Affairs of the Nation

Mary Lou McDonald

Affairs of the Nation

POST-ELECTION SF FRENZY

MARY LOU MCDONALD might have expected or hoped that the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael hysteria surrounding Sinn Féin would subside post election. Instead it has, if anything, ramped up with any... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

PASCHAL DONOHOE’S NEXT APPOINTMENT

LAST WEEK was the closing date for applicants seeking a place on the board of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), a little-known state institution that doles out hundreds... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

TONY O’REILLY’S GOOD NEWS

GOOD NEWS for Tony O’Reilly for a change. It looks like the former press (and bean) baron is about to exit bankruptcy, almost five years after he turned to the... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Michael O'Leary

Affairs of the Nation

MICK O’LEARY’S REAL PROBLEM

ONCE AGAIN, motor mouth Mick O’Leary has featured prominently in the headlines for all the wrong reasons – this time over comments about Muslims deemed racists by observers – even... Read more »
Peter Goulandris

Affairs of the Nation

PETER GOULANDRIS’S CBE

GOLDHAWK was delighted to see that the low-profile moneybags, Peter Goulandris (older brother of Chryss), had landed himself a CBE for “services to business”. The Bahamas-based businessman has had some... Read more »
Richard Barrett

Affairs of the Nation

RICHARD BARRETT’S GREEN LIGHTS

LAST WEEK, moneybags property developer Richard Barrett got another green light for his ‘Niche Living’ brand of shared accommodation developments, with An Bord Pleanála overturning the refusal of a Bartra... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

LILLIPUT’S INTERNSHIP

A RECENTLY announced unpaid internship with Arts Council-funded Lilliput Press has not been well received and may run foul of a new policy promoted by the council in which it... Read more »
John Gore

Affairs of the Nation

TORY DONOR AND SINN FÉIN UNITE

CONSERVATIVE PARTY donor to the tune of €5 million over the last three years, John Gore, who is also an award-winning Broadway producer, appears to have embarked on the reconquest... Read more »
Sinead Gibney

Affairs of the Nation

HUMAN RIGHTS NEW REGIME

THE PROTRACTED saga and disputes over appointments to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) appear to have concluded with last week’s appointment of Sinéad Gibney as its new... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Eoghen Harris

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: EOGHAN HARRIS

SUNDAY INDEPENDENT columnist Eoghan Harris, the ultimate Republican apostate, is given to bombastic claims about his political savvy, from his political predictions to his... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: JENNIFER CARROLL MACNEILL

THE DIZZYING political ascent of recently elected Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (DLR) Fine Gael TD Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, drafted in to replace Maria Bailey amid ‘Swingate’,... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Brendan O'Connor

Fit to Print?

TOP-10-HEAVY RTÉ

THE PROCESS of Brendan O’Connor’s appointment as replacement for the late Marian Finucane’s weekend slot had all the finesse and transparency of a Papal bull. And it underlined yet again... Read more »
Diageo Dana An Garda Síochána IT Trust No Stone Unturned Irish Times Black Friday Vicky Conway

Fit to Print?

PHELIM MCALEER’S OLD COLLEAGUE

JOURNALISTS PHELIM McAleer and his partner, Anne McElhinney, have homed in on the Harvey Weinstein trial with daily podcasts, according to an obliging snippet in the Sunday Times. The article... Read more »
Theresa May

Fit to Print?

RUSSIAN AGENTS ON IRISH LAND AND SEA

SUNDAY TIMES intelligence sources have stimulated yet another Russian scare and the paper recently exposed a dastardly plot by Russian agents operating in Ireland to tap or sabotage fibre-optic cables... Read more »

Last Refuge

Micheál Martin

Last Refuge

MARTIN’S MASTERFUL SCREW-UP

PUTATIVE TALKS between Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin may now be the main political agenda, but Martin’s negotiating position, as well as his own leadership, has been seriously weakened. The... 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

CATHERINE MURPHY’S ODD BEHAVIOUR

HOW STRANGE that Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy would even consider running for the post of Ceann Comhairle, given that her party – now six strong TDs post election –... Read more »
Mick Barry

Last Refuge

FAR-LEFT COALITION SPLITS

COALITION SHADOW boxing between the three big parties is child’s play compared to the ongoing battle for ascendancy between the two Trotskyist factions in Solidarity-People Before Profit (PBP). Solidarity is... Read more »
Eoin Ó Broin

Last Refuge

MCDOWELL’S GHOST PRISON

Launching his Seanad re-election campaign, Michael McDowell SC showed an impressive, if belated, concern to increase the provision of public housing. In a plea in the Irish Times just four... Read more »

Hush Hush

Michelle O'Neill

Hush Hush

‘DISSIDENT’ ATTACKS ON SF

GIVEN THE requirement to paint Sinn Féin rallies as somehow sinister and threatening, little attention has been given to the more substantial threats to SF members in the north. But... Read more »
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Hush Hush

JOHN DRENNAN’S GRIPT GIG

GOLDHAWK NOTICED that former Sindo columnist turned Renua spin doctor John Drennan has joined John McGuirk’s Gript media. His freshman offering for the right-wing Irish website is, unsurprisingly, an analysis... Read more »

Student Life

Conor Reddy

Student Life

COLLEGE POLITICS UP-AND-COMERS

Reflecting the uptick in political youth engagement, the universities put forward some fresh faces who are bound to become election fixtures in the future. Trinity College Dublin produced a high... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS 3804

‘FUCK off and mind your own business’ A Kerry man was given a month in jail for swearing at gardaí and throwing himself on the floor of the emergency department... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Éamon Ó Cuív

Fowl Emissions

ELECTRIC AVENUE

The outgoing government’s promise to fill the nation’s roads with electric vehicles (EVs) will not solve the climate crisis or ease traffic congestion, but it does have the benefit 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

MARIA WALSH’S VOTES

“A kick in the teeth to Kerry people,” was how Michael Healy-Rae described MEP Maria Walsh’s decision to vote against the Shannon LNG terminal to import fracked gas. Healy-Rae implied... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Bono

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE 3804

Paul Hewson’s top three moments have to include encouraging Dylan to record the 1989 album Oh Mercy, his own band’s The Joshua Tree and, as of last Tuesday night, serving... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Jamie Oliver

High Society

JAMIE’S OFFSHORE RECIPE

THERE WAS mixed news on the restaurant front this month. Following a spate of high-profile closures in January, Derry and Sallyanne Clarke announced they... Read more »

High Society

Consuelo O’Connor

High Society

ALI BARKER’S EXIT

GOLDHAWK SPOTTED a surprising menu change at restaurateur Ali Barker’s business. In 2018, Barker and separated husband Owen Owens featured in a high-profile spat... Read more »

High Society

Wissam Al Mana and Janet Jackson

High Society

MR JANET JACKSON’S IRISH INVESTMENTS

INTERESTING TO see the Sunday Times reporting that the latest international personality to sue Facebook in Dublin is Qatari moneybags Wissam Al Mana, who is probably most famous in this... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Marian Keyes

Behind the Scenes

IN PRAISE OF MARIAN KEYES

WHILE GOLDHAWK has noted John Banville’s effective marketing of his latest novel, another writer who has been the subject of a huge amount of timely media coverage this month is... Read more »
Jihad Jane

Behind the Scenes

FUNDING ‘JIHAD JANE’

MACDARA KELLEHER and Morgan Bushe have become major players in the film business in recent years with their tie-in to Troy Studios, where Kelleher’s dad, John, is a director. The... Read more »
John Banville

Behind the Scenes

JOHN BANVILLE’S BLACK BOOK

HAVING ADMIRED the wily John Banville’s hype offensive for his latest buke, The Secret Guests, Goldhawk could not resist giving it the once over – and what a rewarding experience... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Ahmed Zayat

Sport of Kings

AMERICAN PHAROAH’S FOALS

A HIGH-profile lawsuit in the US, in which Ahmed Zayat – former owner of Triple Crown hero American Pharoah – is being sued for $23m by New York lenders MGG... Read more »
Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

Sport of Kings

LUKE MCMAHON’S PUNT

PROFESSIONAL PUNTER and lucky owner Luke McMahon is readying himself for a major gamble at Cheltenham next month, without actually betting on a horse. McMahon is planning on supplementing his... Read more »
Mark Brosnan

Sport of Kings

MARK BROSNAN’S BETTING PROBLEM

THE NEWS that betting-exchange company Matchbook has had its UK licence temporarily suspended by the Gambling Commission may not attract much attention. The fact that the suspension was imposed in... Read more »
Andrew Hughes

Sport of Kings

THISTLE BLOODSTOCK FEELS STING

NOT MANY people would be willing to have a light shone on the fact that they gave away an injured racehorse to a horse dealer to have it put down,... Read more »

Reviews

ACTRESS - ANNE ENRIGHT (JONATHAN CAPE)

Books

ACTRESS – ANNE ENRIGHT (JONATHAN CAPE)

ANNE ENRIGHT’S surprisingly laboured seventh novel tells the story of Norah FitzMaurice, a middle-aged novelist trying to make sense of her famous mother’s life. Katherine O’Dell is yet another domineering... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Brendan McAtamney

Moneybags

URGENT ACTION REQUIRED AT UDG

IT HAS been difficult in recent years to make sense of the accounts of UDG Healthcare. Ever since the previous CEO, Liam Fitzgerald, sold... Read more »

Moneybags

Ivan Menezes

Moneybags

MENEZES FAILS TO JUSTIFY £12M DIAGEO PACKAGE

ONE OF the biggest successes the Diageo group has had over the last 20 years is its Guinness Storehouse project, which has grown visitor... Read more »

Brief Cases

Decobake

Brief Cases

COYLE’S BAD JUDGMENT

EMBATTLED BUSINESSMAN Paul Coyle has refused to relent in his efforts to halt the liquidation of his company, Decobake Ltd. The cake decoration business, which previously operated on Dublin’s Bachelor’s... Read more »
Ronan Sullivan

Brief Cases

RONAN SULLIVAN’S ROTTEN SPOILS

THE HIGH COURT has appointed Joe Walsh as examiner to Vernon Stores Ltd (trading as Vernon Catering), the long-established Dublin family fruit-and-veg business headed up by Ronan Sullivan. Vernon Stores... Read more »
Declan Murphy

Brief Cases

BONOBO’S NO-GO SMOKING ZONE

THE OWNERS of hipster haunt Bonobo in Smithfield, D7 – Shane Clifford, Hugh O’Farrell and Declan Murphy – have been hit with a setback regarding their bar’s outdoor smoking/dining area.... Read more »
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Brief Cases

RAVI’S HOT DISH

THE HEAT is being turned up at D4 Indian restaurant Ravi’s Kitchen. A meeting of creditors is to be held this week for Vanshav Ltd, the company behind the upmarket... Read more »
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Brief Cases

ANY PORTER IN A STORM

TROUBLE IS brewing for Seamus Porter and his home building business Seamus Porter Siteworks Ltd (SPS). Vulture fund Cerberus has appointed Mazars’ Tom O’Brien as a receiver to the firm,... Read more »
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Brief Cases

SIMON PARLE’S SHED

WEXFORD PROPERTY developer Simon Parle, of Foulksmills in Co Wexford, has moved into a promising new area of real estate – converting sheds into living accommodation. But not everyone is... Read more »
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Brief Cases

DUBLIN AIRPORT TURBULENCE

ER Travel Limited (known as Easirent.com), a car rental firm that has been locked in a High Court spat with Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) for almost a year, suffered a... Read more »
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Brief Cases

PHILIP MCGLADE’S LASER LAMENTS

THE ADVERTISING Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) has upheld a number of complaints made about advertisements from two different businesses owned by Dublin businessman Philip McGlade. The gripes relate to... Read more »
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Brief Cases

MIZOW’S D2 MISHAP

WHAT NOW for Aussie-born, Dublin-based developer Paul Mizow, who will no longer be able to lease his D2 townhouses on William McGlade’s short-term letting platform HipHipStay? An application to retain... Read more »