Siobhán Dowling
@siobhandowling.bsky.social
Dubliner, Ex-Berliner, Editor at Internationale Politik Quarterly
@ipq.bsky.social. Doing an MPhil in literary translation at TCD. @tclctdublin.bsky.social she/her
@ipq.bsky.social. Doing an MPhil in literary translation at TCD. @tclctdublin.bsky.social she/her
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
Big news for Dundalk, and Ireland more generally. Seems like this is might be the first formal NI/ROI higher ed direct partnership.
Also we’ll have another combination of the letters U, C, and D in Ireland…
UCD
DCU
DUC
Also we’ll have another combination of the letters U, C, and D in Ireland…
UCD
DCU
DUC
Dundalk Institute of Technology is set to become a University College following an agreement with Queen's University Belfast today.
DkIT set to become a university college
Dundalk Institute of Technology is set to become a University College following an agreement with Queen's University Belfast today.
www.rte.ie
November 19, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Big news for Dundalk, and Ireland more generally. Seems like this is might be the first formal NI/ROI higher ed direct partnership.
Also we’ll have another combination of the letters U, C, and D in Ireland…
UCD
DCU
DUC
Also we’ll have another combination of the letters U, C, and D in Ireland…
UCD
DCU
DUC
This was a vital part of my very modest record collection.
40 years ago today, The Jesus and Mary Chain released their influential debut studio album “Psychocandy” featuring singles "Never Understand" "You Trip Me Up" and "Just Like Honey"
November 19, 2025 at 8:52 AM
This was a vital part of my very modest record collection.
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
»Ich verstand, dass es nichts gab, was man nicht schreiben kann.«
Anna Seghers
19. November 1900 - 1. Juni 1983

Anna Seghers
19. November 1900 - 1. Juni 1983

November 19, 2025 at 8:50 AM
»Ich verstand, dass es nichts gab, was man nicht schreiben kann.«
Anna Seghers
19. November 1900 - 1. Juni 1983

Anna Seghers
19. November 1900 - 1. Juni 1983

Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
Ask a stupid question, dry up a river.
November 19, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Ask a stupid question, dry up a river.
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
FINALLY a judge is pointing it out explicitly.
The behaviour of Enoch (& the other Burkes) is a clear safety concern.
Genuinely, how far off are they from rationalising violence as appropriate to their cause?
The behaviour of Enoch (& the other Burkes) is a clear safety concern.
Genuinely, how far off are they from rationalising violence as appropriate to their cause?
November 18, 2025 at 1:14 PM
FINALLY a judge is pointing it out explicitly.
The behaviour of Enoch (& the other Burkes) is a clear safety concern.
Genuinely, how far off are they from rationalising violence as appropriate to their cause?
The behaviour of Enoch (& the other Burkes) is a clear safety concern.
Genuinely, how far off are they from rationalising violence as appropriate to their cause?
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
Have been thinking about “immigration has been tearing this country apart.” Surely I’m not the only person to think that it isn’t true, but inflamed rhetoric about immigration by politicians is what is tearing this country apart and so statements like that only makes it worse.
November 18, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Have been thinking about “immigration has been tearing this country apart.” Surely I’m not the only person to think that it isn’t true, but inflamed rhetoric about immigration by politicians is what is tearing this country apart and so statements like that only makes it worse.
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
Imagine escaping the literal Nazis, making it to America, living three quarters of a century there making your life, and then this:
79-year-old Paul Bojerski was born to Polish parents in a WWII German refugee camp. His family legally emigrated to the U.S. when he was 5.
He’s been taken by ICE in Florida.
www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/16/s...
He’s been taken by ICE in Florida.
www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/16/s...
Sanford grandfather, born in refugee camp, nabbed by ICE after 70 years in U.S.
Paul Bojerski never gained official residency, but he checked in regularly with ICE for years. Then in July, at age 79, he was detained and sent to Alligator Alcatraz.
www.orlandosentinel.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Imagine escaping the literal Nazis, making it to America, living three quarters of a century there making your life, and then this:
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
Interesting how determined our politicians are to ape the policies of parties who are nosediving in polls.
Even idiot kids know you're supposed to copy the popular kid in school, not the one everybody hates
Even idiot kids know you're supposed to copy the popular kid in school, not the one everybody hates
November 17, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Interesting how determined our politicians are to ape the policies of parties who are nosediving in polls.
Even idiot kids know you're supposed to copy the popular kid in school, not the one everybody hates
Even idiot kids know you're supposed to copy the popular kid in school, not the one everybody hates
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
Six weeks since the PM said Britain faced a choice between decency or division and our bad, obviously, for not understanding that he was in fact Team Division
November 17, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Six weeks since the PM said Britain faced a choice between decency or division and our bad, obviously, for not understanding that he was in fact Team Division
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
We received so many excellent submissions that we're making this conference a two-day affair & extending the deadline for submissions to 24th November!
From Olympe de Gouges to Ida B. Wells & everyone who came before & after -- we want to hear about the revolutionaries you're most passionate about!
From Olympe de Gouges to Ida B. Wells & everyone who came before & after -- we want to hear about the revolutionaries you're most passionate about!
November 14, 2025 at 12:06 PM
We received so many excellent submissions that we're making this conference a two-day affair & extending the deadline for submissions to 24th November!
From Olympe de Gouges to Ida B. Wells & everyone who came before & after -- we want to hear about the revolutionaries you're most passionate about!
From Olympe de Gouges to Ida B. Wells & everyone who came before & after -- we want to hear about the revolutionaries you're most passionate about!
I asked a local councillor why they still hadn't built a protected bike lane near us. Answer: There are so many schools near there, that it would impact the traffic in the mornings to have the lanes .... I dunno.
Another reminder that a 13-year study found that protected bike-lanes led to a drastic decline in fatalities for all road users.
ALL ROAD USERS.
And painted bike-lanes? No safety improvement at all.
For sharrows, it’s actually safer to NOT have them.
Via @usa.streetsblog.org @nyc.streetsblog.org
ALL ROAD USERS.
And painted bike-lanes? No safety improvement at all.
For sharrows, it’s actually safer to NOT have them.
Via @usa.streetsblog.org @nyc.streetsblog.org
Separated Bike Lanes Means Safer Streets, Study Says — Streetsblog USA
Cities that build protected lanes for cyclists end up with safer roads for people on bikes and people in cars and on foot, a new study of 12 large metropolises revealed Wednesday.
usa.streetsblog.org
November 17, 2025 at 7:08 AM
I asked a local councillor why they still hadn't built a protected bike lane near us. Answer: There are so many schools near there, that it would impact the traffic in the mornings to have the lanes .... I dunno.
Do they mean white straight Anglo American masculinity?
2020 Scottish gay man
2021 South African man
2022 Sri Lankan man
2023 Irish man
2024 Woman
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
2020 Scottish gay man
2021 South African man
2022 Sri Lankan man
2023 Irish man
2024 Woman
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Guardian view on the Booker prize winner: putting masculinity back at the centre of literary fiction | Editorial
Editorial: David Szalay’s Flesh breaks from a decade of female-centred interiors and reopens a genre many thought closed to men
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Do they mean white straight Anglo American masculinity?
2020 Scottish gay man
2021 South African man
2022 Sri Lankan man
2023 Irish man
2024 Woman
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
2020 Scottish gay man
2021 South African man
2022 Sri Lankan man
2023 Irish man
2024 Woman
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
There are no binary choices to political solutions. It’s not throw open the borders or be Farage. There are workable answers - it just takes hard work, intelligence, compassion, nuance, communication, diligence, effort and political will.
Would be nice to see some.
Would be nice to see some.
November 15, 2025 at 1:26 AM
There are no binary choices to political solutions. It’s not throw open the borders or be Farage. There are workable answers - it just takes hard work, intelligence, compassion, nuance, communication, diligence, effort and political will.
Would be nice to see some.
Would be nice to see some.
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
Now that the government has abandoned a plan to make city speed limits 30km/h by default, the Dublin City Council is returning to the slog of doing it bit by bit. At a meeting Wednesday, councillors and council managers expressed frustration with the long road ahead.
After government abandons plan to make city speed limit 30km/h by default, council returns to slog of doing it bit by bit
At a meeting of Dublin City Council’s transport committee on Wednesday, councillors and council managers expressed frustration with the long road ahead.
www.dublininquirer.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Now that the government has abandoned a plan to make city speed limits 30km/h by default, the Dublin City Council is returning to the slog of doing it bit by bit. At a meeting Wednesday, councillors and council managers expressed frustration with the long road ahead.
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
Without asylum:
Marks and Spencer wouldn't exist
Queen would have been without a front man
The other queen wouldn't have had a husband
Judith Kerr would never have written The Tiger Who Came to Tea
And thousands of less famous people wouldn't have been teachers, politicians, neighbours, etc
Marks and Spencer wouldn't exist
Queen would have been without a front man
The other queen wouldn't have had a husband
Judith Kerr would never have written The Tiger Who Came to Tea
And thousands of less famous people wouldn't have been teachers, politicians, neighbours, etc
November 15, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Without asylum:
Marks and Spencer wouldn't exist
Queen would have been without a front man
The other queen wouldn't have had a husband
Judith Kerr would never have written The Tiger Who Came to Tea
And thousands of less famous people wouldn't have been teachers, politicians, neighbours, etc
Marks and Spencer wouldn't exist
Queen would have been without a front man
The other queen wouldn't have had a husband
Judith Kerr would never have written The Tiger Who Came to Tea
And thousands of less famous people wouldn't have been teachers, politicians, neighbours, etc
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
Thinking about my own father, who arrived in 1946 with the Free Polish Army - when would Labour have sent him back to communist Poland? How could he have done anything to build a life and have children in the UK if he had had to beg to stay every two years? Disgusting. www.bbc.com/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Thinking about my own father, who arrived in 1946 with the Free Polish Army - when would Labour have sent him back to communist Poland? How could he have done anything to build a life and have children in the UK if he had had to beg to stay every two years? Disgusting. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
I cannot even *begin* to tell you how awful this is and no, no amount of "but we must do this because Reform will be worse" will work on me, moreover it will easily lend you in Blockoland
Question on Monday
Is it now your principle that every Ukranian refugee in Britain should leave, must leave once it is safe + that they will all be made to leave?
Is it now your principle that every Ukranian refugee in Britain should leave, must leave once it is safe + that they will all be made to leave?
November 15, 2025 at 8:50 AM
I cannot even *begin* to tell you how awful this is and no, no amount of "but we must do this because Reform will be worse" will work on me, moreover it will easily lend you in Blockoland
Wolf Hall Slow Read is returning next year. I am tempted to go again... footnotesandtangents.substack.com/p/wolf-crawl...
So now, read Wolf Hall with us!
An invitation to the 2026 slow read of Hilary Mantel's Cromwell trilogy
footnotesandtangents.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Wolf Hall Slow Read is returning next year. I am tempted to go again... footnotesandtangents.substack.com/p/wolf-crawl...
Yes the weather is awful but the weather also means that the 9am (be at the school at 8.30am) hockey game has been cancelled.
Swings and Roundabouts.
Swings and Roundabouts.
November 14, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Yes the weather is awful but the weather also means that the 9am (be at the school at 8.30am) hockey game has been cancelled.
Swings and Roundabouts.
Swings and Roundabouts.
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
Really looking forward to chatting all things Romanisches Cafe with Julia Bosson and @paulscraton.bsky.social on Friday at Europa-Center, presented by @slowberlin.bsky.social!
@slowberlin.bsky.social & Romanisches Cafe exhibition invite Julia Bosson, @paulscraton.bsky.social and me to introduce our favourite literary regulars of Romanisches and our own writing, followed by a public discussion on November 14. Free tickets: romanisches-cafe.berlin/event/rebels...
November 12, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Really looking forward to chatting all things Romanisches Cafe with Julia Bosson and @paulscraton.bsky.social on Friday at Europa-Center, presented by @slowberlin.bsky.social!
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
The state of Dublin... The mismanagement, the mess, combined with the complete lack of leadership and accountability.
You despair.
You despair.
Councillors complain, again, of hotel-spreading in Portobello. In mid-October, a new fence went up, connected to the NYX hotel, blocking off a stretch of gravel and grass by the Grand Canal.
Councillors complain, again, of hotel-spreading in Portobello
In mid-October, a new fence went up, connected to the NYX hotel, blocking off a stretch of gravel and grass by the Grand Canal.
www.dublininquirer.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:35 AM
The state of Dublin... The mismanagement, the mess, combined with the complete lack of leadership and accountability.
You despair.
You despair.
Reposted by Siobhán Dowling
Thirteen years. bsky.app/profile/niam...
November 10, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Thirteen years. bsky.app/profile/niam...
"In its hostility to recognising people's rights to collective action through legislation or banding together to insist on their rights it reveals the hostility to democracy that has been an undercurrent to the tech industry's growth for years."
New Gist: AI, The Sound and Fury
I try to explain all of this AI thing in one article, and suggest why it is hostile to democracy, to humanity and also happily likely to end with the would-be tech Sun Kings taking trips to the financial guillotine.
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-ai-...
I try to explain all of this AI thing in one article, and suggest why it is hostile to democracy, to humanity and also happily likely to end with the would-be tech Sun Kings taking trips to the financial guillotine.
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-ai-...
The Gist: AI, The Sound and Fury
We can calculate the amount of money flowing into AI. But what will the full cost be to society when the bubble pops? This is the Gist.
www.thegist.ie
November 9, 2025 at 1:00 PM
"In its hostility to recognising people's rights to collective action through legislation or banding together to insist on their rights it reveals the hostility to democracy that has been an undercurrent to the tech industry's growth for years."
My slacker gardening approach vindicated at last.
November 8, 2025 at 9:15 AM
My slacker gardening approach vindicated at last.
Lovely to see a book published by a Berlin pal (@katyderbyshire.bsky.social, @vqbooks.bsky.social) reviewed in the IT.
Every Time We Say Goodbye by Ivana Sajko, tr. by Mima Simić @vqbooks.bsky.social
The Cat by Georges Simenon, tr. by Ros Schwartz @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social
Beasts of the Sea, by Iida Turpeinen tr. by David Hackston (MacLehose Press).
The Cat by Georges Simenon, tr. by Ros Schwartz @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social
Beasts of the Sea, by Iida Turpeinen tr. by David Hackston (MacLehose Press).
November 8, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Lovely to see a book published by a Berlin pal (@katyderbyshire.bsky.social, @vqbooks.bsky.social) reviewed in the IT.