Two photos here: 'Ireland then' and 'Ireland now.'

O'Keeffe inviting his legion of far-right American followers to prefer the old photo because white people living in poverty is MAGA utopia.

The old photo does tell an interesting story, though, if anybody is interested. /1 This is the old photo.

It was taken on the morning of June 28th, 1932 to celebrate the Eucharistic Congress.

There's a reason I'll get to, which leads to a very sad story of life in 1930s Ireland, why this photo wasn't taken on Eucharistic Sunday (June 26th) itself.

One of the most delusional articles I've ever read.

Apparently Bournemouth was a utopian safe-haven for women in the 1980s and 1990s but nowadays, due to immigrants, women get murdered.

Absolute cloud cuckoo land stuff.

I'll give a few facts on this subject re: Bournemouth.

https://twitter.com/PimlicoJournal/status/1954863211385082325

Marie Louise Witt (71) murdered by lodger Francis Mullender (34) on April 26th, 1976 at her home, Keswick Road, Boscombe, Bournemouth.

Marie Joy Wilton (22) murdered by her estranged husband Barry John Webb (26) on February 28th, 1981 at her home, Rochester Road, Bournemouth.

In my area of research, femicide, there was a common theme threatening the safety of girls and women in Epping and nearby areas.

It wasn't "illegal migrants", whatever that's supposed to mean, or immigrants of any description.

I'll go through murders of women and girls. /1 The most famous abduction and murder victim in the surrounding area:

Marie Denise Payne (4) abducted by stranger Colin James Evans (33) on March 11th, 1983 and body found in Epping Forest.

The search for Marie was the biggest operation of its kind in 1983.

R.I.P. Marie ❤️

Fox News aired a segment on crime in Ireland, specifically Dublin, on 'The Will Cain Show'.

The most brazen manipulation of statistics you're ever likely to see, lapped up by Trump-voters who don't care if something is true or not.

I'll counter this garbage with facts. /1 Quote: "In the city of Dublin where murder and assault attempts are surging."

Then the graphic claims "114% increase in Murder/Assault Attempts" and at the bottom states "Garda, Dublin Metropolitan Region".

Absolute rubbish.

I'll get to how they produced that "114%" number.

I'm not a famous economist writing for the Irish Times, obviously, but I know a bit about demography.

I feel there's a huge conceptual error in this article, that suggests to me the writer doesn't fully grasp demography.

I'll give my opinion on it, if anybody is interested. In the article he argues the following:

-Average family size = 2.5 persons
-55,000 births minus 35,000 deaths = 20,000 natural increase in the population
-20,000 / 2.5 = 8,000 new homes needed.

In my opinion you could be thrown out of class for those calculations/conclusions.

I find it depressing that media outlets have seemingly learned little about cervical screening in recent years.

This from the Irish Examiner today is categorically untrue, not to mention massively unhelpful.

I'll go through some facts to try counteract this misinformation. /1 It's not just the Irish Examiner, claiming Leona was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer after "misdiagnosed" smears.

RTÉ radio said something similar.

That's at least two of the major media outlets in Ireland, who should consider doing stuff like "journalism" before saying things.

I read that Supreme Court judgement in the UK today.

It's very long at 88 pages and was not a quick or easy read, though judging by discussion online not many on Twitter attempted to read it. 😂

I'll summarise it, if anybody is interested in reading a shorter version. /1 Just for emphasis ⬇️

This thread is a summary of a Supreme Court judgement, there are no personal opinions in this thread.

So if you're reading this thread and don't like the words you're reading, it's the judges words not mine.

Garron Noone being championed by every far-right clown in Ireland.

I'll go through what he said in order to go way, way up in the estimation of bigots.

Also some factual counterpoints to his views, which in my opinion could charitably be described as "ignorant shite." /1 Definition of far-right used in many studies is meeting at least 3 of the following 5 characteristics.

(1) nationalism, (2) racism, (3) xenophobia, (4) antidemocracy or (5) strong state advocacy.

If not meeting at least 3, then you're not being referred to by the term.

This genius continues to imply there are 200-year-old vampires collecting social security and obtaining loans.

Quite possible we're living through the dumbest possible version of the year 2025. 😂

I'll go through a few facts, for anybody who doesn't believe in vampires. /1 In the early 1970's the US Social Security Administration began the thankless task of creating a central database.

It involved inputting tens of millions of Social Security Numbers from paper or microfilm.

They called it "The Numident" and nowadays it's just 'Numident'.

This speech is full of half-truths, distortions, misleading claims and outright lies.

Basically living up to every meme, trope and unfair stereotype, of Americans being ignorant morons.

I'll go through each of the claims he made in this segment and what the actual facts are. /1

https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1890399691738657098

Quote: "I look to Brussels, where EU Commisars warn citizens that they intend to shut down social media during times of civil unrest, the moment they spot what they've judged to be hateful content."

That's a whopper of a distortion of EU law, that no serious person should make.

This wildly misleading tweet, and the mostly hateful replies, is like entering an alternate version of reality.

If anybody is interested in the truth behind this claim, and what that Swedish poll actually asked, I'll go through it.

Probably banging my head against a wall. 😂 The poll was conducted by a reputable Swedish polling company, Novus, between August 18th - 24th, 2022.

It was commissioned by a libertarian magazine, Bulletin, who eventually published it with a very misleading headline.

Sample size was 1,050 foreign-born persons.

Blaming the air traffic controller - and somehow linking it to 'diversity' - is incomprehensible nonsense from a man devoid of empathy.

ATC audio can be listened to by anybody, including the American president who can't be bothered to do that.

I'll go through the transcript. /1

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1885008550889423239

The two callsigns for the aircraft, just to help reading this thread they call these back.

1. PAT25 - United States Army Sikorsky VH-60M Black Hawk registration 00-26860

2. BLUESTREAK 5342 - Bombardier CRJ700 series flying as American Eagle Flight 5342, registration N709PS.

Mary Clarke (40) shot dead by her estranged husband on February 20th, 1993.

Heartbroken sister, Margaret Eyre, after sentencing:

"For him it's much cheaper than divorce. He'll be out in 2 years and won't have to do paperwork. Women get the worst of it."

A thread on that. /1 Bear in mind reading this thread these are headline sentences for manslaughter.

Quite often a 2-year-sentence in the 1980's would effectively mean serving 10 months.

I won't have space to discuss each case individually so I'll briefly discuss the most common defences involved.

I'm guessing this interview wasn't picked up by Irish media because the Dubliner interviewed, Dean, was sadly misinformed on voting rights.

He says "If I could vote I would vote but I can't" 😩

All Irish citizens can vote in elections, maybe nobody told him how to do it. /1 Dean said the reason he couldn't vote is he doesn't have stable accommodation for a letter to be posted to, as he's living in hostels at the minute.

Then he shares he's currently doing better with his drug addiction problems.

Wishing him continued strength re: addiction 🙏

Fiona Campbell (15) was murdered on August 21st, 1986 at 18 Leaper Street, Derby.

I was extremely sad researching her death, just found it beyond heartbreaking on every conceivable level.

I wrote a few words about her life, her family, and the unfairness of her death. /1 CW: Sexual assault.

I try to write these threads to remember the victim, and not to focus too much on the perpetrator.

It's just not easy to tell the story without mentioning what happened at the end, so if that topic is too upsetting it'd be better to stop reading here.

Hard to say if this video represents the dumbest thing Pepper has ever said or just the dumbest thing today.

Mostly due to the sheer volume of dumb things he says.

He doesn't seem to have any understanding of tripartite separation of powers, or how anything works in Ireland. Quote from Pepper: "Vote for me this Friday if you want him gone. Nolan, get your bags packed, your days are numbered!"

If you fancy voting for a lad with the intelligence of a brick, I suppose do that. 😂

Just know there is nothing whatsoever he can do to "get rid of Nolan."

This video features a man in Cork complaining about asylum seekers.

It seems to me he's just regurgitating the nonsense he reads on Facebook because his central argument is mind-numbing nonsense.

I'll go through a few facts re: asylum, for anyone still a fan of facts. /1 Quote:

"I travelled for two months this year. I was around France and Spain. Everywhere I went to book into a site I had to produce my passport or documentation. If they come in without documentation, they should be sent back out again straight away."

That's his argument.

This viral tweet and accompanying video is a textbook example of how racists distort and manipulate media to incite pile-ons.

Their target seems to be a lovely young woman but she isn't white and that's all the excuse these racists need.

Here's the truth behind the video: /1 This is the heavily edited and distorted video accompanying the tweet.

It features two young women, Chloe and Shauna.

A very despondent Chloe starts out by saying she's in a homeless hub for the last 5 months.

Then it cuts to a smiley Shauna saying she got a place to live.

Mary Elizabeth Armstrong (18) and sister Margaret (21) were born almost exactly 3 years apart.

They died on exactly the same day because police and courts failed them.

Worse, they've been forgotten.

Today is the 50th anniversary of their deaths, this thread is for them. /1 CW: Domestic violence, child abuse, murder, injustice.

This story is also infuriating.

Just if anyone would prefer to stop reading here.

Beautiful photograph taken in Kerry.

A 26-year-old Dutch woman in front of mountains, shortly before she vanished in Kenmare on July 2nd, 1978.

No trace of her found and she is largely forgotten in Irish public consciousness.

The disappearance of Aleida "Leidy" Kaspersma. /1 Aleida Maria Anderske Kaspersma was born on March 8th, 1952 in Zwolle, Netherlands.

Her father, Gotze Kaspersma, and mother, Anderske Jouwstra, were married on October 24th, 1944 in Groningen.

Gotze later a well-known musical composer and music teacher in Borne, Overijssel.

The usual geniuses keep using this photo, to make their usual dumb/hateful anti-immigration arguments.

Quite ironic, to say the least.

A few facts about this photo, for anyone interested in who those women were - and what their stories might tell you about Ireland. /1 That photograph is taken from the National Geographic feature on Ireland from March 1927, titled:

"Ireland: The Rock Whence I Was Hewn"

The author of that beautiful work, Brian Oswald Patrick Donn-Byrne, died tragically aged 38 in a car accident in Cork on June 18th, 1928.