I'm not joking when I say mRNA technology is more important than "AI" and it's a tragedy we're throwing billions into one while our government is aggressively defunding the other.

My letter to the editor published in the Irish Times this week - arguing that investing in reits and property funds for profit during a housing crisis is inherently unethical. Written in the context of the "How to Invest" series
#speirghorm
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...

Sorry, I didn't make that clear. There's no push to make it 8. At the time we did data collection (during COVID) it was 2 introductory sessions + up to 6 more sessions, meaning max 8. The model of care is slightly changed since we ran the study and we're hoping to publish on that soon as well

Reposting for #spéirghorm and anyone interested in youth mental health in Ireland

For transparency, I was an independent (HRB-funded) PhD researcher at the time the study was conducted, but I now work with Jigsaw

Understanding Participation in Integrated Youth Mental Health Service Research: Lessons Learned From a Feasibility Study With Jigsaw Introduction Research with integrated youth mental health services (IYMHS) has been criticised for low quality, with difficulties in recruiting and retaining participants in studies which can introd...

And here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Examining Predictors of Psychological Distress Among Youth Engaging with Jigsaw for a Brief Intervention - Child Psychiatry & Human Development Risk factors for psychological distress among help-seeking youth are poorly understood. Addressing this gap is important for informing mental health service provision. This study aimed to identify ris...

This is the final paper from my PhD. It's been a long time coming to getting it published, and I'm proud to be able to share it with the public now. Big thanks to my supervisors, co-authors, and participants!

You can find my other papers from the PhD here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The figure shows a concept diagram with 4 rounded rectangles linked by arrows in a top to bottom layout. The top rectangle contains the text Therapeutic relationship. From this rectangle, 2 diagonal arrows point down and outward. The lower left rectangle reads Self efficacy ( Strengths focused narrative and coping skills ). The lower right rectangle reads Emotional awareness and expression ( Opening up ). From each of these 2 lower rectangles, a diagonal arrow points down and inward to a single rectangle centered at the bottom. The bottom rectangle contains the text Positive outcomes ( e.g., lower psychological distress ). The arrows indicate a directional flow from the therapeutic relationship at the top through self efficacy and through emotional awareness and expression, and finally toward positive outcomes.

We used the findings to create an adapted version of the Contextual Model (Wampold & Imel, 2015) for this context, emphasising the role of the therapeutic relationship, emotional engagement, and self-efficacy in supporting positive outcomes.

The figure shows a conceptual diagram labelled “clinician perspective” in a speech bubble at the centre. Five thick curved branches extend from the central label representing themes. The first branch is titled “First help-seeking experience” and splits into 2 thinner branches labelled “Feelings of uncertainty” and “Structural challenges”. The second branch is titled “The relationship as a safe foundation”, dividing into “Building trust”, “A space”, and “Modelling healthy attachment”. The third branch is titled “Youth-led”, and divides into the branches “Young person sets the agenda”, “Clinician provides the framework”, and “Collaborative goal-setting”. The fourth branch is labelled “Shifting the narrative”, splitting into “A problem-saturated narrative”, “Making sense of their story”, and “A strengths-focused narrative”. The fifth branch is labelled “The end as a challenge”, divided into “A temporary intervention” and “Finishing the relationship”. All text is arranged around the centre so the map reads outward from the “clinician perspective” label.

Huge emphasis on the therapeutic relationship and therapeutic change from the participants, as well as emphasising that young people set the agenda of their sessions, the need for non-directive support, and feeling understood.

The figure shows a conceptual diagram labelled “young people’s perspective” in a speech bubble at the centre. Five thick curved branches representing themes extend from the central label. The first branch is titled “Uncertainty of help-seeking” and splits into 2 thinner branches labelled “Reluctance to engage” and “Easing in”. The second branch is titled “The relationship as a non-judgemental collaboration and divides into “Non-judgemental approach and “Listening and leading”. The third branch is titled “Feeling appropriately supported” and extends upward into 3 sub-branches labelled “The value of non-directive support”, “Learning through psychoeducation”, and “Appropriate mode of intervention”. The fourth branch is labelled “Opening up” and divides into “Becoming aware” and “Expressing emotions”. The fifth branch is titled “A bittersweet end” and separates into “Anxiety vs readiness to finish”, “Progress and ongoing coping”, and “Positivity about the experience”. All text is arranged around the centre so the map reads outward from the “young people’s perspective” label.

Our new paper was published yesterday on the experiences of young people with a brief #mentalhealth intervention (up to 8 sessions). www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

It's a qualitative study youth and staff perspectives on the intervention at Jigsaw (Ireland) #academicsky

The figure shows a conceptual diagram labelled “clinician perspective” in a speech bubble at the centre. Five thick curved branches extend from the central label representing themes. The first branch is titled “First help-seeking experience” and splits into 2 thinner branches labelled “Feelings of uncertainty” and “Structural challenges”. The second branch is titled “The relationship as a safe foundation”, dividing into “Building trust”, “A space”, and “Modelling healthy attachment”. The third branch is titled “Youth-led”, and divides into the branches “Young person sets the agenda”, “Clinician provides the framework”, and “Collaborative goal-setting”. The fourth branch is labelled “Shifting the narrative”, splitting into “A problem-saturated narrative”, “Making sense of their story”, and “A strengths-focused narrative”. The fifth branch is labelled “The end as a challenge”, divided into “A temporary intervention” and “Finishing the relationship”. All text is arranged around the centre so the map reads outward from the “clinician perspective” label.

Huge emphasis on the therapeutic relationship and therapeutic change from the participants, as well as emphasising that young people set the agenda of their sessions, the need for non-directive support, and feeling understood.

An artiste. RIP Moya Brennan #speirghorm
youtu.be/XqpVjZ7-CM0?...

Someone posted a semi-serious take on here a few weeks back (now sadly deleted) that Orbán had been counting on an election boost from World Cup qualification, denied him by the boys in green.

The thing that makes me angry about these protests is that for Repeal, we had to go out and knock on doors and be polite to people who thought we were the devil for months and these guys can just dump a tractor in the street and get what they want in five days.

So the guards finally got the finger out and the protesters folded like origami at the first sign they might suffer consequences

Why did we spend a week letting them run riot? This could have been resolved much earlier

Completely agree, and there's no consistency with it! They don't even have all the finals - 2011 Dublin v Kerry (arguably the most iconic final for us Dubs) is a glaring omission. Plenty of classics aside from finals left out too.

And none of the finals of the 2020s are up yet

GAA+ could and should be a platform that offers a central access point for scores, lineups, stats, news, highlights, and ticketing. Offer these for free, with some live matches behind a paywall and the PR problem is minimised.

Hopefully, one day, the GAA will realise this potential #gaa #speirghorm

The only extra feature on the GAA+ app atm is an archive that is ordered alphabetically instead of by date. It has clearly not been designed with the involvement of people who would use it. A little UX research could go a long way to fixing things like this #gaa #speirghorm

Really wishing GAA+ ups its game during the championship now. Throughout the league, despite there being so many games across codes, only 8 ended up on the platform. And these were full replays, no highlights or anything. Compared to the free AFL app, it has offered so little

#gaa #speirghorm

Gramsci on Madness and Fascism Hegemony and Sanist Slurs

Posting this thing i wrote again since a lot of people are calling trump mad or insane right now and that's still obscuring far more than it reveals.

open.substack.com/pub/neurodiv...

I first learned about the #oxfordcomma at a conference years ago. It was during a Tory-critical presentation about child safety online with the title "Nudes, dick pics, and Jeremy Hunt". The presenter argued that this title alone demonstrated the importance of the Oxford comma.

For our generation, Gorillaz have had several hits right through our childhood, teens, young adulthood and now.

One of the biggest music projects to normalise multiculturalism and be simply anti-war. More relevant now than ever. Those principles have aged so well - who'd have thunk it. #speirghorm

Gorillaz in Dublin last night was outstanding. Most craic I've ever had at a concert and the music was phenomenal.

Had a chat with a friend where we agreed Oasis vs Blur was always the wrong question. The Gorillaz project is so much bigger and better than both put together. #speirghorm

Gorillaz fans, I have two tickets for sale for Thursday's show at the Three Arena Dublin #Gorillaz #speirgorm #GorillazDublin
secure.ticketmaster.ie/rs/18006329C...

Doing the lord's work, bless

Seen on the Tube today.

ADHD 'journey' for £850 (but only for the first 100 applicants), with *free* AI pre-assessment. And 45 minutes face-to-face with consultants. That's it.

The Nightingale Hospital is owned by emeis, formerly Orpéa, whose reputation was so poor they had to re-brand in 2024.

I was referring to @sporttg4.bsky.social. Feicim go bhfuil @tg4.bsky.social in úsáid ach ní raibh aon clips ón gcluiche inniu ann!

Michael Langan ar leibhéal eile inniu 🔥🔥🔥 #gaa

If media organisations feel like they can't afford not to be on the other site, they could at least duplicate their posts and encourage engagement here. I love tg4 and their GAA coverage is fantastic, but they haven't posted here in 5 months. It's sad to miss the online community during live games

It's a shame Irish sport media hasn't meaningfully migrated to #spéirghorm, which would encourage others to do the same.

There's little #GAA chat here and I know of people who only kept their accounts on the other site for GAA updates. Disheartening to see tg4 encouraging posting there today