Hugo MacNeill

Independent Trinity Seanad Candidate 🗳️

[Hugo MacNeill @hugo_macneill]

Great to see @tcddublin students like my daughter Georgia having in-person graduations again!

[Olena Rohoza @OlenaRohoza]

“AND YOU STILL DARE TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH…”

Sasha Legerman: This is too accurate not to share.

This Australian’s response to Trump’s rant that “NATO does nothing for America” is absolutely devastating:

“Mate. You run a country where 600,000 homeless people will sleep on the streets tonight.

A country where 40% of adults can’t cover a $400 emergency without borrowing money.

A country where insulin costs more than a car payment, and people ration it just to stay alive.

A country where medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcy.

A country where women die in hospital parking lots because doctors are too afraid of abortion laws to treat miscarriages.

You imprison more of your own citizens than any country on Earth.
More than China. More than Russia. More than North Korea.

In the land of the free, 2 million people sit in cages, and a quarter of them haven’t even been convicted of anything.
They’re simply too poor to afford bail.

Your life expectancy is declining. You’re the only developed nation where that’s happening.

Your infant mortality rate is worse than Cuba’s.

Your children practice active shooter drills between math and English classes while you sell defense stocks to your friends.

Your minimum wage hasn’t changed in 15 years.

Your teachers work two jobs, your veterans sleep under bridges, and you just spent a trillion dollars flattening a country that never attacked you.

And now a convicted criminal — found liable for sexual abuse, defending a pedophile, sleeping with a porn star, and running the biggest dumpster-fire campaign since the Taliban — is thanking you for yet another disaster.

And you call Greenland badly governed?

Greenland has universal healthcare. Free education. One of the lowest incarceration rates in the world.
Nobody there goes bankrupt because they got sick. Nobody dies in a waiting room because insurance refused treatment.

‘NATO wasn’t there when we needed them.’

When exactly was that, champ?
September 11?

Because NATO invoked Article 5 for the first and only time in history FOR YOU.

Soldiers from dozens of countries deployed, fought, bled, and died in Afghanistan FOR YOU.

Australia wasn’t even in NATO, and we still showed up. For twenty years.

And then you left at 2 a.m. without telling anyone and left everybody else to clean up the mess.

You don’t care that a great nation is being terrorized by your friend, and you haven’t shown it a single ounce of sympathy.

So maybe before calling other countries badly governed, take a look at your own backyard, you aluminum siding salesman with a spray tan.

The only thing badly managed in this picture is your damn mouth.

And you still dare to lecture the rest of the world?”

[Mykhailo Rohoza @MykhailoRohoza]

Donald Trump attacks Giorgia Meloni — and she delivers a fiery speech he’ll never forget.
Donald Trump thought he could easily score political points by calling Giorgia Meloni “an insult to Jesus,” accusing her of “not being woke,” and claiming that God does not discriminate. Unfortunately for “Don Dementia,” this time he picked the wrong target.
Standing at a historic location, Giorgia Meloni didn’t just respond — she delivered a full moral reckoning.
“The President of the United States just said that I insult Jesus,” Giorgia Meloni declared. “Do you want to know what really insults Jesus? Taking healthcare away from the sick while cutting taxes for billionaires.”
And that was only the beginning.
“Do you want to know what else insults Jesus?” she continued. “Deporting foreigners and separating children from their mothers.”
Then she went even further, touching on war, corruption, and hypocrisy.
“Do you want to know what insults Jesus? Bombing innocent schools in Iran and sending our brave men and women to die in yet another endless war… hiding the Epstein files and then refusing to prosecute anyone involved.”
This wasn’t politics as usual. It was a full moral indictment.
Giorgia Meloni, targeted by Trump for supporting transgender people and for saying that “trans children are children of God,” completely turned the tables. Instead of backing down, she grounded her message in the very teachings Trump tried to weaponize.
“I am not a perfect Christian,” she said. “There was only one perfect man, and two thousand years ago he was crucified.”
Then came the line that hit the hardest:
“Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourselves… Can we imagine war in heaven? Can we imagine hatred in heaven? Can we imagine poverty in heaven? Then why do we tolerate these things on Earth?”
This is how you respond. Not with insults. Not with fear. But with clarity and conviction.
Trump tried to discredit her. Instead, Giorgia Meloni delivered a sermon that now echoes far beyond that hall.
Please share Giorgia Meloni’s inspiring words.

[Massimo Costa @the_Maxastromax]

@AntiTrumpCanada How comes that 75 million Americans voted for this $hIT? They implicitly admitted that 1) he is better than them 2) he’s the model to follow
Now I ask myself… when exactly something went wrong in the USA?

[Hugo MacNeill @hugo_macneill]

Absolutely. Well said

[Brigid Laffan @BrigidLaffan]

@1922_adrian No he died for the IRA who never had a mandate to kill in our name. He died with a bomb that he was going to detonate & kill innocent civilians -that is a war crime

[Brigid Laffan @BrigidLaffan]

@1922_adrian No he died for the IRA who never had a mandate to kill in our name. He died with a bomb that he was going to detonate & kill innocent civilians -that is a war crime

[Hugo MacNeill @hugo_macneill]

@UlsterRugby Sincere condolences to all his family and friends

[Hugo MacNeill @hugo_macneill]

This was a very special event and a privilege to be there. Enda was a great leader at a most challenging time for our country.

[Trinity Long Room Hub @TLRHub]

It was an honour to host this occasion in the Trinity Long Room Hub last night, recognising leadership, our international community, and Ireland’s place in the EU. 🇪🇺

[Liam Halligan @LiamHalligan]

I'm sad to report that my father has passed away.

Martin Halligan lived most of his life in the UK - but it's safe to say that his heart was always in Ireland.

Dad was born in 1938 - and spent his early childhood on a farm between Swinford and Charlestown, Co Mayo. His father was Martin Halligan (of Cullane) and his mother was Bea Madden (of Puntabeg).

During Dad's early life, Eamonn De Valera was Taoiseach of the Irish Free State - and rural areas across the West of Ireland were remote, traditional and Gaelic-speaking.

And during the Second World War, of course, relations between the UK and what was to become the Republic of Ireland in 1949, were particularly fraught, given the Free State's self-declared neutrality.

Like so many of his generation, Dad followed the well-trodden path from rural Ireland to the UK, arriving in London in his youth, where he quickly learned English and met countless relatives he didn't know he had.

Missing Ireland, he spent some of his teenage years travelling around the English countryside with Irish travellers, working on funfairs and engaging in other seasonal work.

He finally settled down, attending school in Willesden Green, where his inherent intelligence was soon apparent - and when it came to national service, he was recruited by the Royal Navy as a signaller.

While anti-Irish prejudice was rife in late-50s/early-60s Britain, Dad often said he was "always treated fairly" in the Navy, and he retained many friendships from that time of his life. He loved being in the RN, in fact – which put him at odds with some of his relatives and boyhood friends.

A talented athlete, with a devastating left-hook, Dad actually spent most of his national service as one of the Navy's top boxers, training hard and fighting against other services in the UK and around the world. But he loved being at sea – which is why, having completed his time in the RN, he then spent a number of happy years with the Merchant Navy.

Dad had planned to settle in New Zealand and, having left the Merchant Navy, he lived there for a while, setting up a small fencing company. But then, on a visit back to London, he re-met Eve (whom he had known as a teenager). They were soon married - and remained in the UK.

Dad trained as a plumber - but, having settled in London, he soon set up his own building firm. For many years, M.Halligan and Co Ltd. operated across North-West London, carrying out building works for local councils and private clients.

Dad's company was at the heart of my childhood and of my family - employing not only my brother, but other relatives too, along with countless labourers, "brickies", "chippies", "sparks", painters and decorators, many of whom became close family friends.

M.Halligan and Co was never huge. Much of my Dad's business life – hiring, organising, deal-making – was conducted in the pubs and working mens' clubs of Willesden, Kilburn and Harlesden (huge Irish areas back in the day).

But he inspired loyalty among those who worked for him, his firm had a deserved reputation for good work and fair-dealing – and the company he built provided for his immediate family and plenty of other families along the way.

M. Halligan and Co also implanted in me a life long interest in commerce and a keen awareness of the importance of small businesses and the impact of policymaking and the broader economic environment on business activity.

Early in their marriage, my Mum and Dad endured the pain of losing my brother Sean, who died at the age of just 8 months. They moved from Willesden Green NW10 to Kingsbury NW9 in the mid-1960s - buying themselves a "Metroland" home of which they were both very proud. That's where my brother Martin (b.1965) and myself (b.1969) grew up.

In 2010, Mum and Dad moved to Saffron Walden, in North Essex, where I had moved with my own young family a few years before. He loved living there, and made plenty of friends in the local pubs, quite a few of whom, like him, had deep Irish roots.

A talented story-teller, Dad was at his happiest, I think, when spinning a yarn while having a drink with friends and family – recounting tales from rural Ireland, the building sites of mid-to-late 20th century London or one of his cherished fishing trips.

He is survived by his devoted wife Eve, myself and my brother, his grandchildren Tashauna, Niall, Ailis, Maeve and Ned and his great-grandson Maddy - as well as his sister Veronica, his brother Steve and countless loving cousins.

He will be missed enormously not just by family members, but countless others whose lives he touched with his kindness, charm, good humour and quick intelligence.

I am proud of the life Martin Halligan lived – and will always be grateful for the loyalty and devotion he showed towards his family.

Martin Thomas Halligan, 09.07.1938 - 02.11.2025

Rest in Peace

"Go ndèanna Dia trocaire ar a anam geal ... may God have mercy on his bright soul"

[Hugo MacNeill @hugo_macneill]

Excellent article

[Brigid Laffan @BrigidLaffan]

A must read from Ben Tonra on Transatlantic relationship & how Ireland manages hardening of geopolitics. No small state can ignore & not Ireland 1 of the most globalised states in the world. Irish foreign policy needs recalibration & we don’t have lots of time @IrishTimes .

[Brigid Laffan @BrigidLaffan]

Excellent letter from John O’Hagan @tcddublin in today’s @IrishTimes

[Mick Finnegan @Mick_Finnegan]

Sad to hear of the passing of Brother Kevin. The capuchin centre was a godsend when I was sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin. He was a good man who always made sure at very least you were safe and well fed. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

https://t.co/eSmKKgQWFU

[Donna Malone @donnamalone21]

Another busy year for Jennifer, Happy 26th birthday 🥰

[David McRedmond @DavidMcredmond]

Rasam won best World Food Restaurant at Irish Restaurant Awards last week. The genius is Nisheeth Tak, a great friend since 2003. He always puts Glasthule first and is there whenever you visit. Stars dine but as a regular he makes you a star! Book now before it’s booked out!

[Hugo MacNeill @hugo_macneill]

@DavidMcredmond Well done.Great idea

[Hugo MacNeill @hugo_macneill]

Good to see. Well spoken

[Alex.Kane @AlexKane221b]

Message from DUP

[Hugo MacNeill @hugo_macneill]

This was a fantastic day at Stranmillis College Belfast as we at the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities look to help other colleges roll out programmes across the island and beyond.

[TCPID @IDTCD]

TCPID joined Stranmillis University College, Belfast yesterday for the launch of their ‘Pathways to Inclusion’ feasibility report, demonstrating how #HigherEducation can support people with intellectual disabilities while maintaining strong academic standards
@stranbelfast

[Hugo MacNeill @hugo_macneill]

@bernardjackman @ClontarfRugby Great https://t.co/OkTGMZX5y0 in peace.

[Hugo MacNeill @hugo_macneill]

Yes thanks to @UCCEconomics and British Ambassador @PJohnstonFCDO for their contributions to an excellent day

[Paul JohnstonIUA @PJohnstonFCDO]

Thanks @UCCEconomics for the invitation to take part in your annual conference with @ecb Philip Lane @DanMulhall @hugo_macneill Swiss and Dutch colleagues and many others. Excellent questions from tomorrow’s leaders! @UCC_Official @johbees

[Claire Hanna @ClaireHanna]

An attempt to strip Zelensky of his dignity by two of the most ignorant thugs to ever walk the world stage. The humiliation is ultimately America’s.

[Hugo MacNeill @hugo_macneill]

I’m here today in Trinity for the Seanad Election count. We won’t know the results until tomorrow, I would like to thank everyone who voted for me for their support over the last number of weeks!