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Samantha Leslie

SAMMY’S REVIEWS

Date: December 16, 2020 - High Society

SAMMY LESLIE, the chatelaine of Castle Leslie in Co Monaghan, is celebrating being chosen as one of the winners of the Good Hotel Guide Editor’s Choice 2021 award under the ‘historic hotel’ category. But reviews for a film featuring a pal of hers – and Ireland’s president – have been less glowing. Earlier this month… Read more »

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Consuelo O’Connor

KIERAN WHITE’S €5,000

Date: December 16, 2020 - High Society

MICHAEL O’FLYNN’S property development outfit earned some positive publicity last week with the announcement of the winners of the inaugural O’Flynn Group Heritage Prize. Devised by architectural historian Robert O’Byrne and run in conjunction with the Historic Houses of Ireland organisation, the new prize of €5,000 goes to the owner of the chosen period property… Read more »

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Niamh Smyth

NIAMH SMYTH’S CAST

Date: December 16, 2020 - Behind the Scenes

LAST WEEK Niamh Smyth’s Oireachtas media committee spent a couple of hours discussing the impact of Covid-19 on the film and TV production industry with Screen Ireland (SI) chief executive Désiree Finnegan; her deputy, Teresa McGrane; and Screen Producers Ireland (SPI) committee members Stuart Switzer and Aoife O’Sullivan – producers of factual programming and drama… Read more »

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Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

ANN CLARKE’S TEST RESULTS

Date: December 16, 2020 - Behind the Scenes

CONGRATULATIONS TO Anne Clarke, whose Landmark Productions outfit is co-producing the first theatrical ‘test’ live performances at the Abbey Theatre. Culture minister Catherine Martin announced the performances on Sunday and it is not surprising that the national theatre gets first dibs. Not surprising either is the fact that the show is a co-production – the… Read more »

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Michael O'Leary

MICK O’LEARY CASHES IN

Date: December 16, 2020 - Sport of Kings

MICK O’LEARY may not be happy with the number of passengers flying with Ryanair this year, but he should still be able to afford a decent sized Christmas turkey after cashing in one of Gigginstown’s crown jewels, Apple’s Jade. O’Leary sold the 11-time Grade 1-winning mare for a whopping €530,000 at Goffs last week. The… Read more »

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Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

PUNCHESTOWN BLUES

Date: December 16, 2020 - Sport of Kings

THICK FOG put Punchestown’s recent big meeting in jeopardy but the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s clerk of the course and Punchestown chief executive Conor O’Neill deemed the racing should go ahead. The result was less than satisfactory. With no paying customers on site and no corporate hospitality groups booked in, postponing the action for 24… Read more »

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Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

SARAH LYNAM’S FRUSTRATION

Date: December 16, 2020 - Sport of Kings

ALTHOUGH THEY represent one of the largest category of racehorse in training, it seems low grade sprint handicappers are getting a raw deal. The frustrating situation was flagged up by trainer Sarah Lynam, daughter of multiple Group 1-winning trainer Eddie, who took to Twitter to air her grievances to Horse Racing Ireland and its chief… Read more »

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Sean Corkery

DATALEX FACING REAL TURBULENCE IN 2021

Date: December 16, 2020 - Moneybags

IT IS difficult to know what is going on inside Datalex. The company was already in significant trouble due to accounting irregularities, only surviving thanks to short-term and expensive bridging finance from its 30% shareholder, Dermot Desmond. The cuts that have been implemented have been swingeing, but can Datalex still compete in a crowded market?… Read more »

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Tony Smurfit

SMURFIT KAPPA’S VISION COSTLY FOR SHAREHOLDERS

Date: December 16, 2020 - Moneybags

ALMOST THREE years ago, Smurfit Kappa shareholders were presented with a takeover at €40 a share that was rejected out of hand by CEO Tony Smurfit and his board. Today, Smurfit Kappa shares are still around 10% below this and the shareholders were instead landed with a €650m diluting placement last month to enable the… Read more »

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Des Rogers

ROUGH SEAS FOR ROGERS BROTHERS

Date: December 16, 2020 - Briefcases

COMPANIES HOUSE in the UK has just served a compulsory strike-off notice on City Splash Tours UK Ltd, one of the entities in the sprawling group of companies controlled by brothers Des and Fergal Rogers of Dublin Viking Splash Tour fame. Although a number of the companies in the group have been sunk, others remain… Read more »

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Tom Higgins

TOM HIGGINS LOSES ALTITUDE

Date: December 16, 2020 - Briefcases

THE LONG wait for former Psychics Live phone-line operator Tom Higgins to blast into space looks set to continue for some time after Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic suffered yet another setback. Meanwhile, there was also bad news for Tom back on earth. Way back in 2005, Higgins splashed out £200,000 for a ticket to be… Read more »

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Luke Comer Ban

LUKE COMER’S LONG SHOT

Date: December 16, 2020 - Briefcases

A FEW months ago, Luke Comer wrote his name into the history books when his horse, He Knows No Fear, became the longest-priced winner on record ever in Ireland and Britain, when scoring at odds of 300/1 at Leopardstown. The going has been a good bit heavier in the Comer family’s other line of business… Read more »

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Ross Desmond

DERMO’S SQUAD DEPTH

Date: December 16, 2020 - Briefcases

IT’S BEEN a tough period for fans of Celtic FC lately, resulting in a brighter spotlight being shone on the Kaiser, Dermot Desmond, and his sons – in particular young Ross Desmond. Celtic has been struggling against the auld enemy, Rangers, putting their bid for 10 Scottish league titles in a row in peril. The… Read more »

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IPA Directory

DEADLY DIARY

Date: December 16, 2020 - Briefcases

THIS IS the time of year when Goldhawk gets his claws on the Institute of Public Administration’s indispensable annual Directory, jammed full of useful information about a whopping 9,000 public and private sector bodies. The 2021 edition contains the usual information, statistics and contact details for local councillors, civil service departments and state bodies, including… Read more »

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Simon Coveney

PREPARING FOR EU ARMY

Date: December 16, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THE CHOREOGRAPHY towards the creation of an enhanced EU defence and security apparatus (one is not to call it an army; that would be alarmist) has culminated in a planned reform of the Defence Forces. Strip away the Orwellian language that always surrounds the drive by Irish Europhiles towards EU militarism and the two barely… Read more »

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Judge Peter Smithwick

ANOTHER IRA TRIBUNAL?

Date: December 16, 2020 - Hush Hush

The Irish state’s ‘stab in the back’ collusion with the IRA is an old unionist hobby horse that should have been put up in the attic once political discourse had matured post peace process. However, with Arlene Foster’s recent demand for a new inquiry into a mythical Irish state/IRA conspiracy, it is clear that the… Read more »

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Anne Heraty

ANNE HERATY’S PANDEMIC BONUS

Date: December 3, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

ANNE HERATY has been celebrating her personal €90m pay day from the takeover of CPL Resources by Outsourcing Inc. Presumably, the Japanese are most impressed with her recruitment company’s Covid-19 bounce. The grip that CPL has on providing contract staff to the likes of the HSE has resulted in a nice boost to the bottom… Read more »

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HushHush-def

CHARLIE FLANAGAN’S TROUBLES TROUBLE

Date: December 3, 2020 - Hush Hush

Unionist psyops victim Eugene Reavey was recently vindicated in the UK parliament and former justice minister Charlie Flanagan was quick to join in the applause. But it is Charlie ‘BlackandTanagain’ who now faces questions regarding his judgement on Troubles issues. In a commons debate on the spook-sponsored murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, Labour MP… Read more »

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Tom Arnold

PROFILE: TOM ARNOLD

Date: December 3, 2020 - Pillars of Society

THE JUNE 2020 Programme for Government (PfG) commits to publishing a new national 10-year strategy for the food industry within six months that will follow the existing Foodwise 2025. The Department of Agriculture has tasked the industry-led Agri-food 2030 Committee, chaired by economist Tom Arnold, to deliver it. The report is due for publication and public consultation while… Read more »

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Vicki Notaro

YOUNG BLOODS: VICKI NOTARO

Date: December 3, 2020 - The Young Bloods

WITH HER salty language and strong social media presence, Tallaght ‘hun’ Vicki Notaro is busy breathing new life into VIP Publishing. Taking the reins as MD during the summer of 2019, the 34 year old looks after the day-to-day running of the company, leaving owner Michael O’Doherty free to concentrate on his legal eagle career…. Read more »

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Ryan Tubridy

THE LATE LATE TOY SHOW – RTÉ ONE

Date: December 3, 2020 - ReviewsTV

FOR MOST of the past year, broadcasters have been desperately looking for inventive ways of filling the schedules – and cheering people up. Predictably, last weekend’s Late Late Toy Show repeatedly promised a pandemic-free bubble that would guarantee some virtual escape from lockdown. Ryan Tubridy had been hyping the show for months and the waterworks… Read more »

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Colm O'Gorman

COLM O’GORMAN’S SUBSCRIBERS

Date: December 3, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

COLM O’GORMAN, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland (AII), dragged the human rights organisation further into the highly emotive trans-gender debate last week when he tweeted that he was “proud” to sign a letter published in the Irish monthly publication Gay Community News that called for “pseudo feminists” to be denied airtime, asking the “media… Read more »

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Rupert Murdoch

MARTIN’S SPIN DOCTOR

Date: December 3, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THE NEW government press secretary and former editor of the Irish Sun, Paul Clarkson, is not the first Rupert Murdoch executive to seduce a Fianna Fáil leader and taoiseach, as readers of News of the World will know. Has Micheál Martin decided, like Bertie Ahern when he was taoiseach, that a relationship with News UK,… Read more »

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Moya Doherty

RTÉ’S CHEAP SEATS

Date: December 3, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

WITH THE Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sports and the Gaeltacht having advertised for expressions of interest in the four existing vacancies on the board of RTÉ, the bad news is that there appears to be no moolah on offer. The joint committee is responsible for appointing four of the broadcaster’s directors and in… Read more »

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Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

GARDA MOSSAD LINK

Date: December 3, 2020 -

Israel’s assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, means it was a particularly bad time for An Garda Síochána to join forces with Israel’s covert policing units, but that is what has happened. The Garda has linked with Israel’s Ministry of Internal Security (MIS) in the EU’s Roxanne Project, which seeks to “unmask criminal… Read more »

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3823

VOL 38 NO 23

Date: December 3, 2020 -

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Frank Clarke

SEPARATION OF POWERS AND CRONIES

Date: December 3, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THE MUCH-vaunted separation of powers between government ministers and the judiciary works along the following lines: the party or parties in power appoint their party associates to the bench, which is not a breach of the separation of powers principle. However, pointing out these political links in public debate is apparently a gross violation of… Read more »

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article-default

SLOWLY DOES IT AT JAAB

Date: December 3, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THERE HAS been a lot of focus on the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board (JAAB) since the Séamus Woulfe story blew up. One issue that has been overlooked, however, is the fact that, while the JAAB has been busy helping to appoint judges, there has been a board vacancy for no less than three-and-a-half years. JAAB’s… Read more »

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Kate McGrew

A TALE OF TWO REPORTS

Date: December 3, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

LAST MONTH the Irish Times reported on a review of the impact of anti-prostitution legislation enacted in 2017. The report, from UCD’s Sexual Exploitation Research Programme, turns out to have remarkably different conclusions to a similar review across the border. The editorial in the Irish Times, headlined “Signs of a Cultural Shift”, referred to the… Read more »

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Charlie Flanagan

FLANAGAN’S ‘TROUBLES’

Date: December 3, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

PERHAPS UNNERVED by media coverage of his courageous effort to rehabilitate the gentle Black and Tans, Charlie ‘BlackandTanagain’ Flanagan reacted negatively to recent coverage he received from Mail on Sunday journalist John Lee. But neither Lee nor the Mail received any solidarity from their colleagues at the Sunday Independent when they came under enemy fire…. Read more »

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William Matchett

RUC AND FAKE NEWS

Date: December 3, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

ONE EXPECTS the pro-unionist Belfast News Letter to publish vigorous denials by former RUC Special Branch officer William Matchett that RUC/loyalist collusion was a pervasive reality. But Matchett is described by the News Letter and others as an adjunct fellow at the Edward M Kennedy Institute for Conflict Prevention (sic), Maynooth University, Ireland. Two days… Read more »

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Keith Barry

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: December 3, 2020 - The Hot Air Brigade

What I had started to do with online corporates, I had started to talk about “massive action”… I started talking publicly about how I was going to get on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. I didn’t know how but I was going to get on through massive action… Ultimately it took 96 emails and 44 phone… Read more »

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Arlene Foster

‘SHARED’ DISEASE

Date: December 3, 2020 - Northwind

While Leo the Lip has been causing dissension in the disjointed coalition with his solo runs and ad-libs, it seems he has managed to unite the equally divided northern executive, although perhaps not in the way he might have wanted. On November 25 he was reported to have told the Fine Gael parliamentary party that… Read more »

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Pippa Hackett

THE MOO CREW

Date: December 3, 2020 - Fowl Emissions

GIVE ME a child until seven and I will give you the man. That old Jesuit slogan has been clearly taken to heart by the embattled agri-industrial sector, as it desperately attempts to do everything (except reduce pollution or emissions) to repair its battered reputation. Since implementing the actual reforms necessary for sustainability is off… 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

DAVID MCMANUS’S CV

Date: December 3, 2020 - Fowl Emissions

Growing anger over the nearly €20m in government funding for the embattled greyhound industry spilled over recently on to RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live show, where Soc Dem TD Holly Cairns clashed with baby-faced FG councillor David McManus. While McManus crashed and burned in the debate, even the presenter was puzzled as to why he was… Read more »

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Jim O'Callaghan

POLLS: REBELS PAUSE

Date: December 3, 2020 - Last Refuge

A GLIMMER of hope for Fianna Fáil and its leader, An Taoiseach Micheál Martin, came with weekend polls showing the party up one point (to 12%) and three points (to 17%) in Red C and Ireland Thinks polls respectively. However, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin still dominate in each poll and FF’s Dublin support of… Read more »

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