P. O'Leary
@p-oleary.bsky.social
'I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.' - Spinoza
Confronting Wealth Inequality in Ireland (2026): >the wealthiest 10% of households own half of all wealth in Ireland >the wealthiest 1% own 13% of all wealth Well done @oxfamireland.bsky.social for commissioning the report #Spéirgorm www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...
Letters to the Editor, August 3rd: On schools and day care, Patrick Collison and wealth tax and e-scooters
Every environment a child enters is an educational environment
irishtimes.com
Bike parking enabling 60 hospital staff to cycle to work is a win for the taxpayer Comment & Analysis: A cost of €85,000, or €1,416 per space, for a secure bicycle shed for the National Maternity Hospital is cheap compared to building car parking, which is estimated to cost €5,000 to €85,000 per…
Bike parking enabling 60 hospital staff to cycle to work is a win for the taxpayer
Comment & Analysis: A cost of €85,000, or €1,416 per space, for a secure bicycle shed for the National Maternity Hospital is cheap compared to building car parking, which is estimated to cost €5,000 to €85,000 per space in 2025. Added to this are the health benefits of staff cycling to work, including the general finding that active commutes mean fewer sick days (sources: …
irishcycle.com
BP's adjusted net income more than doubled from a year earlier to $5.73 billion in the second quarter. BP posted its strongest quarterly profit in more than four years as its refining and trading businesses boomed during the Iran war. #ClimateCrisis www.irishtimes.com/business/202...
BP profit surges as oil trading and refining boom
Company posts strongest quarterly profit in more than four years
irishtimes.com
An amazing read from @conorgallagher.bsky.social. An indictment of the State approach to the environmental destruction linked to #Aughinish Alumina. www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
Arsenic 133 times above legal level found in Aughinish Alumina groundwater
Water testing reports from Co Limerick refinery show more than half its wells and streams contain contaminated water breaching Irish rules
irishtimes.com
'We are in uncharted territory The climate crisis is in overdrive.' #AntonioGuterres @unitednations1945.bsky.social #ClimateCrisis www.independent.ie/world-news/u...
UN warns that strong El Niño will add fuel to ‘a planet already on fire’
A strengthening El Niño has already broken records for intensity at its early stages, and it likely will spark even more wild weather worldwide as it grows, “adding fuel to a planet already on fire,” ...
independent.ie
“The city’s transition away from the car, tho fantastically chaotic, has become a global role model. Under mayor @annehidalgo.bsky.social, Paris was ‘the most influential city in the world’ says Canadian urbanist Brent Toderian. Hidalgo, stepping down after 12 yrs, exulted: ‘The bike beat the car.’”
How Paris beat the car
Though chaotic, the city’s transition has become a global role model
ft.com
'The climate system on which we depend for everything is breaking down before our eyes. The scale and speed of what is happening is truly terrifying and requires an emergency response that jolts us out of our inaction.' #ClimateCrisis www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
Eamon Ryan: Were this summer’s heatwaves caused by El Nino or something much more terrifying?
The scientist who first warned about climate change now says he was too optimistic - and this summer suggests he may be right
irishtimes.com
Yet, because of the vocal (but minority) pushback, officials, councillors and often even advocates feel less empowered to make our streets safer and more attractive to non-car uses, including for pedestrians, cycling, public transport, greenery or just space for people to meet or chat or sit.
The War on Cars@thewaroncars.bsky.social · last wk.A fun finding by Adam Tranter and a @yougov.co.uk poll that we discuss in this episode was that, despite the headlines of angry neighbors and business owners against bike lanes, an overwhelming majority of people were in favor of making it easier and safer for people to cycle.
'a 96% rise in applications for home-energy upgrade grants.. ..indicates a strong appetite for retrofitting where financial supports improve affordability and are accessible' #ClimateCrisis www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
Heat pump installations must increase twentyfold ‘to meet green targets’
Climate Change Advisory Council also warns against further delay of rises in carbon tax
irishtimes.com
The people who complain about empty bike lanes do not want full bike lanes. They want no bike lanes.
'Every day. Every. Single. Day. Someone tries to unalive me as I cycle'.. 'The problem is.. poor driver behaviour.. ..poor design choices.. and a police force which fails to enforce basic rules of the road.' #Spéirgorm @dccbeta.bsky.social @garda.ie www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...
Cyclists have their say: ‘I was hit from behind without warning and knocked off the bike’
Cycling Callout
irishtimes.com
#AughinishReport 'Reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.' #MartynTurner @fiannafailparty.bsky.social @irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com/opinion/cart...
Martyn Turner
July 25th, 2026
irishtimes.com
Modern Ireland in a nutshell: ☺️ 2018 Government pledge to reconstruct #AbbeyTheatre as a “priority”; 😔 Construction is now unlikely to begin until after 2028 at the earliest - the projected cost has risen from €80million to €500 million. #Spéirgorm www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
Further delays to Abbey Theatre redevelopment while projected cost may now be €500m
Scheme back and forth with Department of Culture and still requires approval of Department of Public Expenditure
irishtimes.com
Frank McNally: Dublin is dirtier than ever and badly needs a downpour www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-i...
Frank McNally: Dublin is dirtier than ever and badly needs a downpour
The issue is the dried-in grime, accumulated from two months of leaks and spillages, and from the primordial ooze that gathers around the base of bins
irishtimes.com
🚲@irishcyclingcmpn.bsky.social 🚲 *Membership Development Officer* 📢 details of the job vacancy just published here 👇 www.irishcyclingcampaign.ie/irish-cyclin...
Irish Cycling Campaign – Membership Development Officer Role
Irish Cycling Campaign has exciting news! We are looking to fill a brand new position of Membership Development Officer and have just published details of the job vacancy. The purpose of the role is ...
irishcyclingcampaign.ie
The 5 lessons: 1. Paris is quiet. 2. Paris believes in beauty. 3. Paris values nature. 4. Paris innovates with intention. 5. Paris proves the potential of political will and courage.
Dan HIll@cityofsound.bsky.social · 4w ago“Making Space for Birdsong and Bicycles in Paris: 5 lessons from a city that dared to reimagine its public realm” medium.com/reimagining-...
A Master Architect Team for Dublin ? 💙act as an independent advisor 🩵ensure greater spatial and architectural quality for the city 💙advise on large projects (every building >5000m2) 🩵involved in the urban permit process. @dccbeta.bsky.social www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/2232...
From Schuman to Midi: How the Brussels 'master architect' wants a quality city
"Ugliness is not an argument. What do we need? How do we use the resources that are there?"
brusselstimes.com
'Most politicians, youth workers and members of the community see a combination of “robust policing” and youth development and educational programmes as necessary to tackle this issue' Great read from @patrickfreyne.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...
Scramblers scourge: ‘People are dying because of it’
Using scramblers in public places has been illegal since April. The Garda Commissioner supports an outright ban on e-scooters
irishtimes.com
Exemption for bicycle sheds will leave most still needing to seek planning permission -- Exemption prompted by cases in suburbs in Dublin, Cork and Westport. Minister for State John Cummins at the Department of Housing is expected to sign the regulations exempting bicycle and bin storage at the…
Exemption for bicycle sheds will leave most still needing to seek planning permission
-- Exemption prompted by cases in suburbs in Dublin, Cork and Westport. Minister for State John Cummins at the Department of Housing is expected to sign the regulations exempting bicycle and bin storage at the front of houses from planning permission, but the exemption would only be for structures up to a maximum of 3.5 square metres and a height of only 1.4 metres.
irishcycle.com
Across the weekend, St Anne's Park in Dublin will come alive with floral displays, live performances, artisan food, craft stalls and family entertainment. (Includes secure bike parking courtesy of the excellent @dublincycling.bsky.social) #spéirgorm dublin.ie/whats-on/lis...
Rose Festival
The annual Rose Festival 2025 returns to St Anne’s Park in Raheny on the weekend of the 19th and 20th of July.
dublin.ie
'I feel like they have really bad marketing. When I thought of #Brussels I was like ‘God Brussels’ [but] it's great," she said #Chic #NileRodgers www.brusselstimes.com/brussels/222...
'Underrated': Singer Sienna Spiro and guitarist Nile Rodgers gush over Brussels
"Anyway, if I get robbed I'll let you guys know, but this seems pretty damn cool to me."
brusselstimes.com
'Where do we excel in Ireland, and where do we perform poorly?' www.independent.ie/irish-news/w...
‘We keep being told that Ireland is a kip — it is not and hasn’t been since the 1980s’: Four things we do well and five things we do miserably
High ESB bills, easy-to-navigate online Revenue services, good motorways and a confusing mess for payment on public transport. It’s a mixed bag, really...
independent.ie
' #ActiveTravel is cheaper, healthier, better for the environment, and no slower on congested urban streets.' Interesting article. theconversation.com/cycling-is-t...
Cycling is ten times more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities
Active travel can help tackle the climate crisis earlier than electric vehicles – even if you swap the car for a bike for just one trip a day.
theconversation.com
'three or four more people [in Ireland] next week will have died either because of our poor road network, as a result of the choices they or someone else made behind the wheel of a moving vehicle, or some combination of both.' www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
Jennifer O'Connell: Many factors contribute to rising road deaths. Squeamishness can’t be one of them
The Road Safety Authority avoids anything that might be perceived ‘as insensitive or prematurely apportioning blame’ in reporting road deaths
irishtimes.com
The median chief executive compensation package was €3.83 million. By comparison, the median salary in the Irish Republic stood at €44,816 www.irishtimes.com/business/202...
CEO pay in Ireland in 2025: One executive earned $237m
Bank bosses all received pay hikes while Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary recently extended his contract with a big package of share options
irishtimes.com
🎶 O, It Was Out by Donnycarney 🎶 Another great story from @dublininquirer.com www.dublininquirer.com/donnycarney-... #LeoRowsome #JamesJoyce
Donnycarney remembers a trad music legend and the workshop that helped save uilleann piping
A crowd of about 40 people gathered on Saturday for the unveiling of a plaque honouring Leo Rowsome, on a house where he used to live.
dublininquirer.com
'In the absence of any concrete political leadership [on the Climate Emergency], what else is left but our own agency?' Timely and insightful letter in @irishtimes.com #ClimateCrisis www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...
Holidaymakers missing the link between air travel and the climate emergency
In the absence of any concrete political leadership in this area, what else is left but our own agency?
irishtimes.com
