There's a lot to say about today's Supreme Court judgment in the O'Meara case on entitlement to Survivor's Pension in unmarried couples. Others will say lots in time, I'm sure. Here are just a few brief thoughts on the judgment and its connection to the forthcoming referendums 🧵 First, it's essential to note that although the court ruled unanimously for the plaintiff, it split 5-2 on the basis of the decision. It's the majority judgment that has force of law - O'Donnell CJ, available here: courts.ie/view/judgments…

The Attorney General's report on nursing home charges litigation, published today (link below), contains some contestable statements, and a few pretty extraordinary ones. Here's a brief thread on the standout points:

gov.ie/en/publication… The AG says that the State has a "general policy of acting with significant restraint in the conduct of litigation".

Anyone with knowledge of this area, or who has read the extensive coverage of this in recent days, will know that this is simply not the reality.

As energy prices skyrocket, my solar pv panels (installed in Dec) look like the best money I ever spent. In August, they produced 493 kwh (I made a profit of €30 selling back to the grid). But here's the best bit: it's not just because of the heatwave. In March and April ... (1) ...they were producing almost as much electricity (418 kwh and 442 kwh) as they did during the August heatwave (493 kwh).

For the 8 months of 2022 to date, I've drawn 618 kwh from the grid, and sent 1.3 Mwh back (more than double). You get a credit at half the purchase rate. (2)

Chapter 2 of my 2021 Annual Report as Special Rapporteur on Child Protection (due for publication in January) documents the harm caused to children by school closures and lockdowns. This is multi-faceted, and has been documented in Ireland and internationally. (1/11) Children (and the adults in their lives) have a right to health, so we need to take all practicable measures to mitigate the spread of COVID in schools. But a wide range of other rights are adversely affected by school closures. We know this from 2020 and early 2021. (2/11)

Seeing a lot of commentary, and quite a bit of confusion, about the President singing the Mother and Baby Homes Bill into law. Here's a quick explainer thread designed to clear up a few points about what did (and didn't) happen: First, it's important to note that the President has very little discretion in all of this. All laws passed by the Oireachtas must be signed by him/her unless they fall within the exceptions set out in Arts 26 or 27.

So, today might be a really good day. We got a positive ruling on a case concerning redress for abuse survivors that I've worked on directly for 5 yrs and indirectly for 10 yrs. But I remain fearful it won't turn out to be the victory it seems. (Thread)

rte.ie/amp/1060862/ When we won the Louise O'Keeffe case before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in 2014, I thought that was the end of this story. But it proved otherwise; the State relentlessly sought to limit its liability through the "prior complaint" criterion.

Here's the story of how the State has spent €1.5 million on legal fees trying to avoid paying €28m in compensation to victims of child sexual abuse in schools, even though (a) it is required by human rights law to pay; and (b) it gave religious orders a €1.4 billion indemnity. In 2014, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Irish State failed to protect Louise O'Keeffe from abuse by her school principal. The basis of the judgment is what is really important here: