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Paul Sweeney

@sweeneyman.bsky.social
289 followers 108 following 1.6K posts

Author books on Irish economy inclu “The Celtic Tiger”; board member TASC the Irish progressive think tank; Former Chief Economist, Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Awarded honorary D Econ Sc. by UCD for his critical “contribution to Irish economic model.”

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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 10h
Inflation (CPI) up to 4.1% in Ireland in year. The driver is driven by Trump ie energy. It feeds into most other prices. Price rises (HICP) in EU listed below with Ireland a little lower than the CPI at 3.8% in yr to September. At highest in Lithuania at over 6% and lowest in Latvia at 2.9%.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
#Renaud the French singer had a great show with his guests in Paris tonight which I watched on France TV. I did not know him but what a great show. Nostalgic to his great fans but new to me!
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Good to see this happening. However, for 20 years as a European trade unionist I have argued for the establishment of a single European tax agency, Eurotax to oversee, curb tax avoidance and end tax evasion by large corporates which cos of course operate throughout the Union.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Yesterday‘s Irish budget demonstrates that this government which has been empower for a long time is lacking in direction. Yet the main opposition party, Sinn Fein has utterly right-wing tax policies -opposing the wholly inadequate, low taxes on Climate and on property.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Yes, tax is not a “burden” as many assert. Tax is a charge or a payment for a service which usually is best delivered collectively and benefits many.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
‘We don’t miss what we don’t have’: few regrets in Mayo over data centre refusal in Killala says the Irish Times without a link. The Irish planning board refused it because the company couldn’t say how it tied in with the Climate Action plan for Ireland. good news for Climate.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Is Russia’s Placement on the Security Council Legal? by Denys Shtilierman @projectsyndicate.bsky.social prosyn.org/MoHhgF2
prosyn.org
Is Russia’s Placement on the Security Council Legal?
Denys Shtilierman argues that the country's claim to the seat once held by the Soviet Union is a legal fiction.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
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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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The plague:- www.politico.eu/article/eu-v...
politico.eu
Suspected plague in Russia puts EU on alert
“We are aware of the reports concerning the laboratory incident in Russia, seemingly involving a pathogen-causing plague,” says European Commission spokesperson.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I see #Renault the French car 🚗 maker is making drones for warfare using its expertise to ramp up production
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Snap election in Spain -let’s hope Sanchez wins. The far right is rising eg Bolsonaro likely to win in Brazil while Nazis are rising in Germany and France posing a threat to the #EU’s future.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
US economy is booming, but Trump may lose: 9 of 10 Americans don’t want a #Datacentre in their town. Energy prices up-petrol up 40% in yr. mortgages @ 7%. Wage growth fallen after inflation. Trump supports data centres totally and AI unregulated. The wealthy own AI. Trump is killing the GOP!
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Reposted by Paul Sweeney
Pat Brady @workplacesols.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
‘More than 2 mn people are living in tents & temporary shelters in Gaza. An estimated 80% of structures, 200k buildings, have been damaged, with about 2/3 of those destroyed. The number of destroyed structures has increased by 9% since the ceasefire in Oct 2025. www.irishtimes.com/world/middle...
irishtimes.com
‘It’s off the charts’: Satellite images show how three years of war have devastated Gaza
UN says number of destroyed structures in Gaza up by 9% since ceasefire of October 2025, amid mass displacement and acute humanitarian need
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Reposted by Paul Sweeney
News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
BREAKING: White House “monitoring” a suspected outbreak of the plague in Russia. Five hospitals are reportedly under compulsory quarantine. Russian media reported an accident at a state biolab, which killed a lab worker. Pneumonic plague has a fatality rate of 100% unless treated within 24 hours.
axios.com
Scoop: White House monitors suspected plague outbreak in Russia
Administration is "aware, monitoring the outbreak, and assessing options," an official told Axios.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Let’s get rid of Trump and the fossil fuel industry and speed up the transition. I endured shocking torrential rain, flooding and thunder and lightning, as I crossed the border from Spain to France today & the rain is still bucketing down!
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
We must remember this murder, one of millions.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Cadeques is a lovely Spanish town but the endless endless car police patrols on the narrow streets all day and night are a type of harassment -not vigilance.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The cost of battery packs used in grid scale storage systems fell by almost 50% last year alone. The storage capacity of large scale batteries is 11 times greater than five years ago per IEA. CATL the Chinese battery manufacturer has driven down battery costs meaning solar/wind is v sustainable 
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Reposted by Paul Sweeney
POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 30/09/2026
A formal complaint says the European Commission is keeping data center energy and water use under wraps, breaching the public’s right to know. 🔗 www.politico.eu/article/eu-c...
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Waterford GAA clubs net €150,000 from Zuckerberg per Irish Times ( no link). Zuck is with Trump against AI regulation.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Big Tech executives are referring to AI as Superintelligence after Trump said he would sign an executive order rebranding AI. He met with them yesterday and they grovelled at his feet, grinning at every inanity he uttered. The good news: Republicans & Americans want regulation of AI. He does not!
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Never in US history of has investment as a percentage of GDP been so large. Much of it is funded by debt. It is risky. Will there be a collapse? Probably! With shuddering consequences throughout the US economy and indeed the world.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
#MartinWolf as an article on British productivity in today’s Financial Times. coincidentally, the Irish statistics office published this graph of Irish productivity which is as usual, remarkable
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Reposted by Paul Sweeney
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The amount of Amazon workers relying on SNAP and Medicaid has nearly tripled since 2020 — while Amazon’s annual profits soared by over 550%. It’s the same story everywhere: corporate profits are at record highs, while workers’ share of the economy is at a record low. We must unrig the system.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
You may not like #Starbucks, but it was one of the first companies that moved on climate change and sustainability. Today it has fired its sustainability staff and scrapped it Green goals -under pressure from Trump.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Threat of war! Europe on the edge! The threat is from Russia —an economy smaller than Italy’s 🇮🇹
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I hope Andy Burnham listens to #marianamazzucato ( who was on #Ch4News) at the Labour Party if he wants to pursue policies that are equitable and work.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
RTÉ News: Fuel protest group discuss cost-of-living at Midlands meeting which was addressed by Far Right politicians, FG, Aontu & SF. Interesting is SF participation in a right/wing but populist protest
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Trade unions sought and succeeded in getting inc. taxes reduced on low paid workers in Ireland during 22 yrs of Social partnership. #Davidmcwilliams raises an interesting point in w/e #Irishtimes on the interaction of this and immigration. Informed debate must replace platitudes, rhetoric, bigotry
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The Big Techbosses want to get rid of democracy. Replace it with a libertarian autocracy run by billionaires. A new book “Silicon Valley Fascism and the war on democracy: the Nerd Reich“where democracy is smashed. US will be ruled by a national CEO aka “dictator.” Peter Theil ?
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Daniel Ortego Nicaraguan dictator had awarded on then of his country to Chinese 🇨🇳 gold mining companies. Per FT “ the country is particularly attractive to some miners as ‘a completely totalitarian state’ that can restrict protests over pollution or labour rights”. It is a compliant partner!
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Then the world is in chaos: AI domination: Climate destruction; Trump’ narcissistic lunacy; Putin’s aggression; Netenyahoo’s genocide: bad governance in so many states; failing democracy. I hope we are on a cusp of positive change on all /some of these issues.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The country is on a state of crisis where a huge number of things are not done (eg coherent housing investment) or done badly. At top of all is a directionless government bereft of ambition or clear policy. Sadly, the opposition is poor too.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Bad corporate governance ( esp short termism) is collapsing capitalism: www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives...
ineteconomics.org
The U.S. battery maker that could, and the U.S. auto company that wouldn’t
General Motors once had the technology, talent, and partnership to lead the electric-vehicle revolution. Instead, it abandoned the EV1 and its battery venture while pouring billions into stock buyback...
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Good point - the 25,000 whinging subsidised truck drivers!
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
RTÉ News: Further fuel protests not ruled out, says Irish hauliers group ( no link) who didn’t say boo to Trump ( who caused this world inflation bubble with his attack on Iran) when in Ireland last week. An Anti democratic gang!
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The California teachers association CTA opposes the billionaire Tax because it claims it’s not sustainable (being a one-off tax): it prefers existing taxes eg higher income taxes. It won’t be spent on education: and billionaires may chose to leave Ca.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The one of taxes proposed by a trade Union SEIU – UHW estimates generate 100, billion. opponents are billionaires like Sergei Brin /Collison and governor Newson and the California Teachers Association (owns a huge pension fund) and strangely Equality California
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
What is the proposition 40 in California? It is a one time 5% tax on the wealth of people with more than $1bn. It includes property,art &stocks but excludes some retirement accounts. Only applies to a few of hundred billionaires. 90% of the revenue goes to make up for Trump’s cuts to Medicaid.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Quel surprise!!!!
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Reposted by Paul Sweeney
POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 21/09/2026
The Irish data privacy authority fined Google €403 million today over how it has been gathering location data from users.
politico.eu
Google hit with €403M privacy fine over handling of user location data
The tech giant infringed the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
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Reposted by Paul Sweeney
Mia Farrow @miafarrow.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
'I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too. I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more.' — Anne Frank
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Sounds like Ireland where data centres consume almost a quarter of all our national output of electricity and much water; employing few, too.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“Donald Trump presses Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop hitting Russian refineries”. That is today’s headline in the Financial Times. Yes it is possible that Trump is a Russian agent. The most corrupt President ever. As they constantly refrain in the US “ God save America“ and add “from Trump”.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The huge subsidies to the so called hospitality sector “is phenomenal” says the ceo of Popeyes UK a new junk food company opening in Ireland. Only 9% VAT compared to 20% in the UK 🇬🇧!
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
‘Berlin’s Mamdani’ could carry Left party to power in Berlin www.irishtimes.com/world/europe...
irishtimes.com
‘Berlin’s Mamdani’ could carry Left party to power in Berlin
Anti-capitalist Elif Eralp is hoping to become the German capital’s first mayor of Turkish origin
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
RTÉ News: Far-right AFP tops another German state election, Merz fights for survival - exit poll
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Revealing & Worrying to hear former NI Finance Minister Conor Murphy criticising the UK government for “underfunding NI”. Clearly SF believes the Republic would have to pony up a lot to fund NI in the (unlikely) event if unified. NI has a long way to go to become self sufficient - regrettably.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
She did great work for women and human rights.
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Paul Sweeney @sweeneyman.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Patrick Collison of #Stripe is the third largest donor ($22m) of the group of tech billionaires seeking to oppose the proposed billionaire tax in California. On the other side, six Nobel economists now back the one-time 5% levy on billionaires, saying it could kickstart a world Wealth Tax movement
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