Affairs of the Nation

micheal-martin

Affairs of the Nation

MARTIN’S LEFT TURN

THIS weekend’s Fianna Fáil ard fheis will resonate to thunderous attacks on the ‘right wing, uncaring, Thatcherite’ etc Fine Gael, as Micheál Martin finally defines his party as being left-of-centre... Read more »
ibrahim-halawa

Affairs of the Nation

FLANAGAN FURIOUS OVER HALAWA

FOREIGN minister Charlie Flanagan was not best pleased to see Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan rip apart his softy-softly strategy on Ibrahim Halawa – held now for nearly 900 days... Read more »
alan-mahon

Affairs of the Nation

MAHON: ASKING THE RELEVANT QUESTIONS

DOES environment minister Alan Kelly know what the Mahon Tribunal’s been up to since he nodded through, last February, its disposal of crucial documentary evidence that underscored its inquiries? If... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Garrett Kelleher

Affairs of the Nation

PETER MALBASHA’S ‘MISLEADING’ EVIDENCE

THERE WAS at least one red face in Nama last month following the outcome of a High Court case concerning the developer, Garrett Kelleher, in which a Nama official named... Read more »
Maire Whelan

Affairs of the Nation

JUDGE MALONE’S LIBEL WIN

ATTORNEY GENERAL Máire Whelan made the interesting suggestion recently that the defamation laws should be reformed to allow more latitude to court reporters. Whelan floated the idea that no unwitting... Read more »
Niamh Brennan

Affairs of the Nation

AFTER McGONAGLE AT NCAD

IT PROBABLY did not come as too much of a surprise to observers of the goings on in Dublin 8 that the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) is... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

Saudi Allies?

THE RETICENCE of Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan to issue a statement condemning the execution of 47 people by the King Salman bin Abdullaziz regime in Saudi Arabia at... Read more »
Paddy-McKillen

Affairs of the Nation

BERGERAC LIVES

HOW can an ex-garda get himself involved in legal proceedings against a newspaper in Sark, a small island in the Channel Islands (population 600)? Former garda Denis O’Sullivan has just... Read more »
enda-kenny

Affairs of the Nation

THREE RING CIRCUS IN MAYO

FINE GAEL and Enda Kenny’s’ target of three seats in the Taoiseach’s revised four-seat Mayo constituency will be even harder to achieve than their triumph in taking four seats out... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Mary-Robinson

Pillars of Society

Mary Robinson Now

FORMER president Mary Robinson has carved out quite a career for herself post the Áras as a globetrotter extraordinaire, most notably with high profile... Read more »

The Young Bloods

The Young Bloods

John O’Donnell

INDEPENDENT councillor (34) from Donegal was one of the stars in last month’s RTÉ Investigates exposé, where he was secretly filmed appearing to solicit... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Pat Leahy

Fit to Print?

IRISH TIMES ELECTION CAMPAIGN

SUNDAY BUSINESS POST deputy editor and political editor, Pat Leahy, is defecting to The Irish Times after his two months notice expires at the end of February – in the... Read more »
DearbhailMcDonald

Fit to Print?

DENIS O’BRIEN’S BUSINESS EDITOR

PERHAPS the most sensitive post in Irish journalism – INM group business editor – is about to be conferred on Irish Independent associate editor and legal editor, Dearbhail McDonald. Remarkably,... Read more »

Last Refuge

JohnPerry

Last Refuge

PERRY DISASTER FOR FG

PRESUMABLY the Standards in Public Office (Sipo) will not insist that the massive half-a-million euro legal costs for Fine Gael’s High Court case against John Perry TD should be counted... Read more »
BrendanHowlin

Last Refuge

HOWLIN’S BALANCING ACT

IT has gone largely unreported but Brendan Howlin has blown a large hole in Joan Burton’s central election message that Labour’s return to government with Fine Gael is essential to... Read more »
joan-burton

Last Refuge

JOAN’S GOOD NEWS

JOAN BURTON’S Department of Social Protection jumped to her defence recently against a most impertinent suggestion from rival general election candidate, Dublin West Independent councillor David McGuinness. McGuinness issued a... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

bog cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

EXPOSED BUTTOCKS TO POLICE A MAN whose behaviour ‘has echoes of Braveheart’ was ‘embarrassed’ by his actions, a court has heard. Derry Magistrate’s Court heard that 24-year-old Raymond Rogan exposed... Read more »

Bird's Eye View

arlene-foster

Bird's Eye View

ARLENE MUST STOP McGUINNESS

LAST Monday Arlene Foster took over formally as First Minister in the North. A month ago the betting was on Nigel Dodds, deputy leader, MP for North Belfast and leader... Read more »

Beyond the Pale

galway-principal

Beyond the Pale

GALWAY PRINCIPAL’S “DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS”

ALL is far from well at Galway Jesuit secondary school, Coláiste Iognáid – more commonly referred to as ‘the Jes’ – where school principal Mary Joyce is engaged in a... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Donal Skehan

The Hot Air Brigade

The Hot Air Bridage

Donal Skehan and his wife Sophie are moving to Los Angeles next month and are believed to be house-hunting in the Santa Monica area… The couple walked down the aisle... Read more »

High Society

High Society

JohnMagnier

High Society

SHUTTING THE STABLE DOOR

WHILE THERE has been good news for Coolmore Stud Down Under (see p23), John Magnier et al continue to expend considerable energy ensuring that... Read more »

High Society

GeraldineKarlsson

High Society

GERALDINE KARLSSON’S HIGH NOTES

AS PREDICTED by Goldhawk (see The Phoenix 18/12/15), the finances at Wexford Festival Opera (WFO) are taking on the proportions of a tragedy. Maybe... Read more »

High Society

tom-higgins

High Society

TOM HIGGINS’ SWISS STORY

WOULD-BE space cadet and former Irish Psychics Live phoneline operator Tom Higgins has reinvented himself in recent years as an art dealer of sorts. However, the multi-millionaire hasn’t quite shaken... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Behind the Scenes

THE ABBEY’S LABOUR OF LOVE

THE BACKLASH against the Abbey Theatre’s testosterone-fuelled 1916 centenary programme – ‘Waking The Nation’ – has been well-ventilated. Rather less has been said about how director Fiach Mac Conghail managed... Read more »
rebellion rte

Behind the Scenes

FUNDING THE ‘REBELLION’

THE AUDIENCE for RTÉ’s much-hyped 1916 drama Rebellion, which debuted last week, may not be aware that this programme is effectively owned by an overseas producer in the form of... Read more »

Sport of Kings

lucinda

Sport of Kings

LUCINDA VS THE BOOKIES

RENUA LEADER Lucinda Creighton has been making waves in the racing industry lately with her party’s manifesto, which plays to the horsey set gallery. The fledgling political party is calling... Read more »
Cillian and Siobhan Ryan

Sport of Kings

CILLIAN RYAN DISMOUNTS

SWORDLESTOWN STUD, which was purchased by the late Cathal Ryan in 1999 and bequeathed to his son, Cillian Ryan, in 2007, has ceased breeding operations after dispersing its broodmares to... Read more »
Tom Magnier

Sport of Kings

LOOKING UP DOWN UNDER

IT’S NOT very often that Coolmore don’t publicise news of a major victory, but that was the case recently when John Magnier’s Australian operation, run by heir apparent Tom Magnier,... Read more »
Ryle Nugent

Sport of Kings

RTÉ’S RIVALS ENTER THE GATE

THE SEISMIC uprooting of Channel 4 Racing as the broadcaster of UK racing’s terrestrial TV rights for more than 30 years, may have knock-on implications for RTÉ’s ailing sports department.... Read more »

Reviews

rebellion-rte1

Reviews

REBELLION – RTÉ 1

THE LATEST version of the 1916 Rising is told from the viewpoint of three fictional characters: Elizabeth (Charlie Murphy), a privileged Church of Ireland medical student who joins the Irish... Read more »
JacobTremblayandBrieLarson

Movies

ROOM – DIRECTED BY LENNY ABRAHAMSON

LENNY ABRAHAMSON has been the critics’ darling for over a decade since his excellent debut feature Adam and Paul (2004). With Room, adapted by Emma Donoghue from her best-selling novel,... Read more »
Colin Campbell

Reviews

EAST OF BERLIN – PROJECT ARTS CENTRE

FROM Sophocles to McDonagh, Western drama is rife with troublesome parent-child relationships. It’s no surprise for the misdeeds of one generation to be passed on as curses to the next.... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

denis-obrien

Moneybags

Did Denis O’Brien turn a profit on Topaz deal?

THE SURPRISE sale of Denis O’Brien’s Topaz to the giant Canadian Couche-Tard group raises more questions than it answers. The most obvious question is... Read more »

Moneybags

TomOMahony

Moneybags

Origin Enterprises has recipe for success

IN MARCH last year, Owen Killian’s Aryzta made the strategic decision to dispose of its controlling interest in Origin Enterprises. Aryzta raised €627m cash... Read more »

Brief Cases

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Brief Cases

FF Feud

ROSCOMMON Fianna Fáil members are a sensitive bunch and a libel case taken by Cllr Ivan Connaughton against Independent MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan (see The Phoenix 18/12/15) is not the... Read more »
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Brief Cases

Thomas Byrne sues the Worst

STRUCK-OFF solicitor Thomas Byrne was jailed in 2013 for 12 years for financial fraud, but the former legal eagle continues to cast a shadow from behind bars. Byrne is currently... Read more »
paddy-keane

Brief Cases

Paddy Keane’s Unfair Dismissal

SOME more bad news for well-known Galway solicitor Paddy Keane, who practises at Keane Solicitors in Galway city and who has various other business interests. One of Keane’s ventures is... Read more »
GregKavanagh

Brief Cases

Back In Court With Greg Kavanagh

LOOKS like developer Greg Kavanagh is set for more courtroom action. Last month yet another High Court case initiated against a Kavanagh-fronted company. Kavanagh’s New Generation group, backed by UK... Read more »
TomKeane

Brief Cases

Tom Keane’s Bust-Up

MORE to report on Dublin accountant Tom Keane, who is battling on several fronts and is currently facing three separate disciplinary inquiries by the accountancy body, the Certified Public Accountants... Read more »
FakirHossain

Brief Cases

School Boss’s Examination

WHEN controversial language school Eden College went bust back in 2014, over 1,000 students were left out of pocket, with the school having previously been accused of faking students’ attendance... Read more »

Brief Cases

Disqualifying Chris Fleming

A FORMER boss of a chain of gyms has been disqualified from acting as a company director for nine years. Businessman Chris Fleming was a director of a company called... Read more »
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Brief Cases

Bennett Company Goes Bust

A PROPERTY development company part-owned by Westmeath-based builder Christopher Bennett – of the well-known building firm, the Bennett Group – has collapsed into liquidation. The company in question, Jewelbury Ltd,... Read more »
SeanRainey

Brief Cases

More Tax Trouble For Sean Rainey

ONE of the larger settlements recorded on last month’s list of tax defaulters published by the Revenue was made by CDRN Partnership, a property development venture part-owned by Goldhawk’s old... Read more »