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Mick

@mickmca32.bsky.social
319 followers 322 following 398 posts

Widowed father of three living in Co Armagh

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Reposted by Mick
Gavan Reilly @gavreilly.com · 06/10/2026
The previous signals were a €2,000 rise in the tax band and €200 increases on credits, which would have given proportionately more to those who don’t earn enough to benefit from the change in cutoffs
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Gavan Reilly @gavreilly.com · 06/10/2026
Last minute changes to the tax package for #Budget2027: the cutoff point for the higher tax rate now rises by €2,500 (more than expected), so those earning over €46,500 get €500 more per year. PAYE and Personal tax credits rise by €125 each. Full time worker on average wage takes home €750 more (1)
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Gavan Reilly @gavreilly.com · 05/10/2026
TONIGHT AT 10: • Pearse Doherty: Sinn Féin’s alternatives • Trade union chief Kevin Callinan: strikes coming? • Consumer writer Sinead Ryan: where the Budget helps and doesn’t Plus, a special panel on AI deepfake porn - Noeleen Blackwell, Eoghan Cleary and Ciara O’Brien on tackling a tsunami
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Friends of Sinn Féin USA @fosfusa.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Today is the 45th anniversary of the ending of the 1981 Hunger Strikes. Pat Sheehan MLA was on hunger strike for 55 days when it ended. He joins us for a conversation about the the Irish republican cause, from the H-Blocks to his work as an MLA. Watch now! youtu.be/gEaJR-_a_44
youtu.be
Pat Sheehan on the 45th Anniversary of the ending of the 1981 Hunger Strikes
YouTube video by Friends of Sinn Féin
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Friends of Sinn Féin USA @fosfusa.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"There are those who hope to drag us back to the days of Unionist superiority, of conflict and sectarianism. "This weekend shows we are not going back to 1998; we are moving forward." @c1aranquinn.bsky.social's latest Letter from Ireland friendsofsinnfein.com/garvaghy-road/
friendsofsinnfein.com
Garvaghy Road - Friends of Sinn Féin
There are those who hope to drag us back to the days of Unionist superiority, of conflict and sectarianism. This weekend shows we are not going back to 1998; we are moving forward. The British Secreta...
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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Beyond The Pale have uploaded this book - for free - Garvaghy: A Community Under Siege Published in 1999 and written by Garvaghy Road residents Powerful testimony www.beyondthepalebooks.com/shopnewbooks...
beyondthepalebooks.com
Garvaghy: A Community Under Siege — beyond the pale books – books on Irish society and politics
Published in 1999 and written by Garvaghy Road residents, this book presents a graphic description of life in a Catholic/nationalist area of Portadown under siege in the late 1990s. Forcing unwanted O...
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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
We’ve smoked them all out now lol
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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
One of my favourite things about the last few days, is stories from trade unionist, artist, environmentalist circles… when the letter started circulating, people realised they didn’t actually know who was a Prod. Cue hilarious conversations. Happily, that’s how many of us in the north live now.
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
An important thread from the brilliant @joannahs.bsky.social
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Gavin Jackson @gavinjackson.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I visited the Amazon rainforest a year ago ahead of the cop conference in Belem. Historically the only thing that has stopped deforestation has been electing Lula da Silva has Brazilian president. www.economist.com/the-americas...
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Irish Unity @irishunity.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The EU has a plan for industry. The UK doesn't. The interests of Northern Irish industry are best served by a United Ireland in the EU. www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...
heraldscotland.com
'The EU has a bold new plan for industry. Britain should be worried'
From electric cars to steel and clean technology, Europe's industrial revival could reshape trade and expose Britain's post-Brexit vulnerabilities
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Friends of Sinn Féin USA @fosfusa.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
"Irish America is clear that it wants to move beyond words & aspiration to Unity into action planning & preparation. I hope the President’s words will lead to renewed US focus on fully implementing our Agreements." @c1aranquinn.bsky.social Irish America Magazine friendsofsinnfein.com/irish-americ...
friendsofsinnfein.com
Irish Americans Want a United Ireland - Friends of Sinn Féin
Irish America is clear that it wants to move beyond words and the aspiration to Unity into action planning and preparation. I hope the President’s words will lead to renewed US focus on fully implemen...
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David Phinnemore @dphinnemore.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“when Burnham comes to appraise options for the EU relationship…he might find it hard to escape the conclusion that, for a country on the EU’s doorstep and highly dependent on it as a trade partner, the economic costs of non-membership are becoming ever harder to bear” ukandeu.ac.uk/made-in-euro...
ukandeu.ac.uk
'Made in Europe' casts a shadow over Burnham's EU gambit - UK in a changing Europe
Joël Reland argues that the EU’s increasingly protectionist regulatory model is likely to increase the economic costs of non-membership for the UK,...
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Cornish Skipper #FBPE #RejoinEU 🇪🇺🔶🌹💚💙 @cornishskipper.wsocial.eu · 05/10/2026
Absolutely not enough. Honda told parliament. Brexiters ignored them & put ideology & self-interest over country. Honda left. “tariff free access to the Single Market and Customs Union is vital to our competitiveness” data.parliament.uk/WrittenEvide...
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Broadly there is public and political support for the UK to return to the EU. This isn't however particularly deep, enough to start the process but probably not finish it
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Niall Ó Conghaile @nialloconghaile.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
As several senior European figures have commented, if you're serious, "Ask for a customs union". It is our sovereign choice to protect our future, just as Brexit was the UK's. We won't leave holes because of exceptionalism. #ExtrawurstGroßbritannien www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
UK car industry faces ‘difficult trade-off’ between Chinese and EU markets
Britain under pressure to put tariffs on cheap Chinese vehicle imports ahead of protectionist trade measures
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Jacobin @jacobinmag.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called snap elections, just days after the start of a mass protest movement over housing. The vote will force a reckoning over his government’s limited success in reducing the cost of living.
jacobin.com
Spain’s New Protest Movement Is Putting Class Center Stage
The occupation of Madrid’s Puerta del Sol by housing protesters has brought back memories of the anti-austerity revolt that began in 2011. But where the Indignados used generic populist language, this new movement has a clear left-wing focus on class.
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justin0neill.bsky.social @justin0neill.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A lawyer was murdered. Now an inquiry must expose MI5’s role www.declassifieduk.org/a-lawyer-was...
declassifieduk.org
A lawyer was murdered. Now an inquiry must expose MI5’s role
Pat Finucane was murdered in Belfast decades ago. Could an inquiry finally force British intelligence to come clean?
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 05/10/2026
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we got here.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 05/10/2026
The NYT is ok with extremist ideology as an anecdote in a profile—but highly allergic to any deeper examination of the ideology itself. No one gets to write an op-ed explaining any of this. That’s not allowed. But a billionaire can drop it in a quote as a passing comment.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 05/10/2026
It’s not just one billionaire. It’s a full-blown cult of billionaires who believe dictatorship should replace democracy—and that technology (crypto and AI) will make this inevitable. They say it loud. Some guy just wrote a book about it (That guy is me!) www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ne...
simonandschuster.com
The Nerd Reich
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “This transfixing debut from journalist Durán investigates the antidemocratic ideologies espoused by tech billionaires ...
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 05/10/2026
This is a very good story. Yet it's amazing to see the New York Times continually miss the forest for the trees.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 05/10/2026
“Democracy has been hailed as, like, the holy grail for the last couple hundred years, but democracies are inefficient,” said the crypto billionaire. “If you get a benevolent dictator, it’s actually extremely efficient." Hmm, where have I heard this before? www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/b...
nytimes.com
Inside a Billionaire’s Paradise With Crypto’s Most Powerful Ex-Convict (Gift Article)
Changpeng Zhao, jailed in the United States for a financial crime and pardoned by President Trump, is now living a gilded life in the United Arab Emirates.
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Alan Day (Kilsally) @kilsally.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Derry man who helped broker Apprentice Boys parade deals says Orange Order Drumcree stance ‘counterproductive and selfish’ – The Irish News
irishnews.com
Derry man who helped broker Apprentice Boys parade deals says Orange Order Drumcree stance ‘counterproductive and selfish’
Garvan O’Doherty says dropping demand for Garvaghy Road march would earn Order ‘genuine credibility’
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Louth For Ever 🦋 @louthforever.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It has been a week of tumult. Do yourself a favour and read this 👁️👁️
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Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Eamonn McCann is always razor sharp in his analysis of the North. Garvagh road is not a difference between ‘two communities’ that needs ‘both sides’ understood. It only benefits the DUP and hardline loyalists to force us to revisit a terrible time in the North. rebelnews.ie/2026/10/02/g...
rebelnews.ie
Garvaghy Road: There Are Not Two Sides - REBEL
The clashes in Portadown between Orange marchers and nationalist residents have widely…
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
NB the UK imposing tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles is probably not WTO compliant, but such is the problem for smaller countries of dealing with the major powers for whom that really isn't much of a concern.
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The reminder that UK action is never fully free outside of the EU, and that there is a perfectly reasonable argument to be made of having more influence inside than out... either way, UK politics has never come to terms with being a third country.
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Whether or not (or how much) raising tariffs on China's Electric Vehicles avoids Made in Europe barriers we wait to see - since the policy is still being discussed in Brussels. But this has been expected among the trade policy community for some time.
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Well, there we go again with the limits on UK trade policy imposed by the need to be nice to major partners. Reports that the UK will impose tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles, which will please both EU and US but not the UK consumer... www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
thetimes.com
Britain expected to impose tariffs on Chinese electric cars
Ministers are ready to match the EU’s 45 per cent levy to avoid pain of Made in Europe proposals
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Basically centrist European politics including in the UK has adopted a populist-lite / protective approach which can't be a solid basis for the UK rejoining the EU, or much success all round. Some new vision is required. There's an opportunity - just - for the UK...
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
On current trajectory the EU won't want the UK back or even much closer. Thus the challenge for Andy Burnham is not just building the domestic case, but also one that works across the EU. My considered response to that bit of the speech... ecipe.org/insights/uk-...
ecipe.org
UK Rejoin Requires a Bigger European Story
Rejoining the EU is formally back on the UK political map if not yet a government commitment. Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s speech offering the possibility responded to pressure within his party, but ...
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Kresten @kresten2.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
…they are on the table anyway (applicants don’t get opt outs). Of course the UK doesn’t even qualify for membership. Plenty of barriers. The sense of entitlement will be a difficult one to eradicate.
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Kresten @kresten2.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Without a UK referendum with a significant majority no one would trust the UK not to leave again at their next GE. MSs might also hold referendums in order to determine whether to allow the UK back or not. Any support for the UK will disappear when they start to talk about opt outs. Not that
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Agathe Demarais @agathedemarais.com · 05/10/2026
Most Europeans would support a UK return to the EU • French and Italian voters are least enthusiastic, but they still broadly approve of potential UK return • Potential UK referendum could complicate talks; EU officials would be wary of investing time in talks for nothing www.ft.com/content/3d43...
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Jacob Öberg @profjacob.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
🚨🚨A #climate nightmare lurks in the Atlantic. A slowdown of ocean currents that would disrupt life on the continent on an unthinkable scale. www.politico.eu/article/clim...
politico.eu
A climate nightmare lurks in the Atlantic. Europe is starting to pay attention.
A slowdown of ocean currents that would disrupt life on the continent on an unthinkable scale.
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
One could also add that claiming China's success is entirely about subsidies is also deeply offensive as well as being inaccurate, and ignores that productivity growth means mass manufacturing employment is mostly a thing of the past therefore not going to win elections against populists.
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Just a few problems here, basically this justifies US action against the EU's trade surplus with it, doesn't address EU lack of competitiveness against China globally, isn't supported by actual trade figures, and ignores inter-connected supply chains. Fear driven policy.
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Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
✍️ How diesel found itself at the heart of geopolitics. And why Donald Trump is taking a leaf out of Putin and Xi's playbook. A simple explainer edconway.substack.com/p/the-diesel...
edconway.substack.com
The Diesel Weapon
Why a rather unglamorous fuel is suddenly at the centre of a transatlantic power struggle, and why this matters for all of us
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Think that might apply to all of the US, EU, and China. Among other things we live in an age oddly uninterested in learning lessons of history, or even often even in considering that there is any worth knowing.
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Fascinating to read the history of the first US automotive giants according to @edconway.bsky.social Trade World and consider the lessons for today, which for me is whoever is winning today may not do so tomorrow, something that governments seem to have forgotten...
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Irish Unity @irishunity.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The UK jobs slump is now longer than it was during the global economic recession. Clearly, the UK is the problem. We must leave the UK. We must join a United Ireland in the EU. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
UK’s Job Slump Now Longer Than During Financial Crisis, PMI Says
Britain’s jobs market is stuck in its longest downturn since the early 2000s, according to a closely-watched survey, surpassing the decline during the financial crisis.
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Irish Unity @irishunity.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
irishtimes.com
When is the time to trigger a Border poll?
Irish unification stirs widespread debate but the decision for a vote on the matter falls to one person under the Belfast Agreement
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Irish Unity @irishunity.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
uk.news.yahoo.com/irish-unity-...
uk.news.yahoo.com
Irish unity referendum to be debated at Fermanagh and Omagh Council meeting
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council is being asked to write to the British Prime Minister and Secretary of State seeking clarity on when an Irish unity referendum would be held.
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Angry Donkey News @angrydonkeynews.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
When the morning drug cocktail wears out.. Trump’s pitch for the midterms: “Pretend I’m running, please. If we don’t win, they’ll end up impeaching me.” x.com/RpsAgainstTr...
x.com
Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) on X
Trump’s pitch for the midterms: “Pretend I’m running, please. If we don’t win, they’ll end up impeaching me.”
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Gavan Reilly @gavreilly.com · 30/09/2026
At worst, the version of the highly contentious events given by the FAI on Saturday has been contradicted today. At best, the FAI has proven itself to have profound trouble communicating its position, and its own account of events.
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Left Foot Forward @left-foot-forward.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
At the Green Party's conference, former Green MP @carolinelucas.bsky.social told LFF that the Greens need to take more credit for Burnham’s shift to the left on issues like Gaza, PR and Brexit
leftfootforward.org
Caroline Lucas interview: "A lot of policies that Andy Burnham has announced are due to Green pressure."
The former Green Party leader said the Greens need to take more credit for Burnham’s shift to the left on issues like Gaza, PR and Brexit
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Mick @mickmca32.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Not opposing it, just saying it’s a possibility
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David McCann @dmcbfs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The SDLP have taken a real punt by deselecting Justin McNulty. Fortune in politics sometimes favours the brave, so it might pay off. Interesting to see what McNulty does ahead of the election.
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Belfast Telegraph @belfasttelegraph.co.uk · 01/10/2026
The SDLP has deselected MLA Justin McNulty with Crossmaglen councillor Pete Byrne, who has been chosen to run in Newry and Armagh in next year’s Assembly election. Mr Byrne won the vote at a selection convention in Newry Golf Club on Thursday night.
belfasttelegraph.co.uk
SDLP deselects high-profile MLA Justin McNulty as Crossmaglen councillor chosen for Assembly bid
SDLP deselects Justin McNulty as Pete Byrne secures Newry and Armagh bid, sparking internal tensions and questions over the party’s Assembly strategy.
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