Emmet Kirwan
LightNews LightNews
banner
emmetkirwan.bsky.social
Emmet Kirwan
@emmetkirwan.bsky.social
2.2K followers 900 following 81 posts
Playwright & Actor
Reps. Writing: Curtis Brown. Acting: United UK & Lisa Richards IRL
https://linktr.ee/Emmetkirwan?fbclid=PAAaat-_vsdAnFapXO9hCuc6FR70ksrDJw7l-m7w4
Posts Replies Media Videos
emmetkirwan.bsky.social
So they lobbied the government intensely, got what they wanted and now they’re happy. Imagine the reverse of this headline ‘renters happy with new rent reforms’ that would and will never happen as long as we have these agents of capital reping for the lads. www.irishtimes.com/business/202...
www.irishtimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
tinydbass.bsky.social
Excellent piece by Sadhbh o'Neill about the car-centric approach to transport. I have absolutely no doubt that virtually none of our elected reps rely on public transport to go about their daily lives.

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Climate: Imagine how different things would be if politicians had to use public transport
Long lead-in times, a lack of sustained policy commitment, and start-stop approaches to big projects all contributed to where we are now
www.irishtimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:46 AM
emmetkirwan.bsky.social
This article offers zero evidence that landlords are going to “stampede” out of the rental market, other than an estate agent saying, “trust me, bro.”

www.limerickleader.ie/news/nationa...
Landlords 'stampede' out of rental market ahead of new changes coming next year
The new rules and regulations will not affect tenants that have been in place before March 1 and after that date, they will see a six-year tenancy agreement put in place
www.limerickleader.ie
November 25, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
fancyvegaspro.bsky.social
In Ireland, every season is Landlord Migration season
zenbuffy.bsky.social Jen Keane @zenbuffy.bsky.social · 1d
I quite literally will never understand this take. I know that we always need *some* rental property available but the vast majority of people in Ireland want to own and we can't because of *drumroll please* landlords buying multiple properties to rent. Them leaving the market is what we want.
limericklive.bsky.social LimerickLive @limericklive.bsky.social · 1d
Landlords 'stampede' out of rental market ahead of new changes coming next year
November 24, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
uilliammac.bsky.social
When Dunnes staff refused to handle S African goods they were denounced by politicians from FF/FG, as well as "business leaders". The same groups blocking the OTB today. They were spat on, beaten by Gardaí and followed by Special Branch. It took 3 years to shame the govt. into acting. Reluctantly.
November 23, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
darylfeehely.com
"philosophical financial framework" is a very kind way of describing neoliberalism there from Mícheál.

#IrishPol
rtetwip.bsky.social The Week in Politics @rtetwip.bsky.social · 1d
📺Today on #RTÉTwip, RTÉ's Political Correspondent @fertha.bsky.social speaks with @aine-lawlor.bsky.social
regarding the departure of Paschal Donohue from the Dáil.

"Has to the only adult in the room left the Fine Gael side?"

You can watch the rewatch #RTÉTwip on @rteone.rte.ie at 11pm tonight.
November 23, 2025 at 4:52 PM
emmetkirwan.bsky.social
Kaspar Aiden Cantwell Strattra (23) – replied after charge and caution at Ennis Garda station: “The use of Shannon Airport by the US military breaks Irish neutrality. The US is a belligerent power complicit in the genocide of Palestinians.”
www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/co...
Army personnel draw weapons as pro-Palestinian activists spray-paint US plane at Shannon
Three people in court in Ennis charged with criminal damage of US military aircraft at Shannon on Saturday
www.irishtimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
donnchalaw.bsky.social
Excellent piece by my colleague, Professor Ciara Smyth:

The real migration crisis is not the one you’ve been hearing about – The Irish Times

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Opinion: The real migration crisis is not the one you’ve been hearing about
‘Politics of affect’ stokes anxieties about immigration, allowing Government to then respond
www.irishtimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
suekirk.bsky.social
Another 'Landlords leaving the market' story. First, has this not consistently been proven to be completely false? Second, if true, why would this be bad? Third, if Landlords are 'leaving the market' in droves because new rules mean their tenants have a more secure lease, well, ok then. Off you pop.
Chyron that says 'landlords leaving market due to new tenancy rules'
November 23, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
elaineburke.bsky.social
The Irish Times published and lauded John Collison's op-ed, but did they fact-check it?

Andrew Jackson did. Thoroughly.

If you spent time reading the original, you'd want to give time to this counterpoint as well.
November 22, 2025 at 9:28 AM
emmetkirwan.bsky.social
Breakneck by Dan Wang is worth a read. McWilliams takes the wrong lessons from it & passes it off as his own homework. In short China is run by engineers, that see all problems including humans as engineering problems, the book warns against this, not for it. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
David McWilliams: To get things done, Ireland needs more engineers and fewer lawyers
A country run by engineers will build and accelerate into the future, while one run by lawyers will litigate and decelerate
www.irishtimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
carlkinsella.bsky.social
'In his exit interview this week, he told Morning Ireland: “The pinnacle of my ambition was to be the Minister for Finance.” Which, we can all admit, is a funny thing to say after you’ve just quit that job to move to what is very objectively a cooler job in every possible way.'

This week's column.
Surrealing in the Years: Paschal Donohoe leaves government unscathed, but how?
Donohoe has played a decisive role in every budget since 2016.
www.thejournal.ie
November 22, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
irishlegal.com
Dr Orla Kelleher pushes back against the narrative that judicial reviews are to blame for the housing crisis.
Opinion: Beware of the judicial review red herring
Dr Orla Kelleher pushes back against the narrative that judicial reviews are to blame for the housing crisis.
www.irishlegal.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
andrewlrjackson.bsky.social
I’ve written something on John Collison’s Op-Ed and environmental democracy

Next time you’re out in Dublin, check if you’re being “socially de-risked” by a friendly face from his think-tank

elajucd.com/2025/11/21/o...
On Environmental Democracy and the Collisons’ “Abundance-Verse”
Andrew Jackson 21 November 2025 I. Introduction A clamour of praise greeted John Collison’s “how to get Ireland moving” Op-Ed following its publication in the Irish Times on 25th October: the Irish…
elajucd.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
orla-hegarty.bsky.social
“Eoin Dorgan, asst sec at Dept of Public Expenditure Dorgan said Ireland needs to apply Tony Blair’s motto “tough on crime, tough on causes of crime” to the ongoing issue around legal objections”

..citizens ensuring that decisions are lawful are not criminals
www.businesspost.ie/politics/sen...
Senior official says public given too many opportunities to object to infrastructure plans
www.businesspost.ie
November 21, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
nessanvaughan.bsky.social
‘The paper (which you can find here: br.ti.org/pdfs/BuildBaby…) looked mostly at US data and finds that if houses had kept the same prices as in 1990, 13 million more babies would have been born since then’.
November 20, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
joenoonan.bsky.social
“If the Government were confident in its planning decisions, it would welcome judicial scrutiny rather than fear it.” #Oversight #Accountability #JudicialReview
Sir, – The Government’s proposed emergency planning legislation includes plans to restrict judicial review and to reduce cost protections in environmental cases (“Government seeks emergency planning powers to speed up infrastructure delivery,” November 1st). Yet the Irish Academy of Engineers’ report “Rebalancing Ireland’s Energy Policy”, published this week, identifies the real obstacles to infrastructure delivery as conflicting policy targets, lack of policy clarity and tardiness in policy delivery rather than judicial review. While Ministers point the finger at judicial review, just 5.3 per cent of An Coimisiún Pleanála decisions were challenged this year. The academy’s findings expose the Government’s scapegoating. Instead of addressing the systemic failures in policy co-ordination and delivery, Ministers are choosing to restrict Irish citizens’ constitutional right to hold public authorities to account. Judicial review exists precisely because public bodies make errors that require correction. When An Coimisiún Pleanála fails to follow proper procedures, as repeated judicial reviews demonstrate, the answer is not to silence citizens but to ensure the authority is properly resourced and capable of competent decision-making. The proposed cost restrictions are particularly cynical. Removing cost protections turns justice into a privilege that only the wealthy can afford, effectively silencing community groups and environmental advocates who lack the resources of powerful developers and the State. If the Government were confident in its planning decisions, it would welcome judicial scrutiny rather than fear it. Ireland’s infrastructure delays demand honest solutions based on coherent policy, adequate resources and competent administration. Weakening judicial review will not accelerate delivery. It will erode the constitutional safeguards that protect both citizens and the environment from poorly considered decisions. – Yours, etc, MICHAEL O’MEARA,
November 19, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
olivia.science
Btw I saw it linked to from this similar utter nonsense www.forbes.com/sites/jasons...
The AI Bubble That Isn’t There
The AI bubble doesn’t reflect reality. However, energy, economics and new infrastructure, not hype, are reshaping the cost and machinery of intelligence.
www.forbes.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
olivia.science
I laughed at loud. These people are so pathetic; our enemies are numbskulls. They will kill us all and still not know hs physics.

COWEN: The stupidest question possible: Why don’t we just make more GPUs?

ALTMAN: Because we need to make more electrons.

conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam...
COWEN: The stupidest question possible: Why don’t we just make more GPUs? ALTMAN: Because we need to make more electrons. COWEN: What’s stopping that? What’s the ultimate binding constraint? ALTMAN: We’re working on it really hard. COWEN: If you could have more of one thing to have more compute, what would the one thing be? ALTMAN: Electrons.
November 19, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
orla-hegarty.bsky.social
#Planning “new report identifies real obstacles to infrastructure delivery as conflicting policy targets, lack of policy clarity & tardiness in policy delivery, not judicial review.. just 5.3% of decisions challenged; findings expose the Government’s scapegoating” www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...
Letters to the Editor, November 19th: On planning legislation; neutrality and Troy Parrott’s hat trick
`Ministers are choosing to restrict Irish citizens’ constitutional right to hold public authorities to account’
www.irishtimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
krisshrishak.bsky.social
The excellent @shamimmalekmian.bsky.social @dublininquirer.com
whose earlier piece triggered our investigation has also written about this

www.dublininquirer.com/was-the-depa...
Was the Department of Justice using experimental chatbots to give immigration advice?
“The public should not be used as guinea pigs, particularly vulnerable groups in a legal process which could be impacted by a chatbot giving an incorrect answer.”
www.dublininquirer.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
orla-hegarty.bsky.social
“property prices are driven by income & interest rates.
As these two variables change, so does affordability, which determines how much buyers can (and will) pay. That, in turn, drives prices” -Dr Cameron Murray @cameronmurray.bsky.social www.fresheconomicthinking.com/p/why-home-p...
Why home prices obey economics and price-to-income ratios are a shoddy market metric
A guest post by Arek Drozda
www.fresheconomicthinking.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
tonygroves.bsky.social
If you are feeling down and like a bit of a failure, remember that the guy who failed children with scoliosis and mishandled the children’s hospital to the tune of €bn’s is now the min for finance. You got this!
November 19, 2025 at 8:06 AM
emmetkirwan.bsky.social
The article should clarify that Higgins is also an FG member. I’ve seen this proposal raised twice this week, and it effectively shifts responsibility for addressing the housing crisis away from the Government.
Conversely it’s the reasoning FF/FG use for not implementing a ‘living’ wage.
November 19, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Reposted by Emmet Kirwan
paulmurphy.pbp.ie
I wrote an article for the Irish Times outlining how the rule of FF/FG can finally be ended.

We need to come together on the basis of demanding the right to a home, action on the cost of living crisis, disability justice, a NHS, just climate action and defence of our neutrality.
November 19, 2025 at 10:40 AM