Ken Foxe

Author of Shining a Light: Information Access in Ireland ~ A practical guide to using FOI ~ Available in print and digital at:

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Out now – my new book, Shining a Light: Information Access in Ireland.

A practical, no-nonsense guide to getting records from public bodies in Ireland using FOI and other information access tools, based on 20+ years of using them.

Available here: https://t.co/Y1x11uWzjB

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Imagine you work in a public body and you think that journalists or citizens asking for spending data every year should be considered "vexatious".

Where does that mindset even come from?

https://t.co/SDsY2V2I2B

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Leinster House management said electric vehicle charging rates should rise by almost 50 percent to cover costs but no increase has been introduced over a year later.

Latest set of FOI records from Right to Know:

https://t.co/c72jFxR83H

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Just ten more copies to go until break-even on my information access book Shining a Light.

A perfect gift for the person in your life with an unhealthy level of curiosity about how Ireland is run!

Signed copies and Amazon/Kindle editions available at: https://t.co/jvgElNDj6i

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

@WhiteHouse I don't know - they looked very poor against Green Bay.

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Just ten more copies to go until break-even on my information access book Shining a Light.

A perfect gift for the person in your life with an unhealthy level of curiosity about how Ireland is run!

Signed copies and Amazon/Kindle editions available at: https://t.co/jvgElNDj6i

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Department of Education demographic projections show special education demand rising by almost a third even as overall school enrolments fall.

Latest set of FOI records from Right to Know:

https://t.co/9wXyT9oKnd

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Ever wondered how to get your hands on records from public bodies?

My information access book Shining a Light should definitely help!

Signed copies are still available, along with Amazon print and Kindle editions, on my website at:

https://t.co/jvgElNCLgK

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Ever wondered how to get your hands on records from public bodies?

My information access book Shining a Light should definitely help!

Signed copies are still available, along with Amazon print and Kindle editions, on my website at:

https://t.co/jvgElNCLgK

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Once you set aside the Jan 6 insurrection, the murder of unarmed protesters, the bombing of a girl's primary school, the extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean, the simpering of the Supreme Court, and the systemic corruption, this is on the ball:

https://t.co/Lyuy4MQatd

[Patrick Collison @patrickc]

It seems to me that democracy has on the whole worked very well in America over the last decade, and perhaps better than in any other major country in the West. National outcomes have repeatedly been responsive to underlying voter preferences on meaningful questions, and significant changes in policy have ensued. I’ve been reading Democracy in America this past week, and it’s striking how much it still rhymes nearly two centuries later.

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Justice Minister urged caution over higher voluntary return payments for asylum seekers saying he did not want them to become a ‘pull factor’ for others to come to Ireland.

Records released following an appeal under FOI laws by Right to Know:

https://t.co/d2USqBH9Kq

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

RTÉ asks for flexible 5-year voluntary exit programme (VEP) to achieve required staff cuts.

Govt decides VEP must be done annually.

2025 scheme misses target due to lack of flexibility.

Govt blames RTÉ for being too slow in reducing staff numbers!

https://t.co/56oG3Texbz

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Anyone considering a particularly large bulk purchase of my information access handbook Shining a Light is very welcome to get in touch.

Discounts available for multiple orders.

Signed copies and digital editions also still for sale through my website: https://t.co/jvgElNDj6i

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Anyone considering a particularly large bulk purchase of my information access handbook Shining a Light is very welcome to get in touch.

Discounts available for multiple orders.

Signed copies and digital editions also still for sale through my website: https://t.co/jvgElNDj6i

[James Talarico @jamestalarico]

There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal U.S. Senator.

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Laptop left in a taxi and a letter sent accidentally to the Garda Commissioner among data breaches at garda watchdog Fiosrú.

Our latest set of FOI records available at:

https://t.co/J2JlfkWCSo

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

The HSE overpaid its staff by more than €30 million over the course of three years.

A total of 3,242 staff were in receipt of overpayments last year, equivalent to an average of almost €3,000 per person.

https://t.co/W5DJdX6YHF

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say. But that’s exactly what the Trump Administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.

To understand why this is so appalling, it’s important to know the facts. Congresswoman Omar came to this country with her father when she was 12 years old. Five years later, her father became a naturalized citizen. If Ilhan had been 18 at the time, she would have had to apply for citizenship separately. But because she was 17, she became a naturalized citizen automatically.

Congresswoman Omar went on to graduate from college, work as a community organizer, become the first Somali-American legislator elected to public office in the U.S., and win a seat in Congress. There, she has been one of the Trump Administration’s fiercest critics, which has led the president to repeatedly single her out as someone who he believes does not belong in this country.

Now the Administration is actively trying to deport Congresswoman Omar, seemingly based solely on the unsubstantiated theory that she was actually 18 when her father was naturalized, and therefore is not a citizen. Federal agents have raided her home, confiscated personal records, and seized her phone — all to try and uncover a nonexistent smoking gun from 20 years ago that will somehow make their case.

Think about that. The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president. And it’s not the first time this has happened. Under President Trump, the Justice Department has repeatedly gone after those he considers his political enemies — from the Attorney General of New York, to the former head of the FBI, to members of the Federal Reserve.

In those cases, the prosecutions either stalled or were dismissed for having no basis in law, and the same is likely to happen in this case. But not before Congresswoman Omar’s life has been turned upside down, her legal bills have piled up, and she’s been forced to spend time fighting unsubstantiated charges instead of serving the people of Minnesota.

The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views. Because if this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her — or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Report on National Just Transition Fund for the Midlands found just one-sixth of the hoped-for jobs materialised.

Projects had been expected to create up to 1,094 direct full and part-time jobs.

However, just 183 posts resulted.

https://t.co/mJPOfN1Xvr

[Donncha O'Connell @DonnchaLaw]

A truly excellent candidate:

Academic and lawyer Maeve O’Rourke to run for Seanad.

https://t.co/5y1mCGb3pH

[Ken Foxe @kenfoxe]

Against a backdrop of rising deaths on the roads, Minister Sean Canney suggested name change for the Road Safety Authority ...

... to the Road Safety Agency. He said the old name had led to "unfair criticism".

The proposal was later dropped.

https://t.co/AwHjyYf4P9