Bryan Fanning

Twenty one years since my first book launch early in my career with @UCDSocialPWJ at @ucddublin

Today, we're delighted to announce that the programme for our 2026 symposium (July 11th) has been published. Our theme: Cuala, a women’s arts collective: artists, makers, poets. Details and booking at: theyeatssisters.com/2026-symposium/

The enshittification of Ireland and the hollowing out of our institutions is the single largest threat to Irish civil society and prosperity. In this damning piece, I'm going into more detail about the graph I posted yesterday: why it's happening in Ireland, why the way we're thinking about the protests is entirely wrong, and what this means for our collective governance. Link to the article is below!

It’s a feature, not a bug

Dear girls, you can be both a Tiktok girlie and an astronaut. Christina Koch is an icon😍 What an amazing woman!

And 45 adult women from Dublins inner city in 1916 , are never remembered as O’Casey predicted.Here are their names as far as I could find them.RIP all who died in 1916.

"Since 1959, there has been no peaceful transfer of power between political parties in Cuba because the Communist Party of Cuba is the sole ruling party. Today, Cuba scores 9/100 on Freedom House’s ranking of political rights and civil liberties (Ireland’s scores 97/100 on the same ranking)." Superb by Hannah McCarthy. thejournal.ie/trump-and-cuba…

Remembering the 40 children killed in the Easter Rising 110 years ago “ some of them died with their first and last sweet taste of chocolate in their mouths.” Shamefully their names were removed from the Necrology wall in ⁦@ExpGlasnevin⁩ ⁦@glasnevin⁩

President Connolly’s Council of State picks generate some relief, but reveal a narrowness of thinking. Today’s @Independent_ie column independent.ie/opinion/commen…

I have written a book about the complexities of immigration. I offer no extreme opinions to feed the algorithm. I am not transacting in opinions for clicks. It’s just my best effort to understand the challenges and dilemmas. CONTENTS 1 Introduction 
2 Rural to urban migration
3 Social citizenship dilemmas
4 Welfare internationalism 
5 Refugee welfare
6 Remittances and diasporic welfare
7 Empires of care 
8 Beyond welfare chauvinism 
9 Reflections on research and scholarship

Today is publication day for my book DO NOT GO GENTLE: The Case Against Assisted Death. Kim Leadbeater's bill was the catalyst for writing it, and at the time, it felt like the task was urgent. Back then, the positive stories about assisted death sounded to me like fairytales. I wanted to explore the reality of assisted death more deeply. Justifications offered by supporters were so often mindless mantras about rights and "choice", but I wanted to see how it all fitted together, and what choices it gave to vulnerable people in reality. The writing period was a strange time. Every day I faced the fact of mortality, the nature of pain and suffering, and the darker sides of human nature. Yet I was also completely uplifted by the selfless compassion that humans can show to one another, when life is ebbing away. This week, Leadbeater's bill runs out of time. There is already talk by pro-MPs and lobbyists of flooding the private members' bill ballot, so that a similar bill arrives in the next parliamentary session. In the meantime, the public has some time to think properly about what kind of society we actually want. Is it one where state-sponsored death is treated as a solution to social ills? Or can we stand together to get something better, and far less bleak? Though times are hard, I still hope for the latter. I also hope that my book will be widely read, and especially by those tempted by fairytales.

In March the government introduced rent regulations that disincentivise supply of regulated tenancies, in proper dwellings by small landlords who pay 50%ish tax on rent. In April it incentivised supply of fancy sheds subject to no tax, occupied by licencees with no tenancy rights

The book traces how societies have responded to migration through social policy from the Industrial Revolution to the current era of globalisation and large-scale international migration. It case studies from many different countries to examine recurring tensions, and to examine how welfare states foster the inclusion and exclusion of newcomers. It examines the role of family and community networks alongside formal state systems, and the evolving nature of care work in a globalised world.

Migration studies, as an academic field, addresses the transnational movement of people and how they fare but often tends to do so from the vantage point of nation states. However, many of the studies discussed throughout this book studies consider the experiences, interests and priorities of migrants themselves in ways that are not captured within mainstream social policy debates or even in ones about migrant integration. Link below

No civilised country allows something like this. This unfortunate young woman was not dying. She needed help. The signal it sends to other people in distress is appalling.

The new Rocky movie is very good indeed.

In a threatening world, 🇮🇪 needs to grow up. Former ambassador Bobby McDonagh and professor @BrigidLaffan are writing in todays @IrishTimes

Very sad to learn of the death of Len Deighton, who was one of the two greatest spy thriller writers of all time and in some regards was Le Carre’s superior. Anyone who has not read Deighton should try Funeral in Berlin, Bomber or SSGB. Most of all they should seek out Berlin Game, the start of an epic 10 book Cold War series focused on Bernard Samson. Deighton’s writing was sharp, satirical, gripping and often amusing. His office infighting in the intelligence services was delicious and his characters are beautifully drawn. The Samson cycle starts with a meticulously plotted run of five books (Berlin Game, Mexico Set, London Match, Spy Hook and Spy Line) which all stand alone but tell one big story from the jaded but dedicated perspective Bernard a brilliant field operative. Len’s genius idea was to use the sixth, Spy Sinker, to retell the whole cycle from the perspective of everyone else, exposing what Bernard didn’t know and misunderstood. There is then an origin story about Bernard’s dad during the war, Winter, and then a concluding trilogy of Faith, Hope and Charity, which is not as high quality but deals with the fallout from the events of books 1-5. It’s an epic achievement and the greatest long series in spy fiction, accepting that the Smiley series is the greatest short series. Do yourself a favour, give it a try

At the moment I am reading

Another great video from the Department of Foreign Affairs celebrating the Irish diaspora for St Patricks day.