Ireland continues to punch above its weight on the international stage.
Dan of the Year@downwithdan.bsky.social · last wk.male loneliness epidemic is here to stay
Richard Chambers
@newschambers.bsky.social
Virgin Media News Correspondent but these are my own views and not those of my employer. Ireland.
Dan of the Year@downwithdan.bsky.social · last wk.
NEW: A glimpse at how AI image generators are used. Researchers set up a fake image editor on Hugging Face and within a week received 1,000 prompts. 73% of them were sexual and 83% of those were asking for people (women) to be “undressed”. Around 6% of the sexual requests also targeted minors
Hugging Face Has a Deepfake Nudes Problem
Researchers tested top image editing models on Hugging Face and found they could easily create explicit deepfakes—and 1,000 image editing prompts show how people use the software.
wired.com
«Une vision d'apocalypse». C'est la une de Libération ce week-end. Deux incendies d'ampleur touchent la Gironde et les Landes. Plus de 110 000 personnes ont été évacuées, avec une presqu'île du Cap Ferret vidée de ses habitants. Reportage, interview et analyse.
🗣️ “All that great business that you benefit from... can go away like that.” 'Make Ireland Great Again' explores Ireland’s relationship with the US, as Trump’s allies warn that social media “censorship” and data centre policy could impact future investment. 📺 Tomorrow at 9pm on Virgin Media One
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has reported the busiest year in its 47-year history. Its latest annual report shows nearly 24,000 contacts to the National Helpline in 2025, alongside significant increases in therapy appointments and frontline support services. [1/2]
🗣️ “Be careful who you criticise.” Make Ireland Great Again, a Virgin Media News documentary, examines US–Irish tensions in the Trump era, including Ireland’s stance on Gaza and pressure over US military use of Irish airspace. 📺 Tomorrow at 9pm on Virgin Media One & Play
“All that great business… can go away like *that*”
Virgin Media News@virginmedianews.bsky.social · 3mo ago📺 Make Ireland Great Again In a new Virgin Media News documentary, @newschambers.bsky.social looks at the rapidly changing US-Irish relationship and the tensions driving a rift down the Atlantic between our countries. 🕘 Wednesday at 21:00 on Virgin Media One & Virgin Media Play.
Popped into @chaptersbookstore.bsky.social, the longstanding mecca to the written word on Dublin's Parnell Street, to sign copies of Leaving Russia. ● We couldn’t locate many at first until a kind staff member pointed out they’d been placed at the front of the shop in the bestseller section!
Hello. @cnam-ie.bsky.social investigating Facebook and Instagram algorithms. Relates to whether users are able to access a recommender feed "which is not based on profiling" "Concern exists that there may be so-called ‘dark patterns’ preventing people from accessing a feed not based on profiling"
Ireland is demanding that Israel pays for this school, partly funded by Irish Aid, which was torn down by settlers in the West Bank. The community of Hamamat al Maleh was attacked earlier this week.
Bluesky throwing around a doctored photo of Trump asleep. A good reminder that none of us are immune to misinformation.
Germany’s Foreign Minister rejected Spain, Ireland & Slovenia’s bid to have the EU-Israel Association Agreement suspended as “inappropriate”. I asked him about whether it was appropriate for the EU not to act, and when expressing concern would turn to action: www.instagram.com/reel/DXcku-Y...
Richard Chambers on Instagram: "“You said yesterday it would be inappropriate to suspend the trade agreement with Israel… what is appropriate in the EU standing by while 75,000 people are killed in Ga...
newschambers on April 22, 2026: "“You said yesterday it would be inappropriate to suspend the trade agreement with Israel… what is appropriate in the EU standing by while 75,000 people are killed in G...
instagram.com
False claims of a stabbing at Connolly Station on Saturday night were shared to millions of people by a US commentator who had travelled to Ireland to cover the fuel price protests. jrnl.ie/7019035
Debunked: Fringe commentator from US spreads false rumour of stabbing at Connolly Station
An accident which left a thick trail of blood appears to have prompted the story.
jrnl.ie
The more serious take on this is that prediction markets are going to fuel a wave of these kind of start-ups. Total trash that will claim to be doing the work of journalism (while simultaneously relying on the "old" media for literally every insight they have)
Dave Lee@davelee.me · 4mo ago"The CNN model has to wait for something to happen IRL. But something is always happening on X. And of course, X is — and has always been, the real world. Or at the very least, it’s the place where the people who run the real world make sense of what’s happening." www.a16z.news/p/monitoring...
the Limerick Leader should act like a real newspaper rather than some random twitter goon
ESRI says AI use in Irish firms likely lead to job losses www.rte.ie/news/busines...
AI use in Irish firms likely to lead to job losses - ESRI
A study from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has found that artificial intelligence (AI) adoption among Irish firms is likely to lead to job losses, concentrated among highly educated workers.
rte.ie
FT scoop - Iran will demand that shipping companies pay tolls in cryptocurrency for laden oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz. One official says it could be equivalent to $1 per barrel of oil www.ft.com/content/02ae...
Iran demands fees for ships passing Hormuz during ceasefire
Oil exporter’s union says fees to be paid in cryptocurrency and vessels monitored for weapons
ft.com
“A former Meta employee suspected of downloading around 30,000 private images of Facebook users is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.”
Ex-Meta worker investigated for downloading private Facebook photos
The former employee was fired from Meta after being suspected of downloading 30,000 photos, the company said.
bbc.com
Iran says no to temporary ceasefire proposal. Donald Trump threatens war crimes. The Strait is likely to stay “closed” as long as Tehran wants it for the time being - analysis.
Genuinely flabbergasted (and intrigued) that Nate Silver has noticed this *now*, in that 'Twitter is downrating links in a way that makes it hostile if you want people to actually pay for your journalism' has been true for such a long time now. What has changed for him to notice?
eric gonzalez juenke@egojunk.bsky.social · 4mo ago"Journalists should be on Twitter." Twitter to journalism: "Drop dead."
Thanking @garethoconnor.bsky.social @newschambers.bsky.social and the Thursday @virginmedianews.bsky.social crew for offering a whirlwind tour of Studio 1 to my newshound 14yo son. #AuthenticStories vimeo.com/1180081836?s...
Researcher from Irish Youth Media Team Visits Virgin Media
Dylan Goldbach visits Virgin Media Television and gets a quick tour with Gareth O'Connor.
vimeo.com
I tend to get dogpiled every time I say this but: as someone *who likes bluesky and benefits from being here* we have a problem. The network is shrinking, not growing. It's shrinking a lot: only about 1.1m people a day even like a post. This time last year it was 1.6m.
Supporters of farmers in Lismore, Co Waterford occupied a London bookshop owned by the Duke of Devonshire today. The farmers are locked in a standoff with the aristocrat over rent hikes. www.thejournal.ie/duke-of-devo...
Supporters of Lismore farmers occupy London book shop over Duke of Devonshire rent dispute
A small group of protesters occupied the store in response to the escalating dispute.
thejournal.ie
🚨 EU fuel rationing on the cards: Financial Times report
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 4mo agoThe bloc’s energy commissioner has said the EU is assessing ‘all possibilities’ including fuel rationing and releasing more oil from emergency reserves as it braces for a ‘long crisis’. ft.trib.al/TYLvik3
EC opens formal investigation into Snapchat
European Commission@ec.europa.eu · 4mo agoKey areas of investigation include: 🔹Age verification and access for under-13s 🔹Grooming & recruitment of minors 🔹Default privacy & safety settings 🔹Spread of illegal or age-restricted products 🔹Reporting of illegal content More information: link.europa.eu/gXFbqm
Metrolink's €550k-a-year boss has quit the project for family reasons. Comes at a pretty crucial time for the project... updated cost estimates, and a lot of contracts to tie up before construction begins in earnest next year.