Article Category: Last Refuge

WHAT WILL O’CALLAGHAN DO?

July 2, 2020

THE EXCLUSION of Jim O’Callaghan from cabinet was hardly unexpected – at least not to Phoenix readers (see edition 22/5/20) – and, by... Read more »

BALANCING CLIFFORD-LEE

July 2, 2020

AN TAOISEACH Micheál Martin gave expression to his modern, inclusive new world last weekend with the appointment of Traveller activist Eileen Flynn to... Read more »

GURRIER GREENS VS GENTLE GREENS

June 18, 2020

THE MEDIA mantra about the Greens has changed from one condemning the party for not simply capitulating to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael... Read more »

MARTIN SWEATS IT OUT

June 18, 2020

THE NEUROTIC behaviour of Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin as he closes in on the long-cherished, moist dream of becoming taoiseach – at... Read more »

UN SECURITY COUNCIL FODDER

June 18, 2020

FOREIGN MINISTER Simon Coveney’s repetitive explanation to the Irish public of the government’s refusal to enact the Occupied Territories Bill (OTB) – passed... Read more »

BLUESHIRT BOSSY BOOTS

June 4, 2020

A QUEUE has formed to replace long-serving Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran, who is expected to bow out at the end of... Read more »

HELEN OF NAVAN

June 4, 2020

LEO VARADKAR has a serious gender issue on his hands when it comes to selecting ministers for any new cabinet in the near... Read more »

MARIAN HARKIN VS MICHAEL LOWRY

June 4, 2020

FORMER MEP Marian Harkin strolled back into the Dáil in February – after an absence of 15 years spent in Euroland – but... Read more »

GREENS LEFT-RIGHT LEADERSHIP CONTEST

May 21, 2020

GOLDHAWK CAN put an end to speculation about whether or not Green deputy leader Catherine Martin TD will stand for the party leadership.... Read more »

SEAN KELLY’S HOT AIR

May 21, 2020

THE GREENS’ response to the provocative demand from Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly – a member of FG’s government formation reference group –... Read more »

BARRISTERS VIE FOR CABINET

May 21, 2020

MANOEUVRING AND speculation about who will get what cabinet postings is considered to be in poor taste in current pandemic circumstances, but that... Read more »

ARMY VICTIMS AND VILLAINS

May 21, 2020

MICHAEL HENEY, author of the explosive book The Arms Crisis of 1970, gave unstinting praise to the Army’s director of intelligence at the... Read more »

40 SHADES OF GREEN

May 7, 2020

THE GREENS’ deputy leader, Catherine Martin, had no problem confirming to the media that she voted against the party holding government formation talks... Read more »

SOCIAL DEMOCRAT FEUD

May 7, 2020

THE NUMBERS in the new Dáil indicate that Sinn Féin will dominate the opposition benches – 37 seats to six each for Labour... Read more »

MURPHY’S CO-LIVING WITH VIRUS

May 7, 2020

THE PANDEMIC is beginning to show up the folly of housing minister Eoghan Murphy’s planning ‘reforms’. Two years ago, he lowered apartment minimum... Read more »

BLUESHIRTS LOVE-BOMB ‘NUTTERS’

April 23, 2020

IT’S HARD to believe that the Blueshirts are blowing kisses at the Greens after bad-mouthing them as ‘nutters’ to the Irish Farmers’ Association,... Read more »

ISRAEL NOT LOSING ANY SLEEP

April 23, 2020

GOLDHAWK WAS heartened to see in the proposed programme for government advanced by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that there was a firm... Read more »

SIMON HARRIS’S BRIT BASHING

April 23, 2020

YOU KNOW something’s not quite right when a Fine Gael minister defensively reaches out for a bit of Brit bashing. Such was the... Read more »

EOGHAN MURPHY’S WAITING GAME

April 23, 2020

HOUSING MINISTER Eoghan Murphy has been enjoying some Covid-19 cover over his delays in releasing the social housing completions by local councils in... Read more »

MARTIN’S SEANAD OUTCOME

April 9, 2020

FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin gave a tentative sigh of relief when the election results for the Seanad were completed. Mickey is under... Read more »

NUI’S INSPIRING GRADUATES

April 9, 2020

THOSE PATHETIC, second-rate graduates of Limerick and Dublin City universities, who are still deprived of a Seanad vote, can take solace that they... Read more »

MURPHY’S RENTAL FLIP-FLOP

April 9, 2020

HOUSING MINISTER Eoghan Murphy returned from his post-election vacation abroad in fine fettle, but still went into self-quarantine. Thankfully, the minister for more... Read more »

FF’S SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP

April 9, 2020

THERE HAS been a quiet reappearance of the term “social partnership” in recent weeks and, for the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU),... Read more »

JOHN CONCANNON’S RETURN

March 26, 2020

LEO VARADKAR is certainly persistent. He has called John Concannon back from NUI Galway to lead the latest government information campaign on the... Read more »

WHERE NOW FOR EAMON RYAN?

March 26, 2020

GREEN PARTY leader Eamon Ryan has always believed enthusiastically that being in politics means being in government. But this time, it seems, his... Read more »

CIRCLING MICHEÁL MARTIN

March 26, 2020

MICHEÁL MARTIN continues to come under pressure within Fianna Fáil because of his proposal that the party go into full coalition with Fine... Read more »

LUVVIES TO LOSE MINISTER?

March 26, 2020

THE ARTS sector must be fearing what’s in store for it in the government formation talks. It looks like the creative types are... Read more »

LABOUR CONTEST: AK47 VS PC 2020

March 12, 2020

LABOUR’S LEADERSHIP election – Guns vs Roses – is already over bar the counting; Alan Kelly is home and dry and the only... Read more »

GREEN POWER PLAY

March 12, 2020

TWO PUTATIVE Green Party dynasties had their wings clipped during and after the general election and party leader Eamon Ryan showed that he... Read more »

COVENEY RETREATS

March 12, 2020

DESPITE SIMMERING anger at grassroots level following Fine Gael’s electoral panning, the parliamentary party is unlikely to see a leadership challenge from Simon... Read more »

MCDOWELL’S GHOST PRISON

February 27, 2020

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