Affairs of the Nation

adrian-bourke-centre

Affairs of the Nation

THE REAL COST OF ROBBO’S SHRINE

A VERY, very expensive precedent has been set by the government in accepting Mary Robinson’s presidential archive to qualify as acceptable under Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act. The... Read more »
Elizabeth-Garrahy

Affairs of the Nation

LIZ GARRAHY’S PEACE PROCESS

COULD PEACE be about to break out between the Arts For Peace Foundation (AFP) and the OPW? Relations between the two bodies hit rock bottom and the charity – fronted... Read more »
Shane Ross

Affairs of the Nation

SHANE ROSS’S ABORTION DEAL

A STRANGE and little noticed U-turn by Taoiseach Enda Kenny a fortnight ago saw him tell the Dáil he was appointing – immediately – new judges to the Court of... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

OBrienDenis

Affairs of the Nation

INM’S O’BRIEN NERVY ABOUT TAKEOVER BID

SIGNS are that Denis O’Brien is nervous about securing approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and communications minister Denis Naughten for his purchase of the Celtic Media Group... Read more »
Murphy-Colm

Affairs of the Nation

GARDAÍ VISIT LAW SOCIETY

THE long-running battle between Kenmare solicitor Colm Murphy and the Law Society took a dramatic turn last week when detectives from the Garda Fraud Squad visited the society’s HQ seeking... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

NO ROOM AT THE INN

PEACE CAMPAIGNERS being blacked in the media as well as barred from hiring premises presumably because of their dangerous and subversive message of peace. Shannonwatch, led by such as retired... Read more »
denis-obrien-1

Affairs of the Nation

Denis O’Brien’s safe haven

LISTENERS to Denis O’Brien’s Newstalk were brought up to date on developments in Haiti last week during the breakfast news show fronted by Shane Coleman, who interviewed the chair of... Read more »

Pillars of Society

fitzgerald-frances

Pillars of Society

Frances Fitzgerald

NOT merely a safe pair of hands, as compared to the irascible Alan Shatter, but a potential successor to Enda Kenny was how Frances... Read more »

The Young Bloods

carroll-gerry

The Young Bloods

Gerry Carroll MLA

People Before Profit’s MLA Gerry Carroll (29) is something of a political juggernaut. Translating working class frustration with an increasingly stale-looking Sinn Féin into... Read more »

Fit to Print?

article default

Fit to Print?

TEACHERS UNION LIBELS HACK

THE alleged campaign by Galway City Tribune journalist Dara Bradley against members of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) has led to a libel... Read more »
edward-lucas

Fit to Print?

RTÉ’S COLD WAR EXPERTS

IS RTÉ incapable of sourcing geopolitical analysts and commentators who are not seriously conflicted by vested interests in Western war games and in the US and EU arms industry? And... Read more »

Last Refuge

mary-hanafin

Last Refuge

FF POISED FOR FIFTY PLUS SEATS

THE perceived wisdom on Fianna Fáil’s medium term strategy – Fine Gael dissidents’ paranoia notwithstanding – is that Micheál Martin will wait for at last another 18 months before pulling... Read more »
simon-coveney

Last Refuge

VLAD AND SIMON WOO COUNCILLORS

WHAT a disappointment Simon Coveney delivered to councillors at a meeting of the local authority members’ association in Bantry this month when he had to backtrack on his promise to... Read more »
article default

Last Refuge

Enda’s dynasty

THERE has been a great falling out between Enda Kenny and one of his longest and most loyal party colleagues in Mayo, Castlebar neighbour Senator Paddy Burke. Burke’s reward for... Read more »
Rose Conway Walsh & Lisa Chambers

Last Refuge

FEMINISTS IN FIGHT FOR MAYO

AN honourable and unusual mention in Miriam Lord’s Irish Times column for Sinn Féin Seanad leader Rose Conway Walsh – “a very impressive addition to her party’s Seanad team” –... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

‘Don’t you touch  my balls!’ A MAYO farmer was found guilty of assault after trying to bite a garda sergeant’s testicles. Seamus Murphy, of Moygownagh, was found guilty of the... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

denis-naughten

Fowl Emissions

NAUGHTEN’S CHALLENGE

THE IRISH public could be forgiven for concluding that the term climate action has something to do with funding RTÉ. After all, since the establishment of the repackaged Department of... Read more »

Bird's Eye View

THERESA MAY

Bird's Eye View

DUP’S EIGHT CRITICAL FOR MAY

THERESA MAY, the British prime minister, is adamant she will deliver Brexit, “the will of the British people”, but she faces immense problems fulfilling that aim. Though most MPs now... Read more »

Foreign Frolics

bob-dylan

Foreign Frolics

BOB’S BAUBLE

by DAVID YEARSLEY THE NOBEL literature committee has wiped away the last blob of credibility or interest their annual awards might have retained up until the moment the Dylan announcement... Read more »
article default

Foreign Frolics

ALF SMIDDY’S SEAT

INTERESTING to see outspoken Cork business consultant Alf Smiddy added to the board of the ESB earlier this month. Minister Denis Naughten obviously feels a little controversy is a good... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Mary Mitchell O’Connor

The Hot Air Brigade

The Hot Air Brigade

“But if I had to work with [Donald Trump], if he is the president of the US, I will absolutely work with him and I will have a working relationship.”... Read more »

High Society

High Society

article default

High Society

BRONACH ROWELL’S €4M HOUSE

FOR MANY years, Bronach Rowell has been a go-to name in interior design and was behind the well-known Harriet’s House furniture stores in Dublin.... Read more »

High Society

article default

High Society

CHARLES NOELL’S BLACK HOLE

THE SQUIRE of Ardbraccan House estate in Co Meath, US moneybags Charles E Noell III, has been spending lots of moolah despite Meath County... Read more »

High Society

bono-and-jordan-hewson

High Society

ALI AND BONO’S BUSINESS BLUES

THE NEWS that Jordan Hewson, daughter of Ali and Paul Hewson (aka Bono) has raised $2m for her fledgling Speakable social issues business suggests she may have a knack for... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

selina-cartmell

Behind the Scenes

SELINA CARTMELL’S GATE GIG

MICHAEL COLGAN may have run the Gate for 33 years, but it didn’t take too long to find his replacement. Four months after announcing his departure, the theatre unveiled director... Read more »
bono-and-ali-hewson

Behind the Scenes

BONO AND THE CLINTONs

NEWSPAPER readers can scarcely failed to have noticed the column inches generated by U2’s recent onstage attacks on Donald Trump. First, there was Bono’s “mock-debate” with the Republican presidential candidate... Read more »
article default

Behind the Scenes

AND THE AWARD DOESN’T GO TO …

BACK IN 2014, there was such a general uproar about the IFTA “shambles” on RTÉ that the national broadcaster decided enough was enough and the Irish Film Board (IFB) said... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Ingrid & Markus Jooste

Sport of Kings

40 SHADES OF GREEN

THE IRISH were doing plenty of business with each other in Newmarket this month as Tattersalls held its annual bonanza – Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale, where almost... Read more »
article default

Sport of Kings

THE CARTYS CASH IN

WHILE THERE is no escaping the fact that the top echelons of the sport of thoroughbred horse breeding are dominated by the oil rich or equivalent (ie Coolmore), every now... Read more »
john-ferguson

Sport of Kings

John Ferguson’s cheque book

THE COOLMORE clan weren’t the only ones flashing the cash at Newmarket. John Ferguson was spending money at a hectic pace and finished the sale as leading buyer, having dropped... Read more »
article default

Sport of Kings

Kevin Sexton’s problem

Following the recent news that Danny Grant is facing time out over a failed drugs test, another jockey, Kevin Sexton, will also be facing an uphill battle to rebuild his... Read more »
Brian Kavanagh

Sport of Kings

A MIXED WEEK FOR BRIAN KAVANAGH

BRIAN KAVANAGH probably didn’t know whether to laugh or cry during Budget week. On one hand, he saw the Government dishing out almost €64m to Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) for... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

smurfit-tony

Moneybags

Smurfit Kappa shares lag market average

GARY McGANN retired as CEO of the Smurfit Kappa group at the end of August last year after 17 years. Tony Smurfit is now... Read more »

Moneybags

McCann-Carl

Moneybags

McCann property company has some value

THE PROPERTY arm of Fyffes – Balmoral International Land (BIL) – was launched on the Dublin Stock Exchange under the name Blackrock International Land... Read more »

Brief Cases

Pat-Cowman

Brief Cases

Tax trouble won’t sink Pat Cowman

SPARE a thought for Belmullet businessman Pat Cowman who was named in the Revenue’s latest list of tax defaulters for filing incorrect VAT returns at his company, Henman Developments Ltd.... Read more »
fitzpatrick-ivor

Brief Cases

Christina O in choppy waters

THE high profile Dublin solicitor, Ivor Fitzpatrick, is heading for rough seas with his Sandyway Investments Ltd which is now listed for striking off the register of companies. Through Idyll... Read more »
Nicholas-OConnor

Brief Cases

Nick O’Connor’s litany of woe

IT’S BEEN a torrid year for Wexford accountant Nicholas O’Connor who just had another judgment registered against him by the Revenue. The former captain of Rosslare golf club was also... Read more »

Brief Cases

Receivers swarm on Shannon Town

THERE was more bad news for the hospitality sector in Shannon Town when the popular Shannon Knights bar was placed in receivership at the end of September. It’s the second... Read more »
mark-little

Brief Cases

Rupert Murdoch’s Storyful of losses

IT’s one of the great new media success stories but it looks like the sale of Dublin company Storyful to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation in 2013 couldn’t have come at... Read more »

Brief Cases

Ronan O’Gara’s settlement

THERE was good news for Ireland and Munster rugby legend Ronan O’Gara recently when his firm managed to settle an outstanding tax bill. Stand Off Promotions Ltd ponied up close... Read more »

Brief Cases

James Rogers’s tax troubles

DUNDALK accountant James Rogers is in trouble with the taxman after having a judgment for €63,000 registered against him at the end of September. It’s not the first time the... Read more »
article default

Brief Cases

David Healy’s Insurance

MORE on the Healy family from Cork; it will be recalled that brothers Michael and Pat Healy were disqualified from acting as company directors for six years arising out of... Read more »