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Simon McGarr

@tupped.bsky.social
7.1K followers 1.4K following 11K posts

Solicitor, consultant, artist, writes TheGist.ie newsletter. Visiting Lecturer. Law Society External Examiner in Data Protection law.

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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 1h
I salute your Apollonian local beachgoers, and thank you for your helpful suggestion.
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Sarah Manvel @cairdiul.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
I have been on an incalculable number of first dates with men who got mean, nasty and occasionally physical once they realised that I like and value myself and won't tolerate bad behaviour, most especially from the jump. They won't even fake being nice to me long enough to get laid
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 1h
This reads as all the way to mental illness to me. If a fella is meeting someone socially, this fella should have- at a minimum- enough self control to remain polite and just demonstrate basic manners.
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Aoife Martin @lockdownbookclub.bsky.social · 2h
@cethanleahy.com you are now an artifact in the Museum of Twitter.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 1h
I am unclear as to where this average is derived. Also, I am unclear as to whether Sean Connery is in this picture, due to difficulties recognising faces.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 2h
I hath rose and ground. - Elizabethan Groundskeepers
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rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 10h
a little louder for the cheap seats in the back
One of the biggest myths is that men rape by mistake. Like, "Oh, they need consent training." But research is very clear: Sexual violence is not a mistake. It is an intentionally made decision by people who know they don't have consent. They just don't prioritize consent over things like status, power, domination, and sexual gratification.
For my research, I got a certificate of confidentiality from the National Institutes of Health, so my notes couldn't be subpoenaed. One of the reasons I call them perpetrators in my work is because every single person I interviewed confessed in that context. The first question I would ask them was, "When you received that email from Title IX that you were under investigation, did you know what it was about?" Every perpetrator I interviewed said "yes." If sexual assault were a miscommunication, you would be wondering, What have I possibly done wrong? That is not the way that any of them reacted because they knew.
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Beddy @lancecalhoon.bsky.social · 2h
When the podcast pivots to video, and no one looks like how you’ve imagined all these years
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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 05/10/2026
Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaase tell me that all those "you should need a government ID to access the internet" people are rethinking this position now. [We know they aren't. Ed.]
The first two paragraphs of the linked-to story:

"Denmark has suffered a major data breach that has given unauthorised individuals access to names, addresses and personal identification numbers belonging to about 8.8 million people registered in the country’s central population database.

"The breach occurred after unidentified individuals misused a private Danish company’s legitimate access to search the Central Person Register (CPR), the government said in a statement Monday."
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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 16h
“If the wife is fit, you must acquit”
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IrishCycle.com @irishcycle.com · 12h
Budget 2027: Active travel funding still frozen at 2020 level effectively means it's a 29% cut irishcycle.com/2026/10/06/b...
irishcycle.com
Budget 2027: Active travel funding still frozen at 2020 level effectively means it’s a 29% cut
— Government says it “remains committed to supporting active travel”.– Active travel funding includes safe routes to schools and greenways. Budget 2027’s active travel…
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 19h
Checking in on the budget. Wondering which voters’ needs are being prioritised.
THE IRISH TIMES
• Reductions in tax for middle-income earners will be worth up to €1,500 for a couple with a combined income of €100,000
• Minimum wage set to rise 79 cent to €14.94
• Tax-free threshold for earnings under the rent-a-room relief will rise to
€16,000
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 19h
Checking in on the budget. Wondering which voters’ needs are being prioritised.
THE IRISH TIMES
• Reductions in tax for middle-income earners will be worth up to €1,500 for a couple with a combined income of €100,000
• Minimum wage set to rise 79 cent to €14.94
• Tax-free threshold for earnings under the rent-a-room relief will rise to
€16,000
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 19h
This is good info, but also still the wrong idea.
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Gilamasan @gilamasan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The bill has been opened to feedback. Rather than dooming about the proposal, you can tell them exactly how you feel about the act here. ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet... With how much of an uphill battle Chat Control is having, you should never assume it's worthless to fight these draconian bills.
ec.europa.eu
European Commission - Have your say
European Commission - Have your say
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John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 23h
Taking solace in the new George Smiley casting with the idea that maybe one day I, a similarly tubby and unprepossessing character, might one day be played by the handsome and urbane Matthew Macfadyen.
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Tactical Onions Vendor @inkana.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Gavin Newsom after vetoing another anti-discrimination bill
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
There could be merit in the idea, I think. The real problem with the idea is illustrated by drawing up the list of likely recipients if it had been in place for the last 40 years.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
It hasn’t been around for a while, but there used to be a regular opinion column spasm about Ireland creating an honours system, so we could hand out OBEs or the French honours equivalents. We do have a kind of honours system at the moment , but only for artists, in Aosdána.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Otherwise, Liz Truss goes around demanding to be called Prime Minister. You see what a bad idea this is?
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
That is a personal title, derived from your inherent talents.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Honourifics derived from a job should stop being used after the person leaves or retires from the job. George W Bush is not “Mr President”. If a Judge retires, I don’t think they should continue to be addressed as “Judge Dinksbumps” or whatever. The titles belong to the job, not the person.
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Dr Neutopia @oceanclub.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
A mystery why Draghi is pushing a billionaire techbro agenda.
Europe is weak’: Patrick Collison and Mario Draghi team up with new think tank
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Alberto Alemanno @alemanno.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Today I challenge the Draghi Consensus in the @financialtimes.com “Faster uptake of AI is not an economic strategy if the benefits concentrate while its costs fall on workers and communities” www.ft.com/content/40cc...
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Gail Simone @gailsimone.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Post Harry Potter art, I'm blocking you without hesitation. I don't care what the excuse is, don't support monsters.
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Daniel Kennedy @fliglman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIh0...
youtube.com
RTE Ad - Bonzo the dog kills some Sheep. (1984)
YouTube video by micksul67
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Unfrozen Caveman Librarian @latefiennes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Original Tweet: “I like Hole better than Nirvana”

Quote Tweet: “me leaving the monastery”
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the samsara enjoyer @rubot.ie · 05/10/2026
hearing reports so-called pollution haters breathed polluted air this week.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
P-Space
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Lisa Carey @msleedy.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Genuinely concerned about what's happening to the space-time continuum in this toilet.
A toilet door with a sign saying "Temporally Out Of Order"
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I had that one. It was one of my favourites. I clearly was immune to trolling.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It was the sudden colour reveal of the Portrait of Dorian Grey at the end of the otherwise B&W film. RTÉ probably had it on some sleepy Sunday afternoon.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This only makes sense if you never have anyone visit you.
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Miss Riss @missriss.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This music video youtu.be/JecjgVn1DlU?...
youtu.be
Genesis - Land Of Confusion (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by KIM WILDE & 80s
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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I’d say there were more than a few Protestant atheists 😂 Lots of feeling torn between using your privilege to challenge the narrative, and feeling weird about the label.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I have never lived in a house with a dishwasher. But when staying in a house with one, they have seemed an excellent way to tidy away dirty dishes where you can’t see them. Like a sort of clammy cupboard for grimy delf. Do you keep your eggy pans in the wet cabinet, I wonder.
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CarolC @carolconnolly.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The person Jennifer Whitmore is questioning is Paul Savage who is the CEO of dogs.ie , a dog selling website. Of course he is. #spéirghorm
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Beneath the streets, a beach. Even Talbot street.
A gateway made of wooden slats and with a Discover Talbot written above it.

Through the frame of the doorway, the sun is shining and Talbot street has giant daisies and a woman acrobatically dancing with coloured silk scarves.
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BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The parish newsletter should have 1990s clip art as nature intended
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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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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Lotta cowboy action in this book you claim isn’t a Western.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
An interesting exchange on how to react to Slop-as-evidence at the Oireachtas. Oireachtas committees hear from people with all sorts of views, and by definition, many of them diverge from each other. But they are actually their views. The people who come in expressed them.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
“Phew, that was close. Who brought the Saint’s Bones? We should send them on.” “Whattayamean? You’re the Bones guy.” “No, I’m the Bones guy on Tuesdays. It’s Friday.” “…” “…” “On Fridays, aren’t you the Messaging HQ guy?”
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Dan Coyote @dantecoyote.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
It is interesting that an act of terrorism is classed as 'local news'. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Man jailed for 15 years over Sidcup Ulez camera blast
Kevin Rees, 63, faces a tougher sentence because the offence had a "terrorism connection".
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Flecks of gold are everywhere if we just look for them.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I have said that of all the parties, SF is the one whose internal thinking and impulses are most opaque to me. Though I have a general aversion to reading books by political actors this might be an exception (just for me).
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Reconstructionist @unavaleable.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
kinda crazy how this stupid fucking video predicted so much, and it's from 2010
youtube.com
Dance Paul Rudd, Dance | Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! | adult swim
YouTube video by Adult Swim
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Darach Ó Séaghdha @darach.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
One of the many reasons that ChatGPT is so terrible is that it pulls content off Quora in preparing its responses. Thirsty work!
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Aubrey Robinson @aubreyr.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
www.bunniesontrampolines.com/deference-di... Some musings from me on Dublin as the enforcer of Big Tech regulation.
bunniesontrampolines.com
Deference, Diffidence, and Data
“Deference and diffidence… led to insufficient decisive action or even clear and pointed warnings.” – Patrick Honohan, 2010  “It was a period where I bought into a system of regulation that didn't wo...
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Oh wow, this reminds me of that time I nearly took gold at the Olympics 100m sprint.
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