Ideas merchant & teacher. Post-growth economics & working class green politics. Democratise, decolonise and decarbonise. Views my own. RTs are not endorsements.
Béal Feirste, Ireland
- Tweets 30,038
- Following 7,289
- Followers 6,667
- Likes 28,610
Breaking news
Students have just occupied the main Lanyon Building at @QUBelfast in solidarity with the Palestinian people
QUB Palestine Assembly demands are below
97
278
1,132
117,988
So immensely proud as her supervisor to announce @SophieLong01 passed her PhD viva with flying colours...meet Dr Long! Well done ! @HAPPatQUB @QUBelfast and thanks @jim_mcauley and Margaret O’Callaghan for excellent examining
48
22
285
Today in Belfast we stood against the fascists and hate mongers 5 to 1.
Despite them throwing missiles at us (@BBCNewsNI please note) we seen them off… next time let’s make it 20 to 1…
“Whose streets? OUR STREETS”!
#¡No pasarán!…
35
52
256
17,165
Its not #StormAshley- its #StormBP #StormShell #StormExxonMobile #StormTotal - lets start naming these extreme weather events after the fossil fuel corporations creating them
13
88
257
12,321
In 1962 (yes, 1962!!), Humble Oil, the precursor to Exxon, had this advert in Time Magazine boasting how its daily supply of carbon energy was enough to melt 7 million tonnes of glacier. #Exxonknew #climatebreakdown #fossilfools #divestment
12
84
171
We now know:
Austerity was a lie.
There is a magic money tree.
States & populations can act with speed, determination & at scale for the common good.
Another world is possible.
And maybe it is now easier to imagine the end of capitalism than the end of the world.
3
43
159
“Economic growth may one day turn out to be a curse rather than a good, and under no conditions can it either lead into freedom or constitute a proof for its existence.”
Hannah Arendt, On Revolution, 1965
2
34
155
'The workers united, will never be defeated'
Me during my lunch break standing in solidarity with striking fellow public sector workers
@nipsa @ucuatqub @NIC_ICTU @BDTUC @RCNNI_NorthernB @RcmNi @GMBNI @UNISONNI @unitetheunion @ucu
bbc.co.uk/northernireland
6
27
146
5,973
Come rain, come shine, come crappy deals, we’ll be here on two or four wheels @ucuatqub @ucu @UCU_Ulster #ucuRISING
5
23
135
6,461
5 @JustStop_Oil protestors received prison sentences of 4-5 years for a Zoom meeting to plan a peaceful protest.
The judge called them ‘fanatics’
The state is criminalising those acting in defence of life
No prison for peaceful protest. Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/…
133
60
122
6,787
I am exhausted from 10 days of strike action over 3 weeks...I am angry about the erosion of my pay and conditions over 3 decades...& I will not be 'returning to normal' tomorrow when I'm back at work...all goodwill is gone... management are out to harm me so they are my enemy
5
23
124
Nollaig shona daoibh go leir… my daughters just got me the best Christmas present ever… 2024 is set to be a year of protest ….
10
2
119
6,335
Text from me that @BBCevex didn’t read out in relation to a duty on broadcasters to place the heatwave in its #climatebreakdown context .. we need to get beyond this ‘nice weather’ narrative … UK & Ireland have issued their first ever heat weather warnings
5
24
107
#Day10 of @ucu strike here at @QUBelfast … we’re frozen but solid on this our last day of this round of industrial action … I’ve never seen colleagues so angry .. all goodwill gone & we won’t be going back to normal when we return to work
26
102
These are not ‘protests’ of people with ‘concerns’, but organised pogroms seeking to kill people.
Please can the media and everyone stop calling them ‘protests’….
4
23
92
4,581
To all @QUBelfast students....we know its been a hard 2 years, and we've only taken this decision as we feel we have no other option...please support us as together staff and students 'we are the university' & we're trying to fix a broken system
3
26
101
My employer @QUBelfast with whom I & other @ucuatqub @ucu members are in industrial dispute over our pay being reduced by 25% since 2010, unmanageable workloads, precarious contracts & a gender pay gap, seeking me and others to do unpaid extra work?
#JoinaUnion
'Read the room'
7
18
88
9,235
Is it just me or is there a lot more media coverage of the 4 very rich people lost while looking at the Titanic than the hundreds of refugees still missing off the coast of Greece?
8
15
80
12,551
Proud supervisor moment. Congratulations to @calum_mcgeown for successfully defending his PhD thesis, 'Revolutionary Green Republicanism: Anti-Capitalist Politics for the Planetary Crisis'...many thanks to Examiners Derek Wall @Anothergreen, @SusanMcManus10 & Chair, @AshMc8914
12
8
82
10,763
Aits us nai- @ucuatqub picket getting set up for #Day3 of @ucu #ucuRISING … would rather be preparing for teaching but thanks to @UniversitiesUK and @QUBelfast refusing to offer anything reasonable on pay, pensions & workloads, here we go again #uppaworkers #EnoughIsEnough
25
88
Here we go again #StrikeDay2 .. 2nd day of 18 days of strike action at @QUBelfast. Looking forward to seeing @QUBVChancellor and/or senior management meet us on the picket line later @ucuatqub @ucu #frozenbutsolid
2
16
82
13,067
15,000 out on streets of Belfast today, “no hate no fear refugees are welcome here” and the fash can fuck off back to the 1930s
3
11
73
2,707
Just back from May Day parade in Belfast … as always marching with my union @ucuatqub @ucu … and we had a visual from the main speaker, Mick Lynch @RMTunion
#UnionStrong #UppaWorkers
2
20
82
7,152
While welcome to see @bbcradioulster ‘s Lynette Fay discuss climate breakdown with George Marshall , there were issues omitted … here’s a text I sent in that was not read out
14
74
Rather poorly researched critique of #degrowth by @davidmcw in @IrishTimes 1/ it’s not viewed as a ‘panacea’2/ focus is keeping macroeconomy within safe&just limits-not shrinking all sectors 3/no empirical evidence of absolute decoupling growth from GHG emissions or resource use
7
17
78
15,317
Belfast Elvis says ‘No to racism’
Tells me today’s outnumbering and humiliating of the racists brings forward the day he says:
‘Fascism has left the city’
#Belfast
#AntiFascist
4
14
72
3,197
So... let’s #BuildBackBetter was the main take home message from tonight’s @bbctheview ... the pandemic has cancelled the future... but that’s ok as it was an unsustainable and unjust one anyhow ... #greenrecovery @irishcongress @HAPPatQUB @PCANcities @BelfastClimate
1
24
78
The ‘Tale of 2 Queens’ - on the same day, the vastly different experiences of higher education at @QUBelfast - those in senior management contrasted with those workers on precarious contracts like my colleague @DrAmandaSlevin
2
24
65
So in today’s @News_Letter Adam Kula describes Graham Gudgin as a ‘leading academic’ while Colin Harvey is just an ‘academic’ ... guess which one is advocating a border poll?
10
15
76
About to head off with @Domsball to cycle around to some picket lines to show some @ucuatqub solidarity with striking workers .., @unitetheunion @unisontheunion @nipsa @GMB_union @NASUWT
Uppa Workers!!
5
14
67
3,969
'Lough Neagh ecocide indicts misgovernance'
The ecological disaster in Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland, demonstrates what happens when the economic growth of agriculture is prioritised over environmental protection
Piece from me in @RICSnews
ww3.rics.org/uk/en/journals/…
4
36
76
6,194
#Day3 of strike action by @ucuatqub and by @ucu members across all UK universities today.. perhaps today will be the day @QUBelfast Vice Chancellor or senior management come talk to us #UCURising
3
11
74
14,577
Today in Belfast …, the fascists and racists doing Nazi salutes and holding the flag of Israel… ?? WTF….these fuckers have no interest in protecting anyone , yet they constantly talk about ‘saving the children’…?
3
12
63
6,240
As we prepare for 3 more days of strike action next week, days after @UniversitiesUK & @QUBVChancellor stole our deferred wages i.e pensions #USS, I call upon all @ucuatqub @ucu members to join us on the picket line. Or if you cannot use social media to show your support
3
22
64
Go fund me page to help repair the Sahara Shisha Cafe on Botanic avenue attacked and damaged by a racist mob yesterday in #Belfast
gofund.me/d42d116a
2
33
68
11,428
The contempt senior management @QUBelfast has for staff. A few days after they agreed to steal our wages (35% cut to pensions) an email about 'Wellbeing week' (taking place during @ucu strike action next week). To compensate wage theft we are offered 'social walks & bubble tea'
1
16
65
Closing remarks from Mick Lynch's keynote address to Belfast May Day Rally
"The task in front of us is to build a better world for all of us.
Let’s build our union, build our movement.
Let’s change this society for our people & create a better world for all.
Solidarity"
1
29
66
14,518
Many congratulations to @HAPPatQUB Politics student Emma Shaw who has won a George Moore Scholarship of €40,000 to study for an MA in Education policy and planning at @UTAustin starting Aug 2020. And as a bonus her daughter is going as well! Well done Emma! @QUBelfast
3
9
68
Adam Kula (usually Gaelicised as Adhamh Kula) writing in today’s @News_Letter about @KNEECAPCEOL Perhaps unsurprising to see such disrespect towards fully accepting the Irish names of the group members. Would the same be done to a group from Iran, Indonesia or India?
3
13
67
10,339
And so it begins... @duponline spinning against the #ClimateChange bill in today’s @News_Letter ...misrepresenting the cross party support it enjoys by deliberately misdescribing it as a @GreenPartyNI Bill & stoking up fears amongst farmers. Well, could we expect anything else ?
4
22
69
Thousands out today in Belfast for the March for Peace and Justice in Palestine 🇵🇸 @ipsc48 #ceasefirenow
3
18
70
4,761
Climate March in Belfast - great turnout, passion and lots of noise . Lots of support for climate action now & strong NI Climate Bill. “Cop on, don’t cop out. Pass a proper Climate Act”
10
62
Some thoughts from picket line chats with @ucuatqub & @UCU_Ulster folk at @QUBelfast & @UlsterUni - I am more determined to escalate @ucu industrial action. This strike is about how @UniversitiesUK are stealing our pensions & forcing real pay decline, but much more than that
23
65
The inspirational @IrishRainforest speaking at the #RostrevorLiteraryFestival earlier today… in my view his call for #rewilding across Ireland is a practical call to action for #decolonisation and effective local responses here on this island to the planetary crisis
1
12
60
12,975
Its working class people that are the forefront of this crisis - bearing risks through their jobs or of being made unemployed. We now know who are 'key workers'-nurses, doctors, bin collectors, food producers..not currency speculators, landlords...or even university professors.
1
8
55
Another text not read out on @BBCgmu this morning … please stop referring to Northern Ireland as a ‘plc’… it is NOT a business and economic outcomes are one not the only one, or most important lens and language to use to talk about a society, people and communities
4
10
54
Highlight of my week so far!
Yes! Yes! Yes!
If we strike we may lose, but if we don’t strike we will definitely lose.
#voteYes #ucuRISING #EnoughIsEnough @ucu @ucuatqub @UCU_Ulster
1
10
62
#COP26 … fossil fuels fought the people and planet … and #fossilfools won … let’s change that in round two… #systemchangenotclimatechange
1
14
56
The planet is on fire, so why is higher education behaving as if it is business as usual?: Are students being prepared for a more climate-destabilised & ecologically-degraded world?
Article in today's @IrishTimes - Sinead Sheehan, @calum_mcgeown & myself
irishtimes.com/environment/c…
1
34
63
5,062
This is what we’re facing in relation to a dysfunctional media on the #ClimateCrisis … the world is burning but let’s focus on billionaire follies … time to grow the fuck up, face and report reality not fantasy
5
20
58
One more time and not the last I reckon…. @ucuatqub @ucu #ucuRising #UCUstrike @UCU_Ulster #wearetheuniversity
11
55
2,398
Text I've just sent into @bbcradioulster Good Morning Ulster programme calling them out for not linking the flooding in Derry, Strabane and Donegal to the climate crisis - global heating means more moisture in the air, and more flooding ....
4
11
53
There is no scenario I see that does not involve massive non-violent direct action, a general strike, workers occupying factories & offices to combat the planetary emergency... who agrees or disagrees?
9
9
55
#Day4 of @ucu strike action by @ucuatqub … will today bring either good news from negotiations or @QUBelfast senior management coming down to the picket lines to talk with us? #ucuRISING
1
12
60
5,915
And so it begins #wearetheuniversity @ucuatqub #UCUstrike @ucu staff from @HAPPatQUB taking strike action
2
10
53
yesterday’s @IrishTimes quite rightly talking about the need for regional balance in spatial & economic development in Ireland (wrongly confused with RoI), but ‘unbalanced’ in completely neglecting to include the North in it’s analysis … extraordinarily partitionist thinking
2
12
50
11,612
Helping the youngest out with her #GCSE Learning for Life (LLW) and come across this ideological statement against trades unions … talk about the indoctrination of young people!
10
9
50
My @ucu hat is pink
Our demands are most modest
Our management may stink
But our strike keeps them honest
12
54
9,251
Food bank demand in NI during Covid-19 'concerning'. Its not ‘concerning’ it’s completely unnecessary. We need a just food system based on need & a right to food and not one based on food as a commodity. Food banks are a symptom of a broken system bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-i…
2
16
54
'The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.'
—Antonio Gramsci
8
53
Amazing! Cambridge University divests from ALL fossil fuels!: come on @QUBelfast !! @greenatqueens @HAPPatQUB @BelfastClimate @ycanibelfast @fffnireland
// CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY TO FULLY DIVEST FROM ALL DIRECT AND INDIRECT INVESTMENTS IN FOSSIL FUELS \\
Today @Cambridge_Uni has committed to fully divest from all direct and indirect investments in fossil fuel companies by 2030!
2
14
53
Solidarity visit from @ucuatqub to @unitetheunion picket outside City Hall @belfastcc … workers United will never be defeated! @ucu #OneOfUsAllOfUs #FourFights
15
45
Finished writing the first draft of a book. Different from previous publications with this provisional title. Nervous because its a lot more personal & overtly political than anything I've written before, but then part of me is only too happy to say the quiet part out loud....
4
4
49
2,166
Trades unions and civil society groups at ‘Stand against racism’ rally at Stormont this morning … a good start … but please come to tomorrow’s rally at City Hall at 4.30 against the racist minority in our society…
4
12
46
1,584
Text I’ve just sent into @BBCgmu questioning the dominant media framing of the budget in terms of the sadly predictable and completely false view of the state as a household that has to either raise taxes or cut spending to “find” the money it needs. Let’s see if they read it out
5
19
52
2,786
Thanks @williamcrawley & @bbcradioulster devoting today to the crisis in Lough Neagh (symbolic of a wider crisis). I summarised my views d in terms of 'Colonialism, Capitalism and Crap'...good discussion with @JamesAOrr @ShaunaReports & reps from @UFUHQ and @Famers4Action
5
17
53
5,133
I'll be on @BBCevex talking about the #Tribeca planning proposal with @belfastcc , & how we should pause & rethink it in light of a green and inclusive post-pandemic poverty plan for the city & #buildingbackbetter, in light of @BelfastClimate report on net zero emissions by 2050
2
15
50
So, seeing as it’s doing the rounds - full disclosure, I’m a Professor at @QUBelfast from a north Dublin working class background .. and I’m a unionist…. a trades unionist that it… there it’s out… next question. I’ll take a ‘G’ please Kate & Jamie…
3
2
49
'Climate change dropped from UK government risk register'
The social contract between the state and citizens is well and truly broken....
The first duty /job of any state is to protect its citizens
This one is failing us and our kids and grandkids
civilserviceworld.com/news/a…
3
25
50
4,057
.@QUBelfast given the ongoing pandemic the university should not make strike related salary reductions until after the pandemic is over. The university should not add financial worries to already stressed staff and families. @ucuatqub
3
14
48
@Translink_NI sets zero-emissions goals for next 25 years... more ambitious than the NI Executive, fair play ... more, deeper, quicker, faster..., let’s roll up our sleeves and get going .. bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-i…
7
43
Just arrived in #Ballymena to talk to Mid and Antrim Council officers about moving from the council’s recent declaration of a climate emergency to climate action. @PCANcities @HAPPatQUB @QUBPolicy @QUBEngagement @BelfastClimate
3
9
51
University management tonight… stealing our pensions is wage theft…the only other things VCs & management care about are league tables & reputation …certainly not education, students & staff.. they are our opponents & do not listen to reason .. time for more disruptive action
4
13
50
Finnish academics also striking against proposals for the further marketisation of universities @ucuatqub @UCU_Ulster @ucu @oubucu #ucustrike #defenduss braveneweurope.com/heikki-pa…
26
47
A hat trick of PhD candidates I supervised graduating at yesterday’s @QUBelfast winter graduation-many congratulations to Doctors @SeanFearon @calum_mcgeown & @jaeim_park .. and also Dr @SeanHeron3 for whom I was internal examiner and Robert Wade for whom I was second supervisor
6
3
41
2,755
#Day1 of 14 days of @ucu strike action by @ucuatqub members. Angry that we’re forced to strike again due to the intransigence of @UniversitiesUK on pension fairness, casualisation, workloads and gender pay gap. Like my colleagues I want to teach not stand in the cold #UCUstrike
17
50
Meet the people seeking to return NI 'back to normal' economically. The economic orthodoxy assembled to help the Assembly not #BuildingBackBetter. No Trade union representation,no one from community & voluntary sector... very much a 'business as usual' formation @irishcongress
4
20
49
So today we launched the @BelfastClimate to a packed room in city hall ... now we roll up our sleeves and move to #ClimateAction #decarbonisation and a #JustTransition from carbon energy for our city .. thanks to all who helped organise today and all of you who attended....
1
6
44
Thank you Calum for posting this. None of us want to be engaged in industrial action such as the MAB, but we have been left with no option. Your understanding and solidarity are much appreciated since you are directly affected by the intransigence of university management
3
43
2,705
Some photos from today’s Palestinian solidarity march in Belfast 🇵🇸 well done to all who came, those who spoke and those who organised it @Belfast_IPSC @ipsc48
5
9
41
2,917
What next?
The 'Shell Chair in Climate Governance'?
The 'Andrew Tate scholarship in Gender Equality'?
The 'Tommy Robinson Professor of Critical race Studies'?
or the 'Moy Park Lectureship in Sustainable Agriculture'?
Similar up here. Cement giants work their socks off to lobby & deflect attention from turning the #LoughNeagh living bed into exported concrete.
Where's the ecological baseline?
Where's the independent research? Downstream emissions?
#UndoneScience
m.independent.ie/irish-news/…
3
13
40
2,754