Liam Alex Heffron

I Want To Believe, and that's how they will get me. What do The X-Files, Nigerian catfishers, a Mayo musician in LA and a faith healer in Letterkenny have in common? The same thing: human beings desperately wanting something to be true. open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

Not My President ! This has become increasingly common in public discourse. But in a democratic system, what does that actually imply? Is it a cop out? or the difference between signalling disagreement and driving change. open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

It’s one of the happiest memories I have Yet I have the strange feeling that I'm not remembering a memory Nostalgia shapes not just our own memories, but the world around us We’re drawn to those who promise to bring it back. Even if it never happened open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

The Media’s Greatest Mistake About Trump? Pretending he doesn't exist. open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

I recently applied for a County Archivist position. Despite my strong resume, my application was not even considered because I don't hold a particular qualification in archival studies. How to recognise capability if we deliberately don't see it? open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. From Sarajevo in 1914 to the Middle East today, history shows how quickly wars escape the control of those who start them. Blackadder may have explained it best. open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

“You Were Right! (I was wrong)” I was right about Seamus Culleton. I may have been wrong about George Mitchell. The real issue? Irish media is too quick to advocate and too slow to investigate. open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

Not every injustice story is false. But not every victim narrative is complete. When media omit inconvenient facts, they weaken the very cause they claim to defend. My latest on half-lies, immigration and selective truth. open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

A Photo of the Wrong Place In Northern Cyprus, I took a photograph I shouldn’t have. Within minutes, I was being questioned at gunpoint. What stayed with me wasn’t the confrontation, but what it revealed about borders, language & the afterlife of empire open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

In 1864, two women in Ballina calmly corrected outraged men on what the law allowed them to do. In 2026, a young LA woman calmly explained her income streams and triggered the same panic. Different centuries. Same moral certainty. Same outrage. 👇 open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

ICE Hot Killings A woman killed during an enforcement raid. Officer claims self-defence. Crowd erupts. State closes ranks. That’s not just America in 2026. It’s Ireland in 1751. Why history keeps rhyming when power panics. 👇 open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

“Ladies and Gentlemen, We Got Him” From bin Laden to Maduro, U.S presidents keep telling us the same message. With Trump fixated on annexing Greenland, we ignore political memory, force and precedent at our peril. open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

A small Christmas incident turned into a painful reminder that systems, culture and place really matter — especially when something goes wrong. I still don’t know what bit me, but I do know I was grateful it happened in Ireland. New (painful) post 🤕 open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

After 2 years, “What have the Americans ever done for us?” Well for my wife and I at least. I spent a year criticising the US. Then I tried answering that question honestly. The answer was… uncomfortable. New article ⬇️ open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

When military service is a monetising opportunity, honour becomes a moral problem. 👉 Millions of U.S. veterans receive disability payments for life — sometimes while working full-time — for conditions that are hard to measure and impossible to quantify. open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

☘️ Not everyone loves the Irish. But many of us simply refuse to believe. In the U.S., Ireland is increasingly portrayed as extreme, anti-Semitic and radical and it’s landing. If we don’t understand how the world sees us, we won’t protect our values. open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

The Thanksgiving Ireland Forgets: Ireland owes Irish-America far more than Irish-America owes us. They funded our survival, our independence & half our history—while we laugh at their 'Top O' The Mornings' & green jumpers, while picking their wallets. 👇 open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

Who Shot Kim Kardashian? Hot take: Kim Kardashian’s new show is the most unintentionally honest piece of TV about modern culture and consumerism ever made. Cold take: It’s also terrible, awful and devoid of any redeeming qualities. open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

Teenage Grandmas and Sacrificed Virgins. Hollywood gave us Lord of the Rings, Casablanca and Dallas. Now it gives us crazy one-minute smartphone soaps, and an AI actress who doesn’t exist. The dream factory didn’t collapse — it accidentally ate itself. open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…

The Day a Boy Beat a Homeless Man with His Shoe. 🔥 “Cruelty Needs No Ideology” Some cruelty isn’t about racism, politics, or ideology. Some people hurt the vulnerable simply because they can. open.substack.com/pub/hollywooda…