Reposted by Melissa BairdDocuments on Irish Foreign Policy @difp-ria.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Guess what we've been up to? 👀#comingsoon 022
Melissa Baird @melissabaird.bsky.social · 15/09/2026In advance of the publication of @difp-ria.bsky.social volume 15 later this year, I wrote about how the 1973 World Ploughing Championships in Wexford became a problem for Irish foreign policy: 021
Reposted by Melissa BairdDocuments on Irish Foreign Policy @difp-ria.bsky.social · 14/09/2026DIFP were in Bern earlier this month for the 18th International Conference of Editors of Diplomatic Documents #ICEDD2026 #OSCE26CH. Listen to Dr Michael Kennedy's (Executive Editor of DIFP) lecture on Ireland's evolving attitude to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe 1969-75 here:youtube.com18. ICEDD-Conference – From Geneva to Helsinki: The Making of the CSCEYouTube video by Dodis 031
Reposted by Melissa BairdAlex Zalben @azalben.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Dolly Parton, among a thousand other amazing things she did in her life, gifted over 330 million books to kids through her Imagination Library program. Her passing is a tremendous loss to the world, but you can support the program today to keep it going imaginationlibrary.comimaginationlibrary.comDolly Parton's Imagination Library | USA, UK, IE, CA, AUDolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free books to children from birth until they begin school in participating areas. 45121525979
Reposted by Melissa BairdKat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 23/07/2026People are making fun of AOC for having a slight southern accent while speaking in Memphis but they clearly don’t know the pain of habitually and unconsciously imitating the speaking style of the people around you 5037602607
Reposted by Melissa BairdElaine Crory @elainecrory.bsky.social · 14/07/2026I need people to understand that fascism needs misogyny to survive and builds much of its worldview on that foundation. They believe women are the incubators on legs that are objects either to be used for producing the white babies they want or prevented from producing the babies they don't. 321285
Reposted by Melissa BairdRoyal Irish Academy @ria.ie · 18/06/2026As Ireland prepares to take on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union once again, it's worth looking back at where it all began. In this @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social article, John Gibney, @difp-ria.bsky.social , explores Ireland's first EEC Presidency in 1975 www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2... 1105
Reposted by Melissa BairdLuke Butterly @lukejbutterly.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Last night neighbours, communities, and support groups helped many families flee from their burning homes in Belfast, often not able to wait for the emergency services. Anaka Women's Collective is one of these groups, and who do vital work throughout the year on a shoestring budget. Donate here:paypal.comDonate to Participation and Practice of Rights Project LtdHelp support Participation and Practice of Rights Project Ltd by donating or sharing with your friends. 194
Melissa Baird @melissabaird.bsky.social · 10/06/2026These poor kids traumatised for life. We had a panel in 2023 in the Linen Hall of Protestant and Catholic men and women burnt out of their houses 1969-1972. They cried, 50 years later, about the life-long effects that experience had on them. 000
Reposted by Melissa BairdSam McBride @sjamcbride.bsky.social · 10/06/2026A really ominous sign about the capabilities of the PSNI, whose Chief Constable has for years been begging Stormont to properly fund it: Just hours after serious racist violence broke out, already the PSNI can't cope and is requesting mutual aid support from GB police forces. 21610
Reposted by Melissa BairdIrish Studies at QUB @irishstudiesqub.bsky.social · 14/04/2026In our next seminar on 20 April, Melissa Baird & Michael Kennedy (DIFP) will speak on: ‘“Agents from the South running around Northern Ireland”: Backchannel talks between loyalists and the DFA in the aftermath of Sunningdale’s collapse’ All welcome! www.ticketsource.com/institute-of... 065
Reposted by Melissa BairdHistory Today @historytoday.com · 12/03/2026#StPatricksDay is a global celebration of Irish culture, but in the US its parades have always been political. 🔓 Melissa Baird’s new Behind the Times is free for 7 days www.historytoday.com/archive/behi...historytoday.comSt Patrick’s Day Protests 033
Reposted by Melissa BairdShannon Devlin @shannondevlin.bsky.social · 11/02/2026Looking forward to speaking about one of my favourite families, the Taylors of Coleraine, tomorrow at the first Coleraine Museum Fireside Talk of the year! All online, get in touch for more details. 043
Melissa Baird @melissabaird.bsky.social · 13/11/2025Grateful for an awfully slow news day to share my newly published article. What else would you be reading today? muse.jhu.edu/pub/423/arti...muse.jhu.edu 021
Reposted by Melissa BairdAnne Goldgar @annegoldgar.bsky.social · 18/09/2025For those reading that academia.edu has predatory terms of service, this is how to delete your account when they ask you to agree to their terms of service. 12116
Reposted by Melissa BairdKevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 23/07/2025To put this a little more directly: suggesting that "the world" has been "silent" carries the danger of depoliticising the crisis because it places the blame on *everyone*, when the ones we should be focusing on are the *few* who hold the levers of real power. 3/3 0153
Reposted by Melissa BairdThe Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 12/06/2025"No no no you don't understand. I told the racists where all the immigrants were BEFORE they went and set that place on fire.". 5339122
Reposted by Melissa BairdElaine Crory @elainecrory.bsky.social · 09/06/2025If every sexual offence reported last year resulted in a riot, there would have been 1,615. There weren't though. Were there? 25915
Reposted by Melissa BairdDocuments on Irish Foreign Policy @difp-ria.bsky.social · 09/06/2025WE'RE HIRING! Applications welcome for a three-year post with a focus on the 1970s/80s #jobfairy www.ria.ie/about/career...ria.ieVacancy: Assistant Editor, Documents on Irish Foreign Policy - Royal Irish AcademyApplications are invited for the position of Assistant Editor, Documents on Irish Foreign Policy (DIFP) at the Royal Irish Academy. 032
Reposted by Melissa BairdFrances Nolan @francesmnolan.bsky.social · 30/04/2025I’m heartened to see that @ria.ie is funding up to four postdoctoral fellowships to encourage research into its historic links to colonial enterprises. Each fellowship is worth €5,000 and the deadline for applications is 9 June 2025. www.ria.ie/grants/colon...ria.ieColonial Legacies Fellowship Scheme - Royal Irish AcademyThe Colonial Legacies fellowships are intended to encourage research into the RIA’s historic links with colonial enterprises. 14233
Reposted by Melissa BairdDr Laura Gillespie @drlauragillespie.bsky.social · 28/04/2025Huge day for the parish launching @shannondevlin.bsky.social’s first book at Queen’s. Very much a full circle moment. Galileo loved it. @qubhistory.bsky.social 062
Reposted by Melissa BairdLaura Kelly @tortietabby.bsky.social · 16/04/2025100% this. Can’t understand why these toxic campaigners choose to focus their energy and hatred towards a minority of people just trying to live their lives when it is cisgender men who are perpetrating violence against women on a daily basis. Solidarity with trans people now and always. 013232
Reposted by Melissa BairdIrish Studies at QUB @irishstudiesqub.bsky.social · 08/04/2025We're taking a couple of weeks break, and our next Irish Studies event will be a booklaunch of Shannon Devlin's 'Siblinghood and Sociability in 19th-Century Ulster' on Mon. 28 Apr. at 4.30 (in-person and online), with Prof. Diane Urquhart. All welcome. www.qub.ac.uk/schools/Iris...qub.ac.ukBooklaunch of Shannon Devlin, Siblinghood and Sociability in Nineteenth-Century Ulster 01910
Reposted by Melissa BairdHistory at Bristol @uobrishistory.bsky.social · 18/03/2025Read more about ‘Faces of the Irish Diaspora’ - a project researched by our very own Dr Lucy Wray, and featuring some familiar faces. Go and see it for yourself on College Green until 31 March!bristol247.comFaces of the Irish diaspora in BristolA photo exhibition shares stories of the Irish diaspora in Bristol 0158
Reposted by Melissa BairdSam McBride @sjamcbride.bsky.social · 09/03/2025Declassified files reveal how key figures in De Valera's Ireland were privately thinking the unthinkable about Irish unity in 1969: Ditching the flag & anthem, ending neutrality, joining NATO, Terence O'Neill as Irish president...and buying The Irish News.belfasttelegraph.co.ukThe secret papers which reveal radical thinking about a united IrelandWe are in a phony war about Irish unity. A united Ireland is not yet credibly close, so most people are only thinking about it shallowly. 133
Reposted by Melissa BairdRTÉ Brainstorm @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social · 07/02/2025Why Irish Government called on UN to intervene in Troubles in 1969. Taoiseach Jack Lynch's request followed many such demands by nationalists for the UN's engagement in Northern Ireland, writes @melissabaird.bsky.social @difp-ria.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...rte.ieWhy Irish Govt called on UN to intervene in Troubles in 1969Taoiseach Jack Lynch's request followed many such demands by nationalists for the UN's engagement in Northern Ireland 0105
Reposted by Melissa BairdKevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 10/02/2025The latest vol. of @difp-ria.bsky.social is out. It's as immense as its size suggests (1200 pages!) Lots on the EEC, Biafra, etc, but I hope people will appreciate the blow-by-blow exchanges we included on the Troubles - especially the docs on Derry and Bloody Sunday. 🗃️ www.ria.ie/2025/02/10/d...ria.ieDocuments on Irish Foreign Policy Vol. XIV: 1969-1973 available now - Royal Irish AcademyThe fourteenth in the Documents on Irish Foreign Policy (DIFP) series, covering the period from June 1969 to March 1973, has been published by the Royal Irish Academy. Documents on Irish Foreign Polic... 02917
Reposted by Melissa BairdRTÉ Brainstorm @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social · 30/01/2025It's 1970 & the Irish army are plotting to invade Northern Ireland... Michael Kennedy @difp-ria.bsky.social on how plans for Irish army to make incursions into NI were mooted after violence & riots in 1969 - from Documents on Irish Foreign Policy Vol. XIV: 1969-1973 www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...rte.ieIt's 1970 & Irish army are plotting to invade Northern IrelandThe prospect of Irish Defence Forces making incursions into Northern Ireland was mooted after violence erupted there in 1969 0105
Reposted by Melissa BairdDocuments on Irish Foreign Policy @difp-ria.bsky.social · 30/01/2025Volume X of DIFP is now free open access online at www.difp.ie/books/volume-10/difp.ieVolume 10 – Documents on Irish Foreign PolicyThis volume of selected documents treats of the development of Irish foreign policy and the Irish diplomatic service from 21 January 1919 to 6 December 1922. With a few exceptions, none of the documen... 0106
Melissa Baird @melissabaird.bsky.social · 29/01/2025So excited that everyone can now read all about the fascinating networks Shannon’s uncovered! It’s been amazing to see how this research has evolved from hearing about these stories in our PhD office to seeing it in print only a few years later. I am so proud 🥹 051
Reposted by Melissa BairdRTÉ Brainstorm @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social · 21/01/2025Dining for Ireland: unconventional diplomat Con Howard used 1970s' London parties and soirees to befriend, charm & influence politicians, media moguls and journalists. By @kateom.bsky.social RIA - from Documents on Irish Foreign Policy Vol. XIV: 1969-1973 www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...rte.ieDining for Ireland: how diplomat Con Howard charmed 1970s LondonThe unconventional diplomat used London parties and soirees to befriend and influence politicians, media moguls and journalists 033
Reposted by Melissa BairdIrish Studies at QUB @irishstudiesqub.bsky.social · 14/01/2025Our Spring 2025 #IrishStudies programme is now available at: www.qub.ac.uk/schools/Iris... 04436
Reposted by Melissa BairdUniversity of Galway - History @historyatgalway.bsky.social · 14/01/2025Our spring 2025 History seminar is now available. Our first history seminar will be held on 22 January 2025 and delivered by Professor Deirdre Raftery (UCD) in collaboration with the Centre for the History of Religion. @sarahannebuckley.bsky.social 0119
Melissa Baird @melissabaird.bsky.social · 14/01/2025My first piece on the new volume of @difp-ria.bsky.social (&first Bluesky post!), and it’s all about Irish diplomacy during Bernadette Devlin McAliskey’s 1969 US tour: www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2... @rtebrainstorm.bsky.socialrte.ieHow Irish diplomats reacted to Bernadette Devlin's 1969 US tourThe Irish Government found themselves in a delicate position when the civil rights activist and newly elected MP toured the US in 1969 02713
Reposted by Melissa BairdDocuments on Irish Foreign Policy @difp-ria.bsky.social · 02/12/2024DIFP XIV has arrived. You can buy it here: shop.ria.ie/products/doc... 141
Reposted by Melissa BairdDocuments on Irish Foreign Policy @difp-ria.bsky.social · 26/11/2024DIFP XIV (1969~1973) is arriving #imminent. 083