How 800 years of history ends: Howth Castle stands empty after it was sold for redevelopment and the auction of its contents and library concluded this week
Room stand quiet and empty...
The library is going out the door in boxes to buyers as far away as Canada and Hong Kong...
The upstairs rooms are desolate...
You can see where the carpets have been taken up and the pictures removed from the walls....
The gilded room that was once, incongruously, painted by IRA chief of staff Cathal Goulding is largely packed up.
He was of the opinion that such places were common heritage that should be preserved...
The gilded room that was once, incongruously, painted by IRA chief of staff Cathal Goulding is largely packed up.
He was of the opinion that such places were common heritage that should be preserved...
Some views remain frozen in time...
One-time visitor to the castle Irish satirist Jonathan Swift still looks down on the dining room...
And in observance of a curse made in the 16th century by pirate queen Granuaile, after she was refused hospitality, a place remains laid for the uninvited guest.
The local debate over how to feel about the sale of the castle and contents is fascinating.
Other old families who did pass their estates on to the state are quite disapproving of the affair...

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More from @NaomiOhReally

20 Sep
I had a fascinating chat with @PaoloGentiloni who is heading to Dublin today for talks with Paschal Donohoe and others on issues including the push for a global deal to set a minimum 15% corporation tax rate irishtimes.com/business/econo…
Gentiloni is a former Italian prime minister who is now the European Commission's economy chief. The experience of the Italian economy, which pretty much hasn't grown since joining the euro, is particularly interesting when it comes to discussions about the EU's fiscal rules.
A popular Brussels catchphrase at the moment is that the EU 'learned the lessons of the past' in its economic response to the Covid-19 crisis, compared to the policy reaction to the last great recession and Eurozone debt crisis that followed it.
Read 18 tweets
15 Sep
In her 2nd annual State of the Union address @vonderleyen is pitching that having asked so much of the young, it's time to build a future for them: carrying through climate action and renewing the economy. To copy the new generation in being 'grounded in values, bold in action'
Proposals so far:
- donate more vaccines globally
- reestablish European dominance in semiconductor manufacturing (there's a shortage and they're needed in all digital products)
- climate: time is up, implementation of commitments now
- companies rely on state spending in education, infrastructure, & must pay their fair share (watch out Ireland)
- political will is the biggest block to defence cooperation. But EU should at least pool intelligence and cyber defences (to cripple state 'all you need is a laptop')
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13 Sep
The case of Graham Dwyer gets underway at the European Court of Justice.
Ireland's Supreme Court has asked for a clarification on EU data retention law after Dwyer's team appealed against a murder conviction by taking issue with police retention and use of mobile phone data
Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, France, Cyprus, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Finland and Sweden are all making submissions as they are all interested in the consequences for law enforcement of the outcome.
Two German telecom companies previously challenged requirements to retain data and provide it to law enforcement. Germany appealed and asked for ECJ clarification. It concerns the same directive and regulation so the court is hearing everything together with the Dwyer case.
Read 46 tweets
15 Jul
Dramatic scenes of flooding around Europe have underscored the stakes as the EU launches plans to tackle climate change; trending under #hochwasser #inondations #overstroming
Water bursts through a drain in the Belgian town of Spa: photo François Walschaerts/AFP Image
A caravan is carried away in Rech, Germany #hochwasser #inondations #overstroming
Emergency responders struggle against the force of the floods in the district of Aachen
Read 18 tweets
5 Jul
165 people have so far tested positive for Covid-19 in the Netherlands after a single disco that had 650 guests.
All had had to show proof of a negative test or vaccination to get in (though there are reportedly multiple loopholes, such as sharing screenshots).
"Everyone in front of and behind me in the queue for tests had been to Aspen Valley," Tim, 20, told a local newspaper saying that 9 of his 18 friends who were at the nightclub had since tested positive. "It's one big drama."
irishtimes.com/news/world/eur…
Update: the toll is now 180 irishtimes.com/news/world/eur…
Read 4 tweets
3 Jul
I wrote about how Irish MEPs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly use their European Parliament speaking time, media platforms and legislative power to champion the views of authoritarian governments, particularly those of Putin and Assad
irishtimes.com/news/politics/…
Some sample amendments from Mick Wallace, seeking to delete a condemnation of Russia's occupation of Crimea, and delete a mention of a Dutch-led investigation that found Russian arms were used to shoot down the MH17 passenger flight.
You can see more here: parltrack.org/activities/197…
Both Clare Daly and Mick Wallace declined to respond to my texts, calls, and emails to them in the hopes of speaking to them for this article. Mr Wallace made it clear he wasn't in the mood to chat.
Read 12 tweets

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