Affairs of the Nation

Affairs of the Nation

HALAWA: THE FRENCH CONNECTION

FOLLOWING Ibrahim Halawa’s release from a Cairo prison last week the government’s Strategic Communications Unit (SCU) and Iveagh House diplomats carried out a self congratulatory blitz on the media that... Read more »
Brian Kingham

Affairs of the Nation

Brian Kingham goes to court

WHAT A surprise to see the name of Brian Kingham surface as one of two parties (along with Blessington Sailing Club) taking a High Court challenge against Wicklow County Council... Read more »
Lucy Gaffney

Affairs of the Nation

Lucy Gaffney’s selfie

US SINGER, record producer and all-round internet phenomenon DJ Khaled is a rather well-known character, at least among the yoof. But his popularity clearly extends across the generations, which must... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

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Affairs of the Nation

Kerry’s Hack

GER COLLERAN has been editor and managing director of the Irish Daily Star and was at various times tipped to be editor of the Sunday Independent, Irish Independent and the... Read more »
Rory Godson

Affairs of the Nation

RORY GODSON’S ADVENTURES

WHAT an exciting, not to say dangerous, sequence of events Powerscourt PR boss Rory Godson endured last month in just 48 hours. On October 12, Godson hosted a private dinner... Read more »
Paul Cummins

Affairs of the Nation

STUDIO SEQUELS

AFTER BUYING the defunct Galway Airport at Carnmore in June 2014, Galway city and county councils sought views, commissioned reports and generally agonised over what to do with the place.... Read more »
Lynsey McGovern

Affairs of the Nation

LYNSEY McGOVERN’S AMBITIONS

LAST MONTH, Lynsey McGovern, independent councillor in the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown constituency, tweeted: “Great to see real progress made in healthcare.” It was in reply to a post from Leo... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

Demolition Job

A JUDGMENT mortgage has been registered against Slaneygio Ltd, a company controlled by some members of the wealthy Germaine family of Baltinglass, Co Wicklow. The plaintiff was a barrister, Elaine... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Emily Logan

Pillars of Society

Profile: Emily Logan

CHIEF Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) Emily Logan recently made the most forthright statement on abortion at the Oireachtas... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Stefanie Preissner

The Young Bloods

Young Blood: Stefanie Preissner

WRITER Stefanie Preissner (29) is everywhere these days. The Cork woman is having a moment after the success of her RTÉ series Can’t Cope,... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Denis O'Brien

Fit to Print?

DENIS O’BRIEN TO THE ‘RESCUE’

TWO Sundays ago, Sunday Independent hack Liam Collins suggested that Independent News & Media’s new chief executive, Michael Doorly, should bid for the Irish Examiner. There is no way a... Read more »
John Concannon

Fit to Print?

JOHN CONCANNON STRIKES BACK

MICHEÁL MARTIN has been accused of making too much of Leo Varadkar’s Strategic Communications Unit (SCU) as a €5m propaganda machine for Fine Gael in government. Even Martin’s internal party... Read more »

Last Refuge

Michael Ring

Last Refuge

VARADKAR WHIPS RINGER INTO LINE

HAVING finally made it into cabinet as rural affairs minister, Michael Ring has become disillusioned to the point of rebellion against his new leader and Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar. Reports have... Read more »
Michael McDowell

Last Refuge

MICHAEL McDOWELL GIRDS HIS LOINS

SEANAD leader, Fine Gael’s Jerry Buttimer, was quick to point out to the House that Michael McDowell had recently circulated a full colour brochure in the Dublin Bay South (DBS)... Read more »
Cllr Orla Leyden

Last Refuge

TERRY LEYDEN’S DYNASTY BID

SENATOR Terry Leyden (aka El Tel) is busy master minding what he describes as the saving of the single Fianna Fáil seat – held by Eugene Murphy TD – in... Read more »
" Photo: https://thewordpoint.com/ "

Last Refuge

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor In your edition (20th October) you suggested that I have “flitted around the Left, including Sinn Féin, in recent years but always settled back into the Labour camp”.... Read more »
Micheál Martin

Last Refuge

Little Confidence

MICHEÁL MARTIN and the Fianna Fáil leadership have become increasingly anxious to reassure Fine Gael ministers that the party will adhere to the confidence and supply accord for years to... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Rat-arsed chef GETS INTO hot water A DRUNK chef jumped into a Galway canal to rescue his pet rat which had escaped from his pocket. Gardaí called to the scene... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Denis Naughten

Fowl Emissions

UNCONSTITUTIONAL CLIMATE

WHEN ALL else fails, take them to court. Yet again, it falls to the poorly supported, barely solvent environmental NGO sector to try to force the state to do its... Read more »

Bird's Eye View

James Brokenshire

Bird's Eye View

GROUNDHOG DEADLINES

TO NO ONE’S surprise the DUP and Sinn Féin sailed through northern secretary James Brokenshire’s sixth “deadline” last Monday night. Many people thought Brokenshire’s predecessor Theresa Villiers – sacked after... Read more »

Wigs on the Green

Judge Frank Clarke

Wigs on the Green

SUPREME COURT GALA PERFORMANCE

CHIEF JUSTICE Frank Clarke and most of his peers turned in an impressively choreographed performance for the cameras last week in the historic first-ever televised sitting of the courts. M’luds... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Maura Derrane

The Hot Air Brigade

The Hot Air Brigade

We were uncouth; we were like wild beasts. We didn’t know how to pose for a photo, we were only there at events for the free booze. You’re judged now... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Victoria Browne

High Society

CROWDING OUT CASTLETOWN HOUSE

THESE ARE anxious times at the impressive 18th century Castletown House in Co Kildare, birthplace of Arthur Guinness. A proposed controversial large scale property... Read more »

High Society

AnneMarie and Aidan O'Brien

High Society

AIDAN O’BRIEN’S NEXT RECORD

THERE WAS, not surprisingly, acres of copy churned out praising the impressive feat achieved by racehorse trainer Aidan O’Brien last weekend when he broke... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

John McAuliffe

Behind the Scenes

John McAuliffe’s broadside

FANS OF Goldhawk will not have been too surprised by the attack on culture minister Heather Humphreys and her Creative Ireland programme, penned by Arts Council member John McAuliffe in... Read more »
Selina-Cartmell

Behind the Scenes

Selina Cartmell’s Good News

WITH the Gate Theatre’s new director, Selina Cartmell, now well ensconced in her office, the good news is that the financial picture looks rosy. Certainly, her predecessor Michael Colgan has... Read more »
Katie Holly - Blinder Films

Behind the Scenes

HANDOUT TIME AT THE IRISH FILM BOARD

WHILE THE global film business focuses on Harvey Weinstein’s unmasking, it was business as usual at Annie Doona’s Irish Film Board (IFB) where the third quarter of 2017 favours have... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Ching Chiat Kwong

Sport of Kings

Sean Mulryan’s partner

AS SEAN MULRYAN gradually increases his re-involvement in racing, it is interesting to note that he is helping to boost Horse Racing Ireland’s new ownership figures by pulling in some... Read more »
Willie Mullins

Sport of Kings

ELLIOTT OUTPACES MULLINS

WILLIE MULLINS is going through a rare quiet spell at the moment and his chief rival, Gordon Elliott, is certainly taking full advantage of the champion trainer’s (presumably) brief slump.... Read more »
Brendan Duke

Sport of Kings

BRENDAN DUKE’S BAD NEWS

AFTER a few turbulent years, things had been going swimmingly in recent months for Curragh trainer Brendan Duke but all of sudden he finds himself on the backfoot. Duke benefits... Read more »

Reviews

Rory Nolan

Reviews

POSTCARDS FROM THE LEDGE – GAIETY THEATRE

WHEN THE curtain rises on the latest Ross O’Carroll Kelly play, the ‘Ledge’ stands in front of a tiny derelict house, and describes it in estate agents’ fluffy marketing-speak: a... Read more »
Jackie Tyrrell - Warriors Code

Books

THE WARRIOR’S CODE – JACKIE TYRRELL  (TRINITY MIRROR)

JACKIE TYRRELL is selfish. That’s not Goldhawk’s assessment, it’s Tyrrell’s own. On no fewer than 12 occasions in his new autobiography does he make this assertion, and it’s hard not... Read more »
Smile - Roddy Doyle

Books

Roddy Doyle’s ‘Smile’

THROUGHOUT his successful writing career, Roddy Doyle has been associated mostly with candid depictions of Irish family life, energetic prose and vernacular dialogue. His latest novel addresses the very familiar... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Gene Murtagh

Moneybags

Kingspan’s share price at highrise levels

THE GRENFELL apartment block disaster in London earlier this year highlighted the importance of building facades from a safety point of view. Some Kingspan... Read more »

Moneybags

Eimear Mulhern

Moneybags

Profits at Goffs galloping ahead

EIMEAR MULHERN – the late Charlie Haughey’s daughter and wife of the late John Mulhern – has been chair of Goffs for over a... Read more »

Brief Cases

Jay Bourke

Brief Cases

Jay Bourke’s latest judgment

HARD luck to Goldhawk’s old pal Jay Bourke who has just had a hefty judgment registered against him by the taxman. It comes hot on the heels of a recent... Read more »
Niall Harbison Now

Brief Cases

Niall Harbison’s Manchester moves

CONGRATULATIONS to Goldhawk’s old pal Niall Harbison whose Lovin media group is continuing its social media expansion. Harbo’s lifestyle outfit is in the process of setting up franchises in far-flung... Read more »
Paul Stenson

Brief Cases

Paul Stenson’s mixed results

THE company behind thin-skinned social media personality Paul Stenson’s Charleville Lodge hotel in Dublin 7 has just filed a revealing set of accounts. Stenson is the manager of the popular... Read more »
Ian Lucey

Brief Cases

Ian Lucey’s latest row

INTERESTING to see that Blackrock businessman Ian Lucey’s Lucey Technology Ltd has been hit with another judgment by a creditor. Lucey Technology is the serial entrepreneur’s investment company, which funds... Read more »
Hammond Lane Metal

Brief Cases

Hammond Lane’s metal fatigue

HAMMOND Lane Metal Company Ltd (HLM), the Dublin-based subsidiary of metal-recycling operation Clearway Disposal, is having its mettle tested. The company filed its annual accounts recently and the details will... Read more »
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Brief Cases

Bryan Wixted’s medical problem

SPARE a thought for Bryan Wixted whose DMC Medical Ltd is facing a winding up petition in the High Court courtesy of a creditor, Deal Partners Logistics Ltd. DMC is... Read more »
Hayden's Hotel

Brief Cases

Hotel hangover for the Creaven brothers

HARD luck to Galway hoteliers John and Joseph Creaven who were landed with matching tax judgments for €100,000 last month. The pair owned the well-known Hayden’s Hotel in Ballinasloe with... Read more »