All posts by Ciaran Brennan

What Happened To Ireland’s Anti-Assad Lobby?

Since the commencement of hostilities in 2011, the Irish government’s aid contribution to the Syrian conflict has been just shy of €200 million, channeled through the Red Cross and various UN Aid agencies. Mainly focused on the plight of refugees...

/ 18/11/2021

Kinzen’s Caper: How Did An Anti-Hate Speech Firm Siphon Off Є108k in State Funding?

Since bursting onto the scene as a potential silver bullet to the rise of alleged disinformation, The Burkean has documented the rise and potential fall of the tech start up Kinzen. A love child of former RTÉ presenter turned Twitter...

/ 13/11/2021

Who is Funding Ireland’s Black Queer Art Scene?

As purveyors of cynical right wing clickbait, The Burkean has taken excessive interest in the nation’s burgeoning black (queer) art scene.  From a left-wing microgallery sucking up generous amounts of state funding, to BLM inspired art collectives allegedly playing fast...

/ 12/11/2021

TENI in Tatters? Trans NGO Sees Mass Resignations Amid Harassment and Financial Woes

The Burkean has taken inordinate interest in TENI Ireland the past year, the nation's premier trans advocacy group noted for their rather sloppy accounts and links to the corridors of power. They have been essential in giving Ireland arguably the...

/ 06/11/2021

Boston Mayoral Election: Has Diversity Broken the Back of Irish America?

A glass ceiling was left shattered on the other side of the Atlantic this week with the triumph of Michelle Wu in the Boston Mayoral Election. A second generation Taiwanese American, Wu, who sits pretty on the progressive wing of...

/ 05/11/2021

Inside RTÉ’s Hate Speech Lobbying

Control over the public airwaves was a key feature in the Troubles and looks set to play a similar role in the fight against populism in years to come, as RTÉ's recent submission to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI)...

/ 01/11/2021

Fine Gael’s Drive for non-EEA Immigration

The Republic’s already lackadaisy immigration regime was crowbarred open just that bit wider yesterday with the announcement by Minister for Enterprise Damien English to liberalise the permit scheme for non-EEA workers. Potentially one of the most meaningful decisions for migration...

/ 29/10/2021

Liberties Mosque Decision Underlines Demographic Change in Dublin 8

The red bricked laneways and apartment blocks of the South Inner City Dublin have been visited by conspicuous demographic transition the past decade. Generally regarded as a solid working class area favourable to republican and left politics, since the Crash...

/ 28/10/2021

The Journal’s €350k Brussels Bailout

In May of last year, The Journal was forced to deny rumours of its impending dissolution with false and malicious stories circulating that the site was on the cusp of formally closing the shutters owing to financial stress. Founded in...

/ 23/10/2021

Which Irish Groups Made it Onto Facebook Danger List?

A month of outages and embarrassing revelations was made slightly worse for Facebook last week thanks to work done by The Intercept, airing internal documents outlining its deplatforming protocols when dealing with extremists. An anti-war publication made famous for their...

/ 19/10/2021