Affairs of the Nation

Darragh O’Brien

Affairs of the Nation

FF: O’BRIEN ENTERS THE STAGE

A FLURRY of statements, off-record briefings and spin from Fianna Fáil personalities in the Christmas/new year period has triggered renewed pressure on Micheál Martin’s leadership. There appeared to be no... Read more »
article-default

Affairs of the Nation

WHITMORE’S WEDGE

LOVE ISLAND presenter Laura Whitmore will be looking forward to making a few bob in 2021 with a new book on the way. The good news is that she already... Read more »
Graeme De Renzy

Affairs of the Nation

DE RENZY’S POWER OF ATTORNEY

ON PAGE 14 of this issue, we profile the colourful Graeme de Renzy, whose adventures have been closely followed by Goldhawk down the years. What is intriguing is that having... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Dermot Farrell

Affairs of the Nation

CULCHIES RULE OK!

POPE FRANCIS’S promotion of a provincial, conservative member of the current nondescript bench of bishops to succeed Diarmuid Martin as Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland amounts to a... Read more »
Bibi Baskin

Affairs of the Nation

BIBI’S ‘INSPIRED’ PANDEMIC PITCH

IT WOULD be difficult to find a more original gesture towards nursing home residents, assailed as they are by the pandemic, than that of No. 1 Books publisher, Michael Mulcahy,... Read more »
Brody Sweeney

Affairs of the Nation

LITTLE MUSEUM’S BIG GRANT

WITH COMMENTATORS warning of economic misery coming down the tracks as a result of the huge pandemic spend, a lot of expensive projects that were set to get under way... Read more »
Ken Murphy

Affairs of the Nation

LAW SOC TOP JOB

WITH THE Law Society looking for a new director general to replace the retiring Ken Murphy, it is inevitable that the chat will turn to the impressive financial rewards the... Read more »
Coveney on Palestine

Affairs of the Nation

IRELAND’S UN CON TRICK

GRANDIOSE STATEMENTS from foreign minister, Simon Coveney on Palestine, and Ireland’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Geraldine Byrne Nason indicate not merely vanity and hubris, but an abandonment of... Read more »
article-default

Affairs of the Nation

LIZ HEADON’S ROLL-OUT

THE APPOINTMENT of Liz Headon to head up the communications aspect of the vaccine roll-out should come as little surprise given her credentials. It is certainly not her first state... Read more »
Tracy Mahony

Affairs of the Nation

FIGHTING ANTI-COVID LAWS

FORMER RENUA member, barrister Tracey O’Mahony, has been organising a crowd-funding campaign to finance challenges to anti-Covid restrictions and laws. An initial target of €50,000 was exceeded within five days... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Graeme De Renzy

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: GRAEME DE RENZY

LATER THIS month, the Four Goldmines will be the setting for a face-off between Irish wheeler-dealer, named Graeme de Renzy and Harvey Boulter, the... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Pippa O'Connor

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: PIPPA O’CONNOR

Model-turned-entrepreneur Pippa O’Connor owes much of her success to staying steps ahead of the bevy of bikini-clad beauties she hung out with in Stephen’s... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Jon Williams

Fit to Print?

COVID SAVES RTÉ

THE MEDIA Commission’s investigation into RTÉ’s finances was initially regarded as a crisis management exercise, but one of the great ironies of the pandemic is that it has managed to... Read more »
Diageo Dana An Garda Síochána IT Trust No Stone Unturned Irish Times Black Friday Vicky Conway

Fit to Print?

SINDO’S BLUE LINE

SEVERAL ANONYMOUS sources made assertive comments to a receptive media about the shooting dead of George Nkencho at his home in Clonee recently amid much leaking by the usual, reliable security sources. The Sunday Independent’s new... Read more »
Fionnán Sheahan

Fit to Print?

MICHEÁL MARTIN’S MEDIA FANS

GOOD TO see the most prominent and indeed responsible political commentators jumping to the defence of An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, as he came under attack from within and without last... Read more »

Last Refuge

Jim O'Callaghan

Last Refuge

JIM O’CALLAGHAN’S PROGNOSIS

FIANNA FÁIL TD, Jim O’Callaghan, has gone all quiet about the pandemic in recent weeks after several months of energetic and robust criticisms of both Nphet and the extent of... Read more »
Brid Smith

Last Refuge

MAKE INCHICORE GREAT AGAIN

HARD LEFT TD, Bríd Smith, would greatly resent being compared to the stormtroopers of Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) that attacked the US Capitol but chief justice, Frank... Read more »
Stephen Donnelly

Last Refuge

HEALTH MINISTER’S FUTURE

A SIGN of the political times – or near future – in Wicklow is the not entirely innocent Facebook comment posted by Cllr Rory O’Connor recently. On New Year’s Day... Read more »

Hush Hush

Martha Pope

Hush Hush

THE POPE CONSPIRACY

JUST AS with the original 1996 DUP/Spook driven smear campaign against US peace envoy Martha Pope, the latest revelations – via the release of state papers – in this story have... Read more »
HushHush-def

Hush Hush

KINAHANS GO NORTH

THE CONVICTION of two Kinahan gangsters recently in connection with a botched gangland hit in 2017 against rival Hutch gang supremo James ‘Mago’ Gately highlights the problems that now beset... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

“I Don’t Recognise Your Laws” Marian Brady (66), with a former address at 6 Karol Avenue, Elphin, but now living in Donegal, was fined by Roscommon District Court for verbally... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Ray Bates

Fowl Emissions

SCIENCE NOT REFEREES

NEW YEAR, same old nonsense at the Irish Farmers Journal. In recent years the paper has dabbled in promoting climate denial and junk science, producing comically awful headlines such as... 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

LUCINDA’S INSIGHT

Since when did former politician-turned-lobbyist Lucinda Creighton become a moderate? Speaking from her weekly Business Post soap box, she recently decried “the extreme left and the extreme right” for their... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Mairead Ronan

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

I wouldn’t have got recognised very often before DWTS as I think I have one of those very Irish faces. I could easily be your cousin or your one off... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Valerie Moran

High Society

THE MORANS’ SPLURGES

NOEL AND Valerie Moran’s latest acquisition – Knockdrin Castle and its 1,000 surrounding acres in Co Westmeath – is the latest in a long... Read more »

High Society

Consuelo O’Connor

High Society

MICHAEL CUSH’S EXIT

NO DOUBT, the chair of the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI), legal eagle Mary Keane, was delighted with her Christmas pressie from culture minister... Read more »

High Society

Dermot Desmond

High Society

DERMO’S CARIBBEAN COMPETITION

SHORTLY BEFORE Christmas, an article in the Sunday Times extolled the virtues of basing yourself in the sunny Caribbean to avoid much of the drudgery associated with the pandemic. Not... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

Behind the Scenes

NANCY HARRIS’S WINNER

JUST BEFORE Christmas, the hard-working elves at Michael O’Keeffe’s Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) signed off on the latest round of ‘Sound & Vision’ hand-outs to the nation’s struggling TV... Read more »
Maureen Kennelly

Behind the Scenes

MAUREEN KENNELLY’S COLLECTION

THE BAD times have resulted in some good times at the Arts Council after years of penny pinching from successive governments, with sackloads of cash being delivered to 70 Merrion... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Lydia Hislop

Sport of Kings

NOT GOING THE DISTANCE

THE RETURN of dual Gold Cup winner Al Boum Photo in the Savills Chase at Tramore on New Year’s Day was supposed to be a routine outing for the brilliant... Read more »
Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

Sport of Kings

HOLDEN ON TO THE PRIZE

KILKENNY MAN Paul Holden and his trainer daughter, Ellmarie, have pumped a lot of money into racing in the past few years, both through horse ownership and race sponsorship but... Read more »
Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

Sport of Kings

MOANING MULLINS

ANY DREAMS that 2020 might finally be the year for Gordon Elliott were dashed after Willie Mullins mopped up the majority of prize money on offer over the festive period.... Read more »

Reviews

No Hiding (Rob Kearney)

Books

NO HIDING (ROB KEARNEY) & FUEL (SEAN O’BRIEN)

THERE IS a bitter irony that one of the accusations against Joe Schmidt’s Ireland team in his final year was that it had become predictable and too easy for their... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Charlie Gallagher

Moneybags

ABBEY’S MARKET EXIT LONG OVERDUE

THE INEVITABLE takeout of Charlie Gallagher’s Abbey plc house-building group by the Gallagher family is, like Anne Heraty’s CPL (bought out by the Japanese... Read more »

Moneybags

Eugene Murtagh

Moneybags

WHY KINGSPAN NEEDS A NEW CHAIRMAN

KINGSPAN’S shares have been riding high from €64 on February 21 last year, just before the pandemic hit, at which point they were on... Read more »

Briefcases

Briefcases

APOLOGY – PRIME VALUE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT (PVMC)

To access this content, you must be a Phoenix subscriber. Get access to The Phoenix online for as low as €1.50 per week. Read all the regular online only Phoenix... Read more »
Elon Musk

Briefcases

GAVIN SHERIDAN’S HEDGE

ELON MUSK’S electric car company, Tesla, has been accelerating in value, reaching $800bn last week. One person who will be rubbing his hands in glee is Gavin Sheridan, the founder... Read more »
Eithne Shortall

Briefcases

MICHAEL MCLOUGHLIN’S SPORTING TACTICS

WHEN FREELANCE journalist Eithne Shortall began reporting on the diminishing returns of Irish sports autobiographies, a name at the very top of her list of experts to provide some insight... Read more »
Gene Murtagh

Briefcases

PETER WILSON’S WEDGE

IT WAS a torrid 2020 for Eugene and Gene Murtagh’s Kingspan, and not merely because of Covid-19. It also got a good old kicking in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry from lawyers... Read more »