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August 12 - August 25, 2022
Affairs of the Nation
DUBAI JUDGES: WHO KNEW AND WHEN?
SABINA HIGGINS’S public spat may have helped to obscure not so much the appointment of heavyweight Irish judges Frank Clarke and Peter Kelly to the feudal state of Dubai’s financial... Read more »
FRANC’S UKRAINIAN BONUS
GOLDHAWK’S favourite wedding planner, Peter Kelly, aka ‘Franc’, has been doing rather better out of the State coffers this year than was the case for his wedding operation during the... Read more »
ALL ABOUT EVA
HEALTH GURU Eva Orsmond (previously of Operation Transformation fame) was back on RTÉ this week with the second series on her attempt to open a “health hotel” in sunny Portugal.... Read more »
Sponsored Content
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FRANCES RUANE’S SHORT RUN
AS GOLDHAWK predicted (see The Phoenix 17/6/22), former economist Frances Ruane has been given just a two-year extension to her initial five-year term as chair of the Abbey Theatre. Generally,... Read more »
MORGAN O’SULLIVAN’S CAST
THERE HAS been an immediate reaction from the Irish Film Workers Association (IFWA) to a piece in the Sunday Times on disputes at the Vikings: Valhalla and Kin productions, which... Read more »
CHECKING THE FACT CHECKERS
‘FACT CHECKING’ has become a virtuous activity of liberal and not-so-liberal agencies (in the West) fighting “misinformation” (in the East) and one of the chief protagonists against this ‘fake news’... Read more »
GREAT GREEN GAS WARS CONTINUE
AS IRELAND struggles to decarbonise its energy system in line with ambitious 2030 targets and in light of the deteriorating international energy landscape, a veritable scramble to move toward “clean”... Read more »
MI6, BORIS AND THE LEBEDEVS
Once upon a time, Britain’s Independent newspaper was owned by Sir Tony O’Reilly, Thatcher’s favourite Irishman. Then it was a platform to question the veracity of British intelligence whistleblowers such... Read more »
BISHOPS CENSORED!
THE NORTHERN Ireland Equality Commission is mulling over a request for “advice” from an unusual quarter – the Catholic Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin. It follows the refusal... Read more »
Pillars of Society
PROFILE: JOHN BURNS
THE CLEAR OUT of Sunday Times journalists leaves the Irish edition of that august institution in the last-chance saloon under the tutelage of current... Read more »
The Young Bloods
YOUNG BLOODS: DARREN O’ROURKE
WITH OPINION polls showing Sinn Féin knocking on the door of government, attention is turning to who its ministers might be and how they... Read more »
Dublin Unites to Promote Foreign Investment and Economic Growth
Dublin has long been a hub for global business. But now, a new campaign, “Invested in Dublin: Local Ambition, Global Success”, is showing the world exactly why Dublin is... Read more »
Fit to Print?
MEDIA TAKES ON HIGGINS — AND LOSES
THE IRISH TIMES got out of jail a fortnight ago courtesy of Russian ambassador Yuriy Filatov, who opportunistically embraced Sabina Higgins’s letter to the newspaper criticising its failure to advocate... Read more »
CATCHING UP WITH HENRY MCDONALD
IT WILL be interesting to see just what the book released this week – Rewriting the Troubles: Ireland/Algeria – says about the Workers’ Party and some former members and journalists,... Read more »
KEVIN MYERS’S ‘SCUM’
IN ALL the analysis of the crisis at the Sunday Times Irish edition, perhaps the most poignant was an article arguing that what really happened was the Murdoch-owned operation never... Read more »
Last Refuge
DOGS THAT DIDN’T BARK
WHERE WERE the radical opposition parties when the Government let slip the dogs of war from among their favourite media servants against Sabina Higgins – if only to try and... Read more »
SABINA HIGGINS’S CRITICS
WHAT AN interesting group of politicians vied with each other to stick it to Sabina Higgins over her outrageous suggestion that negotiations for peace should replace the Russian invasion and... Read more »
NORMA FOLEY’S SCHOOL RUN
While Government party leaders and whips worked frenetically to fend off a no-confidence vote just before the Dáil broke for its summer recess, some backbench TDs found more amusing ways... Read more »
MARTIN’S LOYAL MINISTERS
WHAT A curious story the Irish Mail on Sunday published last weekend, headlined “Martin’s loyalists hit back at rebels” and spread over the front page and two pages inside the... Read more »
Hush Hush
PEACE IN COVENEY’S TIME?
DESPITE CHAMPIONING armament for the Irish Defence Forces, foreign minister Simon Coveney has been central to a strategy of appeasement by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in relation to... Read more »
Bog Cuttings
BOG CUTTINGS
‘I’LL DO WHAT I WANT’ JARED SHERLOCK (19) of 40 Clonmich Wood, Tullamore, appeared before Tullamore District Court to plead guilty to engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour toward... Read more »
Fowl Emissions
JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE PARANOID…
DID YOU know that attempts at regulating agriculture pollution are really part of a sinister globalist plot being co-ordinated by communists under the guise of protecting the environment and tackling... Read more »
SF’S HAZZARD WARNING
“If I had a De Lorean, I’d go back in time and ban sheep and sitka spruce.” The would-be time traveller is south Down Sinn Féin MP Chris Hazzard, who... Read more »
The Hot Air Brigade
THE HOT AIR BRIGADE
You have to watch this film to really appreciate it. Áine Moriarty, chief executive of IFTA on An Cailín Ciúin, Morning Ireland What matters is that Ó Broin handled the... Read more »
High Society
LAFFAN V O’BYRNE
PRESUMABLY THE tweedies in the Irish Georgian Society (IGS) were suitably entertained by a scathing review in the Sunday Times of Robert O’Byrne’s book... Read more »
CONSUELO’S REIGN
SO IT’S farewell then to Consuelo O’Connor, who has just officially stepped down from the board of the Beit Foundation, a whopping 46 years... Read more »
NEW WOMAN AT THE GALLERY
AT LONG last the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI) has got around to appointing its new €130,000 pa director. It is perhaps not surprising that the board has gone with... Read more »
Irish National Opera Placing Irish culture On The World Stage
Irish National Opera continues to expand its impact by showcasing outstanding performances across Ireland and internationally. Since its inception in 2018, INO has presented 184 live performances in 35... Read more »
Behind the Scenes
ROSE McHUGH’S THREE SEATS
LAST WEEK was the closing date for receipt of expressions of interest in (unremunerated) vacancies on the Rose McHugh-chaired board of the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork, with three seats... Read more »
CASTING GROUCH
INTERESTED PARTIES are running the abacus over the spat between RTÉ and its non-staff contractors on the one hand and Revenue and the Department of Social Protection on the other... Read more »
Sport of Kings
CALDWELL’S HEAVY GOING
WITH THE Irish Stable Staff Association (ISSA) having generated headlines last month by delaying racing at Kilbeggan racecourse due to a protest over the failure to provide free bottles of... Read more »
TOM KELLY’S SECOND CHANCE
HERE WAS good news for jockey Tom Joseph Kelly last month when his appeal against a further three years of suspension proved successful. Kelly had ridden five winners before testing... Read more »
Books
IDOL – LOUISE O’NEILL
SINCE HER 2018 adult fiction debut Almost Love, novelist Louise O’Neill has focused on writing about topical feminist themes (and more recently in her media columns) – particularly exploitative obsessive... Read more »
Movies
JOYRIDE – DIRECTOR: EMER REYNOLDS
IT’S A year since Goldhawk reviewed first-time writer/director Dave Minogue’s Poster Boys, an odd-couple road movie made on the hoof without the benefit of public funding and released in 12... Read more »
Moneybags
BORD GÁIS OWNER CENTRICA PLAYING WITH FIRE
WHEN BORD Gáis Energy (BGE), where Dave Kirwan calls the shots, announced a price increase of 29.5% for its 513,000 customers in March this... Read more »
HAS GOODMAN GOT HIS TIMING RIGHT IN PROVIDENCE?
THE MUSICAL chairs continue at Providence Resources, with the latest face popping up being beef baron Larry Goodman, who now holds a 16.1% stake.... Read more »
Gold’s $3,000 Breakthrough: A Financial Call to Arms
GOLD’S EXPLOSIVE surge past $3,000 per ounce last week is more than just a price milestone – it’s a wake-up call. We are entering the centre of an economic... Read more »
Brief Cases
HOZIER’S HITS
THE FOG-HORN voiced Hozier – formerly known as Andrew Hozier-Byrne, until he was championed and molded by music supremos Caroline Downey and Denis Desmond – has weathered the pandemic and... Read more »
DOWN THE TOILET FOR LUCA MAMMI
THE PANDEMIC has claimed another victim with the upmarket bathroom business Profilo Smart, owned by Dublin 6-based Italian designer Luca Mammi, entering liquidation. Profilo built up a reputation for delivering... Read more »
ANNE DAVY BOUNCES BACK
IT’S BEEN a rocky few years for Anne Davy, the majority owner of the controversial Hyde and Seek childcare chain in Dublin. At least the numbers are looking up. Earlier... Read more »
FLIPDISH V AMAZON
THERE HAS been much drooling by business hacks over the fundraising exploits of Conor and James McCarthy, the Dublin-based brothers behind Flipdish, an online directory of restaurants and food businesses... Read more »
NIALL HARBISON’S DOGGY TREAT
WHAT A surprise it was to see Goldhawk’s old pal, Niall Harbison, pop up in the Irish Times last month. Now living in Thailand, the founder and former boss of... Read more »
Dublin Through the Eyes of its Artists at The Oriel Gallery
“Dublin Through the Eyes of its Artists” Exhibition Opens at The Oriel Gallery Dublin, Ireland – Thursday 10th April 2025 The Oriel Gallery is proud to announce the opening... Read more »
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SLEVOIR’S LOW-KEY OWNERS
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PAMPERED POOCHES
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PRESENCE PAY DAY
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DOUG TAYLOR’S FORM BOOK
GOLDHAWK’S OLD pal Doug Taylor must have been watching the action at ...
ICY’S INSIGHTS
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ART ATTACK
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ACTING THE MAGGOT
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