Rebecca Graff-McRae
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poliscirish.bsky.social
Rebecca Graff-McRae
@poliscirish.bsky.social
820 followers 520 following 1.1K posts
Political researcher. Deconstructor of discourses. Dancer of jigs. Spectator of spectres. Herder of hooligans.

PhD in Irish political history. QUB alum. Research manager at Parkland Institute
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poliscirish.bsky.social
Where?! I need to send a guy with a trombone.
A hand holding up a bumper sticker in front of the rear end of a Toyota, which is already covered in bumper stickers. It reads: Keep honking! I'm listening to ska and you're in the band now
October 29, 2025 at 11:37 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Former MLA Jon Carson stayed up to bear witness as Smith's UCP steamrollered our Charter Rights - and our public education system.
FB post from former MLA Jon Carson, October 27, 2025: Thought I'd come witness the UCP dismantling democracy while Albertans sleep. Update: It's so ridiculous that it's hard to believe it's even true, but the UCP MLA's were using a meat smoker on their balcony while they were in the legislature trampling on the rights of teachers and all Albertans. Separate from that, a group of us chanted "shame on you" from outside the legislature loud enough that members in the chamber could hear us while the final vote was being counted. Security drove up within about 10 seconds and told us to stop yelling. 😒 Unfortunately, while Albertans were sleeping, this government rammed through what they themselves know is an unconstitutional piece of legislation that forces teachers back to work with a contract they never agreed on and strips them (and all Albertans) of so many fundamental rights. The UCP used their majority to put one-hour limits on each stage of the debate, voting and passing the legislation through all three stages in six and a half hours, finishing at 2 AM. Unprecedented and certainly undemocratic. FB post from former MLA Jon Carson, October 27, 2025: Nothing has been fixed in our classrooms. The conditions that teachers have been raising alarms about are no closer to being fixed, and the government, through these actions, is showing that it has no intention of trying to make things better at all.
October 28, 2025 at 2:34 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
When our Charter rights to collective bargaining are superseded by hubris and pettiness, how will we respond?

This is our tipping point, Albertans.

#Bill2 #abpoli
A post by CUPE Alberta president Raj Uppal, 27 October 2025: Today is a defining moment in Alberta's history. The UCP is pushing Bill 2 through without even showing Albertans what's in it. No transparency. No debate. No democracy. This government is showing its true colours - serving the rich and powerful while silencing working people. Join us at the Legislature this afternoon and stand up for your rights. Because if they use the Notwithstanding Clause, it will strip away your worker protections and your voice. It's time to wake up, Alberta. Our rights are on the line.
October 27, 2025 at 8:19 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Jason Stanley, "How Fascism Works":
"In fascist ideology, in times of crisis and need, the state reserves support for members of the chosen nation, for “us” and not “them.” The justification is invariably because “they” are lazy, lack a work ethic, and cannot be trusted with state funds and because “they” are criminal and seek only to live off state largesse. In fascist politics, “they” can be cured of laziness and thievery by hard labor. This is why the gates of Auschwitz had emblazoned on them the slogan ARBEIT MACHT FREI—work shall make you free." Excerpt from "How Fascism Works", by Jason Stanley
October 26, 2025 at 11:32 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Oooh, now do Derrida.
A spoof poster parodying Jacques Derrida's "Spectres of Marx", featuring Karl dressed in black robes holding a bloody sickle aloft like the Grim Reaper. The tagline reads: The world's #1 bestselling postmodernist brings back Marx ... With a vengeance.
October 23, 2025 at 4:38 AM
poliscirish.bsky.social
A circular sticker, pink and orange ombré, held between a wee* thumb and forefinger. In white cursive lettering it reads: The government is giving me a migraine. *The wee thumb and forefinger are my own.
October 23, 2025 at 1:04 AM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Absolutely brilliant craic with the lads from @foilarmsandhog.bsky.social in Edmonton last night! And incredibly generous of them to hang about and sign a few (hundred) autographs. Best moment of the night: the 🎶Doom-dah 🎶

#speirgorm
A giddy fangirl (curly brown hair, glasses, and a purple jumper) poses with the legendary Irish comedy trio Foil, Arms, and Hog. She holds a yellow sign with the catchphrase, "Enh Doom-Dah", which has been autographed.
October 19, 2025 at 7:07 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
What a beautiful thing, to wake up to a new (old) Heaney poem, woven with love and memory and paternal pride. Even this world, in this time, can cherish such a gift.

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Text of a newly published poem from Seamus Heaney, written in 2004 in honour of his son Christopher's wedding. It is titled: Chair, Pocket Knife, Guitar
October 9, 2025 at 3:55 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Today's haunting:

The sign is amazing, but the message is urgent. Shout out to Holly Nichol, ward C trustee candidate for EPSB, who is literally walking the talk in support of public education today.

#ABteacherstrike #ATAstrike
A black sign with orange and white lettering and images of ghosts, reading: Inclusion doesn't have to be scary, but support for the kids is ghosting me!
October 7, 2025 at 6:38 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
One of my favourite memories from living in Belfast: KiaProvoGate.
A headline from the Belfast Telegraph newspaper (online edition), Tuesday 5 March 2013: "Unionists Hit Out at Kia Provo Name" The story details how members of the Democratic Unionist Party felt deeply offended by the Korean carmaker's name choice for a model in development, saying the vehicle should be given a name "not associated with terror and mayhem."
October 1, 2025 at 3:42 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
It's me: I'm Rebecca.
A comic by Tom Gauld: a woman with a dark ponytails, in a sweater and vaguely preppy skirt and satchel, runs between two trees, past a church, to chase a mobile library van. A thought bubble above her reads: I've got to follow my heart and leave this sleepy village behind. A new life awaits on the open road, touring from town to town in a merry band of brilliant eccentrics! The caption below reads: Rebecca runs away to join the travelling library.
September 23, 2025 at 4:28 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
After difficult news today, a bright spot: the always delightful @domsball.bsky.social at @irishstudiesqub.bsky.social delivering a scathing deconstruction of Irishness, capitalism, the project of ethnonationalism and Guinness ... While pouring one out to lubricate the lecture. Time-defying indeed.
A screenshot of a virtual lecture. An anthropology professor in a mustard yellow button-down pours a can of Guinness into a pint glass, while standing next to a lecturn. Hilarity and critical thinking ensue.
September 22, 2025 at 6:05 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Commemoration is used to weave together stories about the past to read the present. The echoes are emphasized, the dislocations & discontinuities downplayed. We might feel that these histories rhyme. It might be true. It's important nonetheless to see how memory is being deployed & to what effect.
A screenshot of a post on X by @IrishUnity. The caption reads: (Irish flag) 1845: It's not famine, it's genocide (Palestinian flag) 2025: it's not famine, it's genocide The image shows an Irish memorial to an gorta mór, with human figures wasted by hunger and despair. They have been clothed in keffiyehs and Palestinian flags are waved by demonstrators in the background.
September 21, 2025 at 9:51 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Yes! Like, have these guys heard about the care economy? Do they not know that healthcare, childcare & eldercare are foundational, under-resourced, and a necessary precondition to economic growth in every sector? 🤔
A crowd of people holding unions flags (not visible) and a short woman on a purple hoody holding a handmade sign with the words Pharma Care is Nation Building
September 12, 2025 at 12:25 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
If you have some time for recreational reading, can I recommend Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn? It might reframe your vanishing vowel predicament.
Cover of Mark Dunn's novel Ella Minnow Pea. The book is bright green with orange and yellow accents, and features a pea pod below the title.
September 10, 2025 at 5:42 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
My eldest son, second child, has always carved his own path - and usually seeks the most challenging route. This weekend he competed at Canmore #HighlandGames and did his band EYPB proud. This is Loch Rannoch 🎶
September 1, 2025 at 4:33 AM
poliscirish.bsky.social
A overlapping series of brightly coloured apples, on a mint green background against a yellow sun. The foremost apple reads: I support AB (Alberta) Teachers.
August 29, 2025 at 6:31 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
My birthday is in November, but my husband knows I've been yearning for a deeply scholarly office after 5 years of wfh.

This is my new happy space, dark and studious and smelling vaguely like the memory of vellum and bookdust.
A home office with honey oak hardwood floors, deep mixture blue walls, cherrywood desk with a green banker's lamp, and a purple velvet deacon's chair flanked by dark cherrywood barrister bookcases. The white trimmed window on the far wall is awaiting paint ...
August 18, 2025 at 5:17 AM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Salutations from these two feline weasels: Ninja & Maple
August 8, 2025 at 10:36 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
The housing market means having to put up with a pushy flatmate:

Ninja (tuxie) and Maple (ginger weasel)

#caturday
A black and white tuxedo cat and an orange tabby kitten stare wide-eyed at the camera from a too-small cardboard box.
July 27, 2025 at 1:44 AM
poliscirish.bsky.social
I'm sure we would all flourish our job titles with a question mark if we worked for this government.

Infrastructure? Possibly? For now? 🤷🏻‍♀️
A screenshot of the email signature of the current (possible) press secretary for the Alberta Ministry of Infrastructure. It reads: Media Inquiries Michael Kwas [Phone number] Press Secretary, Infrastructure? Followed by links to other press releases and websites.
July 18, 2025 at 5:14 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
A thoughtful, necessary piece, but I continue to be gobsmacked by the total amnesia that persists around the actual inter-ethnic conflict in the UK, perpetuated for decades by very similar rhetoric to provoke a siege mentality. You might have seen recently how seamlessly those narratives converge.
A headline from the Irish Times: "'Isn't it brilliant' a mother says, photographing her children at a bonfire topped with an effigy of a migrant boat." Police Service if Northern Ireland investigates 'hate crime's following reports of material atop bonfire. The image shows an effigy of a small boat, with eight human figures wearing lifejackets silhouetted amid an orange blaze, deep black smoke against a night sky, as the Moygashel Eleventh Night bonfire burns.
July 15, 2025 at 1:31 AM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Me listening to that the whole time picturing this:
An image from Derry Girls: Sister Michael sits behind a desk, head on resting on her fist and a grim expression on her face. On the foreground is a statue of the Child of Prague, whose head has quite obviously been removed and stick back on upside down.
July 12, 2025 at 5:28 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
This is my baseline now ⬇️.
Image of a tweet by @tonyarmoredone: Me: *opens mouth to scream into the void* The void: sorry man we're full up Me: what? The void: there's no more room. We're teeming with screams Me: but- The void: we [clap emoji] are [clap emoji] at [clap emoji] capacity [clap emoji] sir. Try a pillow.
July 11, 2025 at 3:44 PM
poliscirish.bsky.social
Which was published as a correction to inaccurate reporting by Canadian Press:
Screenshot of the referenced article on CBC News, including a paragraph titled, "Corrections." Dated July 20, 2025 at 2:51 MDT "An earlier version of this story was incorrect. In fact, school children in Alberta under the new rules will be allowed to read books with information about puberty, menstruation, breastfeeding and other non-sexual topics, such as hugging, kissing and hand-holding. The earlier Canadian Press reporting incorrectly stated that students in Grade 9 and younger would not be allowed to read about those topics."
July 10, 2025 at 9:36 PM