Affairs of the Nation Archives

AFFAIRS OF THE NATION

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

PRESS COUNCIL VS ‘IRISH TIMES’

February 13, 2020

HAS THE Press Council become the editorial arbiter between the Irish Times and complainants who demand fairness and transparency in the ‘paper of... 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 »

JOHNNY COLLINS DISMOUNTS

February 13, 2020

HAVING HAD a very successful 2019, this year has not proved quite so memorable for Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, racehorse trainer John Collins, who... Read more »

AK47 HOVERS AGAIN

February 13, 2020

IT’S NOT just Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar that face career-ending prospects in the coming weeks or months. Labour leader Brendan Howlin is... Read more »

MURPHY’S LAW RUNS IN RANELAGH

January 30, 2020

Even if Eoghan Murphy is relieved of his environment ministerial portfolio, he may not be free from planning issues. The local worthies in... Read more »

SF SPECTRE LOOMS

January 30, 2020

FIANNA FÁIL TDs believe that Micheál Martin will be forced to do the U-turn of the millennium and form a coalition government with... Read more »

ROBERT NAIRAC OUTED

January 30, 2020

BRITISH ARMY undercover operative Captain Robert Nairac’s central involvement in the 1975 Miami Showband Massacre has now been finally confirmed at Belfast High... Read more »

TACKLING TONY ENSOR

January 30, 2020

FORMER LAW Society president and international rugby star Tony Ensor exposed a soft shoulder to High Court president Peter Kelly earlier this month.... Read more »

JOSEPHA’S VACANCIES

January 30, 2020

ONE OF the games played by politics watchers around election time is clocking how many board appointments the various outgoing ministers manage to... Read more »

TARGETING THE SCIENTOLOGISTS

January 30, 2020

THE RULING earlier this month by High Court judge Mark Heslin greenlighting the Scientologists’ multi-million euro drug treatment centre in the Meath village... Read more »

FARMERS’ VENGEANCE ON CREED

January 30, 2020

A BIG scalp hiding in plain sight is that of Michael Creed but, if the agriculture minister loses his seat, which Fine Gael... Read more »

FOLLOW THE MONEY

January 30, 2020

Leo Varadkar’s two-and-a-half years as taoiseach saw him use the previously obscure ‘money message’ to block 55 pieces of legislation that had won... Read more »