Ann's Cleaning & Homecare Services

23/05/2026

(Prof. Jennie C. Stephens is professor of climate justice at National University of Ireland, (Maynooth ) & Co-convenor of the Climate Justice University Union who wrote an article for The Irish Times, 21st May, 26., on data centres supporting AI.)

The big tech companies are reaping huge profits from AI. She said governments & big tech do not want us to learn about its disastrous climate impacts i.e. expansion of data centres. The data processing involved in every AI application requires huge data centres powered by fossil fuels. AI & its data centres are increasing its usage of fossil fuels when it should be phasing out. This energy demand is impacting & accelerating climate chaos despite climate policy which has been designed to reduce both energy use & carbon emissions.

Some data centres are powered by renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. instead of fossil fuels. It is the energy demand which is destabilising energy systems, creating more energy poverty & exacerbating climate problems among the most vulnerable.

The explosive growth of data centres globally has eliminated the possibility of meeting the legally binding commitments of the international Paris Agreement. The tech companies such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Open AI & Anthropic downplay ecological impacts of their data centres & invest in policies to delay regulation aimed at protecting ecological health & the public at large. These tech companies are partnering with fossil fuel companies to develop AI to extract more fossil fuels quicker & cheaper. Data centres use hugh amounts of electricity in warehouse-like buildings. They also use huge amounts of water for cooling. It contributes to biodiversity loss as well as community dis-connection.

Our governments encourage us to embrace AI tools etc. However, resistance is growing around the world. Staff & students in higher education institutions faculties within the Climate Justice Universities Union are challenging the narrative of rejection the 'uncritical adoption of AI in teaching, learning & research'. Prof: Stephens continues to say 'communities are organising to block new data centres'. Journalists are calling out AI harms. Civic society organisations including Friends of the Earth, An Taisce, (Ireland) & others, are calling for a data centre moratorium & a pivot in national priorities away from big tech & fossil fuels. Prof: Stephens mentions Fintan O'Toole, Irish Times Journalist, who called on people to join the 'resistance' at a Trinity College, Dublin event. 😎🇨🇮🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

23/05/2026

Seamus Heaney Home Place with Matthew Rice & Annmarie Ni Churrain

'An Ear to the Line': Matthew Rice & Annemarie Ní Churreáin

Two outstanding poets from a new generation of Irish writing come together for a special reading at Seamus Heaney HomePlace. Matthew Rice and Annemarie Ní Churreáin will share poems from their new and critically acclaimed collections, Plastic and Hymn to All the Restless Girls.

2.00pm
Sunday, 24 May 2026
The Helicon, Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy, Derry
Hosted by Paul Maddern
Tickets: £12.00
https://seamusheaneyhome.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873663582

23/05/2026

Plastic by Matthew Rice is a collection of poetry with names like 'zero 129 & '529'. He worked in a factory dealing with plastics in Northern Ireland. He commenced his Open University degree for 6 years. This degree open the doors to Queen's University & his masters degree.

By VIEWdigital editor Brian Pelan Plastic, one of the banes of my existence, is a substance I have loathed for as long as I can remember first encountering it. This makes it all the more remarkable that the Northern Irish poet Matthew Rice has chosen it as the title of his new collection, transformi...

23/05/2026

Dawn French writes about end of life & family with humour. Etta, the character in 'Enough' made her mind up with end of life decision. Dawn French's father died by su***de from depression which he kept hidden, when she was 19 years old. Agency & control are important issues surrounding su***de according to Dawn.

16/05/2026

Sally Hayden's new book " This is Also a Love Story: Searching for Good in a Divided World". She is trying to re-centre the presence of love in the broader understanding of crisis situations. It includes stories from 9 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Asia & Africa - a spread of places, including Syria, Japan & Ukraine. It is published by Harper Collins on 21st May, 26.

Sally Hayden, a professional journalist, reported on war for over a decade from almost 40 countries. Her first professional journalistic assignment was covering the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. 😎🇨🇮🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

A voice that cuts through the noise. 📚

Sally Hayden – This Is Also a Love Story

From the Orwell Prize-winning author, this is a powerful and deeply human exploration of love, resilience, and connection in a world shaped by crisis.

Drawing on her reporting from war zones and migration routes, Sally Hayden brings stories of courage, loss, and the bonds that endure even in the darkest moments.

A rare chance to hear from one of the most important journalistic voices of our time.

📅 Saturday 30th May
⏰ 3.30pm
📍 Listowel Arms Hotel

🎟 Book now 👇
https://writersweek.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173678508

Plan your visit. Stay a little longer. Make a weekend of it.

16/05/2026

16/05/2026

Gender inequality in the UK.

It's 2026 and this is the state of gender equality in the UK.

We need to step up our efforts for a better future .

12/05/2026

Women at the sharp end as AI takes over administrative roles.

The recruiter, Jennifer Maffei is struggling to keep up with messages from workers who need help after being " downsized, right-sized, re-structured. A growing number of admin roses have been cut adrift as companies invest in AI". "It's a mess" she said.

Maffei is witnessing a bigger trend. Clerical & admin workers - from medical transcriptionists to executive assistants to receptionists - make up the brunt of a group of about 6ml. US workers most exposed to AI - driven displacement & least equipped to navigate it, according to think tank, Brookings. More than 85% of these workers are older women with a narrow skill set & limited savings. Laura Ullrich, research director at job site, Indeed said " Many professions with the least adaptability to AI are heavily female dominated"

The shipping group, Maersk announced it would slash 1,000 admin roles globally & broader lay-offs at companies from Procter & Gamble to Amazon have hit corporate support roles. Administrative help is available from tools such as, Anthropic's Claude Co-work, which boasts the ability to schedule, take notes & prepare documents, while specialised tools such as Lindy promise comprehensive support at a lower cost than human assistants. Indeed data suggests admin roles especially for women have fallen to 5.4% which is lower than pre-Covid levels.

The Brookings report found that the outlook for clerical workers, contrasts with professions such as software developers & financial analysts who are equally exposed to AI but more likely to "benefit from strong pay, financial buffers, diverse skills & deep professional networks" that make it easier to navigate job loss. Maffei's advise is focus on things that need a human.

09/05/2026

This is Professor Diane Negra's new book about customer care from institutions etc and how it has affected our lives.

I'm Sorry You Feel That Way by Diane Negra is about how twenty-first century capitalism is re-making the roles of customer and customer service provider, shedding light on why consumer capitalism has come to feel so punishing for so many.
https://ow.ly/rP6y50YNecz

"Once, the customer was always right. Now, the customer is always defeated, trapped in endless loops of automation and algorithmic indifference. In the supposed age of connectivity and frictionless convenience, our common experience is frustration: the indignities of trying, and failing, to reach a human in the machine. This incisive book finally explains why today's consumer experience feels so maddening—and why seeking agency in systems designed to deflect us has proven so futile—revealing the hidden architectures of power that shape these encounters. It brilliantly decodes and offers the conceptual clarity we've needed to understand and more effectively contest the everyday humiliations of consumer life under digital capitalism."
—Anna Watkins Fisher, author of The Play in the System