Donal Coffey
@donalcoffey.bsky.social
Constitutional law, legal history. Assistant Prof in Maynooth University, Ireland.
Pinned
Donal Coffey
@donalcoffey.bsky.social
· Oct 22
I've created a Legal History starter pack as I don't think anyone else has and it seems like the type of thing we should have. I'm sure I missed people (apologies!), so hit me up if I have: go.bsky.app/XJxJpA
Brice Dickson delivering the Irish Legal History Society winter discourse...
November 14, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Brice Dickson delivering the Irish Legal History Society winter discourse...
The last remnant of the Royal University of Ireland 1884-1909, in Queen's University Belfast.
November 14, 2025 at 5:05 PM
The last remnant of the Royal University of Ireland 1884-1909, in Queen's University Belfast.
The @secondcaptains.bsky.social pod just dropped. Just in time for an Enterprise train to Belfast...
November 14, 2025 at 2:11 PM
The @secondcaptains.bsky.social pod just dropped. Just in time for an Enterprise train to Belfast...
The youngest's reponse to the card was fits of laughter while saying "Ronaldo sucks"
November 14, 2025 at 9:43 AM
The youngest's reponse to the card was fits of laughter while saying "Ronaldo sucks"
What a time to be alive...
November 13, 2025 at 9:08 PM
What a time to be alive...
Strong opening to O'Sullivan v National Parks and Wildlife Service.
November 13, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Strong opening to O'Sullivan v National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Some people are assuming that there will be some sort of faithful reporting of the Epstein-Trump links. If you look at the landing page of Fox News, this is simply not the case. One key issue we have is information systems and the (lack of) regulation that exists in relation to them.
November 12, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Some people are assuming that there will be some sort of faithful reporting of the Epstein-Trump links. If you look at the landing page of Fox News, this is simply not the case. One key issue we have is information systems and the (lack of) regulation that exists in relation to them.
One of the least intuitive set of icon/function pairings I've ever come across.
November 12, 2025 at 6:39 PM
One of the least intuitive set of icon/function pairings I've ever come across.
Interesting idea from @dsquareddigest.bsky.social that the decision to appoint the next Director General of the BBC should be made by Irish universities. Obviously an oversight to omit Maynooth, but that can be sorted before implementation.
(from backofmind.substack.com/p/the-cognit...)
(from backofmind.substack.com/p/the-cognit...)
![I think, though, that it ought to be taken further, even into the heart of our systems. To take a topical example, let’s think about the governance of the British Broadcasting Corporation. This is an absolutely thorny one, because it’s such an intrinsically political role that it’s incredibly difficult to resist the temptation to play politics with selection of key personnel. And once they’re there, it’s equally difficult for those people to avoid the temptation to play up to domestic political interests in order to get reappointed.
So – why not just give the decision to parties who definitionally don’t have a horse in the race, but who benefit in the long term and in general from the BBC’s presence as an independent and stable source of high quality English language media? What I’m saying here is that the Director-General of the Beeb should be chosen by an ad hoc committee of the Oireachtas, possibly including a few representatives from the faculties of Trinity College, UCD and the University of Cork[1]. We could pay them a small fee for the trouble but I bet there would be plenty of volunteers to do it for free.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2xqcbp66zhxk4jpufm6ywg7l/bafkreigrkslf3v2q34i7fngon5anw22ttcobynpgqfpuxcd473ddqpxz4m@jpeg)
November 12, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Interesting idea from @dsquareddigest.bsky.social that the decision to appoint the next Director General of the BBC should be made by Irish universities. Obviously an oversight to omit Maynooth, but that can be sorted before implementation.
(from backofmind.substack.com/p/the-cognit...)
(from backofmind.substack.com/p/the-cognit...)
Reposted by Donal Coffey
Dr Orla Kelleher pushes back against the narrative that judicial reviews are to blame for the housing crisis.
Opinion: Beware of the judicial review red herring
Dr Orla Kelleher pushes back against the narrative that judicial reviews are to blame for the housing crisis.
www.irishlegal.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Dr Orla Kelleher pushes back against the narrative that judicial reviews are to blame for the housing crisis.
"Siblings, let us not be downhearted. One total catastrophe like this is just the beginning!" - the life of Brian.
November 10, 2025 at 10:18 AM
"Siblings, let us not be downhearted. One total catastrophe like this is just the beginning!" - the life of Brian.
Reposted by Donal Coffey
Delighted to be part of a wonderful team and leading the new @reveljmce.bsky.social. Lots to come in terms of activities (please follow us!) - for now: thanks to our wonderful colleagues @maynoothlaw.bsky.social; @muresearch.bsky.social for their invaluable support!
Delighted to announce that we are the REVEL Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence @maynoothuniversity.ie. We will be organising a host of activities over the next 3 years on "Realising European Values and European Law" (REVEL). Stay tuned (follow us) for more.
www.maynoothuniversity.ie/news-events/...
www.maynoothuniversity.ie/news-events/...
School of Law and Criminology awarded Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence
Maynooth University’s School of Law and Criminology has just opened the new Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, entitled “Realising European Values through European Law” (REVEL). Following a
www.maynoothuniversity.ie
November 10, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Delighted to be part of a wonderful team and leading the new @reveljmce.bsky.social. Lots to come in terms of activities (please follow us!) - for now: thanks to our wonderful colleagues @maynoothlaw.bsky.social; @muresearch.bsky.social for their invaluable support!
Reposted by Donal Coffey
BOOK: Philip BAJON, Informal Decision Making in the European Community under the Luxembourg Compromise. The Law that Never Was (London: Bloomsbury/Hart, 2025
📖
esclh.blogspot.com/2025/11/book...
📖
esclh.blogspot.com/2025/11/book...
BOOK: Philip BAJON, Informal Decision Making in the European Community under the Luxembourg Compromise. The Law that Never Was (London: Bloomsbury/Hart, 2025),
(image source: Hart ) Abstract: This book analyses the informal decision making process in the EU against the background of a gradually em...
esclh.blogspot.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:01 AM
BOOK: Philip BAJON, Informal Decision Making in the European Community under the Luxembourg Compromise. The Law that Never Was (London: Bloomsbury/Hart, 2025
📖
esclh.blogspot.com/2025/11/book...
📖
esclh.blogspot.com/2025/11/book...
Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains on a golden November morning.
November 9, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains on a golden November morning.
This will definitely end up before the courts. It's probably in the running for an Article 26 reference (provided our new President agrees).
Objectors will be on the hook to pay six-figure legal costs under judicial reviews clampdown
www.independent.ie/irish-news/o...
Objectors will be on the hook to pay six-figure legal costs under judicial reviews clampdown
www.independent.ie/irish-news/o...
Objectors will be on the hook to pay six-figure legal costs under judicial reviews clampdown
Objectors will have to foot six-figure legal bills for successful judicial review cases in a new move being brought to the Cabinet to speed up the supply of infrastructure and housing.
www.independent.ie
November 9, 2025 at 8:11 AM
This will definitely end up before the courts. It's probably in the running for an Article 26 reference (provided our new President agrees).
Objectors will be on the hook to pay six-figure legal costs under judicial reviews clampdown
www.independent.ie/irish-news/o...
Objectors will be on the hook to pay six-figure legal costs under judicial reviews clampdown
www.independent.ie/irish-news/o...
My strategy in the Traitors if I was a faithful would be to try and convince everyone to vote for themselves at the first roundtable. The only people who wouldn't be able to do it under the rules of the game would be the traitors.
November 7, 2025 at 10:05 AM
My strategy in the Traitors if I was a faithful would be to try and convince everyone to vote for themselves at the first roundtable. The only people who wouldn't be able to do it under the rules of the game would be the traitors.
I had the pleasure of reviewing Sionadh Douglas-Scott's excellent book, 'Brexit, union and disunion: the evolution of British constitutional unsettlement' for the Journal of Comparative Legal History. If this works, there should be 50 free eprints of it here: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/H7WTN...
Brexit, union, and disunion: the evolution of British constitutional unsettlement
Published in Comparative Legal History (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:04 PM
I had the pleasure of reviewing Sionadh Douglas-Scott's excellent book, 'Brexit, union and disunion: the evolution of British constitutional unsettlement' for the Journal of Comparative Legal History. If this works, there should be 50 free eprints of it here: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/H7WTN...
Maitland's "Why the history of English law is not written" is best understood as an apology to his co-author for falling behind.
November 5, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Maitland's "Why the history of English law is not written" is best understood as an apology to his co-author for falling behind.
Excellent piece featuring commentary by colleagues @maynoothlaw.bsky.social Chris Schreck, Ian Marder, and @lynseyblack.bsky.social
There’s a huge gulf between levels of fear of Dublin city centre, and levels of crime, a new survey shows. The City Centre Crime Victim Survey was commissioned by Dublin Inquirer and carried out by Amarách Research.
There’s a huge gulf between levels of fear of Dublin city centre, and levels of crime, new survey shows
The City Centre Crime Victim Survey was commissioned by Dublin Inquirer and carried out by Amarách Research.
www.dublininquirer.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Excellent piece featuring commentary by colleagues @maynoothlaw.bsky.social Chris Schreck, Ian Marder, and @lynseyblack.bsky.social
The eternal struggle...
November 4, 2025 at 6:53 PM
The eternal struggle...
The most bizarre thing about that Cheney incident where he shot a guy was that the victim apologised to Cheney: www.theguardian.com/world/2006/f...
Cheney shooting victim says sorry - to Cheney
Harry Whittington, the Republican lawyer shot by Dick Cheney in a hunting accident in Texas last weekend, emerged from hospital yesterday and apologised to the vice-president for all the trouble the s...
www.theguardian.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:14 PM
The most bizarre thing about that Cheney incident where he shot a guy was that the victim apologised to Cheney: www.theguardian.com/world/2006/f...
Reposted by Donal Coffey
V pleased that my Public Law article on judicial retirement (written with @bymyong.bsky.social) is now open access - see the link in Peter's post below. For those interested, some highlights of our research in this thread:
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
OBLS is committed to making our research available as widely as possible. So a pleasure to share that @patrickcobrien.bsky.social article on "The decline of the judicial retirement convention, 1950-2020" is now available open access here:
radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/...
radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/...
radar.brookes.ac.uk
November 3, 2025 at 9:27 AM
V pleased that my Public Law article on judicial retirement (written with @bymyong.bsky.social) is now open access - see the link in Peter's post below. For those interested, some highlights of our research in this thread:
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Paul Hosford in @irishexaminer.bsky.social calling for an overhaul of the political elements of the Constitution, including presidential nominations, constituencies, and cabinet: www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/colu...
Paul Hosford: Let's use the number of spoilt votes in Áras election to overhaul our entire political system
We should take the chance to have a proper discussion around all of our political structures and run a consultative process on which parts of the system work and which don't
www.irishexaminer.com
November 1, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Paul Hosford in @irishexaminer.bsky.social calling for an overhaul of the political elements of the Constitution, including presidential nominations, constituencies, and cabinet: www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/colu...
TG4's Misneach had an episode about the McGees which is still available on the player: tg4.ie/en/player/ca... Gives some small idea of Mary McGee's strength of character. RIP.
October 30, 2025 at 10:12 AM
TG4's Misneach had an episode about the McGees which is still available on the player: tg4.ie/en/player/ca... Gives some small idea of Mary McGee's strength of character. RIP.