Padraic Buckley

It takes real courage to raise your voice above the parapet and say what the begrudgers don't want to hear, and the easiest thing in the world for cowards to do is publish insults on SM Ryan Casey has skin in the game and is entitled to voice his opinion. I support him, do you

Eddie Hobbs Responds to Hit Piece (The Irish Times Letters 13/1/26) Eddie Hobbs responds. Sir, on January 4th, your journalist Conor Gallagher contacted me by email relating to an article he was writing about the political right in 2026 and referring to Steve Bannon’s comments on an emerging Trump here (“Eddie Hobbs: From consumer advice to conspiracy theories,” January 10th). Politely, I advised, as I’ve consistently done, that I’d zero interest in public office, left or right, and was sticking to media. When he persisted, I said I’d consent to an interview if the editor of The Irish Times was interviewed first on my channel, Counterpoint. This conditional acceptance was absent in his article, which misrepresented the exchange as a refusal to interview. He denigrates to a trope the vastly abundant global literature and counter-science publications and studies on Covid, climate, and banking as conspiracy theories without offering a shred of insight. This is modern agenda journalism; it is not reporting. In a TV series 20 years ago and consistent with a 2006 book, articles, and interviews, I took an Irish audience through an exercise contrasting borrowing costs against ultra-low rental yields to, once again, warn off investing in Irish residential investment property. The hit piece inverts this into advising to jump into the market. Either he failed to do primary research or based it on historical comments by the financially illiterate. He refers to my opinion article in the Wall Street Journal 2012, which was triggered by the jimmying of the nascent Insolvency Act, which hobbled distressed debtors and gave banks vetoes. It’s a strong and accurate piece, and I’d write it again in a heartbeat, given the carnage caused. He attributes words to me that I did not write, words from the Wall Street Journal headline, and skips my content and its damning conclusion about how Ireland was run. He fails to give the full title to my current book, Breaking the Silence on the Return of Totalitarianism, leaving out the reference to totalitarianism, the impulse for surveillance, and control. Smart people aren’t fooled by such a piece and ask why, why now, and why behave this way? In the run-up to the presidential election, my four-minute piece to camera got a million views across platforms, and data shows it driving the outcome. The state establishment here, for which The Irish Times acts as a mouthpiece, is trying to strangle free speech because it knows that a new epoch is opening; it’s why X is under attack. It is why I’m under attack. It is why Eoin Linehan’s book Vandalising Ireland is attacked in The Irish Times. It is why government ID is to be mandated to access social media; this is the next battlefield. When I told your journalist that giving an interview to The Irish Times was not important to me, I meant it; what he heard was a whistle past the graveyard. – Yours, etc., EDDIE HOBBS, Naas, Co Kildare.

‘By the 1950s, Europe successfully managed to produce enough food domestically to feed itself…now, we are unlearning the lessons of the past, and making ourselves more dependent on foreign food sources halfway across the world once again.’ Ben Scallan slams the Mercosur deal.

we fight or we die, not for the EU , the fighting irish are done with globalisn and its shittshow

🇪🇺 Telegram sent this message to all its users in France regarding Chat Control. People must know the names of those who try to steal their freedoms: Today, the European Union nearly banned your right to privacy. It was set to vote on a law that would force apps to scan every private message, turning everyone’s phone into a spying tool. France led the push for this authoritarian law. Both former and current Interior Ministers, Bruno Retailleau and Laurent Nuñez, supported it. Last March, they declared that police should see French citizens’ private messages. The Republicans and Macron’s Renaissance group voted for it. Such measures are supposed to “fight crime”, but their real target is regular people. It wouldn’t stop criminals — they could just use VPNs or special websites to hide. Officials’ and police messages wouldn’t be scanned either, since the law conveniently exempts them from surveillance. Only YOU — ordinary citizens — would face the danger of your private messages and photos being compromised. Today, we defended privacy: Germany’s sudden stand saved our rights. But freedoms are still threatened. While French leaders push for total access to private messages, the basic rights of French people — and all Europeans — remain in danger.

@BustToBoom €20 for two rolls and two bottles of water #weareback

@Cathalain @Timcast Yes but on Tim’s podcast he was described as British just letting him know

@KingPidge @Timcast He was arrested in Britain.

The UK is conquered

'Genuinely, we're so angry with what happened. And we just don't want to see any other kids go through the same thing.' The grieving father of Harvey Morrison Sherratt has said his was repeatedly failed by the health service. He spoke with @kierancuddihy, on @TheHardShoulder

@FineGael Absolutely sickening . You should be ashamed of yourself every last one of you

Fine Gael is taking real action on housing. That’s why Minister John Cummins is introducing plans to allow for modular-style homes in back gardens to be exempt from planning permission. A public consultation will begin soon where you can have your say on exempted developments

A journalist realising he was caught up in a mob hysteria after 5 years is, of course, entirely useless. Akin to a police officer realising a crime took place 30 mins after he might have stopped it. Of course, in this case, the police officer was actually cheering the crime on.

@Nick_Delehanty 👏

Public Apology. Earlier this morning, I posted a thread about Donie Cassidy and his long-standing influence within Fianna Fáil. Regretfully I forgot to mention one of the most blatant examples of political favouritism and insider dealing in modern Irish history...the Dublin Airport bar licence scandal. In 2010, while leader in the Seanad, Cassidy held shares in both the company that lost the lucrative Dublin Airport bar licence (Atwell) and the company that was mysteriously awarded it (Cavtat). The deal was described in the High Court as “extraordinary and inexplicable” , a state-owned licence quietly shifted from one Cassidy-linked company to another, without a public tender, in apparent breach of EU rules. While creditors lost millions, Cassidy walked away with a new contract and nearly €1 million in "managerial fees" that even former executives said were bogus. I apologise to all followers for omitting this. Lessons will be learned.

🟢🟡 Charlie O'Dwyer - outstanding 👏

Tell that to successive Irish governments who succesfully kept this country out of WW2, the Cold War, and many other periods of global turbulence that other countries were sucked into to their detriment. We were one of just 14 countries in the entire world to not formally participate in WW2, and thank God we didn't. We've dodged many bullets through neutrality over decades, and all you can say is "It's a fantasy, get real" because there's no coherent argument for changing it. So you have to just act like it's gone already and treat the whole thing like a fait accomplis so people accept the change out of grim resignation and say "Oh well, I guess it's been an illusion all along." When it isn't - it's a real policy with measurable benefits that has served us well in the past and continues to do so.

Reminder of Fianna Fáil’s style of good government… #GE24

@KildareFan2024 What’s second prize ? 2 homes in Newbridge

Roscommon Gaa are in Whitewater today promoting their major fundraiser to win a home in Newbridge.

MAGA 🇺🇸

@InternetH0F @RoryFranz

😭 this interaction lives rent free in my head

@HowThingsWork_ @AdammFDempsey 😂😂

@HowThingsWork_ @AdammFDempsey send that to Eddie Edmonds for me

Now that's impressive! 🫡