Frank McDonnell

Career Guidance Counsellor, Member of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors

[Patrick Collison @patrickc]

Stimulating piece on Scottish education in @asteriskmgzn: https://t.co/jyTk8uTT1J.

I suspect that discussions of canon, culture, and shared context to return to the fore in the coming years, as many skills, narrowly-construed, are ceded to AI, and as some of the excesses of de-Arnoldization, and the processes that Arendt described in her writing on education, start to recede.

I’m curious on the causal linkage between PISA scores and the reforms he describes.

It feels like a very exciting time to be a theorist of education, and I assume that the best work will come from surprising places.

[Seán Kelly MEP @SeanKellyMEP]

I’m beginning to think @TheSundayGame & @RTEsport should have neutral analysts & commentators for their programmes . Sure, partisans are never going to give you an objective analysis! #cutehoorism reigns ! If that’s what people want , then tune into local radio- entertaining but totally biased . @RTEgaa should be above that !

[Frank McDonnell @frankjmcdonnell]

@TansuYegen Up spiral

[Charlotte's Battle Against Glioblastoma (BAG) @alexeades1]

My daughter wasn’t a celebrity. She was a normal young woman who tragically developed brain cancer. I’m simply trying to raise awareness of glioblastoma, the Grade 4 brain tumour that took her at just 19 years and 5 days.

Charlotte didn’t have a bucket list and she didn’t have a large group of friends to enjoy one with. She wasn’t popular at school. She was a timid, anxiety-ridden teenager. But when she was diagnosed with cancer, something changed. She faced it head on.

Gone were the days of fear and loneliness. A whole new chapter began.

Charlotte spoke out. She appeared on all kinds of media. She comforted other young people with cancer who had no voice.

Miles, Charlotte’s brother, and I continue to raise awareness of brain cancer. If you could RT & follow to help keep Charlotte’s legacy alive, it would mean so much. Awareness saves lives.
https://t.co/qGIjBOlAZY

[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"

[Frank McDonnell @frankjmcdonnell]

The greatest Gael of them all
https://t.co/NO1Y1wq7Kk

[Roman Sheremeta 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @rshereme]

14/ Signed,
Lech Wałęsa, former political prisoner, Solidarity leader, President of Poland

[Frank McDonnell @frankjmcdonnell]

He fought the law and won https://t.co/3yr7nQlLIv

[Frank McDonnell @frankjmcdonnell]

Eavan Boland, who wrote about women’s lives, is a better fit for Trinity than slave-owning Berkeley https://t.co/G3bGkDuCBb

[Kieran McCarthy @KieranMcC_SS]

Took this photo back in 2016 at the homecoming of Gary & Paul O'Donovan (in their Ireland gear) after winning Olympic silver. On the left is fresh-faced Fintan McCarthy, mouth open, watching on, dreaming. Look at Fintan now: back-to-back Olympic gold medallist! Living the dream.

[Democratic Wins Media @DemocraticWins]

BREAKING: Pete Buttigieg just demolished Donald Trump for being scared away from debating Vice President Kamala Harris. If Trump’s too scared to show up to a debate, we can’t count on him to stand up to our adversaries. Retweet so all Americans see this.

[Jon Sopel @jonsopel]

What a vivid and shocking contrast: the sacrifice of all those brave men so that 80 years on the prime minister could cut short his visit to where they fell so that he could return to London to attack his opponent.
On such judgements we learn about character

[Jon Sopel @jonsopel]

A photo that I suspect will haunt ⁦@RishiSunak⁩

[Lewis Goodall @lewis_goodall]

Already a lot of talk along the lines of “Conservatives will be pleased all we’re talking about is the £2k figure.” This mirrors the £350m NHS bus nonsense.

I get this as an analysis of the political strategy. But it shouldn’t be any part of how it’s covered. The only thing which should be discussed is the substance of what Sunak said, which is clearly wrong and deeply misleading.

[Jon Sopel @jonsopel]

Two quotes:
Rishi Sunak: "Independent Treasury officials have costed Labour's policies and they amount to a £2,000 tax rise for every working family"
Treasury Permanent Secretary: “civil servants were not involved in the production or presentation of the Conservative Party’s document”

[Jon Sopel @jonsopel]

@stevieprince It’s. A. Lie.
There

[Ben Chu @BenChu_]

What's happening with asylum claims in Ireland? 🇮🇪

Is there evidence of a spillover from the UK's Rwanda scheme?

What does the data suggest?

(Updated) thread 🧵

[Frank McDonnell @frankjmcdonnell]

Excellent advice for #anxious children avoiding school

‘if you take control of not having control that will give you the control you are seeking’

https://t.co/vGqlEBWDTy

[Frank McDonnell @frankjmcdonnell]

‘Roger Blaney is to be commended for producing a timely book that securely establishes the Irish language as an important part of Presbyterian heritage. This should be required reading for anyone who wishes to understand the intricacies of cultural diversity in Ireland’

[Paul Givan @paulgivan]

A fantastic visit to @GSAodhaRua in Dungannon. The children were superb as they sang, danced and played music that celebrates Irish culture and education. Thank you for the very kind & heartfelt welcome from Principal Móna and everyone involved in the school #educationforall