Sport-obsessed lawyer. Pinotist. All views personal. "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is Cork." 1 Corkonians.
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Aug 15, 2023 • 17 tweets • 8 min read
Utter nonsense.
Sorry, but: there is no defending this decision. It is not criticism of this decision that brings the game into disrepute, but the decision itself.
Quite apart from anything else, the crime is not defending urban populations from murderous attack; the crime is a strategy of city-killing, repeated over and over again, from which urban populations have to be defended.
I can only imagine what Seán MacBride would have made of an Amnesty report effectively claiming that defending cities from a murderous invader was wrong and that only lining up in open territory to be shot at easily is acceptable.
May 4, 2022 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
I am starting to come to the conclusion that the net result of vast amounts of documentary information being easily accessible, often just for the price of a coffee, is that people read less of it.
I think a fundamental flaw in the early assumptions about the internet - that access to all these primary sources would lead to everyone becoming better-informed by reading them - was that it was premised on the sort of people who do read and absorb vast amounts readily and fast.
Jan 2, 2022 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
An idle observation: being time of year it is, there are a lot of black and white classic British war films on, so one tends to watch a lot more of them.
In the context of Brexit totemisation of WW2, one thing rapidly emerges from them: that war isn't seen as something glorious.
The Cruel Sea: "We've just got to do these things and say our prayers at the end." The Battle of the Atlantic breaks men, kills men, including men killing men on their own side.
Jan 1, 2022 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
The referee has lost control of this. When you have to go to collective penalties, it’s because you didn’t punish individual penalties enough.
If players keep offending, you have to card.
If they keep offending after you card, you have to keep carding them.
If you don’t, they’ll keep offending, knowing you won’t stop them - and then the fights start.
Jan 1, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I see that a political editor is claiming that because he had “a PCR test when I had a cough and was sneezing” and couldn’t do exactly as he wanted whenever he wanted over Christmas, that apparently equates to Ireland being in a lockdown.
Honest to God, like.
It is not being in a quasi- or full lockdown to not be reckless, stupid or selfish, or to think of others over your own whims, or to restrict yourself to protect those you love when you have what could be symptoms of a potentially-lethal disease.
It’s being an adult citizen.
Dec 31, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
As someone put it the other day - normalise saying, “Sorry, not my area, I can’t usefully comment.”
Part of expertise is knowing what you don’t know and saying so, knowing that it doesn’t diminish your expertise in what you do know, but instead adds weight to when *do* know.
[I would credit and retweet who it was, but to my shame I can’t remember who. I’ll try and dig it out, but it may take a while.]
Nov 4, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
From an Irish perspective, we don't get to sit on the sidelines any more. We have outsourced our defence to the UK and USA, while large chunks of our political system sneer at NATO.
The USA we could outsource to in that way is gone. We have to provide for our own defence, now.
Nobody has to like it. Anybody can say, "But we didn't think we would have to do this, we didn't think the EU would have to or should have to do this!"
That was then. We have to deal with what there is now, and what there is now is completely different.
Nov 3, 2020 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
One thing that is being made much of in this is that the average litigated award isn't that much bigger than the average PIAB assessment. I saw similar in a remarkably off-kilter piece in the Business Post.
It's not a flaw, it's a sign of success in the system. Here's why.
PIAB is not there to litigate disputed claims. It would be unconstitutional if it did. It makes assessments on the basis the facts are not contested. Basically, it deals with the cases that would or should be settled.
Nov 3, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
“Adding in insurers’ normal running costs delivered a so-called combined operating ratio of 83 per cent. A figure below 100 per cent indicates that an insurer is writing business at a profit.”
Whatever happens, he remains in possession of the nuclear football until at least January.
Oct 10, 2020 • 25 tweets • 5 min read
Since it is a lovely peaceful Saturday morning, I clearly have to rectify that. Therefore: the World Rugby Transgender Policy and Nye Bevan.
Thread.
This is the WR policy, and explanation by Ross Tucker, who was part of the Working Group. I presented to the Workshop in February on liability, but wasn’t part of the Working Group itself. It’s worth reading this before going further.
The lede is buried right down at the bottom of this.
CVC are pushing to undermine player release. dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyuni…
“In an indication of their strategy, Sportsmail has been told that CVC are pushing clubs to take a tougher line with unions in negotiations over releasing players as they believe they can reap greater commercial benefits from exerting more control over their assets.”
Jun 17, 2020 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
For those following Irish Twitter tonight, you may feel this is a bit of an over-reaction.
Ireland is Constitutionally-committed to the principles of international law and peaceful resolution of conflict.
Article 29 of the Constitution covers the conduct of foreign affairs by the Government of Ireland; the first three sub-articles bind us to doing the right thing.
Feb 19, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
These are not ‘glib, off-the-cuff tweets’. The appalling nonsense about the Rothschilds is textbook anti-semitism. This is intolerable, inexcusable bigotry. irishtimes.com/news/politics/…
This link is the IHRA definition of anti-semitism. This stuff is precisely what is discussed in the second example given.
There is no way any party - *any* party - should think this can just be shrugged off.
Imagine a pair of identical twins - natal male or natal female doesn’t matter for the purposes of this - who, being identical, have the same DNA.
One of the twins is trans.
Nov 27, 2019 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
One thing that strikes me looking at the election across the water is that FPTP is now indefensible even for its fans. It’s an active element in how things are going wrong for the UK, because it rewards polarisation and a 35%/40% strategy.
Under STV, a 40/30/20/10 split means the 40% can’t ignore the others or make itself toxic. There are multiple options to form a majority.
Under FPTP, that’s likely a majority for the 40% and being able to drive through what it wants.
That rewards playing to a polarised base.
Oct 15, 2019 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
It should not be underestimated how badly the SRU have played this, even in terms of their self-interest. Scotland needs allies, and is making enemies while undermining their own arguments.
The fundamental mistake the DUP have taken throughout this is treating it like a Stormont negotiation where just saying no means nothing happens and HMG and the NIE pick up the pieces for them so it doesn’t go wrong.
Their approach is predicated on it being the same at EU level.
Jul 19, 2019 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Idly reflecting: there's been a psychological sea-change in regard to Brexit. I don't think the EU27 care any more. The feeling now is that a country willing to give power to someone like Johnson is not a serious country, and is just an external problem to be managed.
The UK is no longer an issue of "us" any more, in the way that Fidesz or PiS or various others are.
It's now an "out there" issue. Even for Ireland; it's now about the issues caused for us, not about the teamwork it was.
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