Affairs of the Nation

Leo Varadkar

Affairs of the Nation

VLAD’S FALSE START

LEO VARADKAR met his election target date, but the manner of its announcement was belated and cack-handed. Fine Gael’s delicate political choreography came undone a week ago as plans to... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

SHANE ROSS’S LIFEJACKETS

WHILE SHANE Ross has been busy generating headlines for himself, one area of responsibility for his Department of Transport, the Irish Coast Guard (ICG), has attracted attention for all the... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

ANGUS’S ASSETS

THERE WAS a fl urry of fi lings around Christmas by players at the centre of a legal action by the Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund (SMDF) against assorted former partners... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Ian Bailey

Affairs of the Nation

IAN BAILEY: THIRD TIME UNLUCKY?

MUCH LEGAL comment has focussed on the change in extradition law and how this may enable the despatch of Ian Bailey to the tender mercies of the French for allegedly... Read more »
Alan English

Affairs of the Nation

‘SINDO’ INSIDERS ‘SWOTTED’ ASIDE

A MOOD of rejection and indeed resentment was palpable at Independent House last week as various ‘leading’ in-house contenders for the post of Sunday Independent editor were told they would... Read more »
Brian O'Driscoll

Affairs of the Nation

TENEO’S SPORTING INTERESTS

TENEO, THE global corporate communications outfit headed by Declan Kelly, brother of Labour TD Alan ‘AK47’ Kelly, has won a contract as PR and media advisor to Sport Ireland (SI),... Read more »
Róisín Shortall

Affairs of the Nation

SINKING SOC DEMS

THE SOCIAL Democrats might be staring into the abyss at this election. The centre-left group, headed by TDs Catherine Murphy and Roísin Shortall, had pretensions of replacing the moribund Labour... Read more »
Damien English

Affairs of the Nation

COVENEY’S €50M COUP

WITH THE general election having been called, Tánaiste Simon Coveney must be relieved he got to deliver the news of a big funding boost in his Cork South Central constituency... Read more »
Brigid Laffan

Affairs of the Nation

TRUMP CARD FOR EU ARMY

THOSE MODERATE Irish Europhiles who are so aghast at Donald Trump’s belligerent foreign policy have managed to use his latest excess against the Iranians as another argument to create an... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

GAME OVER

A COMPANY called Tag Media Ltd (TML) has shut it doors, but a new one has opened for its principal. The digital print design company was founded by Jesse Morris,... Read more »
Lorna Fitzpatrick

Affairs of the Nation

STUDENTS NO-VOTE

THE CONTROVERSY over the voter register for next month’s election threatens to undo a lot of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) work over the past year. It was... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Paschal Donohoe

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: PASCHAL DONOHOE

For a finance minister and someone who holds not one but two powerful cabinet portfolios, Paschal ‘Dimples’ Donohoe is not exactly a household name... Read more »

The Young Bloods

William McGlade

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: WILLIAM MCGLADE

Rich-kid William McGlade is hoping to square up to the likes of Airbnb, Travelocity and Booking.com with his short-term letting platform, HipHipStay. The business... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Stephen Collins

Fit to Print?

RIC AND THE ‘IRISH TIMES’

THE Irish Times may be ruing its own campaign – via former political editor Stephen Collins and its own editorial platform – in support of the state’s decision to “acknowledge... Read more »
Diageo Dana An Garda Síochána IT Trust No Stone Unturned Irish Times Black Friday Vicky Conway

Fit to Print?

CONOR GANNON CLEANS UP

A FORMER clerical student at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, Conor Gannon, is ploughing his way, so far successfully, through a raft of eight libel actions against various newspapers.... Read more »
Marian Finucane

Fit to Print?

MARIAN’S ADMIRERS

LIKE EVERY other media and many politicians, the Sunday Independent eulogised the late Marian Finucane, but there was a slight edge to Liam Collins’s profile. And Sinn Féin leader Mary... Read more »

Last Refuge

Brendan Howlin

Last Refuge

HOWLIN GOES FOR TÁNAISTE

BRENDAN HOWLIN’S weekend jibes at the “Tory Boys” of Fine Gael and his gung-ho election demand to “bring it on” reflect his desire to reinvent Labour’s image created under his... 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

COVENEY’S RIGHT HAND MAN

FINE GAEL had been hoping to restore the natural order of things in Cork South-West by running Senator Tim Lombard with junior minister Jim Daly to take the two seats... Read more »
Michael McDowell

Last Refuge

MCDOWELL’S CHOICE

HAVING MARSHALLED his resources for a comeback in the general election in Dublin Bay South (DBS) former minister and PD leader, Senator Michael McDowell has dashed Goldhawk’s prediction that he... Read more »
Simon Coveney

Last Refuge

REBELS COVENEY AND O’CALLAGHAN

THE DUAL war of words over commemoration of the RIC and advance discussions on a united Ireland has not created a fundamental rift between Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin, but... Read more »

Hush Hush

Stephen Travers

Hush Hush

MIAMI SHOWBAND: NEW EVIDENCE

SEISMIC NEW evidence regarding the 1975 Miami Showband massacre will be revealed at Belfast High Court in the coming months by bass player Stephen Travers who survived the gun and... Read more »
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Hush Hush

ALAN HYDE’S PROVISION CENTRE

GOLDHAWK NOTES that an old friend is to close the doors of his direct provision centre next month. The Mount Trenchard operation in Foynes, Co Limerick, has been described as... Read more »
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Hush Hush

CATHERINE HEANEY’S NEW COMPANY

NATIONAL MUSEUM chair Catherine Heaney is winding up the limited company behind her DHR Communications PR outfit, but the good news is that there is a new venture already up... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS 3801

Stolen Elvis Picture A 43-year-old Roscommon Town woman who stole a picture of Elvis Presley from a house was given a suspended sentence at a recent District Court sitting. Nell... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Joe Healy

Fowl Emissions

VEGAN VAGARIES

The agri-industrial sector has worked itself into a lather over what it clearly sees are threats to its core beef-and-dairy business, with the latest pro-vegan billboard campaign the target of... Read more »
Climate Disinformation Coillte Climate Action EU Livestock NDC Claude Etchelamendy Ed Brophy Richard Boyd-Barrett Kish Dale Crammond Frank Mitloehner Shell Greenwashing Meta Data Centres Ireland

Fowl Emissions

JOHN PAUL PHELAN’S CHEAP SHOT

Embattled Australian PM Scott Morrison has shipped plenty of well-earned flak for his staunch defence of the most polluting industries in his country. And, as the country burned, he retreated... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Nigella Lawson

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

The Domestic Goddess ordered various puddings and wines and insisted – almost matronishly – that I taste all of them with her. She spoon-fed me and ordered me – utterly... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Sophie Cafolla

High Society

SOPHIE CAFOLLA’S BABY BOXES

AN ARTICLE in the Sunday Times business section last weekend featured advice for small businesses, with one of the players featured being Sophie Cafolla... Read more »

High Society

Consuelo O’Connor

High Society

NEW FACES AT IMMA

THERE ARE some vacancies to be filled on the board of Imma that should appeal to culture vultures out there. The vacancy that arises... Read more »

High Society

Martin Carway

High Society

FOUR FAULTS IN CONNAUGHT

THERE WERE fun and games last week at a specially convened (and ultimately especially heated) meeting of the Connaught region of Showjumping Ireland (SJI) in Co Mayo, which ran until... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Donall Curtin

Behind the Scenes

DÓNALL CURTIN’S COMMITTEE

OVER ON Merrion Square, the Arts Council has been adding to its sprawling art collection with the purchase of 19 new works from assorted creative types. The artists whose work... Read more »
Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

Behind the Scenes

KEVIN RAFTER’S REQUEST

AS FANS of Goldhawk are aware (see The Phoenix, 29/11/19), the Abbey Theatre is looking to fill three seats on its board that have lain vacant for around a year.... Read more »
Kieran Corrigan

Behind the Scenes

MARIAN FINUCANE’S ADVISOR

GOLDHAWK WAS interested to hear his old friend, tax accountant-cum-filmmaker Kieran Corrigan, pop up briefly at the end of the radio tribute to Marian Finucane hosted on Radio 1 by... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Ross Kierans

Sport of Kings

TOTE’S WOES, O’LEARY’S WINNERS

LEOPARDSTOWN’S annual Christmas festival had its usual mix of thrills and spills and, on the whole, it was considered a fine week for the track, with top-class racing and kind... Read more »
Valerie Moran

Sport of Kings

ELLIOTT’S CATCH OF THE DAY

GORDON ELLIOTT was obviously one of the chief beneficiaries of the Gigginstown success at Leopardstown, but he will also have gained plenty of satisfaction from the success of The Bosses... Read more »
Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

Sport of Kings

NO LENIENCY FOR COLM MURPHY

THE OPENING day of racing in 2020 saw the stewards at Fairyhouse on New Year’s Day hand out their first big fine of the year and it was ironic that... Read more »
Paul Dermody

Sport of Kings

HRI CUTS ITS CLOTH

THE 2020 budget for Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) was approved just before Christmas and, given the government’s standstill allocation to racing, it was no surprise to see the development of... Read more »

Reviews

Eithne O’Halloran and Joanne Smyth

Reviews

GREAT IRISH INTERIORS – RTÉ 1

AS PART of the national broadcaster’s “jam-packed” Christmas schedule (ie seasonal specials and jaded family-friendly staples), Great Irish Interiors followed the work of interior design teams as they restored three... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Patrick Coveney

Moneybags

GREENCORE’S SHARE-PRICE RISE DEFIES LOGIC

A READING of Greencore’s 2019 annual report could suggest a highly successful business that claims to be focusing on “sustained growth and returns from... Read more »

Moneybags

Dorothy Thompson

Moneybags

MARKET OVERDOES TULLOW SHARE COLLAPSE

THE SURPRISE stepping down on December 9 of Tullow Oil’s relatively recently appointed (April 2017) CEO, Paul McDade, and the equally sudden resignation of... Read more »

Brief Cases

William McGlade

Brief Cases

HIPHIPSTAY’S ROWDY RESIDENTS

YOUNG GUN William McGlade (see p17) got a lot more than he bargained for when he began renting out a number of townhouses at 14-18 Grattan Court East, Dublin 2,... Read more »
Mark Bereen

Brief Cases

MARC BEREEN’S BARS

WILL SOMEONE please think of the hipsters in Dublin? They will surely be at a loss at the revelation that Papa Fred Ltd, the company behind trendy nightlife hotspot The... Read more »
Malcolm Denmark

Brief Cases

DENMARK’S SHOPPING SPREE

MALCOLM DENMARK’S local-newspaper shopping spree shows no sign of ending soon. The British advertising tycoon has more than 20 regional titles here under his belt, held through a majority share... Read more »
Richard Quirke

Brief Cases

RICHARD QUIRKE’S RETURNS

IT IS surprising to see that profitable Dublin Pool and Juke Box Company Ltd (DPJB), the holding company of casino impresarios Richard Quirke and his wife Ann, was listed for... Read more »
WAVF Castleknock Hospitality BAL Susan Bergin Tixserve EOG Fergal Naughton hot-water-brigade def

Brief Cases

FALLON & BYRNE’S BACKERS

WHAT NOW for the well-heeled food shoppers of D4 and D6? Following the decision by Fallon & Byrne owners Paul Byrne and Fiona McHugh to shutter their largest location in... Read more »
WAVF Castleknock Hospitality BAL Susan Bergin Tixserve EOG Fergal Naughton hot-water-brigade def

Brief Cases

REINING IN THE BLOODSTOCK

MORE ON businessman Peter Kelly, whose Kildare bloodstock operation, Emerald Equine, was hit with a hefty €2.73m judgment in 2018 (see The Phoenix, 13/07/18). The judgment was registered by the... Read more »
Nual Teahan

Brief Cases

TIME TO PAY THEIR DUES

SOME LEGAL eagles have had setbacks recently. Kinsale solicitor Nuala Teahan and her business partner, Kieran McCarthy, were handed a €250,000 judgment by Allied Irish Bank in late November 2019.... Read more »