Affairs of the Nation Archives

AFFAIRS OF THE NATION

FRANCESCA MCDONAGH’S WITHDRAWAL

April 9, 2020

FRANCESCA MCDONAGH, chief executive of Bank of Ireland (BoI), took everyone, including the government, by surprise with last month’s announcement that no less... Read more »

GERARD KIELY’S PR

April 9, 2020

THE EU Commission’s local point man in Ireland, Gerard Kiely, has a tough job promoting a sense of EU unity when the Italians... Read more »

REGINA’S BAD PANDEMIC

March 26, 2020

OUTGOING MINISTER for Social Protection Regina Doherty looked like the first political victim of the Covid-19 virus last weekend, while colleagues Simon Coveney,... Read more »

SIMON HARRIS’S OTHER HEALTH SCARE

March 26, 2020

THE 24/7 CORONAVIRUS coverage means all eyes are focused on the unfolding calamity and, as a result, some other health scares are getting... Read more »

JOE DEVINE’S FILM SCRIPT

March 26, 2020

IRISH FILM industry reports are two a penny (or rather more expensive than that actually), but they seldom arrive in the manner of... Read more »

KATHRYN THOMAS’S LOCKDOWN

March 26, 2020

GIVEN THAT viewers of RTÉ are increasingly accustomed to seeing various Montrose personalities popping up on each other’s shows, often shamelessly plugging their... Read more »

VATICAN PLAYS THE LONG GAME

March 26, 2020

SITE PREPARATION work at St Vincent’s Hospital in south County Dublin has largely been completed, but the main construction work for the new... Read more »

FRANK CALLANAN’S ADVICE

March 26, 2020

AS LEO Varadkar continues to take the political opportunity presented by the current crisis, he may be getting used to some of the... Read more »

JOHN MCGUIRK’S TACTICS

March 26, 2020

GRIPT.IE EDITOR John McGuirk’s recent hit job on former Fine Gael TD Kate O’Connell was the latest in his long-running effort to beat... Read more »

LEO AND MICKEY’S CENTENARY CHALLENGE

March 26, 2020

THE ON-OFF ‘mots-doux’ engagement talks between the Blueshirts and Soldiers of Destiny have yet to address one of the thorniest aspects of their... Read more »

DONNCHA O’CALLAGHAN’S TACTICS

March 26, 2020

THERE WERE different tactics used this month when examining the digital marketing company controlled by former Irish rugby international and RTÉ presenter Donncha... Read more »

ST JOHN OF GOD’S PRAYERS

March 26, 2020

THE CAMPAIGN by St John of God (SJOG) to extract more money from the HSE has gained little traction given the rather regrettable... Read more »

MARTIN AGAINST THE WALL

March 12, 2020

MICHEÁL MARTIN may have thought he had performed the U-turn of the millennium – the Fianna Fáil leader opened the door to Sinn... Read more »

DESMOND TO SOLVE HOUSING CRISIS

March 12, 2020

BILLIONAIRE FINANCIER Dermot Desmond offered his solution to the housing crisis last weekend, in a 4,400-plus word address to the nation, facilitated by... Read more »

SHEIKH MOHAMMED’S KIDNAP CONUNDRUM

March 12, 2020

GIVEN THE influence of the Dubai ruling Al Maktoum family here, the silence to date of the authorities on the explosive court ruling... Read more »

HUGO MACNEILL AND THE ‘VAMPIRE SQUID’

March 12, 2020

FOLLOWING THE recent election of Fine Gael’s Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, her hubby, Hugo MacNeill, is seeking to land a seat in the Seanad... Read more »

HISTORY LESSON

March 12, 2020

CONGRATULATIONS TO the Ireland Institute for Historical & Cultural Studies (IIHCS), which now boasts an historically good balance sheet. The institute – located... Read more »

NIALL QUINN’S LOADED PAL

March 12, 2020

WHILE THE FAI focuses on trying to qualify for Euro 2020 in play-off games in empty stadiums in Bratislava and (hopefully) either Belfast... Read more »

COVID-19: FF ARD FHEIS 20/21

March 12, 2020

JUST ONE of Micheál Martin’s problems in securing a coalition deal is the requirement in Fianna Fáil party rules for a special ard... Read more »

‘LET’S GET BREXIT DONE’

March 12, 2020

GARDA COMMISSIONER Drew Harris drew fire from Sinn Féin over his IRA army council statement and he made another, em, forthright statement last... Read more »

FRANCES RUANE’S NEW FACES

March 12, 2020

AFTER AN unusually long hiatus, the Abbey Theatre has finally got around to filling four vacancies on its board that have lain vacant... Read more »

POST-ELECTION SF FRENZY

February 27, 2020

MARY LOU MCDONALD might have expected or hoped that the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael hysteria surrounding Sinn Féin would subside post election. Instead it... Read more »

MICK O’LEARY’S REAL PROBLEM

February 27, 2020

ONCE AGAIN, motor mouth Mick O’Leary has featured prominently in the headlines for all the wrong reasons – this time over comments about... Read more »

HUMAN RIGHTS NEW REGIME

February 27, 2020

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

TONY O’REILLY’S GOOD NEWS

February 27, 2020

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

RICHARD BARRETT’S GREEN LIGHTS

February 27, 2020

LAST WEEK, moneybags property developer Richard Barrett got another green light for his ‘Niche Living’ brand of shared accommodation developments, with An Bord... Read more »

PETER GOULANDRIS’S CBE

February 27, 2020

GOLDHAWK was delighted to see that the low-profile moneybags, Peter Goulandris (older brother of Chryss), had landed himself a CBE for “services to... Read more »

PASCHAL DONOHOE’S NEXT APPOINTMENT

February 27, 2020

LAST WEEK was the closing date for applicants seeking a place on the board of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), a... Read more »

LILLIPUT’S INTERNSHIP

February 27, 2020

A RECENTLY announced unpaid internship with Arts Council-funded Lilliput Press has not been well received and may run foul of a new policy... Read more »

TORY DONOR AND SINN FÉIN UNITE

February 27, 2020

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

MICHEÁL MARTIN IN DEEP TROUBLE

February 13, 2020

THE GENERAL election drama is only beginning and the desolation of Fianna Fáil TDs is turning from shock and trauma to anger with... Read more »

KATHRYN BYRNE’S BAD PR

February 13, 2020

GOLDHAWK WAS surprised to see in Stubbs Gazette that a judgment was registered against high-profile public relations outfit Limelight Communications, where Fianna Fáiler... Read more »

JOE RYAN’S SKILLS

February 13, 2020

GOLDHAWK was interested to read the press release on the five-year plan published last month by the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA).... Read more »

NO SWEAT

February 13, 2020

THE RECENT judgment by High Court Judge Mark Heslin in favour of the Church of Scientology’s drug rehab centre in the Meath village... Read more »

W2’S ‘VIKINGS’ RAID

February 13, 2020

THE LATEST plot development in the blockbuster courtroom drama playing at the Four Goldmines between producers Morgan O’Sullivan and James Flynn, and plaintiff,... Read more »

IRFU: THE WEST’S AWAKE

February 13, 2020

THE IRISH rugby team has shown renewed fighting spirit in the Six Nations Rugby Championship competition so far, but there are allegations of... Read more »