
JJ Hurley
32.5K posts

JJ Hurley
@KinsaleObserver
Student of history, contribute to a number of local papers but work too. My thoughts definitely my own





Time to get the 'big coat' back out 🧥 Temperatures are dropping widely below average but in brisk northerly winds, it will be feeling closer to freezing for many of us 🥶



President Trump says the Strait of Hormuz could come under joint control with Iran following regime change: TRUMP: It would be jointly controlled. REPORTER: By whom? TRUMP: Maybe me. Me and the Ayatollah, whoever the Ayatollah is! There’ll also be a form of a very serious form of a regime change! “Now in all fairness, everybody’s been killed from the regime. They’re really starting off. There’s automatically a regime change. But we’re dealing with some people that I find to be very reasonable, very solid.” “The people within know who they are. They’re very respected. And maybe one of them will be exactly what we’re looking for.” “Look at Venezuela, how well that’s working out.”



















A starving Irish family from Carraroe, County Galway, during the Famine (1845-1852).... Between 1845-1852, Ireland endured one of the most devastating humanitarian crises in modern European history. The Great Famine was triggered by potato blight (Phytophthora infestans), which destroyed the staple crop relied upon by nearly one-third of the population for survival. The consequences were staggering. Around 1 million people died from starvation and disease, while another 1 to 2 million emigrated, many aboard overcrowded “coffin ships” bound for North America. In counties like Galway, entire communities collapsed as food systems failed and relief efforts proved uneven and often insufficient. At the time, Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom, and food continued to be exported from the island even as rural families faced extreme deprivation, a fact that remains central to historical debate about responsibility and response. The famine permanently reshaped Ireland’s population, which fell by over 20% and would not recover to pre-famine levels for more than a century. The Irish diaspora created during the famine years led to cities like New York and Boston developing Irish populations so large that, by the late 19th century, Irish-born residents made up over a quarter of their inhabitants. © National Library of Ireland #archaeohistories

The civil trial against Gerry Adams over three IRA bombings in Britain has been withdrawn. A lawyer for the claimants said on Friday that proceedings would be "discontinued". bbc.in/4rJz5sa


Senator Sharon Keogan addresses the Seanad on Amendment 382 to the Migration Bill, arguing the amendment is needed to preserve Ireland's sovereign control over immigration, border and international protection policies. Keogan warns the Bill embeds EU migration policy and could compel Ireland into relocation and time-bound obligations that exceed national capacity. Link in comments



