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eilymay.bsky.social
Eilís Ní Chaoimh they/them
@eilymay.bsky.social
600 followers 950 following 370 posts
PhD student researching neurodiversity and criminal justice. Yapping into the void. Sharing passing thoughts on books (mostly fantasy, mostly queer) and, from time to time, law.
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eilymay.bsky.social
Smaller homes with no daylight are not a solution to the lack of affordable housing.

Neither is excluding disabled people through an exemption on the requirement to have a lift in a four storey building.

Tells me all I need to know about this think tank.

progressireland.org/the-blueprin...
A screenshot from Progress Ireland's 25 solutions to solve the housing crisis in Ireland. On the left is their logo which looks like three stylised right sides of houses put together? To the right is a prominent donate button. The text of the webpage reads: To reduce the cost of delivering apartments, the Minister for Housing, Local Government, and Heritage can use a National Planning Statement to: Reduce the minimum size of apartments. Suggested sizes: studios, 25m2; 1 bed 35m2; 2 bed 55m2; 3 bed 65m2. Reduce the minimum proportion of units in a development that must exceed that minimum size. Reduce or remove the requirement for dual-aspect; remove the restriction of the number of units per core. Remove or reduce the requirement for apartments to have private amenity space, ie balconies. Remove the restriction on the mix of units. Add an exemption of the requirement to have a lift in four-storey apartment buildings in Part M of the Technical Guidance Documents.
October 27, 2025 at 12:58 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
I'm a bit late sharing, but I read one fiction book in September.

PhD is wrapping up, so not much surplus brain space. But I could not put it down once I started reading Sunrise on the Reaping.

Great book, although, can I say, poor Haymitch! He has a tough time in this one.

5⭐

#BookSky
A graphic showing @eily_may's September 2025 Reads from StoryGraph. The front cover of Suzanne Collins' Sunrise on the Reaping is shown with a five star rating. The front cover is purple with a gold flint striker depicting a snake and a bird with their mouths open.
October 11, 2025 at 5:24 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Reading my sister's copy of Sunrise on the Reaping and I love that this beautiful image of a songbird and a snake is hidden underneath the dust jacket.

#BookSky
The front cover of a hardback edition of Suzanne Collins' Sunrise on the Reaping. The cover of the book is a rich purple inscribed in red with a snake and a bird facing one another. Both the snake's mouth and the bird's beak are open, suggesting an antagonism between them. Beneath them lie a number of points which could symbolise the sun, or perhaps are pointed spears. I haven't finished the book so please don't come for me on interpretation of the cover!!!
September 27, 2025 at 8:40 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Fiction has taken a back seat as I work through (hopefully!) the final months of my PhD.

I'm about halfway through Suzanne Collins' Sunrise on the Reaping. Coincidentally, @frankiegolucky.bsky.social and I bought a Nepenthes plant this week. And so every time Haymitch mentions it, I smile.
Three houseplants in a window, two of which are carnivorous. A Nepenthes hangs from the window handle with large cups that trap insects. The Nepenthes has four light green cups with red rims around the opening of the cups. On the windowsill is a pitcher plant, with long stems and wide openings to lure unsuspecting insects. The stems are green and the tops of the plant are red. Alongside the pitcher plant is a begonia with dark petals. The photo is framed by a purple and cream curtain to the right, and you can see through the window to a front garden lawn and cobble driveway. Trees and hedgerows are also visible in the background
September 27, 2025 at 8:34 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Another slow month in terms of reading. I really enjoyed Marie Rutkoski's The Midnight Lie,, and I hope to start the sequel soon.

#BookSky
August 2, 2025 at 3:33 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
I've been working my way, slowly, through Naomi Klein's Doppelganger.

Slowly, as there is only so much I can take of right-wing conspiracism at any one time.

My main takeaway, so far, is how the political climate has changed since its publication.

#BookSky
The front cover of Naomi Klein's Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World. The book cover is black with the word Doppelganger repeated in white font, getting more blurry as it descends the length of the cover. The Penguin Books logo is on the bottom right of the book cover, and there's also a purple circle that says it was the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction 2024 winner.
July 19, 2025 at 4:36 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
June was such a busy month, so I didn't finish any books. I did start this one - The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski.

Initially, it didn't capture my attention, but as the world within the book has widened, I've found myself enthralled.

I'm sensing there won't be a happy end for our protagonists.
The front cover of Marie Rutkoski's The Midnight Lie. The picture depicts a bottle containing a blue flower with pink petals. Curled around the bottle are two snakes. Flower motifs surround the edge of the cover.
July 12, 2025 at 3:13 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Regardless of the final result, Nico Hulkenberg is my driver of the day.

#F1 #BritishGP
Driver of the day vote for Nico Hulkenberg, 27, Kick Sauber. Nico Hulkenberg is pictured - a white man with blond spiky hair wearing the Kick Sauber gear in black and green with Stake the most prominent sponsor
July 6, 2025 at 3:36 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Really looking forward to presenting at the Critical Neurodiversity Studies conference this week @durhamimh.bsky.social

I'm excited to discuss my research on neurodiversity and criminal responsibility with a group familiar with neurodiversity as I'm usually presenting at law conferences!
A title slide for a presentation that reads: The Challenge of Neurodiversity for Criminal Responsibility, Eilís Ní Chaoimh, Centre for Disability Law and Policy, University of Galway. The slide contains two images. One is an infinity sign in pastel colours, a symbol used to represent neurodiversity. The other is the logo for the University of Galway/Ollscoil na Gaillimhe. It is a maroon circle with an image in white of the quadrangle at the university. Above and below the image is the word Gaillimh/Galway.
June 24, 2025 at 9:32 AM
eilymay.bsky.social
Summer School has finished for another year! Sharing my finished craftivism: a weaving piece in the nonbinary flag colours of black, purple, white and yellow. The word REST is spelt out in black thread and capital letters.

Our craftivism theme this year was rest as radical self-care.

#16thDSS
A weaving piece in the nonbinary flag colours of black, purple, white and yellow. The word REST is spelt out in black thread and in capital letters
June 19, 2025 at 10:37 AM
eilymay.bsky.social
Day Two just kicking off of the 16th International Disability Law Summer School on Disabled Activism in an Age of Far Right Resurgence.

Craftivism is one of my favourite parts of summer school. Here I am weaving during one of yesterday's sessions!

#16thDSS
A seated person weaves on a handheld loom. The picture is taken from behind their shoulder. Two laptops can be seen in the shot displaying a sign language interpreter and a zoom webinar. The person is weaving in an auditorium and the seats and podium at the front are visible. The person weaving is white, has short brown hair, is wearing glasses, watermelon earrings, a maroon top with a blue lanyard and blue trousers. They have a purple bracelet on their right wrist.
June 17, 2025 at 9:09 AM
eilymay.bsky.social
Forgot to post my May reading. These put me over my 10-book reading goal for 2025.

The Dark Mirror is my favourite of the Bone Season books, and I'm excited to see where this series goes.

Although a little sad to leave Samantha Shannon land until the next Roots of Chaos book comes out.

#BookSky
A graphic showing eily_may's May 2025 reads. The front covers of each of the books are pictured along with eily_may's rating. All books are by Samantha Shannon. From left to right: The Mask Falling, 3 stars; The Dark Mirror, 4.25 stars and The Dawn Chorus, 1 star.
June 4, 2025 at 4:38 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Voted for George Russell entirely for the lolz. This #MonacoGP has been a tedious watch.

#Formula1
Screenshot of my driver of the day vote for George Russell for Mercedes
May 25, 2025 at 2:30 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Was really looking forward to an hour spent in @kennysbookshop.bsky.social today.

Left upset and angry at the lack of accessibility due to their (recent?) practice of stacking books on the floor.

I was so upset I forgot to take photos, but here is a video from their TikTok, posted yesterday.
May 24, 2025 at 4:38 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Finally made it to Book Five of Samantha Shannon's Bone Season. It's all been leading up to this. Started reading the series in March after attending a book signing.

Reading with a coffee in honour of Paige.

#BookSky
The front cover of Samantha Shannon's The Dark Mirror. The cover is predominantly blue with a gold motif. It depicts flowers and stylised images which may be of Venice. In the background, a coffee cup can be glimpsed with drawings of faces on it.
May 23, 2025 at 3:47 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
I'm excited to be participating in the upcoming conference Law &… Reflections on Law and Interdisciplinarity with Early Career Researchers from Ireland and the UK.

Date: June 12 2025
Venue: NUI Building, Merrion Square, Dublin
Register Here lnkd.in/e2Q5yJ4x.
Program for the upcoming conference "Law and..." Reflections on interdisciplinarity and law with Early Career Academics in Ireland and the UK. Date: June 12th 2025 Place: NUI Building, Merrion Square, Dublin, Ireland Programme reads: 9.30-9.45 Welcome coffee and registration 9.45-10.00 Welcome Statements Ooonagh Breen (UCD, Sutherland School of Law) Organising Committe Representative (TBA) 10.00-11.15 Panel 1: Law and new areas: expanding the object of research Chair: Prof. Aoife O'Donoghue (QUB School of Law) Dr Sofia Kartalova (Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Nottingham): Ambiguity in EU Law: Reflections on the Known, the Unknown, and the Unknowable in the Study of Law and Language Butch Madikizela (PhD researcher, University of Pretoria): Jurisprudence and Sociology: An Integraive Epistemic Approach [online] Isabele Vilaca (LLM Candidate, Dublin City University): Human rights at the crossroads: anthropology, power and subaltern resistance Eamonn Rea (PhD researcher, Queens University Belfast): Law and... something? Conceiving a framework for disgust's relationship to criminal law 11.15-12.30 Panel 2: Law and new methods: expanding the researcher's toolkit Chair: Isabel Arce Zelada (UCD School of History) Dr Robyn Gill Leslie (Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Oslo): Documents suspended in time: linguistic and temporal challenges to transitional justice in South Africa Eilís Ní Chaoimh (PhD Researcher, University of Galway): The Methodological Challenge of Legally Defining Neurodiversity Yang Qiu (DPhil Law Student, University of Oxford): "Law and Collective Memory" in the "Socialist" Global South: Methodological Potentials and Challenges [online] 12.30-1.3.30 Lunch and coffee 13.30-14.45: Panel 3: Reflections on Interdisciplinarity Chair: Kay Lalor (University of Manchester Law School) Dr Sejal Chandak (Lecturer, University of the West of England): The curious case of smart cities Janine Geddis (PhD Candidate, QUB) Interdisciplinarity and the Early Career Researcher Dr Orlaith Rice (Postdoctoral Resercher, University of Limerick): Briding Comparative Constitutional Law and Criminology: Finding a Home for New Insights Jiani Zhong (PhD Researcher, Trinity College Dublin): Free Will as an Essentially Contested Concept: Which Conception(s) Can Catalyze Non-Retributive Revolution? Dr Suryapratim Roy (Assistant Professor, Trinity College Dublin): 'Against Law' 'Law and': In defense of the Legal Essay 14.45-15.45: Roundtable: Navigating Interdisciplinarity: The Stakeholders' View Chair (TBA) Professor David Kenny (Trinity College Dublin, Dean of the School of Law) Dr Blanca Suarez Bilbao (MSCA National Contact Point) Matthew MacCallum (UKRI) [online] TBA 15.45-16.30 Keynote Speaker: Professor Susi Geiger, UCD School of Business 16.30-16.45 Concluding Remarks 16.45-18.00 Social drinks for attendees and speakers (costs not covered by the "Law and..." Conference) 18.00 Speakers Dinner Registration at Eventbrite link with a QR code Event organised with the support of: SLS The Society for Legal Scholars UCD Sutherland School of Law
May 21, 2025 at 1:57 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Signing the petition to ban conversion therapy in the EU is easy to do.

Like me, you might experience the amusing phenomenon of being called out by the captcha.

Is it a hate crime if it's a robot? 🤖

@act-lgbt.bsky.social
A screenshot of the captcha for the petition to end conversion therapy in the EU which reads FagG.
May 16, 2025 at 12:14 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Can't forget the photo of me, determined to get to the church ruin, crutches and all.

Disabled people do have a right to participate in cultural life after all!!
A person with crutches attempting to open a gate into a ruined 19th Century Irish church in the Mayo countryside. The person is white, had short brown hair and is wearing sunglasses, a beige t-shirt, blue skirt and bright red crocs. Unusually there isn't a cloud in the bright blue sky. The surrounding landscape is mountainous, with rock visible amongst the grass.
May 12, 2025 at 12:10 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
About to watch the finale of Étoile, and I have loved every minute of it.

I adore the character of Tobias Bell, the gay autistic representation we deserve.
Gideon Glick as Tobias Bell in Étoile. Tobias sits on the ground with his arms around his knees. He is a white man with brown hair and a serious expression. He wears noise-cancelling headphones, a red t-shirt, black pants and a black, green and red jacket. He is surrounded by the opulence of the French ballet national - the room where he sits has gold columns and a painting of a man and woman dancing the ballet. In the painting, the woman wears a flowing pink dress, and the man wears a grey skirt around his waist with his chest exposed. Gold adorns most of the room, which is lit by two candelabras.
May 9, 2025 at 10:33 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
April: many books started, only one finished.

Fracturing my pelvis mid month brought my reading to a halt.

Currently on the go: Naomi Klein's Doppelganger, Samantha Shannon's The Mask Falling and the Dawn Chorus.

Shall see what May has in store for me.

#BookSky
A graphic from the storygraph showing @eily_may's April 2025 Reads: The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon
May 2, 2025 at 11:09 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Also. Took a screenshot from Samantha Shannon's Spring Q&A, and I. Am. Anxious.

Arcturus is dying isn't he? Or like returning to the Netherworld without the possibility of crossing back over.

I can't.
A screenshot of Samantha Shannon's Instagram story from her Spring Q&A session. The question asked: Will the bone Season have a happy ending. The answer: bittersweet!
April 13, 2025 at 3:30 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Realised that it's recommended to read the Dawn Chorus before starting the Mask Rising, so Book Four is now on hold while I give the novella a go.

However, I will say that Arcturus and Paige's characterisation has improved tenfold. They have personalities now and aren't just conduits for the plot.
Digital cover of the Dawn Chorus, a Bone Season novella by Samantha Shannon. The cover depicts many purple roses with stylised gold elements.
April 7, 2025 at 9:14 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
My journey through Scion continues with Book Four in the Bone Season series.

We're off to Paris in this one. Surprisingly, the French have fallen to dystopian authoritarianism, so I am interested to see how Shannon frames it.

#BookSky
Front cover of Samantha Shannon's The Mask Falling, book four in her Bone Season series. The colour scheme of the cover is predominantly pink and turquoise with gold accents. Contains a stylised depiction of the Eiffel Tower and the signature flowers on the cover.
April 7, 2025 at 11:45 AM
eilymay.bsky.social
This quote made its way into my commonplace book.

"When you dream of change, it shines bright, like fire, and burns away all the rot that came before it. It's swift and inexorable. You cry for justice and justice is done. The world stands with you in your fight...
A page in a handwritten commonplace book that reads as follows: The Song Rising, Samantha Shannon (Book Three of the Bone Season) 5 April 2025. "When you dream of change, it shines bright, like fire, and burns away all the rot that came before it. It's swift and inexorable. You cry for justice and justice is done. The world stands with you in your fight. But if there was one thing I had learned in these last few weeks, it was that change had never been that simple. That kind of revolution existed only in daydreams."
April 5, 2025 at 3:44 PM
eilymay.bsky.social
Took a break, but I'm now on Book Three of the Bone Season, which I'm very much enjoying reading outdoors in the Spring sunshine.

So far, ScionIDE is a highlight. I giggle every time they are mentioned. Which, like, maybe not the response you want to your feared military organisation.

#BookSky
Front cover of Samantha Shannon's The Song Rising with a book clip. The colour scheme is predominantly purple and pink and contains daffodils and stylised images of London buildings
April 3, 2025 at 4:55 PM