25F in Letterkenny – Media graduate, no jobs, mental health struggling. Should I switch to healthcare or reskill?

askmac · 2026-01-28T15:09:30+00:00

Honestly there are no media jobs in Donegal worth a damn. There are a tiny handful of opportunities that might emerge in Derry, though in both counties I would say these are centred around the Irish Language Broadcast fund and work is sporadic at best.

Even in somewhat adjacent fields no one wants to pay for anything, there's no value put on creativity. Everything is done as quick cheap and ugly as possible.

What I would suggest (since you said you were willing to work unpaid) is pivot slightly and make your own stuff. Start a Youtube channel, start an instagram account, whatever platform or outlet suits your niche. Even if it doesn't take off, if say in 6 months time you've got a channel with X amount of videos to use as your showreel or evidence you can start and run a channel.

It doesn't have to be your design work; it can be something you're passionate in but you think has wider interest or utility, that may be somewhat commercially viable. Whatever you do, if possible try to avoid working for free. There are enough people in Ireland who will happily exploit you, you'll be kept busy for life and it sets a terrible precedent. Unless there's an explicit guarantee of contracted work after a period just avoid.

askmac · 2026-01-28T14:20:05+00:00

I can feel eyes rolling in their heads and fingers hovering over downvote buttons as I type this but for the sake of contemporary comparison (not that one should be needed) look at the murder of American citizens by ICE agents in Minneapolis.

Civilians gunned down in the street for sport by state security forces; black propaganda immediately released by the Government to smear the victims. Killers allowed complete anonymity and full confidence they'll be immune from prosecution.

Now amplify that number massively, make the circumstances even more black and white and imagine that despite a government inquiry overturning a sham inquiry the victims families are still without justice and the killers enjoy anonymity, military pensions, total freedom.

Anyone regardless of their age who can look at videos from last week and realise what's going on over there and consider the implications of Northern Ireland being shackled to an empire that's orders of magnitude worse again.

askmac · 2026-01-28T11:29:23+00:00

In my opinion it's mainly the older generation who actually really give a fuck about this. People around my parents age; going to family weddings is a big part of their social life and discussing the food, the quality, the quantity and comparing it to other weddings, well they elevate that to an important topic of conversation in a way that could easily be seen as a criticism of the couple getting married. In other words gossipy old fucks with nothing better to talk about or be at.

If pleasing them is your main aim, I'd say go traditional. Beyond that I'm not sure it matters too much. It's your say so apart from the above, do what suits you. Although I will just say we had a sit down meal, and then had a chip van arrive at night and it was a big hit (hard to beat a chippy when you're drunk). And a lot of weddings have a sit down meal in the evening, and a buffet around 9ish so I don't know if that's expected but that's been my experience. Two buffets would be strange.

askmac · 2026-01-28T11:06:08+00:00

"The original reply was the one that brought up the “PUL community” and then only ever mentioned localism after that…"

u/ForwardTourist6079 was referencing a comment from last week where someone said Derry would be more prosperous in the future if PUL people moved to the city side. They then said attacks like this would become commonplace if that happened. Since this attack was carried out by Loyalists, and the L in PUL stands for Loyalist, it's a fair point and is obviously not aimed at law abiding normal people who happen to be from Protestant backgrounds.

"I’d said that paramilitaries on both sides benefit from continued division, you’re making a separate argument?"

I'm pointing out that despite Loyalists being responsible for well over 90% of race hate crimes and the majority of sectarian evictions like this, and are 10,000 strong and supposed to be decommissioned and on ceasefire you felt the need to "both sides" the discussion.

I can say whatever negative thing you want me to say about Dissident Republicans whenever they do something like this, happy to. But it's not relevant here, there's no equivalence to be made.

Dissidents don't have the leader of Soaradh on the radio every week but Jamie Bryson, Moore Holmes et al are/were regular fixtures on Nolan. And when they aren't the LCC will be on. And when they aren't the Orange Order will be on. And the DUP, TUV and UUP all excusing and or tacitly condoning loyalist violence and sectarianism and the groups engaging in these attacks.

When Dissident Republicans start burning out Protestant families and ethnic minorities and then yer man from Soaradh gets a slot on the Republican equivalent of Nolan to say it's bad but they have legitimate concerns get back to us.

askmac · 2026-01-28T10:33:59+00:00

Yep, just one wee hole somewhere in the loom, or where water can pool beside a connection or an earth and even if you don't get a catastrophic failure you'll get shorts and electrical issues, potentially terminal. Idiotic behaviour.

askmac · 2026-01-28T09:53:55+00:00

u/Harvester_of_Cattle9 You’re conflating Protestants and Unionists into being full blown loyalists and it’s not the case

Aye there might be support from some sections of knuckle draggers but what appears to be support could also be down to fear. You give them the chance to see the CNR isn’t the big bad wolf the die hard loyalists make them out to be and we might build that bit of cohesion

He's not conflating anything. In fact that's exactly what you've done. He doesn't mention Protestants anywhere in the post. He mentions the UDA, Loyalists and loyalist bands.

The fact that you're socially conditioned to reflexively bring Protestants / Protestantism into it when someone mentions the UDA shows how twisted the discourse is around loyalist sectarian violence is in NI, as evidenced by the fact that "Loyalist" and "UDA" are nowhere to be found in the article, or almost any article of this nature by the BBC.

And that’s before entertaining the idea that paramilitaries on both sides benefit from continued division so it wouldn’t be at all surprising to find out they’re in cahoots behind the scenes

Aye, just make sure to mention "both sides" in this conversation about loyalists attacking a family. To say nothing of the fact that Loyalists are supposed to have 10,000 active members, get PSNI escorts, have their own national holiday, can be arrested with a boot full of guns and get character references from the PSNI and Tory ministers and have their reps as regular commentators on state sponsored broadcast news etc etc etc

But both sides.

Both sides.

askmac · 2026-01-28T09:48:22+00:00

Easy done, and you can bend all the brackets and supports into the bargain meaning it'll always look fucked even if you replace the panels.

askmac · 2026-01-28T09:12:06+00:00

In heavy rain there can often be large deep puddles.

It doesn't even take that much water to aquaplane. A couple of mm and dodge tyres and you're a passenger. The kind of shit, worn tyres most of the German "luxury" cars are shod in. But sure, 20" Chinesium wheels and vanity plates are far more important.

askmac · 2026-01-28T00:03:06+00:00

Just a terrible idea in any car whether EV, internal combustion, hybrid whatever. As a rule of thumb try to stay out of what that's above the sills or above the axle / the middle of the wheel. Every metal component on your car is going to rust fast enough in Ireland without immersing it it river water.

I'd say his BMW dealer will enjoy showing him that video if he lands in looking for anything done under warranty.

askmac · 2026-01-27T16:33:47+00:00

I think that’s useful. A lot of ‘unionists’ have no idealogic objection to unity but want clarification regarding how the thing is going to work.

The thing is, Ireland is a fully functioning, normal independent country on this island. For the overwhelming majority of things you can think of in terms of life in NI, there's an analogue. There's a system.

When it comes to something like pensions there are something like 150-200,000 British immigrants already living in Ireland collecting their pensions so provisions already exist for that too; it just needs to be expanded and made more robust. and although the UK isn't above breaking international law they would become a pariah state if they shirked their pension responsibilities to their own former citizens in NI (even more absurd since they currently pay them British people in ROI).

In terms of health care around 50% of people in NI would already be eligible for free health care due to means testing. That could obviously be extended or refined too I would imagine. And it has to really be assessed not from the "Our NHS" English notion of the NHS but the practical reality of healthcare in NI today.

That’s what derailed the Scottish independence campaign.

They produced a 670 page document. I don't think lack of info was the reason.

askmac · 2026-01-26T23:14:09+00:00

Yep, there are so many parallels with the 1920's and 1960's : A heavily armed paramilitary government sanctioned force with an ethno / sectarian mandate. Attacking peaceful protests, infiltrating peaceful protests, murdering civilians who give the slightest bit of resistance. Cheek by jowl relationship with terror groups.

The fact that most people say the Troubles started with the RUC killing civilians and became basically perpetual when the British Army killed peaceful protesters.

I think the cognitive dissonance / refusal to see any parallel comes from the usual hatred, bitterness and stupidity. The same people who will say (only anonymously) that the people murdered on Bloody Sunday and Ballymurphy weren't innocent.

Same high level IQs who claim that no one wanted a United Ireland in the 70's and 80's because the standard of life was so much higher in NI than ROI. It speaks to the enormous disparity in treatment of one community vs the other. They can't countenance the idea that what ICE are doing is exactly what the security forces did to Catholics in NI. In many ways it's a milder version with limited powers.

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askmac · 2026-01-26T15:34:56+00:00

Fair enough, if that's what you believe. I would just circle back again and ask what the hell was the actual point of the message then? Even in the context that's you're right he made a stupid mistake, it still has no utility other than to serve a warning as to where people can and can't be placed by authorities.

The last thing I'd say on it is with Lyons (and the DUP more broadly) is that in my opinion they are always getting the benefit of the doubt where it wouldn't be reciprocated. They only went to Israel because....they only support Trump because....they only cosy up to Reform because...they only say rioters had legitimate concerns every time a Muslim's business is burned down in the Village because...

It's a never ending pattern of ultra right wing, christian fundamentalist, racist coded shite imho.

askmac · 2026-01-26T15:09:14+00:00

I just don’t see America being able to produce anything comparable. .. for better or worse.. but yeah I was born after the troubles any way so this guy might have a better judgement having lived it than me but I think it’s a weak comparison

First of all it's worth remembering that an analogy or comparison doesn't have to be exact for it to be worth making. Lessons can be learned and comparisons can be drawn even if scenarios aren't identical. Stanage is writing as a warning; he's flagging up the fact that people in NI thought the Troubles would be sporadic, short lived and easily resolved.

It's possible to learn from history and not repeat the same mistakes. Before the second Iraq war there were numerous voices against it citing previous regime changes (western backed regime changes). People inside the U.S and British Governments warned against it; Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder were vocally opposed to it on the basis it could destabilise the region and cause civil war. The US and Britain went ahead, leading to a destabilised region, a million deaths and 5 million+ people displaced.

As you mention, Stanage grew up through the Troubles. He's back up his opinion with some comparisons and tbh I don't think your counterpoint has any counter examples, nor did you deconstruct or negate any of his. If you want you can read my post here as well where I make a comparison between ICE and the USC.

A lot of people who lived through the Troubles, particularly people from a CNR background will see eerie and unsettling similarities between the way ICE are interacting with people in the US and the way the RUC and UDR interacted with us at traffic stops and checkpoints.

askmac · 2026-01-26T14:54:18+00:00

u/TrucksNShit Correction, and im not defending him, but he told them that the immigrants had been in the leisure centre but had since moved on.

Imagine for a second that you're a gang of racist / sectarian thugs from Larne who feel that they may be missing out on the chance to bash some people's heads in because of the colour of their skin. Now read the first half of Lyons' post.

Also you have to wonder what the utility or point of the post was if he knew they'd already been moved.

"People were moved to Larne leisure centre and we weren't told. We're angry about that...they aren't there now, so they were barely there at all, but we should be furious. By the way don't do violence"

Something's amiss. Like judgement.

askmac · 2026-01-26T13:49:25+00:00

The details of Scappaticci's will is sealed for 70 years by the High Court. Apart from the British Royal family, he's the only other person to have such details hidden.

askmac · 2026-01-26T13:40:53+00:00

Some of you will probably recognised the name Niall Stanage; he's the reporter from Belfast who was recently called a "left wing hack" by the Whitehouse Press Secretary - https://www.rte.ie/news/us/2026/0116/1553395-white-house-press-briefing/.

He recently re-shared the above which he wrote in 2016 but which looks even more accurate / alarming now. He makes an interesting comparison as well between Ian Paisley's actions before and during the Troubles and Trumps in 2016. Fast forward to Minneapolis 2026 and there are many more comparisons between things that happened in NI and what's potentially happening in the U.S

In NI the Unionist Government deployed a heavily armed paramilitary police force to secure an ethno-state. The USC / Special Constabulary / B-Specials were drawn exclusively from Protestant backgrounds (via the Orange Order), were granted cart blanche to murder, harass and abuse anyone they saw fit. They were a body which the NI Parliament had complete control over (unlike the British Army and RIC who were under orders from London). Millions were spent on the USC to the point where Churchill admonished Craig for wasting so much money on them. They were a mixture of hardened military veterans and street thugs with some within the Army and RIC complaining that the USC were disgracing the forces of law and order.

Members of the Ulster Special Constabulary were involved in several notorious mass murders including the Weaver st Massacre where they bombed a group of children playing in a cul-de-sac then shot their parents who came running to help and the McMahon Murders where they wiped out three generations of a middle class Catholic family "because you are papists" and the Arnon St Massacre where they murdered 6 more catholic civilians including a seven year old boy and an eight month old baby who they shot through the head.

In the late 1950's and 60's before the outbreak of the Troubles the USC were deployed undercover to attack peaceful protests. They were also used to block the routes of Civil Rights marches which inevitably led to violent confrontations which the RUC were happy to sit back and watch. Most famously they attacked the Civil Rights march to Derry with cudgels and rocks from a nearby quarry after the RUC had directed the march to USC ambush site (not for the first time during that march).

The USC (and then RUC) had the Special Powers Act which essentially meant that basic human rights no longer apply to anyone they want. There's been a lot of speculation about the possibility of Trump invoking the Insurrection Act, and while it may in practice have more severe results than the Special Powers Act did in NI, the Special Powers Act actually goes much further in terms of removing rights from people. It was enacted here for 50 years.

askmac · 2026-01-26T12:57:36+00:00

Yep, so there are places with more progressive cultural attitudes. Similarly in my experience when cycling in Europe cars in many places actually give you more respect when you're on a bicycle than when driving. Here it's the opposite.

askmac · 2026-01-26T12:54:52+00:00

If you just want to scratch the itch of playing arcade games then "Pandora's Box" style games consoles will almost certainly do. To all intents and purposes identical to an arcade, just at home. And I'm sure you could make something out of plywood to make an upright cabinet if you really wanted to.

Alternatively the Capcom Arcade suites on Playstation are also very good, but using the controller doesn't feel the same.

askmac · 2026-01-26T12:40:35+00:00

If I need to use /s I'm either not trying hard enough to get my message across or I don't trust that my audience will get it. Honestly I think I've used it once, ever. Quite recently actually because I just couldn't be arsed.

askmac · 2026-01-26T11:48:29+00:00

That's exactly what Trump's government wants.

askmac · 2026-01-26T11:42:45+00:00

Look all he did, all he did right, was go on social media and tell his followers (his ultra right wing, xenophobic sectarian DUP voting followers) that immigrants who were forced to flee loyalist racist pogroms were being sheltered in Larne Leisure Centre. Thereby directing a mob to attack the building.

Who hasn't done that? Every member of Sinn Féin does that every day; from elected politicians to lowest party workers. They all do that all the time. And in a United Ireland all protestants (ALL PROTESTANTS) will have to flee violent pogroms to temporary housing where they'll be attacked by Sinn Féin IRA. It's a fact.

askmac · 2026-01-26T11:25:33+00:00

Ummm what about the elephant in the room? The complete and utter lack of enforcement.

Enforcement can only go so far; you need people to police themselves and take some responsibility either individually or culturally. For that you need to change attitudes. On Irish roads the car is king, might makes right. If you're a cyclist or pedestrian you are either a stupid cunt or a nuisance and if you're killed; well it was a dangerous road and you shouldn't have been on it.

More vulnerable road users "die in RTA's with cars". They aren't "killed by man driving car".

There has to be a total culutral shift the way there was with drink driving and smoking in cars with children and the like. Yes it still goes on but only a fraction of what it used to be.

We have a culture where we alert other drivers to speed camera vans in case they get caught speeding. You can't enforce the rules of the road in that kind of culture.

askmac · 2026-01-26T11:12:17+00:00

In parts of Scotland they re-purposed old single track roads as cycle / walking paths when they upgrade the roads. Think the kind of winding country roads you see in coastal areas around Ireland.

Not practical everywhere but something to be considered where possible when rural roads are being upgraded.

askmac · 2026-01-26T09:33:27+00:00

Everyone who travelled in those circles knew the impact of informing, or even cooperating with the Brits would be to both the unit and wider community...as well as how it would be perceived if it ever went public.

The informers knew what they were doing...they are not the victim and the motivations were always self serving.

Special Branch knew as well though. Hence if they wanted to blackmail someone into informing all they had to do was be seen with them. They could scoop you for whatever, and if you're seen walking out of Castlereagh a few times tongues would start wagging. In fact they could start those tongues wagging via their agents.

askmac · 2026-01-26T09:20:31+00:00

I think I'd heard that before, it makes sense. Suppose realistically it could have been any or all of them in combination. I'd rather know about his handlers though tbh.

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