PhilD

I drink and I know things.

[gript @griptmedia]

NIAMH UÍ BHRIAIN: The ALCI are standing by their man for the tax-payer funded Galway conference, despite his writing on inducing ‘lactation for Kinksters’ and on men lactating "for curiosity, fun, or sexual gratification".

https://t.co/NS5bxlbcL5

[nwl @nwl88444048]

We learn this morning that the Government believes the Constitution Article 15.6 prevents it from allowing French or British warships deploy in Irish territory on active missions during the EU Presidency.

Yet earlier this year, we gave permission to US (and likely British) war planes to overfly our territory on an active mission to seize a Russian-linked oil tanker which was passing through Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Helen McEntee apparently gave permission, but she didn’t have any Oireachtas approval, and went very coy when asked about it. Simon Harris was equally reticent.

Contemptuous of the Constitution. Again.

[nwl @nwl88444048]

FF justice minister Jim O'Callaghan is turfing 1,577 Ukrainian refugees out of State accommodation and cancelling the contracts, with the premises returning to their original use (probably but the asylum drug may have become too addictive for some owners).

But where will the 1,577 Ukrainians live? They’ll largely be battling with everyone else in the private rental sector.

This seems as well-thought-through as Jim’s legal aid cuts.

[John McGuirk @john_mcguirk]

By me: The new CSO figures on immigration are genuinely terrifying, and show that Ireland is in an immigration doom loop. With thanks to @nwl88444048 for some of the data:

https://t.co/siCOE5K4hY

[nwl @nwl88444048]

Ah noooo! Would they not give Karen Sugrue a wee lanyard at yesterday's SocDems conference in Cork. She's apparently suspended (she believes her criticism of Israel-linked stockholder Eoin Hayes TD is a factor, no comment from SocDems HQ).

[nwl @nwl88444048]

"Permanently expelled" having being accused of bringing the SocDems into disrepute**! Limerick activist Karen Sugrue (right below at this year's conference where they wouldn't even give her a wee lanyard) is down, but she vows to appeal her expulsion.

"Asked for comment on the intended expulsion of Sugrue, the [two Limerick city SocDems] councillors gave a short statement to The Irish Times outlining that they were proud of how well the Social Democrats were doing in Limerick, adding they would focus on representing the constituents"

They appear to have moved on pretty feckin fast!

** internal rúla búla that all parties, especially rapidly expanding ones, have to deal with. It's never pleasant, but highly entertaining for rivals.

[nwl @nwl88444048]

Whilst this probably isn't the best time for Karen Sugrue with the hostilities, she can take comfort in the fact a national newspaper has reported an internal disciplinary matter involving a mere activist (not an elected politician) in a provincial branch of a small political party. That's not something you see every day, or decade.

Karen of course has achieved some prominence in her role with the group called "Mammies (sic) for Trans (sic) Rights (sic)". Perhaps that's the reason the Irish Times reported this story. Or perhaps it's something else.

Sics? The "Mammies" include men like Jude Copeland, and as recently revealed in that park interview, include adults who aren't parents at all. "Trans" probably means "Transgender" but in this context means "Transgender children" which is a contested term, and "Rights" includes stuff like men in women's sports and prisons and refuges and toilets, and 8-year olds having agency over their use of puberty blockers, again highly contested stuff which some would dispute as "rights"

[nwl @nwl88444048]

Whilst Karen Sugrue remains in the trenches in her battle with SocDems, Gay Community News has a 1600-word (that's long!) feature on her and her controversial group called "Mammies for Trans Rights".

GCN which is operated by the group National LGBT Federation, is receiving €25,411 from taxpayer-enabled Coimisiun na Mean in 2026, and this article is specifically funded by that grant.

The article is a platform for the group with no journalistic challenge about its controversies, including a putative member saying this summer that they work to procure and supply 8-year olds with puberty blockers.

[nwl @nwl88444048]

Will the research powerhouse that is @EoinLenihan be producing analyses from this year's population estimates. On the face of it, Irish in Ireland (as opposed to those with paper citizenships) have declined in 2026 for the first time since 2008, while the non-European population (includes Ukraine, but is is just 25% of the increase since 2020) is rocketing. We've never had it so good economically, but we have never had this housing supply crisis either. Something historic is happening.

Not that anyone consuming our mainstream media would have the foggiest...

[nwl @nwl88444048]

Whilst Government ministers are hoodwinking us about 'momentum' in housing supply, and RTE is only too grateful to report confidentially-supplied data and narratives, the reality is, there is no significant uptick in construction activity in four years. Anyone who is paying attention to CSO construction indices, commencement notices, AIB monthly construction indicators, employment in housebuilding can see that.

Even officials in the Department of Housing can see that and have warned the housing minister who continues to paint a rosy picture to a grateful media.

Today, the Irish Daily Mail reveals a small element of the caution expressed by civil servants, and ignored by ministers and their advisers.

[nwl @nwl88444048]

Has anyone asked our FF justice minister about this? The Irish-Dutch citizen Khalid Ahmed was arrested in England in March 2026 in an intelligence-led operation and detained under terrorism laws after he was found to have 10 handguns and ammunition in his Mercedes after he sailed from Calais to Dover.

After a week of detention under terrorism laws, he was charged with weapons offences, with British police asking the public not to speculate about the matter. He had one reported court appearance, and a further scheduled appearance at the Old Bailey which wasn't reported.

As of late August 2026 there is simply no confirmed public information on whether Khalid Ahmed remains in custody, has entered a plea, or has a trial date.

Where and when did he live in Ireland?

[John McGuirk @john_mcguirk]

I was quite definitive on the Lindsay Clancy case on last week's podcast, but: The more I read about it, the more I think I was completely wrong:

https://t.co/rQG3Y1vuSG

[John McGuirk @john_mcguirk]

By me: The great paradox of crimes like the Galway Rape case is that the more crimes that migrants commit, the more committed to migration the Irish establishment becomes, because of the resulting political polarisation:

https://t.co/jwh4QEX0YW

[nwl @nwl88444048]

FG leader Simon Harris accuses Twitter of platforming illegal activity.

Simon Harris himself is accused of platforming Senator Martin Conway in December 2024, despite knowing the allegations about him, and Harris allowed himself be blackmailed into supporting Conway for a seat in the Seanad elections.

In February 2025, FG announced it was conducting a disciplinary inquiry into Conway after an incidence of drunkenness on O'Connell Street but the inquiry was also to look at Conway's recent history.

17 months later, where's the outcome of that inquiry, Simon?

https://t.co/1kylWyLjIy

[nwl @nwl88444048]

The number of Irish (citizenship) in Ireland increased by 24,400 in the past year from 4,570,200 to 4,594,600.

Guess how many Irish citizenships we handed out in the past year? 31, 244

There are some today who claim that the population of Irish in Ireland increased in the past year. Above is where they are getting the basis for that claim. Does it look misleading to you?

[nwl @nwl88444048]

To clarify, the population of Irish in Ireland declined in Ireland. Here is the calculation...

Births (38,009) minus deaths (33,678) plus returnees (30,200) minus emigrants (35,400)= decline of 869

Births and deaths come from the quarterly Vital Statistics published by the CSO, the most recent publication was last Friday for Q1,2026. CSO breaks out Irish and non-Irish births on a quarterly basis. It does NOT break out deaths even though it collects this data. We obtained directly (or indirectly) from CSO the split for Q1,2025 of 95% Irish and 5% non-Irish, and apply that to the quarterly deaths. Vast majority of deaths in Ireland are of people over 55 years of age. Below is OUR table showing the quarterly Vital Statistics.

Returnees and emigrants were published by the CSO this morning, see bottom right of their infographic.

[nwl @nwl88444048]

Tomorrow in Galway District Court, two cases set for mention,

the two Muslim asylum seekers charged with the gang rape of an Irish woman in public at Eyre Square on Saturday 1 August 2026,

and the separate case of the Muslim asylum seeker charged with assault causing harm and false imprisonment of a woman in Galway city 10 days ago.

Ronan Judge at the Connacht Tribune has done a great job of bringing these two cases to light previously. Hopefully there will be additional journalistic resource deployed tomorrow.

[Fiona goddard @fionagoddarduk]

This morning, I received a phone call from my Victim Liaison Officer confirming that my abusers are still going to be released after serving just 50% of their sentences.
Mohammed Usman is due to be released on 24 August, just next week, 7.5 years before the end of his 15-year sentence.
Because my abusers were sentenced in 2019, they fall under the rules that applied before the changes introduced in 2020. They therefore aren't subject to the 67% threshold that applies to many offenders sentenced later. By mere months, they avoided those changes.
I am grateful that they are no longer being considered for release after just 33%. But I cannot pretend that serving 50% of a 15–20 year sentence is justice.
Over the next 12 months, five violent sexual offenders who were convicted in relation to my abuse will be released having served only half of their sentences.
There is nothing I can do now to prevent those releases. And I have had to accept that, however difficult that is.
But this isn't where the fight ends.
We are already working on a campaign to make sure that when these offenders are released, any breach of their licence conditions is taken seriously and met with the full force of the law.
Violent sexual offenders should never walk out of prison believing they have simply "got away with it." Victims should never be left feeling that a 15 year sentence, or more, actually means serving only half of it.
I have spent years fighting for justice, not just for myself, but for thousands of victims whose lives were permanently changed by these men and other abusers like them.
I am grateful that the rules have moved away from the possibility of release after 33% and that many are serving longer behind bars, but 50% still leaves a very bitter pill to swallow.
This cannot continue.
Justice has to be about victims and public safety, nothing else.

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

This is appalling. Any sexual or violent assault committed by male predators released after serving only half their sentence will lie at the government’s door. They are yet again sacrificing the safety of women and girls to political expediency.

[nwl @nwl88444048]

Still awaiting Garda confirmation, but it's now believed the Brazilian woman whose corpse was found yesterday morning in Limerick was killed by a Brazilian male known to her, who subsequently died by suicide in Cork.

If confirmed, this is the 8th femicide (killing of a woman or girl by a man or boy) in Ireland (26 counties) in 2026.

In seven instances, the suspected or charged killer is non-Irish, in one instance the suspect is unknown.