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April 5 - April 18, 2019
Affairs of the Nation
SEE NO ARMY, SPEAK NO ARMY
ANGELA MERKEL’S visit to Dublin underlines the EU’s determination to protect its borders, but this is only part of Germany and France’s strategy of post-Brexit EU integration, something that involves... Read more »
AIRBNB’S POLITICAL TARGETS
THE rejection by Dublin City Council last week of Friends First’s planning application for the change of use of its city centre property to short-term letting represents the latest setback... Read more »
PETER CASEY’S RETREAT
PETER CASEY’S proposed reversion to the European elections rather than the Dáil has more to do with headlong retreat from Donegal than any gap left by Marian Harkin in the... 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 »
TCD BUGGING BACKLASH
A FORTNIGHT’S a long time in student politics. Just two weeks ago, The University Times (UT) —newspaper of Trinity College’s Student Union (SU) — was raising eyebrows over its role... Read more »
INM-IRISH TIMES LINK-UP
IRISH TIMES media commentator, Laura Slattery, went through Independent News & Media’s (INM) business and editorial plan with a chainsaw this week, even suggesting that “INM may no longer be... Read more »
COOPERATION IRELAND AND DUP
COOPERATION IRELAND receives by far the greatest stipend yearly from the Reconciliation Fund, which in turn is bankrolled by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). But the political... Read more »
Pillars of Society
PROFILE: JAMES FLYNN
A GRIPPING legal drama returns to the schedules this month, when German lawyer-turned-movie maker Winfried ‘Winni’ Hammacher goes head to head with two of... Read more »
The Young Bloods
YOUNG BLOOD: RUAIRÍ Ó MURCHÚ
The largely unknown Dundalk councillor, Ruairí Ó Murchú, will attempt to replace the rather well-known former Sinn Féin leader, Gerry Adams, as TD in... 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?
INM ‘HACKERS’ FOR HIGH COURT
INDEPENDENT NEWS & MEDIA’S (INM) legal and corporate strategy is clear from the decision to take High Court action against former chief executive, Robert Pitt, following a similar action against... Read more »
INM EXITERS
VETERAN EDITOR, Colm MacGinty, has just exited from the Sunday World and is to be followed this month by Sunday Independent executive editor (operations) Campbell Spray. Both were mould breakers... Read more »
CORBYN AND JIMMY SAVILE
A FRISSON ran through the RTÉ newsroom shortly after 7am last Thursday, following the usual Morning Ireland slot, It Says in the Papers by John S Doyle. Doyle described the... Read more »
Last Refuge
GOODBYE MUIRSHEEN DURKAN?
FINE GAEL’S supposed coup in recruiting former SDLP leader, Mark ‘Muirsheen’ Durkan, as their Dublin Euro candidate looks like bombing, despite Leo Varadkar’s initial hubris in putting one over on... Read more »
KEEPING UP WITH NOEL ROCK
IT’S NOT often that a backbench TD makes three of his own party’s government ministers, including the Taoiseach, look foolish and out of touch, but Fine Gael Tory boy, Noel... Read more »
LEFT, LEFT AND LEFT AGAIN
THREE OF the four Dublin EU seats are predictable with Fine Gael’s Frances Fitzgerald, Fianna Fail’s Barry Andrews and Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan widely expected to win out. But the... Read more »
RUN RABBITTE RUN FOR DÁIL AND EU
RUNNING TWO candidates in the Midlands-North-West (MNW) European constituency in 2014 split the Fianna Fail vote (between Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher and Thomas Byrne), causing no little angst and recrimination... Read more »
Hush Hush
BRIT SPOOKS IN THE REPUBLIC
THE MEDIA’S gullible lionising of ex-British Army under cover operative, ‘Sean Hartnett’ (not his real name) and his second book, Client Confidential, shows a remarkable willingness to sanction much dubious... Read more »
Bog Cuttings
BOG CUTTINGS
Garda was no hurler on the ditch “IT WASN’T a swim job. It was a paddle job,” said Judge Patrick Durcan at Kilrush District Court upon hearing of local man... Read more »
Fowl Emissions
REVOLVING DOORS
As the saga of Brid Smith’s Climate Emergency Measures Bill – to ban new oil and gas exploration licences – drags on, Goldhawk has been perusing the lobbying register (www.lobbying.ie).... Read more »
RICHARD BRUTON’S TO DO LIST
When Enda Kenny set up the Citizens’ Assembly in 2016, it was to be an exercise in democracy, or perhaps in can-kicking. It wasn’t meant to change much. Three years... Read more »
Bird's Eye View
GREEN ALLIGATORS AND UNICORNS
‘Unicorn’ has become a popular word recently to describe Brexiteers in England who, in desperation, spot mythical creatures like German car manufacturers opposing the EU’s Withdrawal Agreement so as to... Read more »
Clerical Errors
BISHOP CASEY TO BE REINTERRED?
ANGER OVER fresh allegations of child sexual abuse and other improprieties going back to the 1960s against disgraced former Bishop Eamonn Casey have been ramped up by his ex-lover, Annie... Read more »
DAVID QUINN’S POLITICAL PROBLEM
DAVID QUINN, director of the high profile Catholic advocacy group, the Iona Institute, could find himself having to go to Confession if the Charities Regulator frowns on his call for... Read more »
IONA INSTITUTE’S NEW FACES
WHILE DAVID Quinn has been busy preaching to the converted, his Iona Institute has been on something of a recruitment drive and has just added four new directors to its... Read more »
The Hot Air Brigade
THE HOT AIR BRIGADE
It’s not nimbyism, it’s simply appealing for a more considered, sensible solution within our existing built heritage. Fine Gael TD and Rathgar resident Kate O’Connell on objections to a proposed... Read more »
High Society
LIZ OAKES’S EYEBROWS
AS BUSINESS ideas go, eco friendly water-based cremation is one certain to provoke interest. The woman behind the plan to bring this technology to Ireland is 30-something Liz Oakes. She... Read more »
CIARÁN MURRAY’S HOUSES
IT WAS pointed out in The Irish Times recently that former Icon plc boss Ciarán Murray and his wife, Denise Ronan, managed to purchase four homes in Ballsbridge since 2010,... Read more »
SPRING CLEAN AT LISSELAN HOUSE
A YEAR after Colette Twomey – the woman behind Clonakilty Black Pudding – snapped up the splendid Lisselan House outside Clonakilty, Co Cork, the company that previously operated the sprawling... 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
BARBARA DAWSON’S PLAN
IT’S SLOW ahead at the Hugh Lane Gallery, where director Barbara Dawson and her board are looking to implement a rather ambitious strategy. Big bucks will be needed, but as... Read more »
JOSEPHA’S BURSARIES MK II
THIS MONTH, applications close for the ‘Markievicz bursaries’ (mark II) and it promises to be pretty competitive given that the potential field has doubled in size. What is interesting about... Read more »
THE TAXMAN COMETH… EVENTUALLY
BACK IN November 2014, Goldhawk put a few queries to Revenue as the country’s film luvvies were wishing farewell to the old ‘investor’ form of Section 481 tax relief while... Read more »
Sport of Kings
BOLGER’S BLAST OFF
NAAS RACECOURSE welcomed the Irish flat season back recently and while there was the usual domination by the ‘establishment’, there were also examples of how the ordinary punter can mix... Read more »
HEAVY GOING AT AIRO AGM
THE ASSOCIATION of Irish Racehorse Owners (AIRO) held their AGM last week, and the going was far from good. There could be changes afoot here. The beleaguered association, run by... Read more »
RICH RICCI’S PR COUP
RICH RICCI has pulled off something of a PR coup after personally teaming up with BetVictor to honour antepost bets that had been voided as a result of the £15m... Read more »
MICK O’LEARY’S CAST OFFS
MICK O’LEARY has never been one to miss a marketing opportunity in his professional life and it looks like his racing arm will exploit an interesting angle in the build... Read more »
Moneybags
PADDY POWER’S US BET MAY NOT PAY OFF
AFTER PEAKING at a crazy €136 back in February 2016, it has been a pretty bumpy ride at Paddy Power Betfair (PPB), especially for Gary McGann, who was appointed chairman... Read more »
WILL GRAFTON TAKE OUT CRH’S EUROPEAN BUSINESS?
SINCE TAKING over as CEO at Grafton Group in 2011, Gavin Slark has too partially fulfilled former boss Mike Chadwick’s ambition to lessen the company’s dependence on the British Isles... 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
O’SULLIVAN’S DAMAGED FLEET
SPARE A thought for Roger O’Sullivan and his scuppered hospitality, catering and tourism vehicle, Ignition, which is being wound up. The group was based in the Galway seaside village of... Read more »
DESMOND’S MANY TALENTS
THE LEGAL eagle at the centre of a high profile court case – featuring allegations that Nolan Transport was defrauded of €7m – has had trouble before. Goldhawk can reveal... Read more »
PEEL AVIATION’S CRASH LANDING
INTERESTING TO spot a High Court winding up petition last week in relation to a company called Peel Aviation Ltd. It has taken the petitioners almost two years to get... Read more »
PHILIP DORAN’S LOAN
THE SUPREME Court has sent a near ten year legal dust-up back to the High Court. The dispute between plaintiff, Damien Stapleton, and defendant, Phillip Doran, revolves around €300,000 loaned... Read more »
JAY’S FIRE REGULATIONS
Goldhawk’s old friend Jay Bourke has been in the news again. His new bar, Penny Lane, didn’t open as planned last week after failing to comply with fire regulations. Regular... Read more »
TAX BILL FOR CIVIL SERVANTS
SPARE a thought for Deirdre Costello and Catriona Kelly who were hit with judgments of €110,000 each by the dreaded taxman. The pair have the same address at Lea Road,... Read more »
SAILING FOR LABARDIE FISHER
Goldhawk can reveal that the fishermen at the centre of a high profile defamation case have decided to pull in their nets and cash in. The two Cork natives, Leonard... 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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DUKE DELIVERS
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PADDY LOU’S LOLLY
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BREEZE DOWNS?
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