Affairs of the Nation

Eileen Battersby

Affairs of the Nation

EILEEN BATTERSBY’S LITERARY LUVVIES

THE OUTPOURINGS from literati in the Irish Times and elsewhere following the death of literary correspondent Eileen Battersby disguised the tensions that existed at the newspaper between Battersby and literary... Read more »
Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum

Affairs of the Nation

SOFTLY DOES IT WITH THE MAKTOUMS

GIVEN THE influence of the Dubai ruling Al Maktoum family here, the silence to date of the Irish government on the Sheikha Latifa scandal should come as no surprise. The... Read more »
Mary Robinson

Affairs of the Nation

MARY ROBINSON’S CREDENTIALS

MOST OBSERVERS have been baffled by Mary Robinson’s blunder in giving cover to the feudal Emirates ruling family and noticed the irony of ‘feminist’ Robinson’s blasé reference to her old... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

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Affairs of the Nation

THOSE IRISH YELLOW VESTS

Who exactly are the Irish Yellow Vests? The movement in France is a leaderless broad church but, although subject to some right-wing infiltration, it has mostly been left wing in... Read more »
Niall McGarry Maximum Media

Affairs of the Nation

NIALL MCGARRY’S BIG YEAR

GOLHAWK’S favourite self-promoting online publisher, Niall McGarry, has hit the ground running in 2019, promising a very big year for his Maximum Media group and his backers, who include clients... Read more »
Ciaran O'Carroll

Affairs of the Nation

DIARMUID MARTIN’S SUCCESSOR

The race to succeed Diarmuid Martin as Archbishop of Dublin has begun in earnest, even though the most successful head in recent times of the country’s largest diocese has 15... Read more »
Paddy Agnew

Affairs of the Nation

‘IRISH TIMES’ ROMAN FEUD

THE IRISH TIMES’S refusal to adequately recompense Paddy Agnew, its Rome correspondent of 28 years, has now involved six hearings at the Tribunale di Roma, Sezione Lavoro (the Labour division... Read more »
Judge Peter Kelly

Affairs of the Nation

HELEN LUCEY’S SEMI-KINGDOM

THE LAW Society Gazette’s report last month on sanctions imposed on Listowel solicitor Helen Lucey raises an interesting question about Lucey’s role of coroner in County Kerry. In July, the... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

ODRAN REID’S POLITICS

The changes continue apace at Brendan Halligan’s Ireland China Institute, the “independent think tank dedicated to the study of Irish Chinese affairs”. The board features assorted political types, including former... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Micheál Martin

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: MICHEÁL MARTIN

AMID ALL the heady talk of a “phased integration” of the North’s SDLP with Fianna Fáil, the question being asked is will this act... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Sarah Durcan

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: SARAH DURCAN

THE SOCIAL Democrats are all at sea. These days the party tends to float around the 2% mark in the national polls, but went... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Maurice McCabe

Fit to Print?

McCABE, HACKS AND LEGAL EAGLES

IRISH TIMES crime correspondent Conor Lally did a demolition job on Mick Clifford and the Irish Examiner recently for their incorrect story on how two gardaí plotted to “bury” Maurice... Read more »
Diageo Dana An Garda Síochána IT Trust No Stone Unturned Irish Times Black Friday Vicky Conway

Fit to Print?

THE INDO’S EVICTION COVERAGE

IRISH INDEPENDENT coverage of the attack on security men who evicted the McGann family from their Strokestown home was a masterpiece of investigative journalism. Less than 24 hours after the... Read more »
Niall Meehan

Fit to Print?

‘GUARDIAN’ BURIES PAEDOPHILE STORY

GRIFFITH COLLEGE journalism academic Niall Meehan asked online on New Year’s Day why the Guardian in 2017 had removed, without explanation, an online obituary to Brian Taylor, a former Queen’s... Read more »

Last Refuge

Frances Fitzgerald

Last Refuge

VLAD’S VARIOUS ELECTION STRATEGEMS

RECEIVED WISDOM has it that Leo Varadkar will not allow any sitting party TD to go for the European elections because the Dáil arithmetic is so tight. However, this has... Read more »
Brendan Howlin

Last Refuge

HOWLIN AND CORBYN TO UNITE?

EAGER NOT to get left behind, Labour leader Brendan Howlin told the party conference last November that, if Fianna Fáil and the SDLP merged, the Irish and British Labour parties... Read more »
John Lyons

Last Refuge

JOHN LYONS’S RESIGNATION

THE Trot alliance of People Before Profit (PBP) – aka Richard Boyd Barrett’s Socialist Workers Party – and Solidarity – aka Ruth Coppinger’s Socialist Party – has come under strain... Read more »
Ed Honohan

Last Refuge

HONOHAN MASTERS MARTIN AND O’CALLAGHAN

TWO STINGING letters winged their way to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin over the Christmas and new year period. One was from FF’s enfant terrible, John McGuinness TD, eviscerating Martin’s... Read more »

Hush Hush

Imre Arakas

Hush Hush

KINAHANS CRY FOUL

The Kinahan crime cartel is accusing the gardaí of favouritism towards the rival Hutch gang after a series of reverses in the last year, most recently when a man alleged... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

ASKED JUDGE OUT ON DATE A FORMER member of the Foreign Legion was outmanoeuvred by a District Court judge who declined to go on a date with him. John Manning... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Tony O’Reily Jnr

Fowl Emissions

DECARBONISING CARBON

AS TIME is called on fossil fuels, increasingly desperate tactics are being used by those who sell them. This ranges from the ridiculous – Providence Resources chief executive Tony O’Reilly... Read more »
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Fowl Emissions

COLD FRONT AT THE IRISH TIMES

When will the Irish Times stop providing a platform for climate denial? Its climate coverage has improved lately, but its Letters page continues to be a haven for deniers. Then... Read more »

Bird's Eye View

Éamon Ó Cuív

Bird's Eye View

WEDDING OR FUNERAL?

THE NEVER-ENDING saga of Fianna Fáil’s takeover of the moribund SDLP staggers on. The two parties have been dancing the hokey-cokey for a decade with FF, the reluctant suitor, joining... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Maura Derrane

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

We are two people who both have high-profile, high-pressure, high-everything jobs. Maura Derrane on her marriage to John Deasy, VIP But here’s the thing about an ‘o’, regardless of the... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Emilie Guilbaud and Evan Kilbourne

High Society

PATRICK GUILBAUD’S WEDDING PLANS

IT IS INTERESTING to see a share allotment taking place at Patrick Guilbaud’s Michelin-star restaurant, with the existing investors all taking a proportionate number... Read more »

High Society

Eva and Wyatt Orsmond

High Society

DR EVA’S GREAT ESCAPE

FANS OF health guru Dr Eva Orsmond are in for a treat in 2019, with the celebrity medic publishing a book on reversing diabetes... Read more »

High Society

Consuelo O’Connor

High Society

AL NAEMI’S EXPENSIVE HORSES

FIVE YEARS after setting up shop in Ireland, Qatari moneybags Mubarak Al Naemi continues to haemorrhage dosh from his County Limerick stud farm. Super wealthy racing fan Al Naemi (chairman... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Ruth Negga

Behind the Scenes

PASS THE FERRERO ROCHER

THE APPOINTMENT this week of an Irish five-a-side squad of “cultural ambassadors” marks the latest wheeze in the much-hyped objective of “doubling Ireland’s footprint globally by 2025”. Meanwhile, increasing sums... Read more »
Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

Behind the Scenes

JOSEPHA MADIGAN’S PRESSIE

’TWAS BUT a week before Christmas and all were asleep when Josepha Madigan bestowed gifts to the tune of U200m to Annie Doona’s Screen Ireland (SI). Addressing the Seanad on... Read more »
Eugene Downes

Behind the Scenes

EUGENE DOWNES’S NEXT JOB?

GOLDHAWK was interested to see an advert for the new role of cultural director at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in the midst of the Christmas chaos.... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Philip Fenton

Sport of Kings

PHILIP FENTON’S RETURN

NEW YEAR’S Day at Tramore was a significant occasion for trainer Philip Fenton. It saw him register his first success since resuming his training career, having served a three-year ban... Read more »
Ted Walsh

Sport of Kings

TED TALKS AT TRAMORE

TED WALSH had to be at his diplomatic best recently when he was interviewed by the race-day stewards at Tramore over the running and riding of Batcio. The horse is... Read more »
Patrick Mullins

Sport of Kings

ACCIDENTAL BY NAME…

THERE WAS no fairytale ending to the amusing story of Accidental, the Patrick Mullins-owned gelding that made his racecourse debut at Limerick over Christmas. The well-named six year old, who... Read more »
Barry Connell

Sport of Kings

LEOPARDSTOWN’S TOUGH GOING

LEOPARDSTOWN’S Christmas Festival was by and large a very successful four days with unseasonally kind weather helping to draw good crowds to witness top-class jumping action. There were well-publicised grumblings... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Patrick Coveney

Moneybags

THE SMALL PRINT IN GREENCORE’S €1BN US DISPOSAL

PADDY COVENEY has been disappointing his shareholders in Greencore for much of his tenure since he became CEO a decade ago. Given the abysmal... Read more »

Moneybags

Mohammad Al Zubair

Moneybags

AMINEX SHAREHOLDERS SHORTCHANGED BY NEW REGIME

BRIAN HALL spent the last 27 years building Aminex from the embers of the Eglinton Oil & Gas oil exploration business in Columbia to... Read more »

Briefcases

Joe Macken

Briefcases

JOE MACKEN’S LANDLORD BLUES

HIPSTER restaurateur Joe Macken is used to getting a soft ride from the press. So it was no surprise that he was treated with kid gloves by the likes of... Read more »
Pia Bang

Briefcases

RESTRICTING PIA BANG

MORE setbacks for boom-era power couple Pia Bang-Stokes and Jeff Stokes. Before Christmas, the pair consented to a restriction order in the High Court, banning them from acting as company... Read more »
Zabrina Shortt

Briefcases

ZABRINA SHORTT’S DAY JOB

THE activities of Irish scientologists made headlines just before Christmas after a Prime Time special revealed the church had just 87 Irish members, according to the last census. One of... Read more »
Michael Tierney

Briefcases

MICHAEL TIERNEY’S LEGACY DEBT

GOLDHAWK spotted that Real Bars Ltd, the company behind the Riverbank House Hotel in Ferrybank, Co Wexford, has had to call in the examiner. Once at the centre of a... Read more »
Peter Conlon

Briefcases

PETER CONLON’S RETURN

HAPPY New Year to Peter Conlon, who has just returned home from his sojourn in a Swiss slammer after pleading guilty to embezzling money intended for charities like the Red... Read more »
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Briefcases

TAXMAN WOKS RESTAURANT OWNERS

GOLDHAWK spotted two Dublin restaurant owners who have a lot on their plate at the moment. It seems the taxman has worked up an appetite for Belfleur Ltd, the company... Read more »
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Briefcases

PHILIP SMYTH’S LATEST LOSSES

GENPORT Ltd, the company behind Hampton Court Hotel in Donnybrook, D4, has just filed yet another troubling set of accounts. The venture has become a money pit for its owner,... Read more »
Lisa Murphy

Briefcases

LISA MURPHY’S LATE FILING

GOLDHAWK got a blast from the past recently when he spotted that New Lisa Life Ltd was listed for striking off the register of companies for failure to file accounts.... Read more »