Brian O'Kane

irish traditional music, irish bouzouki, bit of banter

[God @TheTweetOfGod]

The definition of a Christian is simple: a person who follows the actual teachings of Jesus Christ.

So no one, basically.

[Patrick Dexter @patrickdextervc]

I’ve started going back through old cottage videos and keep finding Nisha there beside the music.

Here she is on the left, close by as always, while I play a slow version of Turlough O’Carolan’s Bridget Cruise.

Cello, garden, sunshine, and the small black dog who was so often part of it all.

[Hel @helhal13]

Just to educate those who have posted about someone using virtual reality at the match today, it was this lady who is visually impaired and this technology gives her and others the opportunity to enjoy the match day experience

https://t.co/Q8rPJX7Zmx

[Brian O'Kane @bjokane]

Fantastic initiative for the visually impaired

[anfield social @anfieldsociaI]

Can someone educate me what the person on the left is wearing?

[Jesus H Christ! @ThatBloke_Jesus]

Good to see the lads at Supper tonight!

Think I’ll make this a weekly thing

[Jesus H Christ! @ThatBloke_Jesus]

Just popping out for supper with the lads!

[Brian O'Kane @bjokane]

@rtenews St Peter better watch out....
#chucknorris

[Brian O'Kane @bjokane]

@SluggerOToole @grok summarise this article

[Brian O'Kane @bjokane]

@BookofAEGIS @AVFCTranstweet I hope we have the choice, a manager of that calibre operating under these financial constraints can't be satisfied. I think it's more likely he walks.....

[Brian O'Kane @bjokane]

@BookofAEGIS @AVFCTranstweet Absolutely stick, we don't have the squad quality to be in the top 6.
There's no one out there who could do better with the same players. We don't even have a decent striker!

[Brian O'Kane @bjokane]

Unai answers the fans doubts about his selection within 5 minutes.
Bailey, Luiz, Ollie, goal!
#AVFC #EmeryOut

[Brian O'Kane @bjokane]

@Choyaa13 @DannyDonnelly1 100%

[The Morecambe & Wise Archive 👓🌞♥️ @eric_ernie_col]

Happy Shrove Tuesday!

It’s #PancakeDay 🥞

The only day in the calendar when it’s perfectly acceptable to be a Tosser!

#StillBringingSunshine 👓☀️❤️
#MorecambeAndWise #EricAndErnie

[MO @Abu_Salah9]

One of the most widely shared videos worldwide.

Israel did this

[Sama Hoole @SamaHoole]

1740s Ireland. The island is covered in cattle. Thousands of them. The grazing land is perfect for livestock.

Irish cattle are exported to England in enormous numbers. The beef feeds English cities. The wealth goes to Anglo-Irish landowners.

The Irish peasantry raising these cattle eat potatoes. Almost exclusively potatoes. They're legally forbidden from selling meat domestically at prices they can afford.

The exports are more profitable. The English market pays better than the Irish one. So the cattle leave Ireland and the Irish eat potatoes.

This continues for a century. Irish labor produces beef that Irish people can't access. The system is explicitly designed this way.

The 1740s famine kills 400,000 Irish. Not from lack of food. From lack of access. The cattle are still being exported during the famine.

The British response: "They should grow more potatoes."

The pattern repeats. 1840s, the Great Famine. Potato blight destroys the crop. One million Irish die. Another million emigrate.

During the famine, Ireland exports food to England. Cattle, pork, butter, grain. All leaving Ireland while the Irish starve.

Not because there's no food. Because the food belongs to landlords who sell to the highest bidder.

The Irish are raising cattle they'll never eat. Growing grain they'll never consume. Churning butter they'll never taste.

All for export. All for profit. All while eating potatoes exclusively.

The physical outcomes are documented. Irish peasants in 1840 average 5'2". The shortest population in Europe.
Anglo-Irish landlords average 5'8". They're eating the beef.

When Irish emigrate to America and can finally afford meat, their children grow taller. First-generation Irish-Americans average 5'6". Second-generation average 5'8".

Same genetics. Different access. Six inches of difference.

The Irish Famine wasn't a natural disaster. It was policy. The cattle were there. The butter was there. The grain was there.

It just wasn't for the Irish.

The British colonial system extracted Irish agricultural production while keeping the Irish themselves on potatoes.

And when the potatoes failed, the British didn't redirect the beef exports back to Ireland. They let a million people die while shipping food off the island.

The cruelty wasn't accidental. It was structural.

Control the food, control the people. Even if controlling it means letting them starve while surrounded by cattle.

[Brian O'Kane @bjokane]

New guitar for my daughter in progress...
#lutherie #woodworking

[Brian O'Kane @bjokane]

@zacvoynow @Larrydn22 He quoted a beautiful passage from a famous diary. There was no comparison to anything.
You made the connection.

[Larry Nance @Larrydn22]

"Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart.
Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared."

Diary of Anne Frank
January 13, 1943

[Irish Sport for Palestine @Sport4Palestine]

GAA legend Colm McAlarney spoke powerfully at Páirc Esler this evening in county Down calling on the GAA to #dropallianz @GaelsAgainstGen

[Brian O'Kane @bjokane]

@SirStevoTimothy Andy Irvine