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January 26 - February 8, 2018
Affairs of the Nation
DUBLIN: CAPITAL OF CYBERCRIME
RECENT REVELATIONS of computer hacking and surveillance at Independent News and Media (INM) are not the only strong hints that the dark arts have been practised in Irish media circles.... Read more »
SINN FÉIN FACTIONS
WITH Mary Lou McDonald still to be formally endorsed by an ard fheis and Gerry Adams barely out the door, the factionalising inside Sinn Féin has already begun. MEP Matt... Read more »
MARY HARNEY’S PRESCRIPTION
FORMER health minister Mary Harney will need to update her sprawling personal website following her appointment as chancellor of University of Limerick. But where does she find the time for... Read more »
Sponsored Content
Ireland’s Economic Moment: Ibec Calls for Bold Action Ahead of Election
IBEC, the group representing Irish businesses, believes that Ireland’s current economic strength offers a generational opportunity for the next government to address barriers to growth and tackle areas that... Read more »
‘EXPERTS’ TO GUIDE REFERENDUM VOTERS
IT CAME as a surprise to most people that the Citizens’ Assembly brought forward to this month its deliberations on The Manner in Which Referenda are Held. It had been... Read more »
Kevin Keane’s ‘COURTESY’ Meeting
MORE on the boycott by UCD and Trinity students of direct provision centre operator Aramark. Fans of Goldhawk will recall that students on both campuses are trying to force their... Read more »
McALEESE DYNASTY ON THE CARDS?
THE two wings – polar opposites – of Fianna Fáil have both kept a beady eye on gay campaigner Justin McAleese, son of ex-President Mary McAleese and her hubby, ex-Senator... Read more »
Mick O’Leary’s negotiators
MICHAEL O’LEARY’S brave new world in which ‘combinations’ are now recognised has led to Ryanair seeking to recruit industrial relations managers. Its recent advert posted on the US recruitment agency... Read more »
DIRK VAN DER FLIER’S PRAYERS
WHILE LEINSTER rugby star Josh van der Flier has been drafted in to Joe Schmidt’s Irish squad for the upcoming Six Nations tournament, his dad – the exotically named Dirk... Read more »
Paschal Taggart’s shares
STOCK MARKET observers will be aware of the rather dramatic fall in the share price of the airline booking software engine, Datalex, over the last six months, where the price... Read more »
Pillars of Society
Profile: Mary Lou McDonald
CORONATIONS, as the British establishment knows well, require a carefully staged build-up to a climactic occasion and a strong message about a new era.... Read more »
The Young Bloods
Young Blood: John Connors
THERE’S nothing typical about Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) awards nominee John Connors (28). By force of his charm and talent, the outspoken... Read more »
Protecting Your Wealth with Merrion Gold
Used to store value and as currency for thousands of years, gold has consistently provided long-term returns for investors looking to protect their wealth. In recent years, many have... Read more »
Fit to Print?
Ryan Airbrushed
MEANDERING back to the rare and rarefied auld times is a favourite device of Sindo columnist Zozimus aka Liam Collins, who recently devoted much space to the sad demise of... Read more »
Who will buy the Business Post?
CONOR KILLEEN, owner of The Sunday Business Post, will have been disappointed that the Irish Times interest in the newspaper did not result in any offer, but some interesting bidders... Read more »
The Sheriff
Independent News & Media (INM) titles fulminated last week about the treatment of Joanne Hayes and how she so richly deserved apologies from the gardaí and the state. But apologies... Read more »
Last Refuge
MATTIE McGRATH’S LEGION OF THE REARGUARD
FRESH from his mischief making at the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment, Mattie McGrath is now creating discord in Fianna Fáil following Micheál Martin’s mould-breaking (party breaking?) statement on... Read more »
LEO THE PROVO
SURPRISINGLY little comment followed the sharply contrasting responses in the Dáil from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin to blundering Sinn Féin MP Barry McElduff. Following McElduff’s... Read more »
Israeli Embassy
THE withdrawal of the Israeli Embassy from Dublin indicates just how ineffective the government’s softly-softly diplomacy on recognition of the Palestinian state has been. Meanwhile, the belligerence of Israel and... Read more »
SAVING PASCHAL DONOHOE
THE recent nomination of Mary Fitzpatrick as sole Fianna Fáil candidate in Dublin Central at the next general election marked the final rout of the BEGOBs (Bertie Ahern’s Good Ol’... Read more »
Bog Cuttings
The Man from Monte Carlow A GLOBETROTTING thriller with Carlow at its heart is the latest work by Carlow author Ray Keane. The Man from Monte Carlow was launched by... Read more »
Fowl Emissions
CLIMATE: IT’S GOOD NEWS WEEK!
WHEN IT comes to addressing climate change, the twin buzzwords are mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation means doing what the science demands to slow down or halt climate change, while adaptation... Read more »
Bird's Eye View
NORTHERN TALKS CHARADE
THE NORTH has a new secretary of state, Karen Bradley (47), an accountant first elected in 2010. Bradley is precisely the type of mouse-like creature British prime minister Theresa May... Read more »
The Hot Air Brigade
Rest In Peace, Dolores O’Riordan. She and the Cranberries were so overtly pro-peace and her voice unapologetically Irish. Just a month and a half after she first sang Zombie, the... Read more »
High Society
Peter Gaynor changes Residence
ALTHOUGH IT is hard to be surprised at any acquisition by Paddy McKillen jnr’s rapidly expanding Press Up group of restaurants and clubs, the addition of Residence on St Stephen’s... Read more »
Horsey Hubbies
INTERESTING TO see that the directors of a company called Hollymount Bloodstock Ltd have decided to wind up their operation, which has a few bob in the coffers. While the... Read more »
DAVID RAETHORNE’S WHISKEY DRINKERS
THE AMBITIOUS project being undertaken in Sligo by low-profile serial investor David Raethorne got a big boost the week before Christmas when just over €5.5m was raised for the proposed... Read more »
Innovating Wellness with Cutting-Edge Technology
Eden One, Dublin’s premier health club and spa located on Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, is an elite destination redefining wellness. It seamlessly integrates cutting-edge technology, state-of-the-art equipment, and meticulously curated... Read more »
Behind the Scenes
LYNN SCARFF’S INSIDE TRACK
CONGRATULATIONS to Lynn Scarff who has landed the €120,000 per annum job of director of the National Museum of Ireland. Currently in situ as director of Trinity College’s Science Gallery,... Read more »
Arts Chiefs
THE APPOINTMENT of Lynn Scarff as director of the National Museum of Ireland continues the trend in recent years of women holding the bulk of the top arts positions in... Read more »
IFTA’S CASTING GROUCH
THE LIST of nominations for this year’s Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) awards (part 1 – film and TV drama) resulted in a bout of recrimination following the revelation... Read more »
Sport of Kings
DONNACHA O’BRIEN’S HEAVY GOING
IT WOULD appear jockey Donnacha O’Brien is beginning to lose his battle with the scales if a steward’s inquiry at Dundalk recently is anything to go by. O’Brien weighed in... Read more »
MULLINS RUNNING OUT OF TRACK
WILLIE MULLINS finds himself in a tricky situation at the moment regarding the defence of his Irish trainer’s title. With the upcoming Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown providing huge prize... Read more »
FOGGY STYLE
IT APPEARED fairly straightforward that when Devine Star got lost in the fog at Clonmel a few weeks back, resulting in her rivals setting off for the race before she... Read more »
HUGHIE MORRISON’S SOFT HANDLING
HORSERACING’S ongoing efforts to portray the sport’s clean image and to maintain a zero tolerance policy on the use of steroids has hit a few speed bumps in the past... Read more »
Reviews
SPRING SEASON SCHEDULE – TV3
DAMP SQUIB would be a polite description for the launch earlier this month of TV3’s spring schedule. Coming so soon after the Ballymount broadcaster went overboard with the razzmatazz for... Read more »
Books
BLOOD TIDE – CLAIRE McGOWAN (HEADLINE)
THIS IS the fifth book in Claire McGowan’s “Ulster noir” series which sees Northern Irish forensic psychologist Paula Maguire investigating the disappearance of a young English couple who have recently... Read more »
Movies
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI – DIRECTED BY MARTIN McDONAGH
MARTIN McDONAGH’S Three Billboards… arrives in Ireland garlanded with four Golden Globes (best drama, screenplay, actress, supporting actor) and, at time of writing, a US box office take of $30m... Read more »
Moneybags
Datalex investors experience serious turbulence
WHEN THE airline booking engine Datalex was last featured in Moneybags (see The Phoenix 21/4/17) – with the shares standing at €3.75 – this was noted as “a frothy rating... Read more »
UDG’s bewildering accounts
IT IS difficult to understand the most recent results from UDG Healthcare plc (originally known as United Drug) where chief executive Brendan McAtamney has been in situ since 2016. Restatement... Read more »
Thomas Ryan’s ‘acrimonious’ scrap
MORE details are emerging from Quesada Developments Ltd where an examiner was appointed last autumn after a toxic bust-up between the directors. After much wrangling between the sides, a scheme... Read more »
Gold Surges to New Heights: Why Now is the Time to Invest
“PRICE OF gold bar hits $1m for the first time!” This was one of the many striking headlines last month, soon followed by “A gold bar is now worth... Read more »
The Hot Water Brigade
Rupert Murdoch’s radio signal
FANS OF Goldhawk will not have been surprised to read last week that Rebekah Brooks had confirmed the interest of her boss, Rupert Murdoch, in Denis O’Brien’s radio stations. And... Read more »
Darryl Kavanagh’s tumbledown Shack
MORE on the sudden closure of the Seafood Shack restaurant in Cardiff, Wales last month where Waterford businessman Darryl Kavanagh has popped up. Former developer and publican Kavanagh is the... Read more »
More Pembroke problems for Peter Conlon
IT’S BEEN a tough start to 2018 for Geneva-based charity tech guru Peter Conlon after the High Court ordered the liquidation of one of his Irish companies on foot of... Read more »
Emmet O’Neill’s boardroom moves
MORE manoeuvres at Niall Harbison’s media company, LD Lovin Dublin Ltd, where Denis O’Brien’s nephew Emmet O’Neill has just joined the board. Meanwhile, Lovin has filed its accounts for 2016... Read more »
Taxman’s tough medicine
GOLDHAWK spotted some familiar names that have popped up in Stubbs Gazette since the start of the year. Dr Naveed Khawaja, a consultant obstetrician at Portiuncula Hospital in Galway was... Read more »
McNamara’s Donabate development
CONGRATULATIONS to Bernard McNamara who was given the green light late last year to build his first residential development since the crash. McNamara got permission for a residential development in... Read more »
Lifeline Ambulance Service Leading in Patient Care
Lifeline Ambulance Service holds the position of the second-largest ambulance provider in the state. Established in 1998 by CEO David Hall, Lifeline operates from 11 different bases nationwide, with... Read more »
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DISCOUNT SPECIAL IN FOXROCK
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ROSEMARY COLEMAN’S SKINCARE EDIT
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MICHAEL WALL’S BAD REVIEW
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DUKE DELIVERS
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PADDY LOU’S LOLLY
EARLIER this month (see The Phoenix 9/8/24), when no 2024 quarterly ...
GETTING UP FOR DOWN UNDER
RICH RICCI’S rarely seen bonce got an outing at York when the ...
BREEZE DOWNS?
BRENDAN ‘BLARNEY’ Holland of Grove Stud – the newly elected chairman of ...