Affairs of the Nation

Mark Durkan

Affairs of the Nation

SDLP/FIANNA FÁIL: THE FIRST ITEM

HOW IS the ‘historic’ Fianna Fáil/SDLP alliance playing out in the European elections, especially in Dublin where FF candidate Barry Andrews would surely value SDLP support given the Blueshirts’ recruitment... Read more »
Paul Reid

Affairs of the Nation

HSE PAUL REID’S RADICAL PAST

WHAT AN interesting journey the new €300,000-salaried HSE director general, Paul Reid, has travelled since the days of his firebrand activism in politics and the trade union movement. Comrades in... Read more »
Richard Boyd-Barrett

Affairs of the Nation

TARGETING BOYD BARRETT

A CAMPAIGN of sorts has been kicked off by film industry insiders, who appear to have had their fill of Richard Boyd Barrett of the People Before Profit (PBP) party.... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

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Affairs of the Nation

PHELIM O’NEILL’S MANY HATS

ONE OF the side-effects of that high profile eviction in Strokestown, Co Roscommon last December was the gardaí’s decision to seize the mobile phone owned by editor of the Democrat,... Read more »
Barry Andrews

Affairs of the Nation

MARTIN SUPPORTS EU ARMY

A STRAINED silence emanated from Fianna Fáil following the revelation that Fine Gael successfully blocked its EU grouping, the European Peoples Party (EPP), from inclusion of support for an EU... Read more »
Philip Comyn

Affairs of the Nation

PHILIP COMYN ‘ADMONISHED’

GOLDHAWK WAS surprised to see the name of Cork City coroner Philip Comyn featuring among the assorted legal eagles who had come a cropper at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDF).... Read more »
Jim Bailey

Affairs of the Nation

KERRY (IN)SANITY PLEA

ANOTHER HSE controversy is trundling down the tracks, courtesy of Kerry’s Eye, following the HSE’s grudging agreement to correct a false record stating that Castlemaine man Jim Bailey had been... Read more »
Nick Lockwood

Affairs of the Nation

HEEEE’S OUTTA HERE!

RELATIONS between Ireland and the US may have been slightly dented by an incident last week at Dublin Airport, which saw a baseball coach given his marching orders as his... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

IRISH IN THE WWE RING

WHAT IS it with the Irish and the rather lucrative ‘sport’ of wrestling – one of the biggest earners on TV? Even those unfamiliar with the carry-on in the high-octane... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Barry Connell

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: BARRY CONNELL

TEN YEARS ago, Dublin-based hedge fund manager and former stockbroker Barry Connell looked odds-on to become one of the leading players in the ranks... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Maria Walshe

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: MARIA WALSH

IF FINE GAEL’S cosmopolitan leadership could manufacture a candidate under laboratory conditions, the result would probably look a lot like former Rose of Tralee... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Peter Murtagh

Fit to Print?

PRESS SANCTION FOR ‘IRISH TIMES’

VETERAN Irish Times journalist and former Sunday Tribune editor Peter Murtagh retired last week. The IT fired a shot at Denis O’Brien in its tribute to the hack, noting that... Read more »
Diageo Dana An Garda Síochána IT Trust No Stone Unturned Irish Times Black Friday Vicky Conway

Fit to Print?

KEYSTONE COPS

A SCENE of Keystone Cops proportion was conjured up last week by Irish Times, Irish Independent and RTÉ coverage of Garda commissioner Drew Harris’s accident at Phoenix Park HQ. All... Read more »
Paul Williams

Fit to Print?

CRIME DOES PAY

The International Fraud Prevention Conference, organised by ex-INM group editor Stephen Rae and his best buddy and colleague, Paul Williams, formerly of Newstalk, has a dramatic ring to it. Rae... Read more »

Last Refuge

21/07/2014 Aidan Eames of Eames Solicitors, reading a statement from Angela Kearns to the media outside the Four Courts yesterday(Mon) after a High Court hearing.Pic: Collins Courts

Last Refuge

AIDAN EAMES’S CLIENTS

THE MOST influential man in the room at the recent Oireachtas Committee on Sport hearing was not Football Association of Ireland (FAI) demoted executive John Delaney, committee chair Fergus O’Dowd... Read more »
Anne Rabbitte

Last Refuge

RABBITTE FEELS UNLOVED

FIANNA FÁIL’S two-candidate strategy in the Midlands-North-West (MNW) EU constituency – the, er, ‘dream ticket’ of Brendan Smith and Anne Rabbitte – is already strained, with the Galway East TD,... Read more »
Michael McDowell

Last Refuge

McDOWELL’S FREE MEDIA PLATFORMS

DUBLIN BAY South TDs Jim O’Callaghan and Kate O’Connell must have been chewing their carpets at the flattering exposure granted to former minister and attorney general, Senator Michael McDowell, by... Read more »
Janice Boylan Irish Military Mali Coolock Says No IFP Hermann Kelly Timmy Dooley Aontú Mal O’Hara Fintan O’Toole Josepha Madigan Eoghan Harris Ukraine War Micheál Martin Middle East Philip Ryan Seán Clancy Simon Coveney Hugo MacNeill Mountbatten Neasa Hourigan Green Party Martin NPT Ivana Bacik Independents Limerick Hospital Overcrowding Barry Cowen

Last Refuge

GEMMA’S THEORIES

ADDING PUNGENCY to the EU elections is the candidacy of ‘investigative journalist’ Gemma O’Doherty in Dublin. If there is one live debate that Goldhawk listens to it will be that... Read more »
Mary Murphy

Last Refuge

HIGGINS’S LABOUR DEFECTORS

PRESIDENT HIGGINS’S new appointments to the Council of State do not include any party political members – not even from Labour, the political booster that Michael Twee relied on for... Read more »

Hush Hush

Drew Harris

Hush Hush

DREW HARRIS CROSS-BORDER SECURITY

Elite and heavily armed units of the PSNI cruising around Dublin is a steep step change in policing here in the south. But this is the reality under Garda commissioner... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

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Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

Fishy business A TYRONE man accused of assault became angered with the prosecutor’s line of questioning in East Tyrone Magistrates Court, demanding to know, “Are you making a cod of... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Joe Healy

Fowl Emissions

IFA VS DR WHO

When you find yourself picking a fight with schoolkids, chances are you’re going to end up on the losing side, as the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has been finding out.... Read more »
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Fowl Emissions

PAT SMYTH’S SOLAR PANELS

“The collapse of civilization is… on the horizon as a result of climate change.” So goes the blurb promoting Solar Power Ltd. It explains how “installing Solar PV to generate... Read more »

Bird's Eye View

John Finucane

Bird's Eye View

DUP AND SF TO DEVOUR RIVALS

Observers will be watching the north’s local elections for answers to a series of political questions. Will Sinn Féin suffer for their abstentionist policy at Westminster? Will the DUP suffer... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Louise O'Neill

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

As a human being, the disconnect between how I see myself and how I’m seen by those around me can feel almost dehumanising, like my sense of self is splitting.... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Catherine Fulvio

High Society

CATHERINE’S RICH RECIPES

NEXT MONTH ‘celebrity chef’ Catherine Fulvio dons her glad rags (Irish designers were frothing at the bit) and flies off to southern California for... Read more »

High Society

Consuelo O’Connor

High Society

SINGAPORE MONEYBAGS

INTERESTING TO see that the man understood to have bought the Dublin City Hotel and Trinity Bar on Dame Street, D2, is one Stanley... Read more »

High Society

Anthony McGrath

High Society

ANTHONY MCGRATH’S ANTIQUES

LAST WEEK’S popular Channel 4 series, 24 hours in Police Custody, featured one Anthony McGrath, an Irish-born orthopaedic surgeon with a “very privileged background”. Given the subject matter of the... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Frances Ruane

Behind the Scenes

ABBEY BOARD’S SCRIPT

GOLDHAWK was interested to know how the Abbey board reacted to last year’s decision by the Arts Council to withhold a chunk of funding until it sorted out its employment... Read more »
Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

Behind the Scenes

ADDING UP IN CORK

THE FALLOUT from the Michael Jackson documentary, Leaving Neverland, has affected a number of players here. One of those hit is the Cork Opera House (COH), which was to stage... Read more »
John Gleeson

Behind the Scenes

JOHN GLEESON’S NEW PLOT

THE ACCOUNTANCY profession has expanded significantly since the financial services sector was freed of its old-fashioned, fusty reservations. And with riskier business came the ‘forensic’ accountant – a sort of... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Seamus Ross

Sport of Kings

SEAMUS ROSS’S RETURN

WITH A rejuvenated Sean Mulryan enjoying such high-profile success this year after his long hiatus, the developer’s re-engagement with the sport is being classed as a barometer for the health... Read more »
Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

Sport of Kings

WHEN ALL IS LEAD AND DUNNE

BRITAIN-BASED Irish jockey Robbie Dunne has received a 15-day ban by the British Horseracing Authority over a 2017 incident in which Dunne guided the Ian Williams-trained Rocknrollrambo to victory at... Read more »
Michael O’Leary

Sport of Kings

O’LEARY’S ANIMAL WELFARE FANS

MICHAEL O’LEARY’S surprising idea of offering Don Poli and Outlander for sale two days before the Aintree Grand National certainly bore fruit. The two OAPs netted £330,000 between them –... Read more »
Declan McDonogh

Sport of Kings

DECLAN MCDONOGH’S DEMOTION

THIS TIME of year, as the flat season gets into full swing, a few jockeys sometimes get promoted – or vice versa – and one who is getting a rough... Read more »

Reviews

Stephen Dorff

Movies

DON’T GO – DIRECTED BY DAVID GLEESON

WATCHING David Gleeson’s Don’t Go in a near empty cinema, as Goldhawk did, a viewer’s thoughts may drift to parodies in The Simpsons of Poe’s The Raven and Kubrick’s The... Read more »
The Ghost Factory - Jenny McCartney

Books

THE GHOST FACTORY – JENNY McCARTNEY (4th ESTATE)

WITH NO apparent end in sight to fictional accounts of the Troubles, it’s not surprising that this debut novel revisits familiar ground. The author now works as a journalist in... Read more »
Dr Sinead Beirne

Reviews

DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE – VIRGIN MEDIA

This health-based series offers the same nutritional hit as a visit to McDonald’s. Viewers are left hungry for something actually worth getting their teeth into. Among those thanked in the... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Mick Carvill

Moneybags

KENMARE RESOURCES INCREASINGLY TEMPTING AS TAKEOVER TARGET

FANS OF Moneybags will recall last year’s prediction (see The Phoenix, 23/3/18) that Kenmare Resources “should manage to hit sales of nearly $250m in... Read more »

Moneybags

Denis O'Brien

Moneybags

O’BRIEN COULD GET €100M IN INM TAKE-OUT

IT IS hard to believe the news emerging of a pending takeover bid for Independent News & Media (INM). With Denis O’Brien sitting on... Read more »

Brief Cases

Kelly Cosgrave

Brief Cases

BLACK CARD FOR BOOZER PLANS

PLANS to redevelop a popular pub adjacent to Croke Park have hit the crossbar. Dublin City Council has requested that the Dublin Loft Company (DLC), where the largest shareholder is... Read more »
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Brief Cases

RUTH MORAM’S ‘ABUSE OF PROCESS’

ANOTHER chapter in the remarkable legal saga involving Ruth Moram and the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ireland was written in the Court of Appeal recently. The scrap goes back a number... Read more »
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Brief Cases

TAXING TIMES FOR MARTIN TUBRIDY

THE TAXMAN has finally lost his patience with Clare businessman Martin Tubridy. A petition to wind up his construction and civil engineering company, GMD Developments Ltd, has just been filed... Read more »
Ciaran Desmond

Brief Cases

DISCIPLINING CIARÁN DESMOND

MORE on Ciarán Desmond, the legal eagle and financial adviser at the centre of a high-profile court case involving allegations of fraud and “secret profits”. The Rebel County solicitor has... Read more »
Peter Gaynor

Brief Cases

PETER GAYNOR’S BIG BUCKS

MORE GOOD news for restaurateur-turned-construction suit Peter Gaynor, who continues to make a mint in London, having seen his food business back in Dublin essentially collapse last year. Accounts have... Read more »
Nigel Wray

Brief Cases

POOR FORM AT SARACENS

WITH MUNSTER heading to England to play Saracens in the European Rugby Cup semi-finals this weekend, it is interesting to see the kind of financial firepower the English club possesses... Read more »