Affairs of the Nation

Fionnan Sheahan

Affairs of the Nation

THE NEW ORDER AT INM

BELGIAN PUBLISHERS Mediahuis may find that bending the querulous natives to their will at Independent News & Media (INM) is a little more difficult than suppression of dissent in the... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

LEO VARADKAR’S NECK

YOU’VE GOT to hand it to Leo Varadkar for pure neck. Earlier this month, Boris Johnson let fly with some colourful descriptions of opposition politicians – most notably Jeremy Corbyn... Read more »
Xavier McAuliffe

Affairs of the Nation

XAVIER MCAULIFFE’S SPEED VANS

IT IS hard to believe that a consortium that works for An Garda Síochána providing the roadside speed detection service – GoSafe – is shacked up offshore and hides its... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Noel Grealish

Affairs of the Nation

NOEL GREALISH’S PAL

THOSE REMARKS by Noel Grealish TD about “good Christian Syrians” as opposed to African “spongers” were from the heart. A devout Catholic, Noel once secured an audience with Pope Francis... Read more »
David McWilliams

Affairs of the Nation

DAVID MCWILLIAMS’S ‘RESEARCH’

Readers of the Irish Times website last Saturday may have enjoyed David McWilliams musing on the future of global cities. The celebrity economist takes us on a whirlwind trip around... Read more »
Simon Coveney

Affairs of the Nation

COVENEY’S SOLO RUN

THE WILY Simon Coveney managed to come out of the Fine Gael think-in last week smelling of roses – at least as far as his constituents were concerned – by... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

PAT LENAGHAN’S CHAIRS

More bad news for the family of colourful businessman and would-be casino boss Pat Lenaghan, owners of the Bridge House Hotel in Tullamore, Co Offaly. A judgment for u56,000 has... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

CORRECTION – MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

IN The Phoenix edition of August 23 last, it was incorrectly stated that former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg had funded the Irish pro-tobacco group Retailers Against Smuggling and also... Read more »
Bernard Shaw pub

Affairs of the Nation

MYSTERY AT THE BERNARD SHAW

A WEEK of social media breast-beating about the decline of Dublin’s nightlife has obscured the reasons for the impending closure of the Bernard Shaw on South Richmond Street. Precise explanations... Read more »
Lucinda Creighton

Affairs of the Nation

LUCINDA’S EU APOSTASY

LUCINDA CREIGHTON’S take on Brexit and the backstop is strange indeed coming from a former minister for Europe who immersed herself in the EU apparatus as a minister for some... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Michael Creed

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: MICHAEL CREED

AGRICULTURE MINISTER Michael Creed has suddenly been thrust into the front line as the latest crisis in rural Ireland confronts the government – led... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Lorna Fitzpatrick

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: LORNA FITZPATRICK

THE Union of Students in Ireland (USI) president, Lorna Fitzpatrick, has taken charge of the national union at a trying time for the student... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Stephen Rae

Fit to Print?

INM V ‘SUNDAY TIMES’

SUNDAY TIMES hack Mark Tighe is being pursued in the High Court by former Independent News & Media’s (INM) group editor-in-chief, Stephen Rae, for a story in the ST and... Read more »
Diageo Dana An Garda Síochána IT Trust No Stone Unturned Irish Times Black Friday Vicky Conway

Fit to Print?

THE CURRENCY’S CAST

HAVING FAILED to buy the Sunday Business Post (see The Phoenix, 3/5/19) Ian Kehoe and Tom Lyons – formerly editor and acting editor, respectively – seem intent on eclipsing their... Read more »
Gerry Adams

Fit to Print?

BBC TV ‘TROUBLES’

THE BBC NI series Spotlight on the Troubles: A Secret History, which began last week, received a lyrical welcome from Máiría Cahill in the Sunday Independent. Cahill quoted Jennifer O’Leary... Read more »

Last Refuge

Maria Bailey

Last Refuge

MARIA BAILEY FIGHTS BACK

IT LOOKS like controversial TD Maria Bailey is not going to go quietly, despite the leadership stratagem of leaving it to Blueshirts in her Dún Laoghaire constituency to do their... Read more »
Declan Bree

Last Refuge

BLUESHIRT’S RURAL REALITY

THINGS ARE going from bad to worse for Fine Gael in rural Ireland. According to the latest analysis, Sligo-Leitrim (where the party took two seats out of three in the... Read more »
President Higgins

Last Refuge

PRESIDENT’S LATITUDE

YET AGAIN President Michael D Higgins has incurred the displeasure of a po-faced media for allegedly ‘pushing the boundaries’ of his office and breaching the constitution with radical (and popular)... Read more »
David Stanton

Last Refuge

MICHAEL CREED’S BACK YARD

AGRICULTURE MINISTER Michael Creed has issues of national importance to deal with (those bolshie beef farmers, see profile, p14), but he also has a tricky general election coming up in... Read more »

Hush Hush

John Halligan

Hush Hush

CIA-FUNDED SCARE STORIES

THE RECYCLING of propaganda by western spook ‘think-tanks’ presented as objective truths is reaching epidemic proportions in the media, with the ‘Aarish’ edition of the Sunday Times in particular behaving... Read more »

Student Life

Patrick Prendergast

Student Life

PRENDERGAST’S RANK PERFORMANCE

It was a case of déjà vu again for Trinity College Dublin provost Patrick Prendergast last week when the 2020 Times Higher Education world university rankings were released. Trinners collapsed 44... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

ARRESTED TO SCORE POINTS A THIEF who stole a cancer charity collection box told the court that the crime was committed in order to be arrested so he could gain... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

David Horgan

Fowl Emissions

CLIMATE DENIERS

In the rich annals of human stupidity, it is unlikely that the phenomenon of organised climate denial will ever be surpassed for sheer bloody-mindedness. Yes, 2019 has seen an unprecedented... Read more »
Climate Disinformation Coillte Climate Action EU Livestock NDC Claude Etchelamendy Ed Brophy Richard Boyd-Barrett Kish Dale Crammond Frank Mitloehner Shell Greenwashing Meta Data Centres Ireland

Fowl Emissions

RICHARD BRUTON’S SINK

It may have been the excitement of the National Ploughing Championships, but climate action minister Richard Bruton rushed out a press release from the event that was, to put it... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

David Quinn

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

The spontaneous healing of Marion Carroll confronts us with the literally awesome possibility that something miraculous might have taken place in Knock 30 years ago. This raises questions of incalculably... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Rena Maycock

High Society

RENA MAYCOCK’S BIG PLANS

THE MOST interesting name hired by Tom Lyons and Ian Kehoe as a contributor for their proposed online business news website, The Currency, is... Read more »

High Society

Consuelo O’Connor

High Society

SAMMY LESLIE’S ITALIAN DISH

SAMANTHA LESLIE, the chatelaine of Castle Leslie in Co Monaghan, has received some rare good financial news, relating to a charity she set up.... Read more »

High Society

Neven Maguire

High Society

NEVEN’S MAGUIRE’S INGREDIENTS

THE UBIQUITOUS Neven Maguire’s latest television dish kicked off last week on RTÉ One. And the second season of Neven’s Spanish Food Trials got its share of plugs both on... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Sarah Lynch

Behind the Scenes

GOOD TIMES AT THE GATE

THERE HAS been a cast change at the Abbey where its head of producing, Sarah Lynch, has decided to exit stage left after barely two years at the national theatre.... Read more »
Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

Behind the Scenes

RUTH MCGOWAN’S SPONSOR

WHILE THE Dublin Theatre Festival is yet to kick off, Ruth McGowan’s Dublin Fringe Festival is just winding up its 25th hooley. She will be hoping to have sold a... Read more »
John Cronin

Behind the Scenes

JOHN CRONIN’S NEW ROLE

THERE IS a new cast member at the Dublin Theatre Festival (which kicks off next week) in the form of high-flying legal eagle John Cronin of McCann Fitzgerald. No doubt,... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Paul Cawley

Sport of Kings

PRESENTING PAT KELLY

THE ENIGMATIC Pat Kelly – best known as the trainer of the Philip Reynolds-owned dual Cheltenham Festival winner Presenting Percy – fell foul of the Listowel stewards during the harvest... Read more »
Jessica Harrington

Sport of Kings

BHA BLOOD WORK

THE BRITISH Horseracing Authority (BHA) has clearly stepped up its campaign to antagonise Irish trainers. Following several pre-race grillings of Charles Byrnes and Denis Hogan in recent months, focusing on... Read more »
Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

Sport of Kings

FRANK FAHY FALTERS

MEDIA-SHY builder and property developer Frank Fahy hasn’t been spoilt with immediate success after taking the decision to get involved in a serious way in the racing and bloodstock game.... Read more »
Justify in action

Sport of Kings

SETBACK FOR UNCLE SAM

COOLMORE STUD’S latest poster-boy stallion, Justify, has found himself at the centre of an American doping scandal after it was reported in the New York Times that the horse, subsequently... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Kirill Golovanov

Moneybags

OVOCA BIO WORTH DOUBLE ITS CURRENT SHARE PRICE

OVOCA BIO is one of the more unusual companies on the Irish Stock Exchange. Not only has it had a rather bizarre history, but... Read more »

Moneybags

Pat McCann

Moneybags

UNBALANCED DALATA HOTELS’ BEDROOM PROBLEM

BREXIT HAS been causing concern in the tourism sector, given that the Brits account for over 40% of current tourist visitors to the Republic.... Read more »

Brief Cases

Myles Kirby

Brief Cases

ANTHONY J FITZPATRICK VS MYLES KIRBY

LIMERICK LIQUIDATOR Anthony J Fitzpatrick suffered another setback in the latest round of his bust-up with Dublin liquidator Myles Kirby. A Court of Appeal judgment reveals that Fitzpatrick lost his... Read more »
Paul McKeon

Brief Cases

PAUL MCKEON’S TOUGH RACE

ACCOUNTANT AND entrepreneur Paul McKeon has a number of irons in the fire. The horseracing fan is currently chairman of a health clinic search website called WhatClinic, which has been... Read more »
WAVF Castleknock Hospitality BAL Susan Bergin Tixserve EOG Fergal Naughton hot-water-brigade def

Brief Cases

CORRADO FORTE’S APPEAL

MORE ON Wexford Town businessman Corrado Forte, who had tax judgments totalling over €92,000 registered against him during the summer (see The Phoenix, 9/8/19). Goldhawk spotted a recently published judgment,... Read more »
Richard Barrett

Brief Cases

BARTRA CAPITAL’S ‘NICHE’ LIVING

BETWEEN public scepticism and pernickety planners, Richard Barrett’s Bartra Capital is having a hard time getting its ‘co-living’ concept off the ground in south Dublin. The former Treasury Holdings boss... Read more »
WAVF Castleknock Hospitality BAL Susan Bergin Tixserve EOG Fergal Naughton hot-water-brigade def

Brief Cases

DISCIPLINING JAMES DORNEY

CORK legal eagle James Dorney has been grounded by the Law Society’s Solicitor’s Disciplinary Tribunal. The solicitor has been suspended from practice arising from a number of findings of misconduct.... Read more »
WAVF Castleknock Hospitality BAL Susan Bergin Tixserve EOG Fergal Naughton hot-water-brigade def

Brief Cases

HAZELWOOD DEVELOPMENT’S DEMISE

THERE WAS a setback this month for Cork property company Hazelwood Development Ltd, which was wound up at a creditors’ meeting in Youghal. The company is somewhat typical of ventures... Read more »
Pearse Phelan

Brief Cases

PEARSE PHELAN’S FAULTY PRESCRIPTION

SURELY THE most interesting name on the latest list of tax defaulters is Mediserve Homecare Ltd, which was identified as agreeing a settlement for an impressive €858,000 as a result... Read more »