investment return – but nevertheless, it is still about 30% cheaper to operate than an insured healthcare system. Like most sound business ideas, it’s simple arithmetic.
Susan Jones
Biggin Hill, London
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 09/10/2026
"Stepford wives are an underutilised approach, that's all I'm saying..."
Idiot boy Palmer Luckey with a stupid goatee showing how little empathy and intelligence he has.
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 07/10/2026
I mean...
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 05/10/2026
The Day After was amateur night.
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 03/10/2026
Barrow Way of an Autumn afternoon.
A cycle path beside a waterway, green foliage and blue sky skidded with clouds.
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 28/09/2026
There's a very tense standoff between residents and the Orange Order. When you make your public statement, who are your thoughts with?
Post on Xcom from @naomi_long
Naomi Long MLA

Today is our 31st wedding anniversary and looking at the headlines, we could be back in the 1990s.

It's all so utterly, utterly unnecessary and predictable.

My thoughts are with the @PoliceServiceNI who are yet again placed in an impossible position and with their families.
10:33 AM · Sep 27, 2026
·
121.3K Views
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 27/09/2026
On AI... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanisl...
A computer can never be held accountable, therefore a computer must never make a management decision.
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 23/09/2026
The only thing that should be named after him
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 17/09/2026
You're kidding me..
Micheál Mac Liammóir
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 17/09/2026
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 17/09/2026
Meanwhile in Piddington
Film still from 'The monsters are due on Maple Street'
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 16/09/2026
These guys are a lost cause.
Extract from a Facebook post from Fiontán Ó Súilleabháin TD, Sinn Féin

"Irish citizenship is a privilege.
It should no longer be handed out like smarties! ..."
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 16/09/2026
Meanwhile in Brussels
Associate membership for the UK- No. 
Associate membership for Canada - Yes.
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 12/09/2026
"A peace of a kind."
Ariel view of Gaza in ruins
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 11/09/2026
The thing about the Restore weirdos is I'm not sure which answer would upset them more..
At another meeting she was asked: "If an Indian girl was drowning, would you save her?"
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 11/09/2026
"No one knows who they were or what they were doing, but their legacy remains, hewn into the living rock of Trumphenge..."
Donald Trump holds up a small scale model of his Arc de Trump vanity project
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 09/09/2026
I knew this reminded me of aomething
Momo, an Internet meme
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 08/09/2026
Always has been
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 08/09/2026
Irish Values, 21st century
A re-working by Adam Doyle (Spicebag) of the painting An Irish Eviction attributed to Daniel MacDonald (c.1850, Crawford Gallery, Cork), showing Garda in hibiz uniforms and private security in tactical/riot gear  assisting with a 19th century eviction.
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 07/09/2026
Why does bad history keep repeating?
1. Fascism has been tried on several countries. 
2. Well did it work for those people?
3. No, it never does. I mean, these people somehow deluded themselves into thinking it might, but..
4. ...but it might work for us.
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 07/09/2026
I thought I'd exaggerated
News report headlined "President proposes 'New America' name for New Mexico"
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 05/09/2026
The Greatest
Katie Taylor showing off some of her medals
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 04/09/2026
Do It For Her.
Trump Is A Cunt.
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 03/09/2026
Meanwhile at Progress Ireland
chatGPT is down
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 03/09/2026
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 03/09/2026
Perfect example of AI brain rot here from the Collision "think tank" at Progress Ireland. "I don't understand this topic, but it won't stop me pontificating about it. And the mistakes in my reporting are because there were too many words for me and the LLM to understand."
The first thing to say is, it's hard to even find the 2022-2028 Dublin City Development Plan.
Despite being an electronic document, the council has chosen to split it into 24 separate PDFs. Added together, these 24 PDFs sum to 2,447 pages.
Note: I'm leaning on ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude a lot for this piece because no sane person could be expected to manually pore over two thousand pages of planning documents. If there are errors, blame the voluminous PDFs - not the LLMs. Nor
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 02/09/2026
The microleft have terrible instincts when it comes to populist first reactions
Richard Boyd Barrett, Brid Smith and Gino Kelly with raised fists wearing gilets jaunes hi-viz vests outside Leinster House.
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 29/08/2026
This meme isn't going away any time soon.
Next up we will discuss the topic with someone whose job is to be a well researched and respected expert in the area. 
And in the interest of balance we will also talk to an idiot.
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 28/08/2026
Guy from the Worst Person You Know Made A Great Point meme
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 27/08/2026
Welcome to Bluesky. Please familiarize yourself with the following accounts to understand the range of opinions it is acceptable to express
William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whittaker, David Tennant, Ncuti Gatwa
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 27/08/2026
Remember that time Melania drooled over Trudeau?
Melania, Trump and Justin Trudeau
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 25/08/2026
Let's face it, in real life Jolene never stood a chance..
Dolly Parton
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 24/08/2026
About 80% of the Threads timeline looks like this.
A priest, recognisable to devotees of Fr. Ted as Father Purcell, stands in a storage room alongside lots of clutter. He's got a cup of tea and saucer, and he's smiling. The caption reads "What's your favourite humming noise in Star Trek?"
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 23/08/2026
Writing prompt: They say you die three times, first when the body dies, second, when your body enters the grave, and third, when your name is spoken for the last time. You were a normal person in life, but hundreds of years later, you still haven't had your "third" death. You decide to find out why.

Reply to prompt: You sold some shitty copper, man, I don't know what to tell you
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 23/08/2026
Indeed. More a series of peninsulas on the western edge. And strictly speaking, the supercontinent landmass doesn't have a name.* *"Eurasia" doesn't count
A map showing Europe+Asia
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 20/08/2026
"We investigated ourselves and cleared ourselves of any wrongdoing"
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 18/08/2026
Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 15/08/2026
Remember their mainstream view of Oliver is a bit different to ours. "except in Ireland"
English schoolbook which explains Oliver Cromwell was "a good man. He was deeply religious, and neither greedy nor — except in Ireland — cruel."
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 13/08/2026
Need variations on this idea to combat meta spyglasses ..
A man modeling a t-shirt with the "Little Bobby Tables" cartoon from XKCD
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 13/08/2026
1960s bathrooms.
Black and white photo of three bathroom doors, marked "Ladies", "Men" and "Colored"
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 12/08/2026
Sr Michael, Derry Girls
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 12/08/2026
More American news outlets need to consider the possibility there was never a credible threat and it was just Netanyahu screwing with him. Trump lies. Bibi lies.
Social media post stating that Iranian Fars News Agency reported US officials advised Iranian government to ignore Trump social media posts because they are "purely for domestic and media consumption"
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 11/08/2026
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 11/08/2026
So no looking at the solar eclipse, right?
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