Ray Ballantine

@MaryKenny4 Imagine putting up a sign and saying United Ireland for All.

A local cafe I like a lot has now put up a "Free Palestine" poster. I don't feel comfortable about this - don't like politics in social exchange, & maybe Jewish customers may feel put off - but am I wrong? Everyone is entitled to express their opinions.

@TheLeedsPress No

Would you take Summerville back? 🤔

@SUPFORALL @EwanMacKenna Have you been David?

@EwanMacKenna Have you been to Israel Ewan?

Can you imagine doing what Israel has done daily for two and a half years, to any and all, and spending that time moaning about people saying hurty words to you. The single worst nation state in my life filled with the worst of humanity. Why would anyone be scared to say it aloud

@Msoe_Dublin Sisters, Thank you for doing what You do.

Tonight was an extremely warm night on the streets, and demand for our service was higher than ever. Thanks to your support, we provided just under 400 meals this evening. Our transport vehicle was full to the brim, and every single item, from hot meals to fresh fruits, vegetables, treats, sleeping bags and tents was distributed. Two interactions broke our hearts and reminded us why we are out here: 2 weeks ago, we shared a story about a beautiful, proud gentleman who refused his hot meal because he heard there were still 89 people behind him. Tonight, he returned in a heartbreaking state. His only pair of trousers was badly torn, leaving his legs exposed, and he had an old jacket tied around his waist for cover. His runners were far too big. Our founder immediately called over a volunteer to take him into Penneys, instructing him to buy two of everything: trousers, t-shirts, sweatshirts, socks, underwear, a jacket, and properly fitting runners. But even in that state, this gentleman put his hand on his chest and refused the extras. He said, “Please, only buy me one set, and keep the cost to buy for someone else.” Once again, his incredible selflessness left us floored. We also assisted a vulnerable young man who struggles with mental disabilities and has the mind of a child. It was physically visible just how ill and neglected he was. To give him some privacy and dignity, we brought him to the back of our van, gave him wipes to clean himself up and provided him with fresh underwear and a new tracksuit. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see people suffering like this. These are just two of the stories we encounter every week and our work is only possible because of the community behind us. With the current heatwave, we wish everyone a safe weekend ahead. As you enjoy the sunshine, please check in if you see someone sleeping rough. It doesn’t have to be money, offer a cup of tea, cold water, a quick chat, or clean socks. Remember, we are all on a path in this life, and no one knows where we are going to end up. If you would like to help us or donate, please use this link: msoe.ie/index.php/comp…

@PaulFurness10 @HullCity Paul wish you and your wife a good journey.

Took my wife to the match today - as many of you will know she has Alzheimer’s - music and sport stir such powerful emotions 😍 thank you @HullCity UTT

@MiddleEastEye Nazis did all that shit*e and look where that got them. He will swallow his pill when the pathetic creature realises his Genocidal atrocities are accountable and have consequences.

Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir marked his 50th birthday with cakes decorated with a noose, including one carrying the message “sometimes dreams come true”, in imagery referencing executions of Palestinians. Photos from the event show the noose symbol displayed prominently across multiple cakes at a gathering attended by senior police officials and political allies. The symbolism points directly to Ben-Gvir’s push for a new controversial law enabling the execution of Palestinians, with hanging seen as the intended method under legislation advanced this year. The display has drawn anger as it openly reflects a policy direction centred on state executions, reinforcing longstanding positions Ben-Gvir has taken in favour of capital punishment targeting Palestinians. Ben-Gvir, a central figure in Israel’s far-right government who lives in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank, has consistently advanced policies condemned by human rights organisations as discriminatory and extreme.

@JackieC42533698 Tough time for you Jackie lass but good memories of our dearest and nearest really help me 🙏

@petewright1988 Your wee man is there continue your journey together 💗

Been to Elland Road 4 times this season - most in my life by a long way. It’s been incredible. Seen 4 wins! Chelsea 3-1 ✅ Fulham 1-0 ✅ Forest 3-1 ✅ Burnley 3-1 ✅ Took my son last night for first time. Genuinely one of the best nights of my life. What a place. What a club.

@jamesrogersie James the officiating last night was embarrassing to watch. Over 3k supporters from both clubs paid hard earned money to follow their team. Only 1 person decided to make it about him. The dark arts that one team decided to partake in will only deter people from going to games.

The performance of the officials summed up by them getting the Shels subs wrong resulting in a delay of over a minute and no subs made in the end.

@RobLooseCannon We never had a "Great Famine". We had "An Gorta Mór". Our Gaelic language is a language of truth and beauty.

There are few labels in our history that still evoke controversy like "souper." To be called one was not just an insult. It was a mark of damnation. During the Great Famine of 1845 to 1852, when starvation decimated our people, some of the most agonising decisions faced by Catholic families came ladled from a pot of soup. Souperism refers to the practice by which Protestant evangelical groups offered food, shelter, and education to the starving, with strings attached. Conversion, or at minimum, participation in Protestant religious instruction. To modern sensibilities it might seem almost silly. But to people who believed, with absolute conviction, that their eternal soul and those of their children were at stake, it was a matter of life, death, and what came after. And even when the aid came without conditions, the rumour was enough. It didn't matter whether the soup came with a Bible or not. The fear that it might was enough to keep families away. It's heartbreaking to imagine the dilemma. A barefoot child, belly distended from hunger, stands outside a mission school where warm meat soup bubbles on a stove inside. The smell is maddening. Lessons are conducted in English, Catholic prayers and the Irish language are banned. The family is torn. Take the soup and survive. But at what cost? The neighbours might call them jumpers, cat breacs, traitors. Would they be condemned to Hell, cut off from their own people for eternity? And if they accepted the meal, they were said to have taken the soup. One of the most notorious figures in this story was Reverend Edward Nangle, founder of the Achill Mission Colony. In the 1830s, before the blight blackened the fields, he had already established schools where Protestant scripture was the curriculum. When famine struck, he fed the children too, and demand for places skyrocketed. Some accused him of buying souls with broth. Others argued he simply chose to feed the children already in his care. Not all soup was poisoned with ideology. Many Anglicans, including the Archbishop of Dublin, Richard Whately, openly condemned proselytising to the desperate. The Quakers ran soup kitchens with no strings attached and are remembered fondly to this day. They fed the starving without condition, and more importantly, without humiliation. Still, the damage was done. Even soup containing meat, served on Fridays when Catholic observance forbade it, was read as an assault on faith. Priests denounced souperism from the pulpit. In some cases, British soldiers had to protect converts from violent reprisals. The spiritual weaponisation of hunger had consequences that outlasted the hunger itself. Historians now largely agree that actual souperism was rarer in practice. The fear was entirely real enough though. By the early twentieth century, the word souper had taken on new and sometimes ironic meanings, applied to any perceived betrayal of Catholic or nationalist identity. Buy the Dublin Time Machine a pint and support the DTM Book ko-fi.com/buchanandublin…

@Nightmare_Snake SS never went away only this time they are doing it to their own citizens.

Not Iran but Germany

@AllLeedsTV Now coached from a very young age.

🐟

@Englishremnant Jeffrey Donaldson a good man? Don't ever forget 9 counties in Ulster and women also live there on our island.

Ulstermen are some of the best Brits 🇬🇧

@PocketTrumpeter As a young 6 yr young boy I watched that game with my dad and 4 brothers. Leeds since then and ALAW. MOT. Thanks Dad.

1970. A young girl saw the Leeds vs Chelsea FA Cup Final at Wembley on TV. She chose to support Leeds & started a lifelong obsession. She never thought she'd see them at Wembley. 56 years on my wonderful Mum's at Wembley with me to see Leeds vs Chelsea in the FA Cup #FullCircle

@manniefabian Unfortunately the IDF will probably murder innocent children and women and justify it over an attack like that.

Footage shows a Hezbollah explosive-laden drone striking near Israeli troops during the evacuation of wounded soldiers in the southern Lebanon town of Taybeh this morning. The troops are seen firing at the drone before it crashes to the ground and explodes.

@TexasMike1972 Hopefully you enjoy your visit to Our Beautiful little Island but just to let you know we have 32 counties but Invaders from over 801 yrs ago think they own a wee portion of our country but we Irish know Better. Tiocfaidh Ar Lá.

@elainesim28 Hahaha. We are heading to Dublin now. Flight leaves in 5 hours. However, I promise we will leave by next Saturday.

It’s all fucking over 😂

@EOmoade69618 @LUFC @grok Who cares, 3 in his last 2 games. MOT

@LUFC How many goals did he score this season so far @grok

🔥 "Okafor arriving, notches another one!"

@WILLIAMTSK41437 @IrishUnity Yes unfortunately the people who wish to move on to live a decent life have to hear the vocal minority but the majority don't give a Fxck about you lot whatever secterian side you support. Thanks/Slainte

“A united Ireland will definitely happen in my lifetime. It will take compromise on both sides. But there will be a referendum. And the people will decide — north and south… We need a strong government here. So, fingers crossed.” - Cillian Murphy

@Martina Maybe some day a male film director who has the f*kn real balls to direct the exact same film As Schindler's List but direct it in the way Palestinian people are suffering from the Genocidal Isreaeli government. Maybe U2 may write a song in support for the people of Palestine?

If you don’t have a problem with this, you are the problem

@muhammadshehad2 He Felt he was A Monster? Hopefully he lives with his nightmares forever. You are human that has Empathy or the Spawn of Satan. Palestine Tiocfaidh Chuir Lá.

🚨Must read: Israeli soldiers with moral injury admit to unspeakable atrocities they committed in Gaza. They say it "reminded [them] of the Holocaust." One says they put a Gazan civilian in cage, stripped him down, a soldier peed on him while the others laughed Another emptied his machine gun into an elderly man with 3 children. When the commander came to the site, he spat on the bodies & called them "sons of bitches." Another soldier says they encountered an unarmed Palestinian civilian who held his hands up. An Israeli soldier "came near him, waited a few seconds & just fired, without asking questions, without the suspect doing anything," then reported the incident as a "terrorist eliminated." Another describes how IDF Soldiers "would just take pleasure in destruction" & stealing the belongings of murdered Palestinians. He said soldiers would steal "electric appliances, gold necklaces, cash, everything" & "called it a blessing to steal from [Palestinians]." NONE of those soldiers have ever been held accountable, despite their public confessions to their crimes. The IDF refuses to even recognize "moral injury" as a mental disorder because it negates their propaganda slogan that "Israel has the world's most moral army." Instead, the IDF quietly calls it "identity injury" to imply those soldiers are to blame for feeling bad about murdering Palestinians.