Ireland on Mark Twomey

The Sword and the Salmon

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:09:03 +0100

Russia has started running its rusting shadow fleet of oil tankers along the Irish coast at an increased rate to avoid Royal Navy seizures. Ireland, of course, focused on policing fishing, doesn’t have the naval resources to deal with this. And now in the Irish Times, Ireland’s military intelligence are warning about the risk of a catastrophic oil spill off the Irish coast. I like that the salmon of knowledge is the logo of our intelligence services, but a new naval service should use Fragarach, the sword of Manannán mac Lir, as its logo. Ireland is no longer a place the world forgets about. It needs to adapt to the world showing up on its doorstep.

‘The spy is the boring guy in a suit’: Inside the State’s military intelligence service

“If one of these single-skinned 19-year-old tankers hits a bag of crisps off the Aran Islands, you now have millions of tonnes of oil in the water and there’s no more Wild Atlantic Way. We don’t have the capacity to deal with an oil slick that size,”

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 01:03:12 +0100

Tonight Ireland moves into summer time. I enjoy the grand stretch in the evenings over the coming months. Ireland usually only gets about 3–4 hours of bright sunshine a day on average, and that’s usually diffused by clouds, but that stretches out to 5–7 hours in May and June. Bring on the sun.

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 22:57:25 +0100

Amazon granted permission for satellite ground station in Cork, Ireland

Amazon this week announced it has received regulatory approval from the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) to operate a satellite earth station gateway at the National Space Centre Ltd (NSC) in Cork County, Ireland.

Nice. It’ll join the Starlink gateway, and means Amazon will enter the retail satellite internet market in Ireland.

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 00:38:28 +0100

Satellite TV was revolutionary in Europe, but in Ireland & the UK, its days are numbered. The Astra satellites at 28.2°E, are nearing the end of their service lives, and KA-Sat 9A (Saorsat in Ireland) ends its service life around 2026. You may have to talk to your Granny about IPTV soon.