Sign in

iiinova is part of the Atmosphere — an open, public network where you own your identity.

Paul O'Donovan

@paulodonovan.eurosky.social
1.2K followers 1.7K following 241 posts

🇪🇺🇮🇪🇺🇦 Cork born, small country favourer, food scientist. Academic Secretary of University College Cork @ucc.ie Member of Senate, National University of Ireland Ex Welsh Gov; WDA; ADAS; MAFF. Views own. 📸Monumental Reckoning, Dana King, Golden Gate Park, SF

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Niall Ó Conghaile @nialloconghaile.bsky.social · 19/10/2026
Your timely reminder, the CH "deal" is severely underpriced as a (permanent) 1destination for the UK. This may not be exactly what some on Bluesky want, but it's important to understand what's happening and what needs to change. Let's have a look why? A 🧵
theguardian.com
UK could quickly re-enter EU with ‘Switzerland plus’ deal, senior MEP says
Bernd Lange, who was involved in Brexit talks, says deal could be negotiated within months of any decision to deepen ties
115724 57
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Aodh Q @aodhquinlivan.bsky.social · 21/10/2026
Excellent opinion piece by @eschonquinlivan.bsky.social in today's Irish Examiner about the current situation in France, linked to the presidential prospects of Marine Le Pen 🇨🇵. www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm... @ucc.ie @joh2024.bsky.social @jfcryan.bsky.social @irishexaminer.bsky.social
irishexaminer.com
Riots in France may end like Paris '68 — and Marine Le Pen could be the biggest winner
Jean-Luc Mélenchon wants students and workers to unite on the streets. But the ultimate beneficiary of such agitation could be the French right wing, writes Emmanuelle Schon-Quinlivan
043 4
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 21h
The first genuinely honest ad for generative AI I've ever seen, from Microsoft / CoPilot A mediocre white guy sees his non-white colleague getting praised for good work, he asks AI to *literally copy it*, and then he gets all the praise instead: www.ispot.tv/ad/SoDi/micr...
419134244455 13.4K
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Brexit Bin 🇪🇺 🇬🇧 🇩🇪 @brexitbin.bsky.social · 21h
$25 billion! 💥💥💥 This is one of the biggest fines in history — and it cuts to the core of the crooked Brexit ref! The case is about Facebook harvesting data from millions of users and selling it to Cambridge Analytica to generate targeted ads. Cambridge Analytica worked for the Leave camp and Trump.
cbsnews.com
Meta ordered to pay $25 billion to New Mexico for misleading consumers about data privacy
A jury found that the social media company had deceived consumers for years about its data privacy policies.
8304169 304
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 21h
NM: Facebook fined $25 billion. Court found it had spent years lying about how it handled Facebook user data. "The lies extend beyond Facebook's data practices as well," the judge said; they go to "the heart of Facebook's core business practices."
bbc.com
Meta fined $25bn for 'lies' over user data privacy
The fine is the largest to date against Facebook's owner, larger than an $18bn deal with California.
24118 41
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
NationCymru @nation.cymru · 20h
The fact that the central bank for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is named only for England is strange and part of the weird spaghetti of nomenclature which characterises the United Kingdom ✍️Desmond Clifford wp.me/p8Mk4U-1vBM
1104 10
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Cathal Malone @cathalmalone.bsky.social · 21/10/2026
Pick a random decision of the DOJ and you'll find an error like this. That's why there are so many Judicial Reviews - it's the only avenue to have these things examined independently. Big Jim has responded by making it significantly harder to take a Judicial Review. www.rte.ie/news/2026/10...
rte.ie
'Substantial hole' in defence of Gaza student visa denial
A judge hearing a judicial review of a Minister for Justice decision to deny a study visa to a student in Gaza has said there is "a substantial hole" in the case being put forward by the minister in d...
55725 57
Paul O'Donovan @paulodonovan.eurosky.social · 21/10/2026
Any mention of lagomorphs?
100 1
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Des Fitzgerald @desfitzgerald.bsky.social · 21/10/2026
Hey-ho, just making a grant application for my medical humanities project
Will you be using cats?
6363 36
Paul O'Donovan @paulodonovan.eurosky.social · 21/10/2026
Maybe they mean the film starring Dame Judie Dench?
100 1
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Mark Rees @reviewwales.bsky.social · 21/10/2026
16817 68
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Bryn Jones @bryn00.bsky.social · 21/10/2026
It is now the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, when a hill of coal waste slid on to the village of Aberfan in the Taf valley in South Wales, burying a section of Pantglas primary school. 116 children and 28 adults died. Let us remember the victims. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
Pantglas junior school on 21st October 1966, buried by coal slurry

Image source: Wikimedia Commons
1125 12
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
J @jaseomcn.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Fintan there, looking at you like he has you incapacitated in a shallow grave and he’s about to start shovelling
Irish Independent headline and photo shot from below of Fintan O’Toole in a tan coat against a leaden sky

'I wouldn't rule it out' - journalist Fintan O'Toole would 'seriously consider' run for president
1214919 149
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Drew but 10/5/26 Simple @drewphish.bsky.social · 19/10/2026
This is one of the greatest Onion headlines ever which is an almost impossible bar to clear but here we are. Amazing.
2307 30
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Liz Carolan @lizcarolan.com · 19/10/2026
I’ve a piece in @irishexaminer.bsky.social this morning about Ireland’s economic identity crisis www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
irishexaminer.com
Liz Carolan: Who was the Government AI conference actually for?
Our FDI strategy has become a pair of golden handcuffs — which was evident in the Government's deference to Big Tech
26023 60
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 18/10/2026
Apocalypse now outside my bedroom window. This is done for sheep.
2029679 296
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 18/10/2026
Seven paras. in: On Saturday, the 78-year-old French mayor said masked settlers yelled defamatory comments about France and kicked and hit him with iron bars as he joined Palestinian olive farmers in the West Bank alongside top French and Belgian representatives in Jerusalem and Polish diplomats.
12313 23
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
John F. Cryan @jfcryan.bsky.social · 17/10/2026
Did Jonathan Swift predict AI Nice piece by @claireconnolly.bsky.social in today’s Irish Times @uccresearch.bsky.social
1116 11
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Janne M. Korhonen @jmkorhonen.fi · 17/10/2026
Another decrepit environmental disaster in waiting. False flag, no insurance - so AFAIK boarding and stopping it would be perfectly legal. Why do we allow such ticking time bombs near our shores? Why?
2256 25
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 17/10/2026
Russia feeds on blood and suffering,&at some point just Ukraine’s suffering may not be enough for it. In Rivne region,two people were injured.An industrial facility was hit. Sumy:one person was killed and two injured in a Russian airstrike on a residential area. 📹Sumy
315849 158
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Kate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
Alice Weidel is saying that Zelenskyy “is not interested in peace,” and that in order to have peace in Ukraine, “we need to take Russia’s security interests into account.” She is a straight-out Russian asset. Note how Alice recoils and refuses to acknowledge that Russia rejects making peace
1671848558 1.8K
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
James Kelleher @jameskelleher.pilcrow.ie · 15/10/2026
Like I said, they want all the advantages of personhood, the only change here is they want none of the obligations of personhood
2143 14
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
George Monbiot explains why the UK should rejoin the EU, "There's a reason why Russia tried to intervene in the Brexit vote, they knew that it would harm the UK and the EU if we left" "They were very clear about that and boy have they been proved right"
461702542 1.7K
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Euan MacDonald @euanmacdonald.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
Night. A dimly lit street off the Grand-Place in Russian-occupied Brussels, 2035. Rain slicks the cobblestones. Brian stands by a wall pocked with bullet holes, a canister of red spray paint in hand, having just finished scrawling a slogan in Russian.
25211 52
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Save Our Bride Otters @saveourbrideotters.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Taking a case against the state is not cheap. We need as much help as we can get. If you can help it would be great. Here is a link to our Save Our Bride Otters GoFundMe - gofund.me/2fccc2e89
03823 38
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Elaine McGoff @elainemcgoff.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
This is a stark number: Uisce Eireann spent €65,730 for strategic communications advice ahead of 16 JOC sessions since 2021, circa 4k of public money per JOC session. While the CEO gets paid €391,953 and bonuses across the organisation of €17.84 million. www.thejournal.ie/uisce-eirean...
thejournal.ie
Uisce Éireann spend average of €4k on media training before every Oireachtas committee appearance
All its media training sessions since 2021 cost Uisce Éireann a combined total of €65,730.
52918 29
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Theresa O'Keefe 🍉 @treesaw.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
Ireland has been enjoying a period of unprecedented wealth and yet: "The harsh reality is that State funding per student is now over 30% lower in real terms than in 2008. This country ranks 36th out of 37 OECD countries for investment in higher education as a share of GDP". If not now, when?
033 3
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
RTÉ News @news.rte.ie · 14/10/2026
To mark the milestone, schoolchildren across Ireland are being invited to submit artwork for a giant Gulliver projection on the walls of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin www.rte.ie/news/2026/10...
rte.ie
Children invited to mark 300 years of Gulliver's Travels
Johnathon Swift's most famous work, Gulliver's Travels, will be turning 300 years old at the end of this month as the power of his writing is translating across to schoolchildren and scholars alike ev...
094 9
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Jen Taub @jentaub.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Still trying to understand how Napster got shut down, but Anthropic is going public and still hasn’t paid us authors yet after stealing our work.
16899552213 10K
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Jay Roszman @jayroszman.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
*chef’s kiss*
0122 12
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 14/10/2026
‘Desire is the great leveller in these pictures, and Wayne Thiebaud’s Boston cremes or pumpkin pie slices are like close-ups in the movies. They make us swoon.’ Paul Keegan on the painter. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Paul Keegan · Eat Me: Thiebaud’s Sweet Tooth
Desire is the great leveller in these pictures, and Wayne Thiebaud’s Boston cremes or pumpkin pie slices are like...
1102 10
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Dean Buckley @deanbuckley.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
James Lawless wanted €300m in the budget for "AI upskilling" and got €150m. Malcolm Byrne and Naoise Ó Cearúil chair the committee on AI as if they're lobbyists. Niamh Smyth put this shindig together and is so proud she called it "my AI summit". why is FF – even more than FG – so down bad for AI?
23714 37
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Dr Robert Bohan @robertbohan.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Actual Cancel Culture of a significant cultural figure [unlike where far right extremists engage in hate speech & are held accountable]. It’s extremism like this, & the disinterest of the current UK Labour govt in stopping the shift to the far right, that’s deeply worrying.
111259418 1.3K
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Nick Daly @nickdaly.eurosky.social · 14/10/2026
Genocide is bad, but objecting to genocide is much worse
23213 32
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Eoin Lettice @eoinlettice.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Extract from the Cork Examiner, 1938 where my great grandfather Christopher Lettice is nominated to represent Cork Vehicle Builders on the Cork Workers Council. Proud to carry on that tradition of solidarity today. #UptheWorkers
092 9
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
A great turnout and amazing public support for our strike action today at UCC! Strikers Abú!
0313 31
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Clíona Ó Gallchoir @clionaog.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
A new adaptation of Shaw's Pygmalion, set in Belfast's urban Gaeltacht. Opening Monday 19th in the Everyman in Cork. As Gaeilge but with English surtitles. Ná cáill é! Nationwide tour www.rte.ie/listen/clip/...
rte.ie
The story of Eliza Doolittle as Gaeilge
Director, Bríd Ní Gallchóir, and Eithne Carson, who plays the role of not Eliza Doolittle but 'Éilis', tell Oliver about the story of Eliza Doolittle as Gaeilge. You can find tickets for their show on...
173 7
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Kate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Just so you understand the scale of betrayal: first, our "partners" didn't warn Ukraine about the incoming ballistic missiles, so the air raid alert wasn't activated before impact, robbing people of their chance to survive. ​Then, Starlink was restricted to stop working at speeds above 100 mph.
9031741300 3.2K
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Adrian Weckler @adrianweckler.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Ireland's flagship AI summit opens with European Commissioner ducking questions from media about US live-streamed execution Henna Virkkunen (EU Commissioner, Tech Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy) walked out when asked about EU's approach to live-streamed executions
398 9
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Brendan Palmer @bapalmer.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Public service workers need a credible approach to pay from 2026 onwards that protects living standards. If you are an academic or researcher in an Irish HEI, this is your reminder to join #IFUT and add your voice to the thousands of colleagues on strike today members.ifut.ie/Membership-A...
members.ifut.ie
Membership Application
152 5
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
During the night, Russia launched yet another massive ballistic missile attack on Kyiv, in several waves. Three people were killed by the attack, 21 more injured. Energy infrastructure was targeted again, right as it's getting colder.
1117376 173
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Dr Mary McAuliffe @drmarymcauliffe.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Eh public sector workers are also members of the public …
49415 94
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Emma Rogan 🇵🇸 @emmadragon.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
“It is simply not acceptable to respond to a worsening road safety record by spreading responsibility so widely that it becomes almost impossible to establish who is accountable for anything.” #spéirghorm #RoadSafety #RSA
0136 13
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
University College Cork @ucc.ie · 13/10/2026
Professor JC Séamus Davis wins top international physics prize Prof. Davis was honoured by @iop.org for his exceptional achievements in experimental physics, including inventing advanced microscopic instruments.⁣
irishtimes.com
Cork scientist wins top international physics prize
Professor JC Séamus Davis honoured for pioneering work in quantum physics
052 5
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
timoconnorbl.bsky.social @timoconnorbl.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Thread. I think he’s right.
1208 20
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Jorge Liboreiro @jorgeliboreiro.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Donald Tusk: “Anyone who, for any reason — treason, stupidity, or money — wants to weaken Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression is clearly acting against their own nation, the security of their own state, and its sovereignty."
1419 41
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
timoconnorbl.bsky.social @timoconnorbl.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
From a lot of people, this would be bravado. From Budanov, it's a promise.
0338 33
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
FRANCE 24 @france24.com · 12/10/2026
🚗 Née en 1948, la mythique "#Deudeuche" fait son retour. Symbole de la liberté, elle renaît en version électrique. Sa commercialisation devrait être lancée dans deux ans
1197 19
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
ForeignGadger @foreigngadger.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Yes, remember the Tory "Friends of Russia" mob? Oligarcs shovelling money to Tory funds? That group have gone strangely quiet recently. 🤔
033 3
Reposted by Paul O'Donovan
Focal an lae @focal-an-lae.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Seasaim leis an Ucráin | I stand with Ukraine 🇺🇦🇮🇪 #focalanlae #gaeilge #irish #ireland
Instagram cross-post
063 6