Affairs of the Nation

Simon Coveney

Affairs of the Nation

Simon Coveney’s stance on Palestine

FOREIGN MINISTER Simon Coveney made a stirring statement on Donald Trump’s universally condemned decision to situate the US Embassy to Israel in Jerusalem. But he made no mention of the... Read more »
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar

Affairs of the Nation

Leo Varadkar’s Twitter Spin

TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar took a bit of a thumping from a prominent LGBT advocacy group over what it called a “misleading tweet” on the occasion of World Aids Day. During... Read more »
George Hook

Affairs of the Nation

George Hook’s return

GEORGE HOOK’S long-awaited return to the airwaves, promised for December, has been pushed back to January and he will be heard on Newstalk’s weekend schedule next month. At least that’s... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Rté

Affairs of the Nation

RTÉ’s anti-social media

HOW long does it take to figure out who has access to an RTÉ social media account? Nearly a month after RTÉ One sent a bizarre tweet to one under-fire... Read more »
SIPO Logo

Affairs of the Nation

Colm O’Gorman v SIPO

IT IS perhaps not too surprising that the Irish arm of Amnesty International should be digging in its heels on a request from the Standards in Public Office to return... Read more »
John Hume

Affairs of the Nation

ST JOHN HUME JNR

THE recent Dublin film premiere of Maurice Fitzpatrick’s In the Name of Peace: John Hume in America heard former President Mary McAleese laud the great man amid quotes from Bill... Read more »
Courts

Affairs of the Nation

Injudicious behaviour

RUMOURS of some splendidly injudicious carry-on in the Supreme Court building have been circulating in the Law Library for the past week after a court official apparently walked into the... Read more »
Aramark Logo

Affairs of the Nation

Students target Aramark

STUDENTS in Trinity and UCD are getting testy about the on campus presence of food services multinational Aramark over its links to the direct provision system. Boycott campaigns have been... Read more »
Niall McGarry Maximum Media

Affairs of the Nation

NIALL McGARRY’S RED INK

ONLINE PUBLISHER and self-promoter extraordinaire, Niall McGarry was talking up his Maximum Media group last week, announcing new jobs in Galway and promising further expansion in the UK. The bottom... Read more »
Paddy Campbell

Affairs of the Nation

BIG BILLS AT BEWLEY’S

VISITORS TO Dublin’s Grafton Street in the last couple of weeks may have been struck by the near permanent queue of punters outside the recently reopened Bewley’s Café. While there... Read more »

Pillars of Society

MacDara Kelleher

Pillars of Society

Profile: MacDara Kelleher

THE IRISH movie business is characterised by huge levels of public lolly being poured into productions either via tax breaks or ‘loans’ from the... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Fintan Warfield

The Young Bloods

Young Blood: Fintan Warfield

IN A party that boasts an embarrassment of riches when it comes to young talent, Fintan Warfield (25) stands out as one of Sinn... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Tom Crosbie

Fit to Print?

CORK HACKS REBEL

IRISH TIMES DAC’s takeover of Landmark, owners of the Irish Examiner, Evening Echo and other regional titles, provoked some sour coverage from rival bidders INM and Sunday Business Post owners... Read more »
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Fit to Print?

Reviewing Eileen Battersby

GOOD to see that The Sunday Times has also noticed the symbiotic relationship between Irish Times critics and authors John Banville and Eileen Battersby (see The Phoenix, 11/9/15 and passim).... Read more »
Mark Paul and Ciaran Hancock

Fit to Print?

DENIS O’BRIEN’S STARRING ROLE

THERE WAS the usual back-slapping by assorted hacks at the Westbury Hotel shindig earlier this month when the UCD Smurfit School Business Journalist Awards 2017 were dished out. Although not... Read more »

Last Refuge

Lisa Chambers

Last Refuge

GLOVES OFF IN THE DAIL BAR

WHO needs a Strategic Communications Unit (SCU) when the Fine Gael press office is so adept at the dark art of media spin against their Fianna Fáil partners in the... Read more »
Eoin Ó Broin

Last Refuge

PROVOS V FRANCES

FRANCES FITZGERALD was forced to resign by Fine Gael TDs withdrawing their support rather than the pious claims of acting in the national interest to avoid an election, but the... Read more »
Billy Timmins

Last Refuge

Billy Timmins’s return

BILLY TIMMINS re-entry to Fine Gael has upset calculations in Wicklow and may prove to be particularly upsetting to local junior minister, Andrew Doyle. FG Minister Simon Harris, FF’s Stephen... Read more »
Katherine Zappone

Last Refuge

PESCO PARANOID NEUTRALITY PESTS

THE government’s decision to join Pesco, the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (a military alliance but not an army at all, at all), has been presented as a harmonious government decision... Read more »

Hush Hush

Theresa May

Hush Hush

DUP DARK MONEY AND THERESA MAY

DANISH financier Peter Hæstrup, who has been linked to the DUP’s dark money Brexit campaign, may be the real reason British prime minister Theresa May felt free to slap the... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Accused ‘sought chicken’, broke window A DUNGARVAN man who broke the window of a local chipper because they had run out of chicken was handed an eight-month jail sentence. Luke... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Phil Hogan

Fowl Emissions

AGRI-PR FAILS TO CONVINCE

PHIL HOGAN is about the last person you’d expect to find socking it to Ireland’s agri-food industry, but that’s exactly what the EU’s Agriculture Commissioner did at the Food Wise... Read more »

Bird's Eye View

Simon Hamilton

Bird's Eye View

UNIONIST ANTI BREXIT CAMP

ATTITUDES TO Brexit in the North are a lot more complicated than they appear at first sight. Broadly speaking it’s true northern nationalists strongly favour the EU while unionists don’t.... Read more »

Foreign Frolics

Jared and Ivanka Kushner

Foreign Frolics

JARED, JERUSALEM, AND POSSIBLE JAIL TIME

By Gary Leupp JARED KUSHNER, “senior adviser” to his father-in-law Donald Trump, is also the president’s chief negotiator for Middle East peace. Trump has absolute confidence in Kushner (38) who,... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Saoirse Ronan

The Hot Air Brigade

The Hot Air Brigade

I shop local – and I eat Tayto! Saoirse Ronan on the Late Late Show, submitted by reader If you’re writing or speaking in English, shouldn’t you use “Prime Minister”... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Mick Smurfit statue

High Society

MICK SMURFIT’S STATUE

GOLDHAWK is pleased to report that the striking statue of Mick Smurfit that emerged overnight in the grounds of UCD’s Smurfit College of Business... Read more »

High Society

Alexander Graf Matuschka

High Society

DINNY’S GERMAN COUNT

IT WAS reported last week that Denis O’Brien’s Caribbean based telecoms operation, Digicel, is getting a new chief executive in the form of Alexander... Read more »

High Society

Simone Rocha

High Society

Simone Rocha’s seasonal boost

THE CHRISTMAS shopping frenzy should help further boost the overflowing coffers of London-based fashion designer Simone Rocha, daughter of John. The reach of the much discussed Simone’s brand can be... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

U2

Behind the Scenes

U2’s album reviews

EVER SINCE U2 released the critical and commercial flop No Line On The Horizon in 2009, the key question among music hacks with each successive album has been: “Does it... Read more »
Neil Murray and Graham McLaren

Behind the Scenes

TICKING BOXES AT THE ABBEY

ABBEY THEATRE co-directors Neil Murray and Graham McLaren have ruffled a few Irish feathers since they arrived from Scotland. But maybe you can’t blame the boys for breaking some promises.... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Michael Winters

Sport of Kings

FINING MICHAEL WINTERS

WHEN THE Michael Winters trained Churchtown Glen ran at Cork last month, finishing a never nearer seventh under tender handling from jockey Barry John Foley, it was inevitable that the... Read more »
Tim Radford

Sport of Kings

REPLACING LEXUS?

WITH THE Leopardstown Christmas Festival on the horizon, it is disappointing to learn that Lexus has withdrawn its sponsorship of the Day Three feature steeplechase won by some of the... Read more »
Brendan Duke

Sport of Kings

DUKE LOSES OUT

HAVING ENDURED a frustrating end to the flat season as he waved goodbye to two of his best prospects – Warm The Voice and The Broghie Man – Curragh trainer... Read more »

Reviews

Stephanie Dufresne

Reviews

THE RED SHOES – GATE THEATRE

AS A new era takes hold at the Gate under Selina Cartmell, one thing is clear. Audiences may come to the theatre to be entertained. But they shouldn’t expect to... Read more »
OH MY GOD WHAT A COMPLETE AISLING - SARAH BREEN / EMER MCLYSAGHT

Books

OH MY GOD WHAT A COMPLETE AISLING – SARAH BREEN / EMER MCLYSAGHT

THE NOVEL Oh My God What A Complete Aisling began life as a Facebook page detailing the travails of the typical country girl who moves to Dublin for work but... Read more »
Gabriel Byrne

Reviews

MY ASTONISHING SELF – (RTÉ 1)

IN recent years, a growing trend is evident towards arts documentaries presented by celebrities rather than unknown (boring) experts – presumably because knowledge and insight are seen as no match... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Patrick Coveney

Moneybags

Coveney fails to deliver at Greencore

FANS OF Moneybags were probably not overly surprised by the troubled end of the year for Greencore, where management decisions led to huge write-offs... Read more »

Moneybags

Philip O'Quigley

Moneybags

Falcon Oil: not for the faint-hearted

PHILIP O’QUIGLEY has been running Falcon Oil & Gas since May 2012. The company has large tracts of land with various permits and licences... Read more »

Brief Cases

Michael Flynn

Brief Cases

Michael Flynn stops cleaning up

BAD news for Waterford-based environmental services operation FLI International Ltd, which has moved to wind itself up in the High Court after running out dosh. The previously super-profitable company –... Read more »

Brief Cases

Gerry Barrett’s Marathon pals

TOUGH times for Galway businessman Gerry Barrett who looks set to lose control of more assets in his dwindling portfolio. Meanwhile, members of Barrett’s extended family have established themselves since... Read more »
John Lally

Brief Cases

John Lally’s annus horribilis

GALWAY developer John Lally has had a tough time of it in 2017 after being slapped with an eye-watering High Court judgment earlier this year. Meanwhile, a company with an... Read more »
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Brief Cases

Eugene McCool’s courtroom blues

GOLDHAWK’s old pal Eugene McCool had a November to forget in the Four Goldmines. Not only was the Dublin businessman hit with a €¼m High Court judgment courtesy of ACC... Read more »
Tom McGurk

Brief Cases

Christmas humbug for tax defaulters

SOME interesting names and companies popped up on the Revenue’s latest list of tax defaulters, including Wexford businessman Sean Doyle. Well-known Kilmuckridge publican and builder Doyle settled with the taxman... Read more »
IPA Diary 2018

Brief Cases

A date for your diary

GOLDHAWK looks forward to this time of year, when the Institute of Public Administration’s Ireland – A Directory hits the desk, jammed full of useful information about a whopping 9,000... Read more »
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Brief Cases

Philip Smyth’s hotel bill

THE operating company behind the Hampton Court Hotel in Donnybrook filed a scary set of accounts for 2016 recently. Genport Ltd, owned by Goldhawk’s old pal Philip Smyth reported accumulated... Read more »