The Catalan independence movement may seem like a throwback to a bygone age of nationalism. But the disproportionate reaction of Spain’s central government to the referendum in October has served, perversely, to make the break-up of the country more likely. Along with wider curbs on freedom of expression, the repression orchestrated by a ruling Partido Popular … Read more
Harry Gleeson was wrongfully hanged for the murder of Moll McCarthy in 1941, and fully exonerated in 2015 after the case was re-investigated by the Innocence Project in Ireland.[i] Gleeson was framed by the police, with the collusion of elected representatives, for the murder of Moll McCarthy, by reputation a ‘lady of the night.’ There … Read more
Bitcoin and the Blockchain are perhaps the most hyped technology today, rivalling even Artificial Intelligence for extreme predictions and outrageous claims. We need to talk about the ecology. Bitcoin is a cryptographically-backed, anonymous, pseudo-currency invented by the otherwise unknown Satoshi Nakamoto. It has a dollar value because it is traded on the market, as can … Read more
If you are complaining about Climate Change, Brexit, Donald Trump, and all the cozening of late capitalism, I will not take you seriously if you have accepted, without very much thought, that there is only ever an arbitrary relationship between a signifier and what it signifies. I will say to you that you are closer … Read more
I quit. I had wanted to say those words for a long me and that day they arrived. Leaving a job during the Irish recession, being mum to three children under six and having a husband who worked for himself – circumstances were such that it was neither the easiest move nor possibly the wisest … Read more
We are currently seeing relatively intense media focus on veganism, but I am worried this is another false dawn. All social movements go through peaks and troughs, and today’s coverage reminds me of what happened in the 1980s and 1990s. It is quite possible we are seeing the beginnings of a repeat cycle. If we … Read more
I went in my first chatroom when I was 12. My name was ‘Phoebe’ – she was my favourite friend – and every day after school I rushed to the computer to chat to the other liars in the chatroom who were probably aged 38. It was like stepping into Narnia. One evening I dialled … Read more
We say we are ready to be eaten by the music but have scant idea what that entails, what fire those geometric petals conceal. In need of advice, we turn to the dead: their eyes are forests, they cannot speak. This room begins to seem a temple raised to a pixellated god, to the warp … Read more
“What face?” I said again. I wanted to help. I wanted more wine. My flare-ups, real and imagined, may be related to all the drinking I do now. I think I drink every day, which seems shocking, until I try to conceive of getting through a whole day without drinking, which seems unfeasable. I handed … Read more
What a beautiful day to be a nihilist. The sun shatters like a wine glass on the sheer ocean. Someone is stretching a canvas on the patio. Little blue flowers whose names I will never know sprout up in the grass, crickets trill, an empty crab shell contemplates existence on the window sill— the compost … Read more
It is thirty years since I consumed my last drop of milk and the food scene for vegans in Ireland has changed considerably in that time. Back then options for eating out were fairly limited, although there were always a few vegetarian places along with Indian, Italian and Chinese restaurants that could easily cater for … Read more
My paintings are inspired by the simplicity and perfection in Nature, revealing what our soil provides for us. I am moved by other botanical artists, portraying plants in a natural way, sometimes illustrating the features of each plant scientifically, or simply picturing their beauty without getting too methodical. Painting Nature is a way for me … Read more
