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Sarah McInerney

SARAH’S PRIME TIME HAS COME

Date: April 8, 2021 - Fit to Print?

COVERAGE OF the cabinet row over new countries to be earmarked for quarantine states and queue jumping vaccine grabbers were nearly eclipsed by saturation coverage – in the ‘quality’ print titles – of photogenic journalist Sarah McInerney, who this week begins her new role as an RTÉ Prime Time presenter. Did RTÉ’s marketing experts carry… Read more »

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Mary Keane

MARY KEANE’S NEW JOB

Date: April 8, 2021 - High Society

CONGRATUALTIONS TO Mary Keane, the chair of the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI), who has just landed the sought-after job of director general of the Law Society. She looks set for a nice pay rise. Keane, the first woman DG, has been based at the Law Society as Ken Murphy’s No 2, so she clearly… Read more »

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Zion Road, Rathgar

NOELLE MAGUIRE’S IRFU RUCK

Date: April 8, 2021 - High Society

A RATHER nice pile on Zion Road in Rathgar, D6, is now on the market, with the owners looking for a tasty €2.65m. Norham Mains (named after a village in England apparently) is the abode of tough tackling legal eagles Noelle Maguire and Manus McClafferty, who currently have the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) in… Read more »

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Masaaki Matsushima

COOLMORE’S JAPANESE BACKER

Date: April 8, 2021 - Sport of Kings

AIDAN O’BRIEN’S team is not normally quick off the blocks at the start of the flat season, with his horses often improving markedly after their first runs of the year. O’Brien was obviously keen to hit the ground running this year, however, and his string have made an explosive start to the flat season, operating… Read more »

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2 Johnnies podcast

THE 2 JOHNNIES PODCAST

Date: April 8, 2021 - PodcastsReviews

SINCE ACHIEVING wide popularity with a series of viral music videos in 2017, comedy duo the 2 Johnnies have had a trajectory similar to the Rubberbandits, with the freshness and humour of their early output swiftly dulled by over-exposure. Of course, the fact that the Tipp pair of Johnny McMahon (Johnny Smacks) and Johnny O’Brien… Read more »

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Eamonn Rothwell

EAMONN ROTHWELL’S LANDBRIDGE STRATEGY LOOKS ALL AT SEA

Date: April 8, 2021 - Moneybags

WITH THE demand for direct Ireland to France RoRo ferry services cresting since Brexit docked on January 1, three of the competitors of Irish Continental Group (ICG) have increased capacity or added services on the direct route to the Continent in order to bypass the UK landbridge. Eamonn Rothwell, however, has done nothing to capture… Read more »

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Vol 39 No 07

Date: April 8, 2021 -

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article-default

KERRY GUINAN’S UNION

Date: April 8, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

IT’S NOT every day that a new union comes along but the arrival of the Artists’ Union of Ireland (AUI) looks set to shake up the relatively staid culture sector here. And, given that the miles of red tape associated with Arts Council funding applications is the first campaign chosen by the AUI, it should… Read more »

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article-default

TV’S ROYAL FAMILY

Date: April 8, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

IN CASE you missed it, the ‘RTS Irish Television Awards’ had its inaugural outing last week on Virgin Media One, where many of the usual suspects found themselves competing in the assorted categories. For the uninitiated, RTS stands for, er, Royal Television Society – a UK charity that “promotes the art and science of television, from… Read more »

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Breege O'Donoghue

BREEGE O’DONOGHUE’S SUCCESSOR?

Date: April 8, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

THERE IS still no sign of a new chair being appointed by Leo Varadkar at the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCI), where Penneys matriarch Breege O’Donoghue stepped down last year in confusing circumstances after one term. She also exited the board of Fáilte Ireland after a trip to sunny Spain proved controversial. Kilkenny-headquartered… Read more »

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‘IRISH MEDICAL TIMES’ PACIFIST

Date: April 8, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

THE WINDS of austerity have swept through the Irish publishing industry, with even the medical media feeling the chill in recent years. Chief among these is the Irish Medical Times (IMT), which was for decades seen as a publishing goldmine, raking in millions in pharmaceutical advertising revenue. IMT was founded by Dr John O’Connell, who… Read more »

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Bishop Paul Dempsey

CLERICS HOT UNDER THE COLLAR

Date: April 8, 2021 - Clerical Errors

MARY MCALEESE’S tirade against Pope Francis’s unexpected endorsement of the Vatican doctrinal watchdog’s banning of blessings for same-sex couples has elicited a guardedly positive response from the youngest member of the Irish hierarchy, but not from the primatial archdioceses of Armagh and Dublin. Responding to a question about the Vatican’s harsh language, Archbishop Eamon Martin explained… Read more »

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Derek Scally

IN PRAISE OF DEREK SCALLY

Date: April 8, 2021 - Clerical Errors

DEREK SCALLY, of the Irish Times, has emerged from his Berlin bunker to become the transcendental seer of the lost souls of Irish youth with the publication of his much hyped The Best Catholics in the World: The Irish, the Church and the End of a Special Relationship. “At once intimate and epic”, drooled the paper’s High… Read more »

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Francie Mackey

WHO IS BEATING THE WAR DRUMS?

Date: April 8, 2021 - Hush Hush

IT MAY seem a little surprising in the midst of a global pandemic and the costly Brexit process that British prime minister Boris Johnson has budgeted an extra £16bn to be spent on the UK military over the next four years, a whopping 10% increase. Do the little Englanders who backed Brexit see themselves setting out… Read more »

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Eoghan Harris

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: April 8, 2021 - The Hot Air Brigade

Trawl through my past columns and you find my favourite writers are lesbian feminists. Eoghan Harris, Sunday Independent, submitted by reader If there’s anyone on television here or in Britain or the States that’s worth mentioning, they were on it. Twink describing a compilation of video messages she received for her 70th birthday, RTÉ Radio… Read more »

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Arlene Foster

EXECUTIVE HANGS BY A THREAD

Date: April 8, 2021 - Northwind

ON MARCH 29 Simon Coveney told the Seanad that the north’s institutions were “just about hanging on after a bruising number of years”. Well actually, after one year when Sinn Féin and the DUP signed up to the New Decade New Approach (NDNA) deal and re-established the executive. Since then the north, like everywhere else,… Read more »

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Jim O'Callaghan

MARTIN SET FOR LONG HOT SUMMER

Date: April 8, 2021 - Last Refuge

THE LATEST polls have concentrated minds in Fianna Fáil in a way they have not done since the general election and this could serve to shorten Micheál Martin’s leadership span and even his time as taoiseach. After FF sunk to a nadir of 10% last September, several successive polls showed a possible revival to the… Read more »

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Michael Leahy

IRISH FREEDOM PARTY’S NEW CHAIR

Date: April 8, 2021 - Last Refuge

PROF DOLORES Cahill’s resignation from the Irish Freedom Party (IFP) following some whacky – not to say dangerous – statements about face masks and the pandemic, was accepted with some alacrity by the party’s ard chomhairle just days after her resignation last month. Simultaneously, the IFP appointed Michael Leahy, an architect from Corofin, Co Clare,… Read more »

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Michael Healy-Rae

DANNY V MICHAEL HEALY-RAE

Date: April 8, 2021 - Last Refuge

THE DIVIDE between the Healy-Rae brothers – TDs Michael and Danny – is an open secret in Kerry and it appears to be reflected in two adverts, situated side by side, for their respective services in the Killarney Advertiser recently. In their adverts, the two TDs both proclaim their connection to the cross-border arrangement for… Read more »

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Richard Bruton

BRUTON DOES STRUMPET CITY

Date: April 8, 2021 - Last Refuge

SOUNDS LIKE Fine Gael chairperson Richard Bruton believes in method acting judging by his performance as William Martin Murphy at a virtual on-screen shoot (or re-enactment of Strumpet City) with SIPTU/Irish Equity organiser Martin O’Rourke recently. O’Rourke responded angrily to an advert from FG seeking two professional actors – one male, one female – to… Read more »

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Deirdre Heenan

‘BUSINESS POST’ REVISIONISM

Date: April 8, 2021 - Fit to Print?

TIME WAS when the Business Post dissented from the mainstream media in several ways, chief among them being a nationalist interpretation of the north that was not always a simple regurgitation of the SDLP view or that of soft unionism. The Post often differed from the Iveagh House line and claimed to be based on the interests of northern… Read more »

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Diageo Dana An Garda Síochána IT Trust No Stone Unturned Irish Times Black Friday Vicky Conway

TACKLING ROBBIE KEANE

Date: April 8, 2021 - Fit to Print?

HAS SINDO sports writer Tommy Conlon struck again in the libel stakes as a rather full-on apology to former Irish soccer star Robbie Keane indicated a few days ago? An aggressive article by Conlon last month contained a number of pointed comments about Keane’s relationship with the FAI. A series of remarks and a central… Read more »

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Charlie Flanagan

AN TAISCE TARGETED

Date: April 8, 2021 - Fowl Emissions

KILDARE FARMER Thomas Reid has fought a long battle against the proposed €3.6bn extension of the Intel computer facility, including against An Bord Pleanála’s (ABP) decision in favour of Intel. Construction on the new plant would involve 6,000 workers, with 1,600 well-paid jobs when completed. Part of Reid’s argument was the risk of accidental pollution… Read more »

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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

VERONA MURPHY LETS FLY

Date: April 8, 2021 - Fowl Emissions

COMPETITION to be our whackiest rural TD is intense, with a motley collection of ‘colourful’ characters clamouring for media attention. Independent Wexford TD Verona Murphy this week launched a rant against the new planning regulator, Niall Cussen, accusing him of being “out of control” with “ideological views” that are promoting a “Karl Marx policy of… Read more »

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Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

BOG CUTTINGS

Date: April 8, 2021 - Bog Cuttings

‘I Am King’ It took four gardaí to arrest a man who was standing in the middle of a Cork road, beating his chest and yelling “I am king”. Garda Niamh Riley told Cork District Court that numerous people had complained about a man shouting and disrupting traffic, and, when asked to desist, he refused,… Read more »

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Consuelo O’Connor

TOM GLEESON’S BURGERS

Date: April 8, 2021 - High Society

THE COMPANY behind the highly profitable burger chain, Bunsen, has issued High Court proceedings to block Dublin City Council from interfering with its collection point in Ranelagh, which has been the subject of complaints from local residents. As the son of a rather well-known barrister, former attorney general Dermot Gleeson, Bunsen’s controlling shareholder Tom Gleeson… Read more »

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Annie Doona

ANNIE’S SUCCESSOR?

Date: April 8, 2021 - Behind the Scenes

ALTHOUGH THE board of Screen Ireland (SI) lost three directors a year ago when their terms ended, no replacement cast members were found. Now the terms of the remaining four board members have also concluded. In the absence of any move by arts minister Catherine Martin to ensure continuity, the SI board is now utterly… Read more »

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Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

GENDER GAP

Date: April 8, 2021 - Behind the Scenes

NOT MUCH attention has been paid to the latest report churned out by the Merrion Square Mafia, this time concerning the handouts to artists and the role diversity plays. It turns out that blokes (or at least those who identify as such) are being short-changed. Entitled Diversity and Arts Council Awards, the report focuses on… Read more »

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We are not in the world

WE ARE NOT IN THE WORLD – CONOR O’CALLAGHAN

Date: April 8, 2021 - BooksReviews

IN THIS follow-up to his 2016 debut, Nothing on Earth, Conor O’Callaghan focuses mostly on one man’s fractured relationships with his family. This curious road trip novel also explores the complicated dynamics between lovers and friends. The journey for the reader, however, while intriguing, involves lurches in tone which may leave some bewildered and frustrated…. Read more »

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Dermot Weld

THE FUTURE OF SHADWELL

Date: April 8, 2021 - Sport of Kings

FOLLOWING THE death of Prince Khalid Abdullah a few months ago, racing lost another major benefactor recently when Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum died at the age of 75. A question mark has now been placed over his Irish operation. Hamdan – who acted as a finance minister in the UAE, where his brother Sheikh Mohammed… Read more »

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Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

POINTING THE WAY

Date: April 8, 2021 - Sport of Kings

WHILE RACING overall may have been left relatively unscathed by the pandemic, the point-to-point sector has been left reeling in comparison. The return of action ‘between the flags’ in April for a short period will be scant consolation for those trainers who have big bucks invested in young horses who may have missed their place… Read more »

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David Dunne

DAVID DUNNE’S DARK HORSE

Date: April 8, 2021 - Sport of Kings

JOCKEY TURNED Racing TV presenter Fran Berry has made a seamless transition to his current career after being forced to retire from the saddle due to a neck injury. Berry has proved himself a thorough and insightful analyst but he may have surprised viewers with his comment after a major gamble was landed at Navan…. Read more »

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Rahul Dhir

TULLOW OIL SHARES WORTH MULTIPLES OF CURRENT PRICE

Date: April 8, 2021 - Moneybags

IT WOULD be a real irony should Sam Dossou-Aworet, from whom Aidan Heavey bought Energy Africa for €433m in 2004, end up controlling Tullow Oil. The former is a man of significant influence in Gabon and is married to its justice minister. Over the past 18 months Benin native Dossou-Aworet has been building up a… Read more »

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Seamus Walsh

SÉAMUS WALSH’S STAND-OFFS

Date: April 8, 2021 - Briefcases

MELBOURNE-BASED Irish moneybags Séamus Walsh has been rutting up against Waterford County Council over his latest property venture – beside the beach in Tramore. He is used to disputes, including ones of a legal nature, and is currently involved in a “heated” spat that has ended up in the Four Goldmines. Kilkenny-born Walsh, who emigrated… Read more »

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Noel Smyth

NOEL SMYTH’S LATEST LIQUIDATIONS

Date: April 8, 2021 - Briefcases

THE BAD news keeps coming for solicitor-turned-property-developer Noel Smyth, with another raft of his businesses being the subject of creditors’ meetings next week. Dealmaker Smyth (who was Ben Dunne’s legal eagle when the walls came crashing down around Squire Haughey) is a principal in Santerese Trust Company Unlimited, Barkisland Unlimited and Dodbridge Unlimited, for which… Read more »

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Noel Kelly

NOEL KELLY’S INVESTMENTS

Date: April 8, 2021 - Briefcases

ANOTHER JUDGMENT has just been registered against the Pulse F6 telematics business where a significant backer turns out to be the private investment company controlled by Tipperary moneybags Noel Kelly. Kelly – or Dr Noel Kelly as he prefers, thanks to his honorary doctorate from… Read more »