Barry McMullin
@autofac.bsky.social
Stranger in a strange land - aren't we all? Engineering academic #Decarbonisation #ComplexSystems. #CarbonAbolitionist #AndACyclist he/his
Why "autofac" you say? Well ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autofac
And: http://www.eeng.dcu.ie/~mcmullin/
Why "autofac" you say? Well ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autofac
And: http://www.eeng.dcu.ie/~mcmullin/
Pinned
Barry McMullin
@autofac.bsky.social
· Nov 16
postcarbonireland.org: GE2024
www.postcarbonireland.org
Update on petition for a dedicated #IE
#GE2024 Leaders' Debate on the Climate & Biodiversity emergency:
www.postcarbonireland.org/GE2024/
#GE2024 Leaders' Debate on the Climate & Biodiversity emergency:
www.postcarbonireland.org/GE2024/
Reposted by Barry McMullin
Presidents past and present 🇮🇪
President Connolly was joined at the Áras by her predecessors Mary McAleese, Michael D Higgins and Mary Robinson.
President Connolly was joined at the Áras by her predecessors Mary McAleese, Michael D Higgins and Mary Robinson.
November 11, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Presidents past and present 🇮🇪
President Connolly was joined at the Áras by her predecessors Mary McAleese, Michael D Higgins and Mary Robinson.
President Connolly was joined at the Áras by her predecessors Mary McAleese, Michael D Higgins and Mary Robinson.
"Now in 2025 we face the existential threat of climate change and the threat of ongoing wars... [these are] both an individual and a collective challenge and one which obliges us to reflect on the way we live and interact with our world and with each other." president.ie/en/diary/det...
Inauguration of President Catherine Connolly | President of Ireland
Welcome to the website of the President of Ireland.
president.ie
November 11, 2025 at 5:57 PM
"Now in 2025 we face the existential threat of climate change and the threat of ongoing wars... [these are] both an individual and a collective challenge and one which obliges us to reflect on the way we live and interact with our world and with each other." president.ie/en/diary/det...
Reposted by Barry McMullin
Well the target to remain below 1.5C above 1850 levels wasn’t created out of thin air.
The idea was to avoid finding out which tipping points exist and which thresholds we might breach.
By colossal failure we are about to find out.
The idea was to avoid finding out which tipping points exist and which thresholds we might breach.
By colossal failure we are about to find out.
November 11, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Barry McMullin
Alpha at 1.25x speed explains a lot.
November 11, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Alpha at 1.25x speed explains a lot.
Reposted by Barry McMullin
“Across the world, strong and stable majorities continue to back ambitious climate policies…The problem isn’t a collapse in public support – it is the growing disconnect between people and politics, ..
www.politico.eu/article/cop3...
www.politico.eu/article/cop3...
COP 30 could be the ‘People’s COP’
This year’s conference is an opportunity to be remembered not just for new pledges or targets but for rebooting the relationship between citizens and the climate regime.
www.politico.eu
November 11, 2025 at 11:43 AM
“Across the world, strong and stable majorities continue to back ambitious climate policies…The problem isn’t a collapse in public support – it is the growing disconnect between people and politics, ..
www.politico.eu/article/cop3...
www.politico.eu/article/cop3...
Reposted by Barry McMullin
Congratulations to President Catherine Connolly, and wishing her all the very best in her new role as our national representative. She has been a long-standing champion of Irish cultural and linguistic heritage, community, and social justice.
#Breaking Catherine Connolly has signed the Declaration of Office at St Patrick's Hall in Dublin Castle to formally become the tenth President of Ireland | Follow Live
Connolly inaugurated as 10th President of Ireland
Follow live updates as Catherine Connolly is officially sworn in as the tenth President of Ireland.
www.rte.ie
November 11, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Congratulations to President Catherine Connolly, and wishing her all the very best in her new role as our national representative. She has been a long-standing champion of Irish cultural and linguistic heritage, community, and social justice.
Reposted by Barry McMullin
I'll be in @booksupstairs.bsky.social Dublin next Sunday afternoon, chewing the cud with @thinkorswim.bsky.social about his fantastic new book 'The Lie of the Land' 🐮
Book at this link ⤵️
booksupstairs.ie/all-events/j...
Book at this link ⤵️
booksupstairs.ie/all-events/j...
John Gibbons in Conversation with Pádraic Fogarty | Books Upstairs
We are honoured to host a discussion between John Gibbons, author of The Lie of the Land, and fellow environmentalist Padraic Fogarty, on Ireland’s agricultural future in the face of climate change. J...
booksupstairs.ie
November 10, 2025 at 2:50 PM
I'll be in @booksupstairs.bsky.social Dublin next Sunday afternoon, chewing the cud with @thinkorswim.bsky.social about his fantastic new book 'The Lie of the Land' 🐮
Book at this link ⤵️
booksupstairs.ie/all-events/j...
Book at this link ⤵️
booksupstairs.ie/all-events/j...
Reposted by Barry McMullin
Alternative, more accurate headline: Cowen urges Taoiseach to ignore the science and our wrecked environment.
Cowen urges Taoiseach to seek better nitrates deal
Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Cowen has called on the Taoiseach to pursue a better deal for farmers on the nitrates derogation.
www.rte.ie
November 10, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Alternative, more accurate headline: Cowen urges Taoiseach to ignore the science and our wrecked environment.
Reposted by Barry McMullin
#CoP30 begins today, day-by-day in this thread I'll link/ quote from my #CoP21 in Paris reports ten years ago for @antaisce.bsky.social.
Maybe chiming with came to be & what's happening now, or maybe not.
First, we arrived into a city under high security yet hosting a big climate conference:
⏬
1/n
Maybe chiming with came to be & what's happening now, or maybe not.
First, we arrived into a city under high security yet hosting a big climate conference:
⏬
1/n
November 10, 2025 at 3:45 PM
#CoP30 begins today, day-by-day in this thread I'll link/ quote from my #CoP21 in Paris reports ten years ago for @antaisce.bsky.social.
Maybe chiming with came to be & what's happening now, or maybe not.
First, we arrived into a city under high security yet hosting a big climate conference:
⏬
1/n
Maybe chiming with came to be & what's happening now, or maybe not.
First, we arrived into a city under high security yet hosting a big climate conference:
⏬
1/n
Reposted by Barry McMullin
Watching tiny brains with mega egos trying to quash a global public media newsroom is ultra 1930s - the BBC is not perfect, frankly nothing is, but it is a remarkable good newsroom, focussed on journalism and one I've been proud to have once worked in.
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
November 10, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Watching tiny brains with mega egos trying to quash a global public media newsroom is ultra 1930s - the BBC is not perfect, frankly nothing is, but it is a remarkable good newsroom, focussed on journalism and one I've been proud to have once worked in.
Reposted by Barry McMullin
So proud of my father for all the passion, courage,care and vision he brought to the last 14 years as President of Ireland. Both my parents have always been driven by a deep wide love for Ireland & the world, for people, planet & possibilities. Looking forward to their next chapter! #Grá #spiergirm
November 11, 2025 at 6:34 AM
So proud of my father for all the passion, courage,care and vision he brought to the last 14 years as President of Ireland. Both my parents have always been driven by a deep wide love for Ireland & the world, for people, planet & possibilities. Looking forward to their next chapter! #Grá #spiergirm
Reposted by Barry McMullin
On the road to Cavan town shortly to take part in Cavan-Monaghan Science Festival, where I'll be discussing THE LIE OF THE LAND and a new vision for Ireland in the #climate emergency.
November 11, 2025 at 8:13 AM
On the road to Cavan town shortly to take part in Cavan-Monaghan Science Festival, where I'll be discussing THE LIE OF THE LAND and a new vision for Ireland in the #climate emergency.
Reposted by Barry McMullin
How screwed is the climate, how do we stop it screwing us, how do we unscrew it.
Three episodes of Global Warning has considered answers to all the above, and @aljazeera.com has made it free to watch on YouTube.
Ep 1: How Screwed Is It? 👉 youtu.be/F8vI5_gN90g?...
1/3
Three episodes of Global Warning has considered answers to all the above, and @aljazeera.com has made it free to watch on YouTube.
Ep 1: How Screwed Is It? 👉 youtu.be/F8vI5_gN90g?...
1/3
Inside the planet’s most urgent climate warning | Global Warning E1 | Featured Documentary
YouTube video by Al Jazeera English
youtu.be
November 9, 2025 at 5:44 PM
How screwed is the climate, how do we stop it screwing us, how do we unscrew it.
Three episodes of Global Warning has considered answers to all the above, and @aljazeera.com has made it free to watch on YouTube.
Ep 1: How Screwed Is It? 👉 youtu.be/F8vI5_gN90g?...
1/3
Three episodes of Global Warning has considered answers to all the above, and @aljazeera.com has made it free to watch on YouTube.
Ep 1: How Screwed Is It? 👉 youtu.be/F8vI5_gN90g?...
1/3
Reposted by Barry McMullin
Yes, absolutely there is an impartiality crisis at the BBC. But it's not the one the billionaire media insists it is. novaramedia.com/2025/06/16/b...
BBC Gives Israeli Deaths 33 Times More Coverage, New Study Reveals | Novara Media
An analysis of over 35,000 broadcast segments and articles found that the BBC referenced the 7 October attacks in at least 40% of its coverage - but only 0.5% of articles referenced Israel’s decades o...
novaramedia.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Yes, absolutely there is an impartiality crisis at the BBC. But it's not the one the billionaire media insists it is. novaramedia.com/2025/06/16/b...
Reposted by Barry McMullin
"But police states are unsustainable, and what is unsustainable cannot be sustained."
Unsustainable in which timeline? Because in a fascistic asshole society, a police state will be what people want!
steady.page/de/friedlich...
Unsustainable in which timeline? Because in a fascistic asshole society, a police state will be what people want!
steady.page/de/friedlich...
Escape from reality: why collapse makes fascism sexy
The darker reality turns in collapse, the more attractive the escape from reality offered by fascism becomes. TBH, we on the left don't really have a solution for this.
steady.page
November 10, 2025 at 7:58 AM
"But police states are unsustainable, and what is unsustainable cannot be sustained."
Unsustainable in which timeline? Because in a fascistic asshole society, a police state will be what people want!
steady.page/de/friedlich...
Unsustainable in which timeline? Because in a fascistic asshole society, a police state will be what people want!
steady.page/de/friedlich...
Reposted by Barry McMullin
That is a predicament that has to be managed for as long as an industrial civilization endures, not a *problem* that could be "solved."
And it can only be managed through ceaseless policy and politics.
And it can only be managed through ceaseless policy and politics.
November 10, 2025 at 8:05 AM
That is a predicament that has to be managed for as long as an industrial civilization endures, not a *problem* that could be "solved."
And it can only be managed through ceaseless policy and politics.
And it can only be managed through ceaseless policy and politics.
Reposted by Barry McMullin
I‘m afraid police state/fascism is going to be the default response to the #polycrisis. Jailing and muzzling those who try to warn about the problem and do something is so deeply human.
Sigh.
But police states are unsustainable, and what is unsustainable cannot be sustained.
Sigh.
But police states are unsustainable, and what is unsustainable cannot be sustained.
In the not too distant future, most countries in the world will treat "environmental" or climate activism as terrorism: "Environmental protesters are being given licence conditions on release from jail that are supposed to be limited to extremism cases."
Jailed UK climate protesters facing conditions reserved for extremists on release
Exclusive: Just Stop Oil activist was banned from attending gatherings, including meeting a friend in a cafe, without permission
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:53 AM
I‘m afraid police state/fascism is going to be the default response to the #polycrisis. Jailing and muzzling those who try to warn about the problem and do something is so deeply human.
Sigh.
But police states are unsustainable, and what is unsustainable cannot be sustained.
Sigh.
But police states are unsustainable, and what is unsustainable cannot be sustained.
Reposted by Barry McMullin
In the not too distant future, most countries in the world will treat "environmental" or climate activism as terrorism: "Environmental protesters are being given licence conditions on release from jail that are supposed to be limited to extremism cases."
Jailed UK climate protesters facing conditions reserved for extremists on release
Exclusive: Just Stop Oil activist was banned from attending gatherings, including meeting a friend in a cafe, without permission
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:58 AM
In the not too distant future, most countries in the world will treat "environmental" or climate activism as terrorism: "Environmental protesters are being given licence conditions on release from jail that are supposed to be limited to extremism cases."
Reposted by Barry McMullin
“The elites are ecstatic about imagining a vast, uneducated, and unproductive population forced to pay companies like OpenAI to access the written word and to approximate thought.”
Must read piece by Noah McCormack with too many quotaboe lines to select one! thebaffler.com/salvos/we-us...
Must read piece by Noah McCormack with too many quotaboe lines to select one! thebaffler.com/salvos/we-us...
We Used to Read Things in This Country | Noah McCormack
Technology changes us—and it is currently changing us for the worse.
thebaffler.com
November 2, 2025 at 5:12 PM
“The elites are ecstatic about imagining a vast, uneducated, and unproductive population forced to pay companies like OpenAI to access the written word and to approximate thought.”
Must read piece by Noah McCormack with too many quotaboe lines to select one! thebaffler.com/salvos/we-us...
Must read piece by Noah McCormack with too many quotaboe lines to select one! thebaffler.com/salvos/we-us...
Reposted by Barry McMullin
Burning trees is not a climate solution
Drax still burning 250-year-old trees sourced from forests in Canada, experts say
Exclusive: report by Stand.earth says subsidiary of power plant received truckloads of whole logs at biomass pellet sites
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Burning trees is not a climate solution
Reposted by Barry McMullin
Who's Funding the War on Trans Inclusion?
“The stated goal of strategic litigation is rarely to win every case. It’s to make the target behaviour—in this case, implementing trans-inclusive policies—expensive, risky, and exhausting”
“The stated goal of strategic litigation is rarely to win every case. It’s to make the target behaviour—in this case, implementing trans-inclusive policies—expensive, risky, and exhausting”
Who's Funding the War on Trans Inclusion?
A 40-fold surge in cases and the litigation infrastructure behind it
ajustsociety.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Who's Funding the War on Trans Inclusion?
“The stated goal of strategic litigation is rarely to win every case. It’s to make the target behaviour—in this case, implementing trans-inclusive policies—expensive, risky, and exhausting”
“The stated goal of strategic litigation is rarely to win every case. It’s to make the target behaviour—in this case, implementing trans-inclusive policies—expensive, risky, and exhausting”
Reposted by Barry McMullin
Two Tier Keir latest:
Jailed UK climate protesters facing conditions reserved for extremists on release
Jailed UK climate protesters facing conditions reserved for extremists on release
Exclusive: Just Stop Oil activist was banned from attending gatherings, including meeting a friend in a cafe, without permission
Environmental protesters are being given licence conditions on release from jail that are supposed to be limited to extremism cases.
Ella Ward, 22, was banned from going to any meetings or gatherings, except for worship, without permission from her probation officer, although the Ministry of Justice dropped the condition after she brought a legal challenge. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Two Tier Keir latest:
Reposted by Barry McMullin
Unless there's an unbreakably valid safety reason why not, all button-operated pedestrian crossings should activate the lights in pedestrians' favour instantly when pressed.
November 8, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Unless there's an unbreakably valid safety reason why not, all button-operated pedestrian crossings should activate the lights in pedestrians' favour instantly when pressed.
Reposted by Barry McMullin
