Des Traynor
@desthedog.bsky.social
Writer, I guess. How about you?
I'm getting behind the The Complex Cultural & Arts space. Stop the eviction! Please sign & share my.uplift.ie/petitions/sa... @uplift.ie
Save The Complex in Dublin
I'm getting behind the The Complex Cultural & Arts space. Stop the eviction! Please sign & share
my.uplift.ie
December 4, 2025 at 10:52 AM
I'm getting behind the The Complex Cultural & Arts space. Stop the eviction! Please sign & share my.uplift.ie/petitions/sa... @uplift.ie
Reposted by Des Traynor
Spotify is crashing HARD because of the boycott. Their stock dropped 11% in value over the last month. Let’s keep this going!
Tell everyone you know to boycott Spotify. There are plenty of alternatives that don’t run ICE advertisements and screw over artists.
We made it easy at boycottspotify.com.
Tell everyone you know to boycott Spotify. There are plenty of alternatives that don’t run ICE advertisements and screw over artists.
We made it easy at boycottspotify.com.
November 7, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Spotify is crashing HARD because of the boycott. Their stock dropped 11% in value over the last month. Let’s keep this going!
Tell everyone you know to boycott Spotify. There are plenty of alternatives that don’t run ICE advertisements and screw over artists.
We made it easy at boycottspotify.com.
Tell everyone you know to boycott Spotify. There are plenty of alternatives that don’t run ICE advertisements and screw over artists.
We made it easy at boycottspotify.com.
I reviewed a novel called The Mulberry Empire in 2002 for the Weekender Supplement of the Irish Independent. I didn't like it much. It was a chore.
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-mulber...
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-mulber...
The Mulberry Empire By Philip Hensher
I reviewed a novel called The Mulberry Empire in 2002 for the Weekender Supplement of the Irish Independent. I didn't like it much. It was a chore.
desmondtraynor.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:16 PM
I reviewed a novel called The Mulberry Empire in 2002 for the Weekender Supplement of the Irish Independent. I didn't like it much. It was a chore.
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-mulber...
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-mulber...
I think it's disturbing that @independent.ie (Sunday Indpendent), under the editorship of Liz Kearney, now have 2 conservative catholic columnists, @davidaquinn.bsky.social and maria steen. Where is the balance? Apart from the occasional piece by @naoisedolan.bsky.social, the is no left wing voice..
Liz Kearney announced as new editor of the Sunday Independent
The new editor of the Sunday Independent will be Liz Kearney, Mediahuis Ireland has announced.
The new editor of the Sunday Independent will be Liz Kearney, Mediahuis Ireland has announced.
www.independent.ie
October 27, 2025 at 7:21 AM
I think it's disturbing that @independent.ie (Sunday Indpendent), under the editorship of Liz Kearney, now have 2 conservative catholic columnists, @davidaquinn.bsky.social and maria steen. Where is the balance? Apart from the occasional piece by @naoisedolan.bsky.social, the is no left wing voice..
Interesting stuff. My own 'trauma memoir' has been rejected by several hip Irish publishers (because it wouldn't sell). I may publish via the online route.
I note, in passing, that Paul D'Alton favours the triplicate adjectival clause.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
I note, in passing, that Paul D'Alton favours the triplicate adjectival clause.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
An insider’s intriguing red flag about the culture and ethics of trauma storytelling
Trauma Industrial Complex: How Oversharing Became a Product in the Digital World by Darren McGarvey
www.irishtimes.com
October 12, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Interesting stuff. My own 'trauma memoir' has been rejected by several hip Irish publishers (because it wouldn't sell). I may publish via the online route.
I note, in passing, that Paul D'Alton favours the triplicate adjectival clause.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
I note, in passing, that Paul D'Alton favours the triplicate adjectival clause.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
Another zinger from @mrkocnnll.bsky.social . Of course I've been talking about the 'abuse of language' perpetrated by therapy - but more specifically psychiatry - for years.
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Mark O'Connell: No, you don’t need a cortisol detox. Why are we so addicted to the new language of therapy?
People buy into a chemical understanding of human psychology when really what they’re describing is our deeply complex, irreducibly mysterious inner life
www.irishtimes.com
October 12, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Another zinger from @mrkocnnll.bsky.social . Of course I've been talking about the 'abuse of language' perpetrated by therapy - but more specifically psychiatry - for years.
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Nowhere Man By Aleksandar Hemon
From 2003, it seems.
desmondtraynor.substack.com
September 30, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Ré: the handbag:
“I wanted to expose the hypocrisy of the left who don’t love the poor; they just hate the rich,” she says.
Come now, Maria. Some people are rich because other people are poor, and vice versa. Marxism 101.
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
“I wanted to expose the hypocrisy of the left who don’t love the poor; they just hate the rich,” she says.
Come now, Maria. Some people are rich because other people are poor, and vice versa. Marxism 101.
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
I was painted as a ‘pantomime villainess’: Maria Steen reflects on failed bid for presidency
In an exclusive interview, the barrister, conservative campaigner and stay-at-home mother talks about falling short in her attempt to get her name on the presidential ballot
www.irishtimes.com
September 27, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Ré: the handbag:
“I wanted to expose the hypocrisy of the left who don’t love the poor; they just hate the rich,” she says.
Come now, Maria. Some people are rich because other people are poor, and vice versa. Marxism 101.
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
“I wanted to expose the hypocrisy of the left who don’t love the poor; they just hate the rich,” she says.
Come now, Maria. Some people are rich because other people are poor, and vice versa. Marxism 101.
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
Opened Ground: Poems 1966-1996
Me on Seamus Heaney, 1999.
desmondtraynor.substack.com
September 25, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Sudden Times By Dermot Healy
This was a cracker. From 1999.
desmondtraynor.substack.com
September 19, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Here's a weird one. Dude never published another novel, but therefore went into screenwriting instead. From 2004.
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-honeym...
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-honeym...
The Honeymoon By Justin Haythe
Here's a weird one. Dude never published another novel, but therefore went into screenwriting instead. From 2004.
desmondtraynor.substack.com
September 16, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Here's a weird one. Dude never published another novel, but therefore went into screenwriting instead. From 2004.
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-honeym...
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-honeym...
Reposted by Des Traynor
This explains it better than I can
September 10, 2025 at 9:24 PM
This explains it better than I can
I also reviewed the filmisation of Eoin McNamee's Resurrection Man when it came out in 1998. Can't believe how good I was.
desmondtraynor.blogspot.com/2025/08/resu...
desmondtraynor.blogspot.com/2025/08/resu...
Resurrection Man/Marc Evans/1998
Resurrection Man /Marc Evans/1998 Arriving amid a welter of unfavourable reviews, and running for only one week, twice daily at UCI Tallaght...
desmondtraynor.blogspot.com
August 24, 2025 at 1:42 AM
I also reviewed the filmisation of Eoin McNamee's Resurrection Man when it came out in 1998. Can't believe how good I was.
desmondtraynor.blogspot.com/2025/08/resu...
desmondtraynor.blogspot.com/2025/08/resu...
I find I reviewed Eoin McNamee's The Blue Tango in 2001, would it have been? A fine writer I spotted, even then.
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-blue-t...
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-blue-t...
The Blue Tango By Eoin McNamee
I find I reviewed Eoin McNamee's The Blue Tango in 2001, would it have been? A fine writer I spotted, even then.
desmondtraynor.substack.com
August 24, 2025 at 1:19 AM
I find I reviewed Eoin McNamee's The Blue Tango in 2001, would it have been? A fine writer I spotted, even then.
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-blue-t...
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-blue-t...
Hard to believe I once reviewed a novel called A White Merc with Fins. 1996 or thereabouts.
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/a-white-me...
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/a-white-me...
A White Merc With Fins By James Hawes
Hard to believe I once reviewed a novel called A White Merc with Fins. 1996 or thereabouts.
desmondtraynor.substack.com
August 16, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Hard to believe I once reviewed a novel called A White Merc with Fins. 1996 or thereabouts.
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/a-white-me...
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/a-white-me...
An utterly brilliant, incredibly powerful piece of work by Kevin Power in DRB. I know of his work & reputation as a literary critic, but I didn't know he had this level of socio-political, historical and economic analysis in his wheelhouse. It's long, but do read it all. 1/6
drb.ie/articles/the...
drb.ie/articles/the...
The Monad Unchained - DRB
The collapse of liberalism in the age of Trump and Netanyahu
drb.ie
August 6, 2025 at 9:28 PM
An utterly brilliant, incredibly powerful piece of work by Kevin Power in DRB. I know of his work & reputation as a literary critic, but I didn't know he had this level of socio-political, historical and economic analysis in his wheelhouse. It's long, but do read it all. 1/6
drb.ie/articles/the...
drb.ie/articles/the...
If you would like to know why western governments allow the rogue state of Israel to commit genocide in Gaza with impunity, read on.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Jackson Lears · The Righteous Community: Legacies of the War on Terror
There are many reasons war fever has raged out of control, but the millenarian worldview contributed to igniting the...
www.lrb.co.uk
August 5, 2025 at 11:37 PM
If you would like to know why western governments allow the rogue state of Israel to commit genocide in Gaza with impunity, read on.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
I reviewed Anne Haverty's debut novel One Day As A Tiger which, it would appear, I liked a lot. From 1997, if you can believe it - all of 28 years ago.
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/one-day-as...
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/one-day-as...
One Day As A Tiger By Anne Haverty
I reviewed Anne Haverty's debut novel One Day As A Tiger which, it would appear, I liked a lot. From 1997, if you can believe it - all of 28 years ago.
desmondtraynor.substack.com
August 2, 2025 at 10:01 PM
I reviewed Anne Haverty's debut novel One Day As A Tiger which, it would appear, I liked a lot. From 1997, if you can believe it - all of 28 years ago.
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/one-day-as...
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/one-day-as...
'The Inland Ice' was not the only book by the new Laureate For Irish Fiction that I reviewed.
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-dancer...
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-dancer...
The Dancers Dancing By Éilís Ní Dhuibhne
'The Inland Ice' was not the only book by the new Laureate For Irish Fiction that I reviewed.
desmondtraynor.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 12:07 PM
'The Inland Ice' was not the only book by the new Laureate For Irish Fiction that I reviewed.
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-dancer...
desmondtraynor.substack.com/p/the-dancer...
Not content with picking off kids queuing for food & water with sniper fire,& bombing the Gaza strip into oblivion (59,219 Palestinians, mostly civilians, killed now - & that is a conservative estimate), Evil Israel is now starving the remaining population (1/2)
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
Mass starvation spreading across Gaza, aid agencies warn, as Israeli government says it is not responsible – Middle East crisis live
More than 100 aid agencies, including Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children and Oxfam, say ‘our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away’
www.theguardian.com
July 23, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Not content with picking off kids queuing for food & water with sniper fire,& bombing the Gaza strip into oblivion (59,219 Palestinians, mostly civilians, killed now - & that is a conservative estimate), Evil Israel is now starving the remaining population (1/2)
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...