Only diplomacy can end the war in Ukraine thetimes.com/article/67dac40…

I see in latest issue of the @IrishCathNews that @DavQuinn has a piece on Ireland being a cold place for Jews. I would simply observe that ‘official Ireland’ can be a cold place for Catholics.

This mrng thanks to a kind invitation from @KalypsoNicolaid I sat in on an excellent presentation @STG by four impressive young STG’ers re a draft UNGA 1st Cmmte resolution. Kalypso herself made an excellent point - viz., don’t trash unanimity too quickly, there’s a value to it.

🎶 How do ya like your coffee in the mornin’? I like mine with a view 🎶

Attended Artemesia Gentileschi exhibition this mrng in Florence. This was may favourite: Allegory of Inclination

‘The Diplomat’ Series 4: excellent

“a British vote to rejoin the club would be a powerful vote of confidence in the future of the European project.” Vraiment? Clapped out former imperial power with no other options to speak of wishes to crawl back in through the cat 🐱 flap. giftarticle.ft.com/giftartic…

Looks like @MarinaHyde is really going stratospheric - congratulations on new ‘incarnation’ !!

Recent column about Finland’s 🇫🇮 President, Alexander Stubb, by Washington Post’s Josh Rogin. Stubb is quoted saying “I have a good relationship with Jared.” That’s Jared Kushner. washingtonpost.com/opinions/…

This deal shows how ‘rock solid’ NATO is 😂. Yet in NATO circles, somehow Ireland is cast as the west’s Achilles heel. It’s time for NEXIT - ie, EU must move to take charge of its own security & defence. giftarticle.ft.com/giftartic…

THE MICHAEL AWARDS 2026 Today is the feast of St Michael. In his honour, here are the Michael awards 2026: Most outstanding religious leader and statesman: Pope Leo XIV Biggest political canard - that Ireland is a “freeloader” - it’s a net contributor to the EU budget ‘Give my head peace’ prize for most irksome policy ‘nag’: iRL being regularly taken to task about “our” undersea cables Organization most past its ‘sell by’ date: NATO Most fearless IR scholar and theorist: John J. Mearsheimer (Univ of Chicago)

Review ‘essay’ contains facile criticism of ‘non-NATO Ireland’. Donnez-moi un break. giftarticle.ft.com/giftartic…

Liberal hubris has been a disaster, as Ganesh more or less concedes. giftarticle.ft.com/giftartic…

Just watched Channel 4 ‘Dispatches’ : heart-rending, damning 'Britain’s Gaza Secrets Exposed: Dispatches'? Watch it here on Channel 4: channel4.com/programmes/brit…

I’ve been watching the “Reacher” spin-off “Neagley” and it’s brilliant. The cast is marvelous. It’s set in Chicago and there are occasional Irish references. Here’s a short piece from this morning’s New York Post:

I’ve been watching the “Reacher” spin-off “Neagley”. It’s brilliant and the cast is marvelous. The action is Chicago-based and there are some Irish references. Here’s an item from this morning’s New York Post:

WaPo editorial raises question about the value of the “Brussels Effect”: “…the broader crackdown on Big Tech stems from E.U. bureaucrats’ hopelessly misguided faith in the “Brussels Effect” — the theory that the European market is so powerful that E.U. regulations will become global standards. That hasn’t happened. Instead of adopting E.U. standards globally, businesses often comply only in the E.U. — or pull out of the market entirely. European customers are then left with stagnant, second-rate technology compared with the rest of the developed world.” washingtonpost.com/opinions/…

I’m listening to an interview with The New Yorker staff writer Dexter Filkins on WNYC. He considers that the Abraham Accords were quite impressive. I wouldn’t agree at all.

Attending an event tonight at UNITE hall, Dublin. Photo shows the two speakers at opening session:Thomas Fazi (at the podium) and Prof Peter Ramsay of LSE. Clare Daly is chairing.