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GylesNaMopaleen

@gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social

2.2K followers 2.5K following 16K posts

Irish migrant living in Switzerland.. Post mostly about brexit with an Irish/European slant. Pseudonym is a deliberately misspelt hat tip to Brian O Nolan, the Irish novelist, playwright & contrarian.

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 2d

quick thread on how Ireland joined the EEC around the same time as britain but went on a very very different journey 👇

GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · Mar 5

I've noticed a few people quote Yeats recently on here - in the context of the boris johnson, brexit & trump phenomenon, which are, for me, all related & intertwined.

No harm in quoting Yeats, of course. Any excuse, for that, is a good excuse and I am going to do the same.

A short 🧵

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Gleniff Horseshoe - Yeats Country - Sligo - Ireland

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/gleniff-horseshoe-yeats-country-sligo-ireland--73957618858186892/

quote from “The Second Coming” by WB Yeats 1919.

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.”

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Reposted by GylesNaMopaleen

Dr Alex Cruikshanks @alexsaysstuff.bsky.social · 2h

I can't express how perverse I find the kind of chauvinistic dual racism that pervades anti-immigration policy, in which we require other countries we see as lesser to accommodate refugees we don't want to: "We're too good for migrants to come here, but you, you're not, so you take them instead!"

Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 8h

Very long thread: As with many of Labour's anti-immigration policies, this isn't new. British police have been stationed in other countries for this purpose for a long time
It does however show how Labour is pushing more on anti-immigration than previous governments. 1/
www.lbc.co.uk/article/shab...

Home Secretary orders police and border 'hit squads' to Albania to stamp out people smugglers | LBC

Shabana Mahmood will send hit squads of police and border force teams to Albania in a fresh drive to stamp out people-smuggling gangs upstream.

www.lbc.co.uk

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 1h

oops. thanks for the correction Rob. appreciated.

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 1h

I agree. the UK setup feels almost feudal.

ironically, I read a piece earlier in the economist talking about the collapse "any day now" of the French Republic. While the French look across the channel and appreciate how much worse things could be.

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 2h

@europeanpowell.bsky.social 👇

Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 1d

Tees Valley mayor Lord (Ben) Houchen shared his economic wisdom at the Tory conference. The Conservative party, he said, must be the party of “sound money”.

🧵1/3

Reposted by GylesNaMopaleen

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 7h

All very amusing, but especially this:

"The most popular was an “Australian-style points-based immigration system,” with a net 46 percent support. The least popular was “Britain’s current immigration policy,” with -39 percent support."

www.politico.eu/article/labo...

Brits are pining for the pre-Brexit migration system

The idea was that leaving the bloc would give the U.K. back “control” of its borders and create a fairer system. But the widespread perception is it didn’t turn out that way.

www.politico.eu

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Reposted by GylesNaMopaleen

John O’Farrell @johnofarrell.bsky.social · 2h

Every city should do this.
Meanwhile I shall continue to stare fixedly ahead whenever they hope to be let in during heavy traffic.

Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 12h

Cardiff will be the first UK city to introduce a surcharge for oversized SUVs and trucks, "while very large vehicles – those over 3,500kg – will be excluded from residential permits entirely."

Cardiff set to tackle SUV 'carspreading' in UK first

Cardiff Council is set to become the first local authority in the UK to introduce higher parking charges for SUVs and other heavy vehicles, in a move campaigners say will make city streets safer and f...

nation.cymru

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 2h

I agree. Parisians did something similar. Voting to make it very expensive to bring a SUV into the city.

Paris voters back proposal to triple parking fees for SUV drivers

The French capital's mayor hailed a 'clear choice of Parisians' in favor of a measure that is 'good for our health and good for the planet.'

www.lemonde.fr

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 3h

yes but are the bananas bendy?

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Reposted by GylesNaMopaleen

Sam Missingham @samatlounge.bsky.social · 8h

I have been in Lisbon for a week, and an espresso is 1 Euro, a milky coffee is 2, and a bowl of soup is 2€, chicken & chips for two people with a drink is 16€. Nothing will convince me that we aren’t being monumentally shafted in the UK, especially food & groceries.

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 3h

Despite the turmoil and the "any day now" collapse of the Republic, the French take solace by looking across the english channel and appreciating how much worse it could be.

Charles de Gaulle’s constitution has failed to shield France from turmoil

Is it time to think about a new republic?

www.economist.com

GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 3h

yes, but the fart.

GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 3h

From an Irish point of view, this is scary stuff.

having a bankrupt neighbour, post brexit, facing a fiscal crisis not seen since the 1970s, is one thing, but, an ECHR exit would be detrimental to the delicate balance of peace we have had on the island since the GFA was agreed.

GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 4h

Historian and political commentator Brian Feeney rounds up the party conference season in a "Disunited UK": "The message from Scotland & Wales is that radical realignment is certain".

(behind paywall)

Brian Feeney: All bets are now off in this disunited kingdom of Britain

The message from Scotland and Wales is that radical realignment is certain

www.irishnews.com

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 4h

"my mate saw one get out of his boat, walk across the beach, into town and straight into the benefits office. Then, with his free ipad, iphone and airpods walked into the tourist information centre before being put up in the hilton. innit".

question time audience member who famously claimed to have a mate who saw asylum seekers get out of their boat on the beach and walk straight into town and into the benefits office.

GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 4h

Stormont Sources Podcast

David McCann, Tim Cairns and Michael McKernan take you inside Northern Irish politics.

David McCann is on here and well worth a follow for NI political commentary: @dmcbfs.bsky.social

Does the UUP Have a Future? Nesbitt, Burrows, and Unionism’s Identity Crisis

YouTube video by Stormont Sources

www.youtube.com

GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 4h

that's superb James (and great to see you on here!)

bravo!👏

Reposted by GylesNaMopaleen

James @retrojames.bsky.social · 14h

Goodbye #MTV…😞
Can you spot(ify) what’s happening to music?
Here’s something I made - if video killed the radio star, maybe the internet killed MTV…
#ripmtv

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 5h

I've heard that dog he's pictured with, on a leash, is called Boris.

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 5h

Musk was interfering with elections right across Europe in 2024...including in Ireland, Germany, France...everywhere.

the #GTTO campaign went viral on his platform, twitter and labours election promise was: "EU? not in my lifetime"!

funny that.

2/2

copy of a tweet from musk promoting the r/w Irish Freedom party in the run up to the General elections in Ireland 2024.

GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 5h

that chart on Scotland is fascinating. I'm looking at where Labour and SNP were at in the 2024 GE.

as a reminder to outsiders looking in....a #GTTO campaign, short for "Get The Tories Out", had everyone voting for Labour.

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election poster from 2024 depicting "I usually vote lib dem but I'm voting labour"

election poster from 2014 depicting "I usually vote green but I'm voting labour"

Reposted by GylesNaMopaleen

Moose Allain @mooseallain.bsky.social · 5h

Just popping out to LIDL, or 50-1-500-50 as the Romans called it.

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 5h

It makes bernie madoffs scam look like a school lunch money heist.

Reposted by GylesNaMopaleen

Peter Arnott @peterarnott.bsky.social · 6h

The grift makes Nixon look like a ...

The Daily Beast @thedailybeast.bsky.social · 6h

President Donald Trump and his family have reaped more than $1 billion in crypto cash over the past year, thanks to an industry boom fueled by the administration’s own crypto-friendly policies.

Trump’s Empire Rakes in Over $1B in Colossal Crypto Cash Grab

The president’s son said the true total is “probably more.”

trib.al

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 5h

that reminds me....the chess clubs & mensa meetups are decimated, by brexit, in benidorm.

GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · Jan 29

BENEFIT #9 Cheap properties for sale in Spain, France etc. .

Meet barry & diane, the honey glazed couple who flew from their sunny EU base to england, just to ensure their brexity vote counted, ending FoM for hundreds of thousands of britons living in the EU and forcing them to sell up.

10/11

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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 5h

Parisians did something similar recently. They voted to triple the cost of parking a SUV.

Paris voters back proposal to triple parking fees for SUV drivers

The French capital's mayor hailed a 'clear choice of Parisians' in favor of a measure that is 'good for our health and good for the planet.'