Brian O'Neill 
I was talking with a fella a while back who was very pleased with himself. He had just landed a new job with a company that paid £10k more than he was currently earning. Just one snag – the company was based in Dublin. They were in North Dublin, so he reasoned he could do the commute in an hour and a half, plus he figured he could work from home a few days a week. I caught up with …
From the BBC: The estimated costs of accommodation for asylum seekers in Northern Ireland has risen to £400m, four times the original estimate. That is according to a report by the UK Spending watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO). According to the NAO, there were 2,741 people in asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland in December 2024. That included 413 people in hotels and 2,328 people in other accommodation. According to the NAO, asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland is among the …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any …
A bit of nostalgia for you all. What about the famous ‘key holders’ police messages You can watch more clips on the kaleidoscope YouTube channel Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, …
The UK has secured its first trade agreement with the United States since the Trump-era tariffs shook up global commerce. While the deal brings some relief—particularly in the form of reduced tariffs on British car and steel exports—it stops well short of restoring pre-tariff trading conditions. A flat 10% levy on most goods remains firmly in place. The agreement was formally announced in Washington, with President Trump speaking from the Oval Office and Prime Minister Keir Starmer joining remotely. Both …
Today, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as Pope Leo XIV, succeeding Pope Francis. This election marks a significant moment in the history of the Catholic Church, as Prevost becomes the first North American pope. Born in Chicago in 1955, Pope Leo XIV is a member of the Order of Saint Augustine. He spent much of his pastoral career in Peru, beginning in 1985, where he held various roles including chancellor of the Territorial Prelature of Chulucanas and later Bishop …
The Irish News reports that a Free Presbyterian minister recently came out and said that Pope Francis is “most certainly an antichrist.” Yep, not just suspicious or wrong on a few theological points—an antichrist. It sounds dramatic, even medieval, but this line of thinking has deep roots in a particular branch of Protestant theology. From the article: A Free Presbyterian minister in Co Down has said that he makes no apology for stating that Pope Francis “was most certainly an …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any …
I was hoping someone else would write about it, but it seems I get the short straw. The f*cks I give about the Kneecap story are vanishingly few, but I suppose some of you want to talk about it. Eijits say something stupid. Other eijits pretend to be offended. Elected eijits clutch their pearls in horror. It’s like a pantomime with fewer laughs and more sanctimony. Everyone’s playing their part like it matters, like the stakes are anything more than …
There were extraordinary scenes yesterday as most of Spain and Portugal lost power. What is most worrying is that they are not exactly sure what caused it, or they don’t want to say. It does not look like foul play or a cyber attack, but questions will still be asked about the resilience of these networks that we rely on. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as …
In the 2025 Canadian federal election, former Bank of England Governor and Irish citizen Mark Carney led the Liberal Party to a solid victory. His campaign, largely framed as a defence of liberal democracy and an explicit rejection of Trump-style politics, resonated strongly with Canadian voters. Carney, seen as a steady and internationally respected figure, managed to re-energise a Liberal Party that had been flagging after Justin Trudeau’s departure. Carney’s win wasn’t just about domestic issues like healthcare, the cost …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of …
In the Kate Bush song Experiment IV, she describes a secret military experiment designed to create a sound so horrifying it could kill. From the painful cry of mothers To the terrifying scream We recorded it and put it into our machine They told us all they wanted Was a sound that could kill someone from a distance Honestly, it’s hard not to think of the trans debate when I hear that. A conversation so relentlessly toxic, it feels like …
If you were one of the thousands who packed your bags for Spain this Easter hoping for sun, sea and sangria, you probably ended up stuck in your hotel rather than sunning yourself on the beach. Spain’s normally reliable spring sunshine was nowhere to be seen. Instead, parts of the country were battered by torrential rain, snow in the north, and even red weather alerts. Traditional processions were cancelled, tourists were soaked, and beach holidays turned into soggy city breaks. …
I love this story about Steve Jobs from Adam Lashinsky in Fortune: Apple doesn’t often fail, and when it does, it isn’t a pretty sight at 1 Infinite Loop. In the summer of 2008, when Apple (AAPL) launched the first version of its iPhone that worked on third-generation mobile networks, it also debuted MobileMe, an e-mail system that was supposed to provide the seamless synchronization features that corporate users love about their BlackBerry smartphones. MobileMe was a dud. Users complained …
