Turlough Downes

I don't know that there is a template or a "secret sauce" or a clear-cut lesson to take from this. But if there is one it's the idea of treating social media as the hostile territory that it is, of actually acting like you are a participant in propaganda warfare and not like a consumer.

This year’s Irish Hallowe’en turnip, and a handful of those of from years past (they don’t always make it, if they rot before dessicating) #Hallowe’en #Samhain

While Ireland is at risk from the impending bursting of the AI bubble, it has not benefitted much from AI's growth. The investment happening here is producing little that can be taxed, and few jobs. It's virtually all cost and no benefit to us as a country. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

"excessive public sector pay awards in the early years of this century played a central role in triggering the 2008 financial crash." Wow. Well Stephen Collins mustn't have learned about the causes of the 2008 financial crash and its particular impact in Ireland www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

The businesses have yet to find a killer app, to use a dated phrase, for AI (meaning LLMs). They've found some uses which save a bit of time, but not for anything mission critical, and certainly nothing like the uses that could possibly justify the vendor investment already baked in. #AISUMMITIE

Some folks come dangerously close to conflating opposition to genocide with anti-Semitism. That seems like a very dangerous thing to do, and seems likely to encourage anti-Semitism across the world. I hope it continues to be ineffective. www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

It's hard to find any rationale for not giving pay awards, at minimum, in line with inflation. It doesn't increase the share of gdp going on public expenditure, and it isn't a pay rise. Making that a stumbling block for negotiations is bizarre.

So it's hard to know whether this lad used "the south" or "southerners" to refer to Ireland and Irish people but if he did then boy has he some learning to do. As for relying on seventies investigations, as he suggests, that seems nuts. www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

September round-up! All from the latest edition of "Irish Grid Monthly" -- arrives in subscribers' inboxes on the 1st of every month 📥 First: generation and imports vs. electricity demand, and where it happened ⚡ 📍 TL;DR: renewables + storage > fossil fuels 🍃 🏭 bsky.app/profile/gree...

Renewable generation and discharging storage equalled 72% of yesterday's electricity demand, with a peak of 82% at 05:15. Fossil fuel generation (mostly gas) equalled 26% of demand. 5% of generation was exported, 7% of demand was met by imports.

This is a completely UK-informed take (and has some validity in that context). Ireland, for example, is at a different point in its economic cycle, hasn't elected any far right govts, and is better educated. Ireland has different problems with its 3rd level education. Let's talk about those.

Existing FTC and CPA rules out to apply. If you bought a new TV and it crashed your microwave, you'd have recourse against the TV manufacturer. These products aren't rogue, they're faulty.

European gas is above €82/MWh - the highest since late 2022. Hormuz remains largely shut and gas storage is at 68% going into winter. None of this started in Europe but we pay for it. The only exit is using less gas. Heat pumps, electrified industry, insulation.

A former Taoiseach said (paraphrasing) that when it comes to Ireland the British aren't malign, but rather they are idiots. Whatever you think of that, it's a useful lens through which to view tech companies. Many, including some of the wealthiest, are not as smart as they may seem. 👇

"The report found that the Government should consider the feasibility of a new scheme to reduce prices for large energy intensive business users." Logic suggests the opposite: we're having difficulty developing our grid infrastructure so we need to discourage big users. www.rte.ie/news/busines...

Ah the UK failing to abide by its own agreements yet again. It is just not a trustworthy state. www.rte.ie/news/

Renewable generation and discharging storage equalled 23% of yesterday's electricity demand, with a peak of 41% at 11:45. Fossil fuel generation (mostly gas) equalled 57% of demand. 0% of generation was exported, 20% of demand was met by imports.

Time for a little round-up of our July reporting... 🧵 First, the basics: how much of electricity demand each source (wind, solar, gas, etc.) meet? 🍃 ☀️ 🌊 🗻 🔋 🏭️ 🔥 bsky.app/profile/gree...

Well, yes. What other assessment approach makes sense, apart from in-person invigilated exams? We need a serious hiring drive throughout education for this - probably mostly focused on the humanities. AI products can be let pay their way through tax for this. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

But of course they are. If the bans were going to be effective it is likely the social media companies would be fighting them much harder.

Renewable generation and discharging storage equalled 60% of yesterday's electricity demand, with a peak of 72% at 09:45. Fossil fuel generation (mostly gas) equalled 30% of demand. 1% of generation was exported, 11% of demand was met by imports.

Maigh Eo abú. An foireann is fearr inniu, gan amhras #KerMay

Lovely thread. And as for What We Owe The Future ... please. That stuff fails even the most basic tests.

Well that was hilariously bad 😅

Well, it's fair to say that (much to my amazement) the Dubs were the better team on the pitch today. I didn't think they had that kind of performance in them yet! Poor officiating, and some poor shooting denied us. Still. Sin mar atá sé. Anois. Up Mayo!! #GAA

as genai proliferates, it has become difficult to avoid it. at @aial.ie, we're compiling a list of genai-free tools, libraries & websites to support research across tasks;grammar/spell check, coding/code review, data analysis (esp large scale text classification) & graphing/data visualisation recs?

Ireland enjoyed clear, sunny skies on Sunday for the summer solstice ☀️ On the grid, winds and imports were low. This resulted in relatively little congestion, allowing solar farms handle over 30% of the island's electricity needs for a solid six hours straight -- a first on the Irish grid ☘️ 📊

underfunded there was no alternative (Nightjet used to run Paris-Berlin but got cancelled). Without the sleeper the rest of the trip is impossible. I still needed to be in Warsaw for a conference so what were my options? Well at least @eurostarnews.bsky.social consider their passengers, I'll take 2/

Wow

Renewable generation and discharging storage equalled 65% of yesterday's electricity demand, with a peak of 81% at 14:45. Fossil fuel generation (mostly gas) equalled 31% of demand. 2% of generation was exported, 4% of demand was met by imports.

If Cuan did recommend something "similar to the UK" then that's appalling. Ireland is not the UK: we have a very much more educated, and less disadvantaged, population. VPNs will be widely used to circumvent this - regulate the companies, not the people. click.comms.irishtimes.com?qs=ABB7InYiO...

Jaysus. I'm not much of a soccer fan, but that was a hell of a 2nd half. Nice one Ireland #COYGIG

@researchireland.ie is continuing a path laid down by the old (and old-fashioned) SFI in failing to work to build a national research ecosystem. Their strategy is something one might expect from a sectoral agency, not a national one. And that's been noticed www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...

“Drawing borders on a map might make a fellow feel powerful and important. But to become a big important Empire fellow, you have to accept borders drawn all around inside your head too.” www.thegist.ie/the-gist-tra...

Great piece on the gullibility of the Irish state on AI.

This ... is not true. Not really. Though it does require making a series of decisions that don't fit with most TD's world view.

Wow. The UK has really gone to a very dark place indeed. Ireland needs to develop a strategy for managing a potentially very hostile neighbour (again).

Seems like perhaps the "wage-price" spiral is more often a "price-wage" spiral.

Interesting that the @irishtimes.com have given such top billing to the minutiae of the political shenanigans going on in the UK. They don't seem to want to give such profile to what's going on in Germany, or France, when the latter two are so important to Ireland's interests.

It would be just so good if the Irish State (including, obviously, the politicians) began to *actually* plan for a united Ireland. The Shared Island effort is great, and it has little to do with a united (or otherwise) Ireland. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

This is sort of a necessary response to the price hikes by corporates over the past two years - the price-wage spiral in full flow. www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

Are you a speaker of Irish English? If so, would you share your thoughts on “only” with me for academic research? umfragen.tu-dortmund.de/index.php/42... Thank you very much!!!!🙏🙏🙏

Ah yes - let's steal some impetus from actually doing something ambitious with renewables by drawing focus onto unproven technology (SMRs) which also requires around a decade in regulatory development before anyone can even put out a tender. Brilliant. www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

Time to get an EV, if you can: #spéirgorm Further fuel protests expected before the autumn Budget, spokesmen say www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...

For so long Ireland has forgotten that the main reason for boosting GDP is to tax it and use the money to build quality of life. We forgot because, in the eighties and early nineties, things got *so* bad. By the 2000s we should haved moved on from that www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...