Mike Finnerty
@mikecjf.bsky.social
So-called journalist with Northside and Southside People. Sometimes entertainment guy, sometimes politico. Galwayman in Dublin. Nu-metal apologist. Manchester and Galway United fan. Words and views my own. He/him.
Pinned
Mike Finnerty
@mikecjf.bsky.social
· Jan 25
I had a running bit on Twitter where I talked about how much I hate the snare drum on Teenage Dirtbag and I will repeat it here. It sounds terrible and ruins the song! PANG! PANG! DONG!
IFI doing a Jean-Luc Godard season 🙏
ifi.ie/jean-luc-god...
ifi.ie/jean-luc-god...
January 9, 2026 at 2:09 PM
IFI doing a Jean-Luc Godard season 🙏
ifi.ie/jean-luc-god...
ifi.ie/jean-luc-god...
If these are the people Keir Starmer is taking advice from, it really explains a lot about why a party on Labour's left is consistently outpolling them
Government should stay on X despite the Grok scandal, Keir Starmer's former communications director has said
James Lyons, who worked at TikTok before serving in Downing St, told PolHome podcast The Rundown that quitting Elon Musk's platform would leave a "vacuum" for Labour's rivals to fill
James Lyons, who worked at TikTok before serving in Downing St, told PolHome podcast The Rundown that quitting Elon Musk's platform would leave a "vacuum" for Labour's rivals to fill
Government Shouldn’t Quit X Over Grok Scandal, Says Former No10 Comms Director
The government should not quit X as doing so would leave a 'vacuum' for its political rivals to fill, Keir Starmer's former communications director...
www.politicshome.com
January 9, 2026 at 12:56 PM
If these are the people Keir Starmer is taking advice from, it really explains a lot about why a party on Labour's left is consistently outpolling them
Reposted by Mike Finnerty
Patrick O'Donovan is now defending a paid-for service that allows people to AI generate sexual material and Fine Gael will still trumpet the "personal responsibility" narrative.
Now only paying subscribers can make violent non-consenual sexual imagery of women and children -
Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery
X to limit editing function to paying subscribers after platform threatened with fines and regulatory action
www.theguardian.com
January 9, 2026 at 8:31 AM
Patrick O'Donovan is now defending a paid-for service that allows people to AI generate sexual material and Fine Gael will still trumpet the "personal responsibility" narrative.
Reposted by Mike Finnerty
removal from app store + google play probably fatally wounds the entire global right wing movement and significantly hinders musk’s own ability to get involved with elections both here and abroad
Honestly think that if you pulled twitter from the App Store and shut it down it would fuck up the entire right wing ecosystem at that point. Like the entire media apparatus would fall apart.
January 8, 2026 at 6:34 PM
removal from app store + google play probably fatally wounds the entire global right wing movement and significantly hinders musk’s own ability to get involved with elections both here and abroad
America literally doing this
January 8, 2026 at 5:45 PM
America literally doing this
Reposted by Mike Finnerty
Last December, The Green Party agreed to stop posting on X this year.
Yesterday the @irishexaminer.bsky.social asked every political party in the Oireachtas if they planned to continue using the platform.
The Green Party are the only ones.
Read more here 👇
www.irishexaminer.com/news/politic...
Yesterday the @irishexaminer.bsky.social asked every political party in the Oireachtas if they planned to continue using the platform.
The Green Party are the only ones.
Read more here 👇
www.irishexaminer.com/news/politic...
As concerns rise over Grok, only one political party has stopped using Elon Musk's X
X has faced sustained criticism because some people are using Grok to remove clothing from real people with a new tool called 'edit image'
www.irishexaminer.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Last December, The Green Party agreed to stop posting on X this year.
Yesterday the @irishexaminer.bsky.social asked every political party in the Oireachtas if they planned to continue using the platform.
The Green Party are the only ones.
Read more here 👇
www.irishexaminer.com/news/politic...
Yesterday the @irishexaminer.bsky.social asked every political party in the Oireachtas if they planned to continue using the platform.
The Green Party are the only ones.
Read more here 👇
www.irishexaminer.com/news/politic...
Reposted by Mike Finnerty
Asked the FF press office what the party stance is on still continuing to use Twitter in light of current events and got this response back. Make of it what you will. #Speirgorm
January 7, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Asked the FF press office what the party stance is on still continuing to use Twitter in light of current events and got this response back. Make of it what you will. #Speirgorm
Would love to know what positive sides there are to Twitter for a political party. It isn't 2015 anymore when it had moderation tools and everyone used it. It's a piss poor communication tool in 2026, and the only "people" left on there are Musk sycophants and narcissists who can't let go
My word.
The Taoiseach, in China, says "platforms can be misused and abused or they can be used for positive reasons as well..." and says that should be considered carefully "before jumping to conclusions" on whether it's appropriate for the Government to be on X.
The Taoiseach, in China, says "platforms can be misused and abused or they can be used for positive reasons as well..." and says that should be considered carefully "before jumping to conclusions" on whether it's appropriate for the Government to be on X.
January 8, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Would love to know what positive sides there are to Twitter for a political party. It isn't 2015 anymore when it had moderation tools and everyone used it. It's a piss poor communication tool in 2026, and the only "people" left on there are Musk sycophants and narcissists who can't let go
Reposted by Mike Finnerty
Women's Aid have announced they are leaving Twitter, saying "we no longer view it as appropriate to use such a platform to share our work."
Expect more statements like this in the coming days.
Expect more statements like this in the coming days.
January 7, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Women's Aid have announced they are leaving Twitter, saying "we no longer view it as appropriate to use such a platform to share our work."
Expect more statements like this in the coming days.
Expect more statements like this in the coming days.
Reposted by Mike Finnerty
If you are still on "X", you have to ask yourself why.
It's been a cesspool for years, recent days are a new low, it's not compulsory to be there.
If you don't leave it now, you have to ask what it would take to make you drop it?
It's been a cesspool for years, recent days are a new low, it's not compulsory to be there.
If you don't leave it now, you have to ask what it would take to make you drop it?
Breaking: Women's Aid Ireland will no longer maintain a presence on X from tomorrow.
@womensaidireland.bsky.social
@womensaidireland.bsky.social
January 8, 2026 at 9:32 AM
If you are still on "X", you have to ask yourself why.
It's been a cesspool for years, recent days are a new low, it's not compulsory to be there.
If you don't leave it now, you have to ask what it would take to make you drop it?
It's been a cesspool for years, recent days are a new low, it's not compulsory to be there.
If you don't leave it now, you have to ask what it would take to make you drop it?
Reposted by Mike Finnerty
In December, the Green Party Executive Committee agreed that the Party would move away from posting on X, a move that began in the New Year. @rodericogorman.bsky.social is no longer posting on the platform since the decision in December.
January 7, 2026 at 5:26 PM
In December, the Green Party Executive Committee agreed that the Party would move away from posting on X, a move that began in the New Year. @rodericogorman.bsky.social is no longer posting on the platform since the decision in December.
Reposted by Mike Finnerty
Real privilege that I have the platform to do this every year; here are my picks for the 10 best films of 2025. With apologies to The Brutalist and no apologies for putting three foreign language movies and two horror movies in there... dublinpeople.com/news/arts-cu...
Dublin People's Top 10 Films Of 2025
Vampires, washed-up revolutionares, eccentric aunts and bitter people are just some of the stars of 2025's best films, as chosen by us
dublinpeople.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Real privilege that I have the platform to do this every year; here are my picks for the 10 best films of 2025. With apologies to The Brutalist and no apologies for putting three foreign language movies and two horror movies in there... dublinpeople.com/news/arts-cu...
Women's Aid have announced they are leaving Twitter, saying "we no longer view it as appropriate to use such a platform to share our work."
Expect more statements like this in the coming days.
Expect more statements like this in the coming days.
January 7, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Women's Aid have announced they are leaving Twitter, saying "we no longer view it as appropriate to use such a platform to share our work."
Expect more statements like this in the coming days.
Expect more statements like this in the coming days.
Asked the FF press office what the party stance is on still continuing to use Twitter in light of current events and got this response back. Make of it what you will. #Speirgorm
January 7, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Asked the FF press office what the party stance is on still continuing to use Twitter in light of current events and got this response back. Make of it what you will. #Speirgorm
Real privilege that I have the platform to do this every year; here are my picks for the 10 best films of 2025. With apologies to The Brutalist and no apologies for putting three foreign language movies and two horror movies in there... dublinpeople.com/news/arts-cu...
Dublin People's Top 10 Films Of 2025
Vampires, washed-up revolutionares, eccentric aunts and bitter people are just some of the stars of 2025's best films, as chosen by us
dublinpeople.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Real privilege that I have the platform to do this every year; here are my picks for the 10 best films of 2025. With apologies to The Brutalist and no apologies for putting three foreign language movies and two horror movies in there... dublinpeople.com/news/arts-cu...
But Simon Harris says he has to "consider" leaving Twitter and is still posting on there as of 36 minutes ago
BREAKING: X’s chatbot Grok isn’t just making AI porn deepfakes, it’s now making Nazi AI porn deepfakes, undressing women and showing them wearing “swastika bikinis”. Many of these women are Jewish, including a recently deceased Holocaust survivor.
Elon Musk’s “Grok” is undressing women and showing them in swastika bikinis
One woman targeted is a Jewish Holocaust survivor
decoherence.media
January 7, 2026 at 9:00 AM
But Simon Harris says he has to "consider" leaving Twitter and is still posting on there as of 36 minutes ago
Reposted by Mike Finnerty
Mass creation of sexualised images of children, as a paid-for feature is not quite enough for Simon Harris to decide to leave X.
Tánaiste Simon Harris this evening asked if he'd delete his X account in light of the creation and sharing of non-consensual sexualised images of children and women on Grok, says he'll have to reflect on it.
January 6, 2026 at 8:49 PM
Mass creation of sexualised images of children, as a paid-for feature is not quite enough for Simon Harris to decide to leave X.
The heat wasn't working for my screening of Hamnet at the IFI so I got the 4DX experience. It was like I was actually there in the house with Buckley and Mescal! (Good film, first half kind of a wash but the ending more than makes up for it)
January 6, 2026 at 8:27 PM
The heat wasn't working for my screening of Hamnet at the IFI so I got the 4DX experience. It was like I was actually there in the house with Buckley and Mescal! (Good film, first half kind of a wash but the ending more than makes up for it)
First press outing of the year - Marty Supreme was just for fun, this is serious, Leaving Cert English Paper 2 material (or, senior hurling, to borrow a phrase)
January 6, 2026 at 6:01 PM
First press outing of the year - Marty Supreme was just for fun, this is serious, Leaving Cert English Paper 2 material (or, senior hurling, to borrow a phrase)
"January saw Norwegian film Sentimental Value pick up 7 Oscar nominations, but it was a Norwegian with sentimental value to Manchester United fans who made a dramatic return to the club..."
January 6, 2026 at 5:02 PM
"January saw Norwegian film Sentimental Value pick up 7 Oscar nominations, but it was a Norwegian with sentimental value to Manchester United fans who made a dramatic return to the club..."
Reposted by Mike Finnerty
In response to an email querying why EU Commissioner Michael McGrath was still using Elon Musk's toxic fascist social media platform, his office replied with an acknowledgement that included a prompt to follow him on X.
January 6, 2026 at 12:04 PM
In response to an email querying why EU Commissioner Michael McGrath was still using Elon Musk's toxic fascist social media platform, his office replied with an acknowledgement that included a prompt to follow him on X.
Will government and opposition parties stop using Twitter or will they just continue to express concern about it and continue to use it (and in some cases, pay for it)
Rape Crisis Ireland has called for a total ban on AI-based functions that can produce sexual images of children and adults. It comes after Coimisiún na Meán said it's engaging with the European Commission over concerns the AI tool Grok is being used to create sexually explicit images on X
Call for ban over AI 'nudification' features
Rape Crisis Ireland has called for a total ban on artificial intelligence-based functions that can produce sexual images of children and adults.
www.rte.ie
January 6, 2026 at 11:45 AM
Will government and opposition parties stop using Twitter or will they just continue to express concern about it and continue to use it (and in some cases, pay for it)
Is it any wonder that Starmer's Labour are polling underwater and losing major ground to Zack Polanski and the Greens? Their policy is clearly being influenced by Twitter and thinks it's repersentative of the electorate. I'll tell them the same thing they told us in 15/16 - Twitter is not real life.
Cabinet Office Minister Baroness Anderson tells the Lords the Government will keep on using X.
"I still believe that X is an appropriate platform to use because I believe in freedom of speech..."
"It is incredibly important that there is a counter narrative on those platforms," she says.
"I still believe that X is an appropriate platform to use because I believe in freedom of speech..."
"It is incredibly important that there is a counter narrative on those platforms," she says.
January 5, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Is it any wonder that Starmer's Labour are polling underwater and losing major ground to Zack Polanski and the Greens? Their policy is clearly being influenced by Twitter and thinks it's repersentative of the electorate. I'll tell them the same thing they told us in 15/16 - Twitter is not real life.
I do hope you get a chance to pick up this week's edition of the Northside and Southside People. I have put together my top 10 films of the year for 2025, and there are some real heavy hitters on and off the list! My 3rd time doing this, it's a privilege each time.
January 5, 2026 at 3:25 PM
I do hope you get a chance to pick up this week's edition of the Northside and Southside People. I have put together my top 10 films of the year for 2025, and there are some real heavy hitters on and off the list! My 3rd time doing this, it's a privilege each time.