Una Mullally
@unamullally.bsky.social
Writer
unamullally.com
www.sliverpress.com
unamullally.com
www.sliverpress.com
Good piece by Keith Duggan in Minneapolis.
The battle for Minneapolis: ‘Ice agents are like this invisible goon squad’
Two civilians have been shot dead but ordinary Americans - many from the very demographic that Trumpian’s ideology purports to uplift - continue to oppose the forces sent into their city by the presid...
www.irishtimes.com
January 30, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Good piece by Keith Duggan in Minneapolis.
Good piece on the generally very ropey “job creation” figures when it comes to data centres.
There might be good reasons for Britain to build data centres. Job creation isn’t one of them
Estimate*estimate
www.ft.com
January 29, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Good piece on the generally very ropey “job creation” figures when it comes to data centres.
MUBI has acquired My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow, and the upcoming sequel My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile.
Part 1 was the best film I saw in 2025. It's almost five and a half hours long, but there's not a moment wasted. Highly recommend.
Part 1 was the best film I saw in 2025. It's almost five and a half hours long, but there's not a moment wasted. Highly recommend.
Mubi Acquires Oscar-Shortlisted Documentary ‘My Undesirable Friends’ And Upcoming Sequel
Russia-themed documentary 'My Undesirable Friends' and its upcoming sequel, both directed by Julia Loktev, have been acquired by Mubi.
deadline.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:33 PM
MUBI has acquired My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow, and the upcoming sequel My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile.
Part 1 was the best film I saw in 2025. It's almost five and a half hours long, but there's not a moment wasted. Highly recommend.
Part 1 was the best film I saw in 2025. It's almost five and a half hours long, but there's not a moment wasted. Highly recommend.
The doctors and therapists treating people experiencing A.I. delusions and suffering from A.I. chatbot-induced psychosis.
How Bad Are A.I. Delusions? We Asked People Treating Them.
www.nytimes.com
January 26, 2026 at 10:00 PM
The doctors and therapists treating people experiencing A.I. delusions and suffering from A.I. chatbot-induced psychosis.
The European Commission has launched a new formal investigation against X under the Digital Services Act, to "assess whether the company properly assessed and mitigated risks associated with the deployment of Grok's functionalities into X in the EU."
Commission investigates Grok and X\'s recommender systems under the Digital Services Act
The European Commission has launched a new formal investigation against X under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
ec.europa.eu
January 26, 2026 at 11:19 AM
The European Commission has launched a new formal investigation against X under the Digital Services Act, to "assess whether the company properly assessed and mitigated risks associated with the deployment of Grok's functionalities into X in the EU."
Tá agallamh agam leis an ealaíontóir Fearghus Ó Conchúir san Irish Times inniú.
“Go minic, leis na healaíona comhaimseartha, samhlaítear deighilt idir an t-ealaíontóir agus an pobal gur gá a shárú le dianiarracht, ach leis na healaíona traidisiúnta níl an deighilt sin ann.”
Is ealaíontóir rince é Fearghus Ó Conchúir. Faoi láthair, tá sé ina ealaíontóir cónaithe in UCD.
www.irishtimes.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Tá agallamh agam leis an ealaíontóir Fearghus Ó Conchúir san Irish Times inniú.
Last month, I wrote about the very sad story of Jim O’Neill, whose body was found in the Phoenix Park in Nov 2023, but whose family wasn’t informed of his death until Dec 2024.
Today, his family met with Fiosrú, Office of the Garda Ombudsman, who are investigating the Garda handling of the case.
Today, his family met with Fiosrú, Office of the Garda Ombudsman, who are investigating the Garda handling of the case.
Family of man whose remains went unidentified for 13 months meet Garda Ombudsman
Jim O’Neill’s father hopes lessons will be learned from errors that led to nine forms of ID being missed in postmortem
www.irishtimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Last month, I wrote about the very sad story of Jim O’Neill, whose body was found in the Phoenix Park in Nov 2023, but whose family wasn’t informed of his death until Dec 2024.
Today, his family met with Fiosrú, Office of the Garda Ombudsman, who are investigating the Garda handling of the case.
Today, his family met with Fiosrú, Office of the Garda Ombudsman, who are investigating the Garda handling of the case.
Looking forward to hosting this conversation with Maria 'Masha' Alyokhina of Pussy Riot in Belfast on January 29th as part of the Out To Lunch Arts Festival.
Her new book, Political Girl – Life and Fate in Russia, is out now.
Tickets are from £8, details here:
Her new book, Political Girl – Life and Fate in Russia, is out now.
Tickets are from £8, details here:
'Political Girl - Life and Fate in Russia' Maria Alyokhina - CQAF
What do you do when your country becomes a repressive authoritarian state? A breath-taking, compulsively readable story about how a […]
cqaf.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Looking forward to hosting this conversation with Maria 'Masha' Alyokhina of Pussy Riot in Belfast on January 29th as part of the Out To Lunch Arts Festival.
Her new book, Political Girl – Life and Fate in Russia, is out now.
Tickets are from £8, details here:
Her new book, Political Girl – Life and Fate in Russia, is out now.
Tickets are from £8, details here:
AI companies insist LLMs are "learning" rather than storing copyrighted works in their "memory". Is that so?
"OpenAI’s GPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, and xAI’s Grok have stored large portions of some of the books they’ve been trained on, and can reproduce long excerpts from those books."
"OpenAI’s GPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, and xAI’s Grok have stored large portions of some of the books they’ve been trained on, and can reproduce long excerpts from those books."
AI’s Memorization Crisis
Large language models don’t “learn”—they copy. And that could change everything for the tech industry.
www.theatlantic.com
January 19, 2026 at 4:34 PM
AI companies insist LLMs are "learning" rather than storing copyrighted works in their "memory". Is that so?
"OpenAI’s GPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, and xAI’s Grok have stored large portions of some of the books they’ve been trained on, and can reproduce long excerpts from those books."
"OpenAI’s GPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, and xAI’s Grok have stored large portions of some of the books they’ve been trained on, and can reproduce long excerpts from those books."
Wrote about the Irish government's plan to expand data centre development across the country through the new Large Energy User Action Plan.
Ireland has very high data centre density already, with around 50% of metered electricity in the Dublin area used by data centres, and 22% nationally.
Ireland has very high data centre density already, with around 50% of metered electricity in the Dublin area used by data centres, and 22% nationally.
Data centres leap back into business under a new Government policy
Who ends up paying for the data centre boom?
www.irishtimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Wrote about the Irish government's plan to expand data centre development across the country through the new Large Energy User Action Plan.
Ireland has very high data centre density already, with around 50% of metered electricity in the Dublin area used by data centres, and 22% nationally.
Ireland has very high data centre density already, with around 50% of metered electricity in the Dublin area used by data centres, and 22% nationally.
Reposted by Una Mullally
The Irish Times view on the price of a pint: not so plain
The Irish Times view on the price of a pint: not so plain
Guinness is a multinational product, a cultural artefact and a shorthand for everyday affordability
www.irishtimes.com
January 16, 2026 at 8:09 PM
The Irish Times view on the price of a pint: not so plain
Interesting new report from the European Council on Foreign Relations.
- Just 16% of EU citizens now see the US as an ally
- 66% of people surveyed in the UK feel pessimistic about their country's future
- 37% of Russians surveyed feel the US is an adversary (down from 64% in 2024)
- Just 16% of EU citizens now see the US as an ally
- 66% of people surveyed in the UK feel pessimistic about their country's future
- 37% of Russians surveyed feel the US is an adversary (down from 64% in 2024)
How Trump is making China great again—and what it means for Europe – European Council on Foreign Relations
A post-Western world is learning to love China, while Europeans are starting to fear America.
ecfr.eu
January 15, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Interesting new report from the European Council on Foreign Relations.
- Just 16% of EU citizens now see the US as an ally
- 66% of people surveyed in the UK feel pessimistic about their country's future
- 37% of Russians surveyed feel the US is an adversary (down from 64% in 2024)
- Just 16% of EU citizens now see the US as an ally
- 66% of people surveyed in the UK feel pessimistic about their country's future
- 37% of Russians surveyed feel the US is an adversary (down from 64% in 2024)
Update on this from the Complex CEO/Artistic Director, Vanessa Fielding.
January 15, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Update on this from the Complex CEO/Artistic Director, Vanessa Fielding.
The Complex arts centre in Dublin is set to close today barring a last-minute funding breakthrough.
‘One lifeline left’: Last-minute breakthrough needed to save The Complex arts centre
Government intervention in form of multimillion euro acquisition required to prevent Dublin facility’s closure
www.irishtimes.com
January 14, 2026 at 1:31 PM
The Complex arts centre in Dublin is set to close today barring a last-minute funding breakthrough.
Reposted by Una Mullally
Full coverage of very interesting Media Committee meeting with Gardaí currently focusing on X / Grok.
🚨 Breaking
Gardaí say investigations are underway following Grok scandal.
"We have received reports and referrals of content on that platform that is under investigation... the process takes some time... it has to be assessed to make sure it's criminal... the people responsible have to be ID'd"
Gardaí say investigations are underway following Grok scandal.
"We have received reports and referrals of content on that platform that is under investigation... the process takes some time... it has to be assessed to make sure it's criminal... the people responsible have to be ID'd"
January 14, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Full coverage of very interesting Media Committee meeting with Gardaí currently focusing on X / Grok.
Note who was defending Harris here.
Council rejects Tánaiste’s claim large number of homeless have no housing right
Council rejects Tánaiste’s claim large number of homeless have no housing right
Simon Harris defended by Independent councillor Malachy Steenson
www.irishtimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:11 PM
Note who was defending Harris here.
How rotten does X have to be before politicians finally leave it?
Una Mullally: How rotten does X have to be before politicians finally leave it?
Under Elon Musk, X is a vast disinformation network, a hotbed of extremism, a radicalisation tool. And now its chatbot is a creator, publisher and distributor of awful material
www.irishtimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 11:23 AM
How rotten does X have to be before politicians finally leave it?
The Irish public should listen to what An Taisce is saying about all of this.
An Taisce urges public to object to ‘unlawful’ caps on judicial review fees
Heritage and environmental charity says Government’s proposal is a ‘significant attack on civil society and public accountability’
www.irishtimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 11:22 AM
The Irish public should listen to what An Taisce is saying about all of this.
Reposted by Una Mullally
Non-consensual AI images on social media ‘illegal content’, Irish regulator says
Non-consensual AI images on social media ‘illegal content’, Irish regulator says
People impacted should report content and contact gardaí, Coimisiún na Meán digital services commissioner says
www.irishtimes.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:28 PM
Non-consensual AI images on social media ‘illegal content’, Irish regulator says
As Elon Musk's X continues to sink to new depths, there are serious questions to be asked as to why legitimate media outlets, government departments, state agencies, etc. etc. remain on the platform.
I wrote this last November.
I wrote this last November.
Una Mullally: Media outlets need to break ties with X
The presence of media outlets on X does not have a diluting effect on the concentration of misinformation on the platform. If it did, then we wouldn’t be where we are
www.irishtimes.com
January 6, 2026 at 1:56 PM
As Elon Musk's X continues to sink to new depths, there are serious questions to be asked as to why legitimate media outlets, government departments, state agencies, etc. etc. remain on the platform.
I wrote this last November.
I wrote this last November.
Wrote about plans afoot in Leitrim in Ireland to rebuild Gralton's Hall, the subject of Ken Loach's film, Jimmy's Hall.
Behind this project is a small group of people including a powerhouse of dance and Leitrim culture, Edwina Guckian.
You can find out more about the project at graltonshall.com
Behind this project is a small group of people including a powerhouse of dance and Leitrim culture, Edwina Guckian.
You can find out more about the project at graltonshall.com
Gralton’s Hall: The rebirth of an important ‘den of iniquity’ in Co Leitrim
Built in 1921, it was a place of great reverie, dance, debate and music. It was also a target of the Catholic Church
www.irishtimes.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Wrote about plans afoot in Leitrim in Ireland to rebuild Gralton's Hall, the subject of Ken Loach's film, Jimmy's Hall.
Behind this project is a small group of people including a powerhouse of dance and Leitrim culture, Edwina Guckian.
You can find out more about the project at graltonshall.com
Behind this project is a small group of people including a powerhouse of dance and Leitrim culture, Edwina Guckian.
You can find out more about the project at graltonshall.com
Reposted by Una Mullally
Writing this piece about the connections made between AfghanI refugees and local Irish people was quite heartening
www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...
www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...
‘When the Taliban came, I lost everything. I found Ireland like paradise’
Ireland is one of only two countries providing formalised routes to safety for people who face persecution in Afghanistan
www.irishtimes.com
January 4, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Writing this piece about the connections made between AfghanI refugees and local Irish people was quite heartening
www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...
www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...
Wrote about some forward-thinking activists in and of Ireland for 2026.
50 people to watch in 2026: From film and music to arts, activism, sport and more
The artists, entrepreneurs, activists and musicians set to shake things up in the new year
www.irishtimes.com
January 4, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Wrote about some forward-thinking activists in and of Ireland for 2026.
Wrote about how an aspect of social media behaviour in 2025 felt like more people withdrawing than “engaging”.
Una Mullally: Oversharing on Instagram is narcissistic. Doing it on Facebook is having a meltdown
Are we soon going to reach posting zero, the point at which people stop sharing online? I hope so
www.irishtimes.com
December 30, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Wrote about how an aspect of social media behaviour in 2025 felt like more people withdrawing than “engaging”.
Some thoughts on themes and touchstones across the arts in Ireland in 2025.
Una Mullally: Manchán Magan’s ability to fuse present and past defined a rich year in the arts
There were ghosts of our past everywhere - in music, literature, fashion, dance and theatre
www.irishtimes.com
December 29, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Some thoughts on themes and touchstones across the arts in Ireland in 2025.