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Mike Tomlinson

@miketqub.bsky.social
600 followers 362 following 488 posts

Educator/learner who believes in sense and nonsense and the importance of how to distinguish between the two. 1 of 4 behind Anti-Poverty Strategy (2021, n. Ireland). 1 of 3 @Beyond the Pale Books. Also: belfastmedia.com/authors/prof-mike-…

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Reposted by Mike Tomlinson
Maria Farrell @mariafarrell.eurosky.social · 27/09/2026
I cannot ever forget how the marching bands refused to be silent, as requested, going past the house where the mother of those three murdered boys took refuge in the weeks after her unthinkable loss. A small detail that exposes everything this march is for.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
@thinkorswim.bsky.social Only one in 25 are employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing. "Yet the agricultural lobby continues to exercise an influence entirely disproportionate to the numbers involved, and to its actual contribution to the national economy."
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
What a waste: 'Fusion will probably only become part of the energy mix in the “very last decade of this century”, he adds. Scientists project that by then the planet will be in a state of climate collapse if current trends continue.'
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Ultra-processed food firms ‘hindering effort to tackle obesity crisis by suing countries’ (Guardian)
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Claire Mitchell, one of the 'happy lundies', today at Féile 1pm. "But I do know that, for me, participating in conversations about Irish unity has been a deep act of political and personal reconciliation."
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Something for an alternative Twelfth www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...
rte.ie
The Ghost Limb - RTÉ Radio 1
Northern Ireland Protestant author, Claire Mitchell, frustrated at having no place to call home, embarks on a historical and magical journey, to heal what she calls her Ghost Limb.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
"In a contemporary political wasteland dominated by billionaires, war criminals, mega-corporations, AI and arms salesmen, the greater happiness of ordinary folk barely computes." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The immorality of world leaders is contagious. Thank heavens for the pope | Simon Tisdall
In a political wasteland dominated by billionaires, war criminals and mega-corporations, the head of the Catholic church is a rare figure of moral leadership, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator...
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
"Ifac anticipates that the fines for not meeting our targets in 2030 would be paid in 2032 and that they will range from €6.8 billion to as high as €26 billion." (Ir Times front page)
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
If Data Centers Are So Great, Why Are They Being Built in Secret? www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘We’re up against forces that have all the money in the world’: Erin Brockovich on her battle against AI datacentres
In 1993, she squeezed a $333m settlement from a Californian energy company in a scandal over contaminated water. Three decades later, she has a new target in her sights – and it’s global
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Pat Leahy not impressed by Simon Harris's unity "blueprint" by November. Or any unity plan for that matter - it's just all "very hard".
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Barbados’s prime minister, Mia Mottley, has announced a new manifesto from Caribbean leaders asserting the “moral, ethical and legal case” for reparations over damage caused by hundreds of years of enslavement.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Some background on the Simon Harris pitch for unity: So far there is nothing to indicate whether the promised November document will lay out a long list of options, or set down the price that comes with the choices that those wanting unity will have to face.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Democracy 😬 "Of 10 fund managers asked by the FT in May which leading contender to replace Starmer would be worst for the UK government bond market, six picked Burnham."
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Reposted by Mike Tomlinson
Friends of Sinn Féin USA @fosfusa.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
The time to prepare for Irish Unity is now. Today Mary Lou McDonald is introducing a Bill in the Dáil that would begin structured and responsible planning for Irish Unity and constitutional change. The future of Ireland should be shaped democratically by the Irish People. 🇮🇪💚
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
"It is in Ireland that Revolut has had the greatest success in seizing market share from rivals old and new. Here it has 3.4mn customers, more than 80 per cent of the country’s adult population."
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
"The most recent survey evidence shows that many people are joining the march towards Irish unity. It is Prof Shirlow’s case for maintenance of the union that rests on an outdated picture." Mike Burke
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Geraldine Finucane: "I believe this inquiry can be a watershed moment in the difficult subject of legacy on this island."
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Academic lines up with those British military types arguing for a new naval base in Derry and RAF expansion at Aldergrove: "As geopolitics shifts, the argument that the place [N Ireland] has no strategic value is exposed"
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
“The conversation is now centre stage and more and more people are talking about constitutional change.” from Irish News double-page spread on Colin Harvey.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
"Parents see grammar schools as the solution to our education problems, when in reality grammar schools are part of the problem."
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
"This is a failure premium: the recurring surcharge that the Irish State pays because it never built the institutions to fix the underlying problems." Sinead O'Sullivan.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
"Delays, high capital costs and overruns mean new reactors such as Hinkley Point C will generate some of the most expensive electricity in the world when they finally come on stream."
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
O'Sullivan: Irish govt policy based on short-termism and is transfixed by the interests of foreign-owned multinational companies... the government will continue to fail in housing as long as there is no state institution that buys land and builds houses.
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Reposted by Mike Tomlinson
Mark Z. Jacobson @mzjacobson.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Amsterdam is the world's first capital city to ban public advertisements for both meat and fossil fuel products. "Since 1 May, adverts for burgers, petrol cars and airlines have been stripped from billboards, tram shelters, and metro stations." www.aol.com/amsterdam-ba...
aol.com
Amsterdam bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels - AOL
Local politicians say the move is in line with the Dutch capital's environmental targets.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
The pace and scale of Chinese freight electrification is eye-opening: 29 per cent of all new heavy trucks sold in China last year were fully electric. But Ireland is nowhere.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
EU sentiment poll indicated that "if a referendum were held today on a united Ireland in the EU, 59% in Ireland would vote in favour and 22% against, with 63% voting in favour in Northern Ireland and 29% against." (Irish News)
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
"the need for better coordination between statistical authorities [in Ireland N and S] to produce timely, comparable metrics, particularly for income, health, housing, poverty and education, so that future debates and policy decisions are grounded in robust evidence." muse.jhu.edu/pub/423/arti...
muse.jhu.edu
Project MUSE -- Verification required!
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Looks like an Taoiseach has been bitten by the small modular nuclear reactor bug.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
"When, in 2028, the retirement age rises to 67, the average person will be in poor health more than six years before they are due to stop work. The researchers state that the decline cannot be put down to the pandemic. Northern Ireland was excluded due to a lack of data." Guardian editorial
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
"Trump has a particular animosity towards wind farms."
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
"Israel’s mass detention of political prisoners lies at the heart of its system of control over Palestinians, and is modelled in part after the British military court system set up in 1937 under its Mandate of Palestine."
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Crimes against nature: Near-zero protections for the Mournes argues Chris Hazzard MP
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Proposed Ennis data centre will emit 700,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases – more carbon than 50,000 people would produce – every year. This one data centre will consume 21 per cent of the carbon budget for the electricity sector by 2030.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
The letter asks the EU to suspend Israel’s Association Agreement; ban trade with Israeli settlements; suspend arms transfers and Israeli engagement in EU programmes; penalise those who violate international law; and set human rights benchmarks for Israel’s future conduct, + more sanctions if needed.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
The Heritage Foundation's sweeping roadmap for rolling back a century of women’s rights and progress: Saving America by Saving the Family
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Reposted by Mike Tomlinson
Koreen Brennan @koreen.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
France passed a law requiring solar panels on every parking lot with more than 80 spaces. Equals 10 nuclear reactors Reduces heat island, shades cars The US -- 800 million parking spaces. Most of them are uncovered asphalt sitting in direct sunlight. Why aren't we doing this?
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Irish Times reporting 124 homeless people died in 2022. Why not comment on, or add in, the 54 homeless who died in n. Ireland that year (NISRA)? #think32
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
"fuel costs are revenues that leave the country and enrich petrostates, oligarchs and war criminals. While subsidies can relieve pressure in the short term, sustained high levels of fossil fuel subsidies inhibit renewable energy development and imperil government finances."
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Letter, Irish News: "Given the shifting economic and political landscape, it is increasingly important that both the UK and Irish governments begin structured discussions on setting out the terms for such a [unity] poll."
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Reposted by Mike Tomlinson
Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 13/04/2026
Many people resorting to eating leaves and animal feed to survive in North Darfur and South Kordofan states.
aljazeera.com
Millions in war-ravaged Sudan surviving on one meal a day, say NGOs
Many people resorting to eating leaves and animal feed to survive in North Darfur and South Kordofan states.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Una Mullally on soul rot. "It’s the feeling of disbelief, disappointment and even depression at the state of the world."
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Politics of Mother and Child scheme live on. "The medical profession, in league with the church, spent eight years opposing the proposals and eventually succeeded... our two-tier health system can be traced back to this period in Irish history."
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Trump's "15 point" plan
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
In 2023 the Irish republic was the fifth-highest user of oil in the EU27 and one of the lowest adopters of renewable energy.
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
"Meta and Google have been found liable for designing social media platforms to be addictive to children, in a landmark legal case that opens up the tech giants to penalties in thousands of similar claims filed around the US." FT
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Torture and Genocide: A Summary of the UN Special Rapporteur’s Report on Israel’s Systematic Use of Torture against Palestinians since 7 October 2023 law4palestine.org/torture-and-...
law4palestine.org
Genocide: The UN Report on Israel’s Systematic Use of Torture
Torture and Genocide: A Summary of the UN Special Rapporteur’s Report on Israel’s Systematic Use of Torture against Palestinians
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Trump/Netanyahu wars could push an additional 45 million people into acute hunger - The United Nations World Food Programme
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Fixing methane leaks is simple. Not fixing them is accelerating global warming. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Revealed: the world’s worst mega-leaks of methane driving global heating
Exclusive: Fixing a leak can be simple and equivalent to closing a coal power station, making lack of action maddening, say analysts
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Another internet is possible www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
theguardian.com
‘Another internet is possible’: Norway rails against ‘enshittification’
Absurdist video urges policymakers and users to resist deliberate deterioration of platforms and devices
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Mike Tomlinson @miketqub.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
HMRC suspended child benefit payments for 23,794 families last year in an anti-fraud crackdown. Some people in N Ireland had their benefits stripped after returning via Dublin airport, while others simply had their child benefit frozen because the Home Office had no record of their return to the UK
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