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Paul Carroll

@paulcarroll15.bsky.social
1.1K followers 614 following 3.7K posts

Mostly Harmless. Personal views only. Employment lawyer and ever slower runner🏃, #SocDems Likes: good coffee and craft beer. Hates: the rise of fascism. Kildare, Ireland.

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Reposted by Paul Carroll
Bryan @elwick70.bsky.social · 2h
What Trump and Hegseth are saying is that one of the most powerful squadrons in the US Air Force, the most power air force in human history, has been scared off by 5 half wits in a transit van. Trump is turning you into a laughing stock, lads.
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shauna @goldengateblond.bsky.social · 16h
i especially love all the dopes saying “when the internet first went mainstream everyone hated it too” like it happened in the pioneer days so no one can dispute it, like mf’ers we were THERE
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Carol Ballantine @cballantine.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This is written to fly under the radar, from today’s Sunday Independent (Ireland). The press council upheld a complaint about an offensive and transphobic opinion column by Brenda Power. Sindo was required to publish the decision. @mams4transrights.bsky.social @jesalady.bsky.social
A half page article from the Sunday independent with the headline OMB2590 A woman and the Sunday independent.
The article outlines the complaint, the appeal and the decision. 
The complaint relates to an opinion column deploring the fact that an unnamed td provided a character reference for a man convicted of sexual violence against children. A sentence in the column argued that this case threw light on the possibility that a man would “identify as a woman” in order to commit sexual violence.
The press council concluded that “a reference to a protected group [trans people] in this context should have been extremely carefully scrutinised”. It found that the Sunday independent was in violation of principle 8 of the press council code of practice.
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Virgin Media News @virginmedianews.bsky.social · 18h
Gardaí investigating the death of Eve’s Sakila in Dublin in May have issued a fresh appeal for witnesses. The Congolese man died on Henry Street after being held on the ground by several men. Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have information about the incident to come forward. #VMNews
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Śéáń @fiercemilder.com · 04/10/2026
This post is doing numbers, but Sagan never said this, it's a made up quote. "Billionares" is the tell. They were not commented on in this manner at the time Sagan died in the 90s, and they weren't talking about going to space. Fake quotes are always a net loss to an argument. Don't do this.
Quote by the Codfather bluesky account, with pictures of Elon Musk and Carl Sagan, each with a quote attributed to them underneath.
Musk: "Mars is the ultimate lifeboat for human consciousness. Expanding our footprint across the stars in an absolute biological imperative to outlive the invevitable decay of earth"
Sagan: "Abandoning a dying planet instead of healing it is the ultimate hubris. Escaping to the stars is just a billionare's fantasy to avoid cleaning up the mess left behind"
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Daryl 𝘊𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘩𝘶𝘪𝘮𝘤í𝘯 🎃 Feehely @darylfeehely.com · 04/10/2026
Well done Jennifer Whitmore! Oireachtas Committee testimony created solely from AI should most definitely not be accepted as expert opinion. 📽️@jen_whitmore_td & @social-democrats.bsky.social on insta: www.instagram.com/reel/DeCetuV... #IrishPol
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I really wish the world’s most dangerous, extreme anti-vaccine activist & conspiracy theorist, RFK Jr, who is a eugenicist & a MAHA dude who repeatedly peddles vile lies, had not been put in charge of the US health system Here he is telling truly horrific, dangerous lies about HPV & COVID vaccines
RFK Jr saying that the HPV vaccine increases the risk of cervical cancer & the Covid vaccine increases the risk of Covid—these are 2 dangerous lies
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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Not beating the genocide allegations
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Joe Galvin @joegalvin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
We talk so often about the - as yet uncertain - productivity gains of AI. What is the productivity lost by a society where everything real is presumed fake, everyone honest is presumed dishonest, where we can no longer believe what we see and hear? www.ft.com/content/7e34...
ft.com
Students turn to lawyers to fight AI misconduct accusations
Legal cases rise as universities struggle with approach to technology
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Dan Thomas @itsdanthomas.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The most disappointing video you’ll see today.
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 02/10/2026
Great way to demonstrate the club isn't state owned and is a totally independent business, honest.
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The Conservative party Shadow Culture Secretary to speak at conference tomorrow about how to "defend press freedom", whilst her own party bans journalists whose coverage they don't like
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Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
“I think we all felt we have to go and stand with our friends.” - Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social
irishtimes.com
‘Everybody wants this to end’: Protestant group pushes UK government to end Drumcree standoff
Standoff entered sixth day on Friday as residents prepare to lodge fresh legal challenge on Monday
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kenofseattle @kenofseattle.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
🚨 Open letter from people of Protestant backgrounds concerning the Garvaghy Road 🚨 We feel compelled to speak publicly about what is happening in Portadown 🚨Over the past few hours we have collected over 140 signatures
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I've been a member of the lobby for well over a decade. Not a single one of my lobby colleagues has said a word about the Conservatives banning me from their conferences, without any explanation. Contrast with the US where even Fox News stood in solidarity when Trump banned news outlets he disliked
bylinetimes.com
Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives Block Byline Times From Conference After Condemning Reform for Journalist Ban
The ban comes just weeks after the Conservative leader called Reform's barring of critical journalists from their conference an "authoritarian" attack on the free press
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Legal C @legalclaret.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It’s mind boggling. A colloquialism that very much depends on the context. The “why” not remotely mind boggling. The “how” very much so.
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I Am Incorrigible @imincorrigible.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Simon Clarke MP was born on 28 September 1984. That's all you need to know. #r4today
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Patrick Dunleavy @patrickdunleavy.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
“We’re the only major country in the world losing visitation,” the head of the US Travel Association said. “It’s mind-boggling.” www.semafor.com/article/09/2...
semafor.com
Decline in tourism hits US economy
Overseas visitors to the US are on track to drop by almost two million year-on-year.
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
You may sneer at the term “Super Intelligence“ for AI, but many said “Information Super Highway” would never catch on.
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Martin Calladine @uglygame.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This isn't just wonderfully ridiculous, it suggests a pleasing degree of panic in an ownership group that's without any good options. www.theguardian.com/football/202...
theguardian.com
City sponsor Etihad Airways considering legal action against the Premier League
Manchester City’s main sponsor, Etihad Airways, is considering legal action against the Premier League after the verdict of the independent commission
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
NEW The diabolical defending of Manchester City Understanding an aggressive litigation strategy By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk (Prospect paywall is down currently.) www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th... #MCFC
What can explain such an aggressive and counterproductive approach? To an extent the answer may be in the facts and the evidence. Perhaps the view was that the only chance of getting out of this was to be unhelpful as well as robust. In respect of an earlier dispute with Uefa, an internal communication at the club apparently said “Uefa doesn't respond to anything other than aggression”. Maybe the view was taken that this would work here too. Maybe the club still thinks it will work in the end, with the league being pushed into settlement on appeal or at the doors of the High Court.

But this does not offer a total explanation. What may work with Uefa may not work with other adversaries. The structure of the league’s investigation and the disciplinary approach meant that aggression would not only be unhelpful, but would count heavily against the club. An appeal on the law or procedure at the High Court in this sort of case only has a remote chance of success. It can be assumed the club was warned of all this.

There is a phrase in football punditry that “the defending is diabolical”. Here diabolical is, of course, a synonym for dreadful. But in its more literal sense, diabolical means bedevilled with wrongful purpose. And the strategy adopted by Manchester City in contesting this matter is also in this sense diabolical. The club will have known that it was unlikely to work, and that it would make things harder, but the club decided to do it anyway.
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Of *course* the ‘AI boom’ will make us poorer. It’s a ‘boom’ created by tech bros for tech bros, and they’re pretty much the worst human beings on the planet. How could it possibly do anything else?
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 30/09/2026
I for one think it’s bad that the president can just say crazy stuff all day every day and 99% of it doesn’t make the news because we’ve normalized having an insane president
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Kemi Badenoch condemned Reform's ban on critical journalists covering their conference as "authoritarian", saying her own party would never do the same as "we believe in free speech. We believe in a free press." Now the Conservatives have banned Byline Times from their conference
bylinetimes.com
Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives Ban Byline Times From Conference After Condemning Reform for Journalist Ban
The ban comes just weeks after the Conservative leader called Reform's barring of critical journalists from their conference an "authoritarian" attack on the free press
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Saoirse Ní Chiaragáin @miseryvulture.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I know we all know this already, but it really does blow my mind every time I am reminded that these dudes don't understand the point of art.
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Richard Chambers @newschambers.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
My postman is after knocking on the door to ask me if I've seen the #StopTheGame open letter to Heimir Halgrimsson this morning. That's how news should be delivered.
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The White House accord on AI that was signed by all the big tech oligarchs today misspells United States as “Unites States.”
Document signed by Trump, Sundar Pichai
Google
Dario Amodei
Anthropic
Mark Zuckerberg
Meta

Greg Brockman
OpenAl

Elon Musk
XAI

Jensen Huang
nvidia “Unites States”
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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Data centres • Increase our electricity bills • Pollute our water • Increase unemployment via AI • Accelerate climate + eco collapse • Offer NOTHING to ordinary people in return Why is the Irish government pushing us headlong towards them? www.irishtimes.com/politics/oir...
irishtimes.com
New data centres designed for AI ‘require power in excess of that used by 100,000 homes’
Oireachtas committee hears projections suggest installations to account for about 35% of electricity demand by 2035
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Angry People in Local Newspapers @apiln.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is the proper use of a Freedom of Information request.
thestar.co.uk
This is how many times council has repainted ‘L’ on Pool Square street sign
Highways teams have attended Pool Square many times to repair the road sign due to a missing ‘L’
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Single Female Lawyer @singlefemalelawyer.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The way the elderly are targeted by scammers should be a national scandal
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Andy Scollick @andyscollick.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Security services have egg on their faces. No explosives. Just some cans of petrol. 🙄
news.sky.com
RAF Fairford latest: Intercepted vans had no improvised explosives, police say, but 'quantity of petrol' recovered
British counter terror police are giving an update on the major incident at RAF Fairford over the weekend. It comes amid growing questions about the incident, with various claims from senior US figure...
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Gillian Martin @gillmartin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
UK police can hold terrorism suspects for 14 days without charge. Had police any grounds to believe the men arrested outside RAF Fairford had even the slightest terrorism connection, they would not have been released. They'd still be behind bars. #fairford
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Paul Garrard @paulgarrard.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I hope Javier Bardem has an alibi. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Rubio says foreign actor was ‘clearly’ behind suspected RAF Fairford bomb plot
The US secretary of state offered no evidence for his claims, and also said many people were ‘disturbed’ that the five suspects had been released on bail
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Paul Carroll @paulcarroll15.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The British media are manfully sticking to the "bomb plot" script without actually asking "so, where's this bomb then?"
theguardian.com
Rubio says foreign actor was ‘clearly’ behind suspected RAF Fairford bomb plot
The US secretary of state offered no evidence for his claims, and also said many people were ‘disturbed’ that the five suspects had been released on bail
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 28/09/2026
The degradation of British politics has either made Suella Braverman – a former *attorney general* – this stupid and irresponsible, or else entirely indifferent to appearing as such to those who know the law if it gets her applause from her online fan base.
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 28/09/2026
Releasing the five people arrested by the airbase on bail after 24 hours is so weird, would be fantastic if it turns out they were just up to no good on an unrelated minor jape and accidentally created an international security story.
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timoconnorbl.bsky.social @timoconnorbl.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is why holding the line on the correct meaning of “fulsome” is important.
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Sarah Kay @k-interarma.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Children being burned in their home is not a “quaint heritage event”. It’s sustained and repeated collective trauma.
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Paul Carroll @paulcarroll15.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Very strong words by the Taoiseach about an independent commission, but undoubtedly correct.
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Paul Carroll @paulcarroll15.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I regularly despair of the Guardian. Trump isn’t "redefining norms". he's blatantly breaking them in an utterly unacceptable way.
theguardian.com
Bad language: profane Trump brings presidential swearing out into open
President has let rip with swearwords in recent months, redefining norms about acceptable language in public office
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Sinéad Gibney @sineadgibney.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
We cannot go back. The march on Garvaghy Road must not proceed. For 30 years, there has been peace. Garvaghy Road residents have worked to build cross-community relations. What we are witnessing is a back step and a devastating one.
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Conor @ernekid.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The Secretary of State of Northern Ireland is such a completely pointless position. Every few months they are appoint some random English politician who knows the square root of fuck all about Northern Ireland. They go to NI maybe a handful of times for photo ops and they then get a new job
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Adrian de la Touche @anoraky.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
90 years ago today the people of Leeds drove the fascists out of our city. It’s more important now than ever that we keep it that way.
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Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
‘The FAI hoped to wing their way through this fortnight but today collided with its brutal reality. The fallout is only beginning. Irish football has once again shown the world the importance of leadership by its unforgivable absence.’ - Gavin Cooney @gcooney93.bsky.social
irishtimes.com
Ireland v Israel: Day of infamy exposes serious lack of leadership in FAI
Gavin Bazunu has been left brutally isolated as any semblance of squad unity has been utterly sundered
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Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
🧵 Read Gav’s short thread. If what Brian Kerr says is accurate, and it rings true, we are into a new and worse phase.
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Alan Dunne @aldunne.eurosky.social · 26/09/2026
BABY DON'T HURT ME DON'T HURT ME NO MORE
steeple of the church at Dublin Airport with large lettering on the side reading GOD IS LOVE
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Dermot Casey @dermotcasey.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Did someone just ask “ how do you compare Ireland playing a country before it committed a genocide to Ireland playing a country while it’s engaging in a genocide”
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Paul Carroll @paulcarroll15.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This is not a particularly gripping article but really comes to life in the last four paragraphs. It tells a story I didn't know, about FAI/Ireland, and it's frankly a bit sickening.
irishexaminer.com
Jack Anderson: The FAI’s decision to play Israel raises questions that go far beyond football
The FAI’s decision to fulfil its Israel fixtures has financial and sporting consequences, but Anderson questions how those risks were assessed
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