Via The Burkean (funded and run by conservative-leaning undergraduates):

In December of last year a Twitter account was set-up titled “Irish Students Against Fascism”.

it described itself as an aspiring antifascist organising hub to physically, socially and professionally harass individuals engaged with conservative or nationalist politics on campuses.

….What has been unknown until today was that, from the very onset, the page was operated by students involved with The Burkean.

The account was set up with the intent of performing long term investigative work into antifascism in Ireland, as well as its insidious and often blatant links with civic society, journalism and politics.

…Over the coming weeks, The Burkean will be publishing a series of exclusive messages, audio and video recordings that give a hint of the sheer scale of this corruption.

These materials will show how students and organizations deemed to be politically dissentious had their data gathered and distributed amongst a host of campus activists, violent and non-violent, all with the support student government.

This project will demonstrate how major student institutions treat those they perceive as politically dissident, as well as the degree to which they abuse their positions of power.

Organisations such as Young Fine Gael were specifically targeted, with senior members of student organisations expressing a desire to help for private meetings to be infiltrated and members doxxed.

From members of the Oireachtas to street activists, to an assortment of foreign financed NGOs and political activists ranging from Ógra Fianna Fáil to People Before Profit, the scale of the blatant corruption is remarkable.

A spotlight shall be shown not merely on a rotten system of partisan corruption, but also on how power relations operate in Ireland against those deemed a threat to established power…

Gulp

Introducing: The Irish Antifa Project (The Burkean)

Update:

Irish Antifa Project: USI Deputy President Michelle Byrne (The Burkean)

So it feels like spring has finally sprung.

To celebrate I’m giving away a precious Golden Discs voucher worth a blooming €25.

To enter simply tell me below what is your favourite music video and why?

Here’s one of mine.

The winner will be chosen by my AI cypher.

Lines close at 6am.

Please include video link where possible.

Nick says: Good luck.

Golden Discs

Earlier…

Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum and Princess Haya; Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum, daughter of Maktoum and former Irish president Mary Robinson from December 2018; after her attempt  to flee Dubai

Yesterday evening.

A UK family court judgment was published finding that the ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum orchestrated the abductions of two of his children, Princess Shamsa from Cambridge in 2000, when she was 19, and Princess Latifa, from a yacht off the coast of India on March 4, 2018, when she was 32.

He also found that claims made by Latifa in a YouTube video from 2018, that she was detained, beaten and sedated under the instructions of her father from June 2002 to October 2005, after she attempted to reach  Oman, could also be relied upon.

Sir Andrew McFarlane made this finding after a legal battle followed Sheikh Mohammed’s sixth wife Princess Haya, 45, moving to London with their two children last April and making it clear she did not want to return to Dubai.

In a “fact-finding judgment”, which was handed down on December 11, 2019 but only published yesterday evening, Sir Andrew said he accepted the claims made by Princess Latifa in the YouTube video she created before her attempt to flee Dubai and posted by human rights lawyer David Hague on March 11th, 2018.

He found:

“I feel confident in relying upon all that Latifa has said in the video film and elsewhere both about her earlier abortive attempt to escape over the border to Oman and her subsequent detention.”

Former Irish president Mary Robinson was mentioned in the “fact-finding judgment” on two occasions.

This is because Latifa’s family released pictures on Christmas Eve in 2018 of Latifa with Mrs Robinson – claiming the photographs were evidence that Latifa was not being held against her will and to rebut “false” abduction claims.

Up until that point, it was known that Latifa had been seized from a yacht off the coast of India and had not been seen from since.

Following the release of the pictures, Mrs Robinson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that she had been invited by Princess Haya to “help with a family dilemma”.

She said:

“The dilemma was that Latifa is vulnerable, she’s troubled. She made a video that she now regrets and she planned an escape, or what was part of a plan of escape.

“I had lunch with her. She’s a very likeable young woman but clearly troubled, clearly needs the medical care that she is receiving.”

She said Latifa was suffering from “a serious medical situation” and receiving psychiatric care, but did not give further details. She also said Latifa’s family didn’t want her to “endure any more publicity”.

In his ‘fact-finding’ judgment, Sir Andrew McFarlane noted:

“The father [Sheikh Mohammed] also points to the fact, which the mother [Princess Haya] admits, that until at least mid-January 2019 she did not believe the assertion that Latifa and Shamsa were being ill treated and was taking steps, for example by inviting Mary Robinson to visit, to disprove the negative allegations.

The father states that he therefore finds it extraordinary that the mother is now seeking to exploit the very same allegations, given that she had never previously believed that they were true.”

He also noted:

“The mother states that on 10 December 2018 she decided to contact Mary Robinson, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former Irish President, whom she had known in previous times.

“The intention was for Mary Robinson to visit Dubai in order to establish “proof of life” with respect to Latifa on behalf of the United Nations. The visit took place.

“Thereafter the mother visited Latifa regularly. After these visits she sought to discuss the situation with the father, who, she says, told her, repeatedly, that he considered that Latifa was a danger to herself and that she had to remain in her current accommodation.”

It’s been reported that Mrs Robinson sent a report on her Dubai visit to Michelle Bachelet, the UN high commissioner for human rights and had also contacted Ms Bachelet’s predecessor, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein of Jordan and Kenneth Roth, the chief of Human Rights Watch about her visit to Latifa.

However, there is no mention in the fact-finding judgment of Sir Andrerw that he heard testimony from Mrs Robinson, sought to hear testimony from her, or sought to see Mrs Robinson’s communications with either/both Ms Bachelet or Mr Roth.

Meanwhile…

Mrs Robinson attended an event to mark the 250th anniversary of Trinity College’s Historical Society last night.

This morning, Seán McCárthaigh, in The Irish Times, reports that Mrs Robinson “declined to comment on the UK court’s ruling”.

He added:

“A spokeswoman for TCD said the university’s former chancellor was attending the event to speak solely on the subject of climate change and sustainable development.”

Robinson’s visit to Dubai in spotlight after UK court ruling (The Irish Times)

Sir Andrew McFarlane’s judgments can be read in full here

Last night.

Drury Street, Dublin

The ‘Calm With Horses’ afterparty hosted by Jameson following an exclusive screening of the Michael Fassbender-produced, West-Cork set movie.

From top: Conor McCaughan, Michael Fassbender and James McCaughan; Jo Alley and Joe Murtagh; Hozier, ‘our’ Emily O’Callaghan and Andrew Keyes; Dan Emmerrson and Ariadne Kotsaki; Nicola Caughlan and Clodagh Caughlan; George MacKay; Emmett Kirwan and Laurence o’Fuarain; Barry Keoghan & Shona Guerin.

Hic.

Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland

This afternoon.

Newtownmountkennedy, County Wicklow

Via WicklowNews:

A search is underway for a 19 year old man with Down syndrome missing in Newtownmountkennedy, he is wearing glasses and a navy jacket his name is Ross.

Ross got separated from his walking group this morning at 11.50 just by the small woods adjacent to Season Park .

If you have seen Ross or know where he might be please contact Newtownmountkennedy garda station at 01-281922 or Fiona at 086-0577882

Search underway in Newtown for missing young man WicklowNews)

Behold: the Hyundai Prophecy – an aesthetic ‘Porsche-meets-Tesla-Model-3’ concept from the normally dowdy South Korean maker with ‘ideal’ proportions including an extended wheelbase, minimal overhangs and a streamlined aerodynamic profile.

The ‘Sensuous Sportiness’ continues with ‘pixelated’ taillights, cavernous passenger space, joystick controls and a pillar-to-pillar instrument display.

Whether the Prophecy will ever be completely fulfilled in production remains unclear but some version of this concept or its constituent parts will probably come to market soon.

uncrate/theverge

Broadsheet.ie