David Kent
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dkentexaminer.bsky.social
David Kent
@dkentexaminer.bsky.social
Audience Unit with the Irish Examiner. He/him.
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In celebration of my return - one of the best pieces I've had the honour to write in the last few months

Young boys living in Ramallah, have started hurling training and hope one day that they will get to travel to Ireland and play against teams here.

www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...
Hurling in Ramallah: How Palestinian children are getting to grips with GAA
Some 20 children, with training kits and hurleys, are now spending afternoons or evenings training, in a sport that they say makes them feel close to Ireland
www.irishexaminer.com
Reposted by David Kent
The list of towns in Ireland with a 20,000 pop. can fit in a single post:

Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Drogheda, Dundalk, Swords, Navan, Bray, Ennis, Carlow, Kilkenny, Naas, Tralee, Newbridge, Balbriggan, Portlaoise, Athlone, Mullingar, Letterkenny, Greystones-Delgany, Wexford, Sligo.
This confirmed by the Taoiseach in the Dáil just now – a significant backtrack by the Government in the midst of an acute housing shortage, now allowing more properties to stay in use for short-term lettings without needing to register/amend their property designation as 'commercial'
Irish Examiner: Government climbdown on proposals to regulate short-term lets
February 10, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Reposted by David Kent
“Nobody in Ireland should be exposed to hate speech, bullying, or child sexual abuse images on X just to find out if their train is delayed”
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Government bodies need to get off X, now
Nobody in Ireland should be exposed to hate speech, bullying, or child sexual abuse images on X just to find out if their train is delayed, writes Clare O'Donoghue Velikic
www.irishexaminer.com
February 10, 2026 at 10:36 AM
Big yikes.
Google must have finally incorporated AI into Google Maps. How do I know?
It just told me I needed to leave now to be at Dublin Airport by 13:30 now to catch 9am Citylink that arrives in Dublin Airport at 11am. Then I should take the 11:45 Kells bus to Ballymun and walk back one hour to the airport
February 9, 2026 at 9:06 AM
I probably won't make many better decisions in 2026 than not staying up for the Super Bowl last night
February 9, 2026 at 8:40 AM
Reposted by David Kent
'Granted, if our problem were orcs or the Dark Lord Sauron or something, then it would be easier to sympathise with Martin’s insistence that he is not Gandalf. Until then, it seems fair enough to ask for some semblance of a real, timely solution.'

This week's column is about Magic Wand Micheál.
Surrealing in the Years: Oh good, something else that Magic Wand Micheál is powerless to solve
We’re not talking about orcs here, man.
www.thejournal.ie
February 7, 2026 at 9:10 AM
A lovely piece about an absolute gentleman
Noel Hawkins began working in Mulligan's of Poolbeg Street in Dublin in 1979. During his near half-century behind the bar, he became one of the capital's most well-known and best-loved characters
Noel Hawkins, the bartenders' bartender - a tribute
Noel Hawkins began working in Mulligan's of Poolbeg Street in Dublin in 1979. During his near half-century behind the bar, he became one of the capital's most well-known and best-loved characters.
www.rte.ie
January 31, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by David Kent
Sales of tickets to watch 'Melania' in Boston are so disastrous that they'll now pay you $50 to sit though it. From Craigslist:
January 29, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by David Kent
NEW: Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old who ICE agents in Minneapolis nabbed last week and shipped off to a Texas detention facility with his dad, is now in poor health, his school superintendent told me today www.huffpost.com/entry/liam-c...
5-Year-Old in ICE Detention Is Sick, Says Top School Official
The 5-year-old who was taken by federal agents in Minneapolis is being held behind bars with his father in Texas.
www.huffpost.com
January 28, 2026 at 9:59 PM
How on earth did they let Rachel get away with that slip-up?!

"If I was a Faithful"

#TheTraitors
January 23, 2026 at 8:51 PM
After a closure that lasted 10 years, the Savoy in Cork is to be reborn as a live music venue and cultural space

www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar...
The Savoy in Cork to reopen as an events venue
The venue has been closed for a decade but is planning to reopen in February
www.irishexaminer.com
January 22, 2026 at 3:48 PM
US president Donald Trump will stop in Shannon Airport on Thursday as he returns from the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.

More here from @hosford.bsky.social

www.irishexaminer.com/news/politic...
Donald Trump set for Shannon Airport stopover on way back to US
Government sources say Mr Trump is not expected to leave the plane, which is a replacement aircraft
www.irishexaminer.com
January 22, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Jessie Buckley gets her Oscar nomination for Hamnet!
January 22, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by David Kent
What a headline, an amazing summary
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will skip the signing of US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” in Davos after Switzerland confirmed it would enforce the ICC arrest warrant over war crimes in Gaza.
January 22, 2026 at 10:20 AM
Reposted by David Kent
always a lot of panic about right wing young men, the second most progressive demographic in britain
The Greens do better among women than men in all age groups, including a 14pt gender gap among 18-24 year olds (44% of women vs 30% of men)

While Reform UK lead by 17pts among over 65 men, they trail the Conservatives by 6pts among older women

yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
January 21, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Currently reading:

(And a hat tip once again to the Irish library system. Manged to get this reserved and sent up to my local library in Meath from Clare County Council within the space of a week)
January 20, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by David Kent
When you read it like this, I think Trump could be turned away from Greenland simply by showing him a Peters Projection map.
Nice to see NYTimes provide a forthright description of Trump's own stated motivations for invading Greenland, rather than sane-washing it, but this shouldn't just be "analysis." Every story should bluntly state that Trump's reasons are personal and delusional.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/u...
January 20, 2026 at 2:22 PM
Brooklyn and his siblings have grown up in the limelight, and this has certainly been predominantly orchestrated by their parents. The recent Netflix “documentaries” about David and Victoria can barely be described as such, so cherry picked was their content.

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
A blow to Brand Beckham is a welcome distraction
I was planning an early night, but the big news — not Greenland, Enoch Burke or the Northern Lights, but a chip in Brand Beckham's polish — had me instantly hooked
www.irishexaminer.com
January 20, 2026 at 1:07 PM
"For all the hyperbole that comes with GAA exceptionalism, for all the familiar tributes trotted out to parish and place and identity, the reality still holds."

www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/ar...
When the aliens come, show them Dingle's epic with St Brigid’s in the All-Ireland club final
From a distance, the outsider might understand the All-Ireland club finals even better than we do; that this is not about sport at all, but about people gathering to remind themselves who they are
www.irishexaminer.com
January 19, 2026 at 11:47 AM
I have a funny feeling Gav will be emotional now!
Vintage Manchester United. I’m almost emotional.
January 17, 2026 at 2:23 PM
And we're back.
January 16, 2026 at 10:20 AM
Disappointing that RTÉ felt compelled to apologise for the "background noise" on the One O'Clock News.

That noise? Chants of 'Free Palestine' while they were doing a live link to Leinster House
June 18, 2025 at 12:08 PM
It took just over two decades for many to acknowledge that Sinéad O’Connor was on the right side of history when ripping up the picture of the pope.

Is it really going to take two decades for the same to be acknowledged for Kneecap when it comes to Gaza?

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Kneecap join O’Connor in hall of fame for calling out injustices
How long will it take for the Belfast band to be seen as standing on the right side of history, asks David Kent
www.irishexaminer.com
May 24, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by David Kent
Lovely piece about “peaceful harmony … in our own back garden" and “life, in all its brilliant circularity” by @dkentexaminer.bsky.social

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

#resilience #sustainability
Life and death of feathered friends keeps me in the present when grief threatens
Raising rescued hens brought unexpected lessons in loss, sustainability, and the healing power of nature’s daily rhythms
www.irishexaminer.com
May 1, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Liathróidí on Rory McIlroy
April 13, 2025 at 10:29 PM