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John Cooney

McQUAID’S LONG SHADOW

Date: January 28, 2021 - Fit to Print?

STRANGELY, IN his recent Irish Times column titled “McQuaid’s long shadow hangs over baby homes” – and on RTÉ with Claire Byrne – Ireland’s best-known historian, Diarmaid Ferriter, omitted to mention allegations of Archbishop John Charles McQuaid’s sexual sins. The controversial Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation report has seen RTÉ and the Irish Times defer to the… Read more »

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George Nkencho

SINDO REVERTS TO TYPE

Date: January 28, 2021 - Fit to Print?

THE NEED to stand out and be contrarian, even provocative, has become almost de rigueur for many hacks trying to build a profile for themselves. But it’s not what one normally expects from Shane Coleman, Newstalk Breakfast presenter and Sunday Independent columnist. His Sindo love letter to assertive, publicity-attracting mandarin Robert Watt last weekend was… Read more »

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Janice Boylan Irish Military Mali Coolock Says No IFP Hermann Kelly Timmy Dooley Aontú Mal O’Hara Fintan O’Toole Josepha Madigan Eoghan Harris Ukraine War Micheál Martin Middle East Philip Ryan Seán Clancy Simon Coveney Hugo MacNeill Mountbatten Neasa Hourigan Green Party Martin NPT Ivana Bacik Independents Limerick Hospital Overcrowding Barry Cowen

CORRECTION

Date: January 28, 2021 - Last Refuge

In an article in The Phoenix, 15 January, 2021, headlined ‘HEALTH MINISTER’S FUTURE’, Cllr Rory O’Connor was incorrectly named as Seán O’Connor, and Wicklow Times editor Shay Fitzmaurice was incorrectly named as Shay Donnelly. Apologies to those concerned.

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Eamon Ryan

CETA: RYAN RULES

Date: January 28, 2021 - Fowl Emissions

BACK IN 2017, when Green Party leader Eamon Ryan was front and centre in the civil society campaign against CETA, the EU-Canada trade deal, his party adopted a policy that described the deal as “an affront to democracy”. Four years on, that phrase neatly sums up the feelings of many party members on Ryan’s U-turn… 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

NOT SO CUDDLY CANADA

Date: January 28, 2021 - Fowl Emissions

CANADA HAS a fairly benign image here, personified by heart-throb prime minister Justin Trudeau, but its corporate sector is far from cuddly. Quite a few of the Canadian firms operating in Ireland are in the business of gouging the earth. Canadian mining companies are drilling or prospecting in Clare, Connemara and elsewhere, while Topaz and… Read more »

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Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

BOG CUTTINGS

Date: January 28, 2021 - Bog Cuttings

Following Orders Letterkenny District Court heard the case of a man who compared customs officials to Nazi officers when stopped at a checkpoint. Michael McGee, of Glenleigham, Fintown, was stopped by customs officials who detected illegal diesel in the fuel tank of McGee’s Volkswagen Passat. A customs official told the court that McGee became unco-operative,… Read more »

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Leonard and Hungry Paul

LEONARD AND HUNGRY PAUL – (RÓNÁN HESSION)

Date: January 28, 2021 - BooksReviews

THE NEW One Dublin One Book offering this year is the debut novel by musician Hession (aka Mumblin’ Deaf Ro), which was first published in March 2019. It’s a strange choice given the competition out there. The story’s two title characters are thirtysomething friends who take walks, play board games and enjoy comfortable silences. Their… Read more »

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Swiftwood

NOEL McMAHON’S PENTHOUSE

Date: January 28, 2021 - High Society

SOME PROPERTIES that went on the market during the pandemic have been receiving a second round of media plugs, using the lockdown theme to draw in potential punters. For example, Chris de Burgh’s 27-acre Bushey Park estate in Co Wicklow got a boost from the Irish Times last week, which highlighted its appeal to “those… Read more »

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Sh!t Happens

GET MY SH!T TOGETHER – RTÉ PLAYER

Date: January 28, 2021 - ReviewsTV

ALONGSIDE COVID, a silent epidemic has been quietly building in recent times – that of half-arsed lockdown programming on the RTÉ Player. Following on from the dire socially distanced dating show Love Is In The Air, we now have self-styled “feelgood fest”, Get My Sh!t Together. Notably, the series is co-hosted by Pamela Joyce, best known as an early… Read more »

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Consuelo O’Connor

MICHEAL MAUGHAN’S EXIT

Date: January 28, 2021 - High Society

GOLDHAWK NOTES that moneybags Michael Maughan has stepped down from the board of the Friends of the National Gallery of Ireland, where there are now only six directors left in situ. Ailesbury Road-based Maughan, best known for the long established Gowan Group and its holding company, Convest, had been the longest-serving board member at the… Read more »

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Joseph O'Brien

JOSEPH O’BRIEN’S JUMPING

Date: January 28, 2021 - Sport of Kings

JOSEPH O’BRIEN must be looking forward to the resumption of flat racing this spring after enduring a challenging time with his jumps string in recent times. Although a Galway Plate win in July with the JP McManus-owned Early Doors leaves him high up on the trainers’ table, the recent run of form of his jumps… Read more »

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David Mullins

MULLINS BOWS OUT

Date: January 28, 2021 - Sport of Kings

IT IS very rare when a 24-year-old multiple Grade 1 and Grand National-winning jockey decides to hang up his boots without the excuse of injury or weight issues but that is exactly what the talented David Mullins has decided to do. Mullins, who rode Rule The World to win the Aintree Grand National for Mick… Read more »

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Charles Byrnes

DRONE MOAN

Date: January 28, 2021 - Sport of Kings

THE LENGTHS some dodgy overseas punters will go to in order to get an edge in their betting has been highlighted by the recent suspension of trainer Charles Byrnes. Although he was not connected with betting irregularities (and is appealing the penalty), the referral committee’s report described the modus operandi adopted by third parties far… Read more »

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Eva Kenny

EVA KENNY’S APPOINTMENT

Date: January 28, 2021 - Behind the Scenes

CULTURE MINISTER Catherine Martin was busy in the run-up to Christmas, filling some vacancies on the board of IMMA, although there is only one new face. There are other seats due to be filled imminently and presumably a full complement will be in place when the gallery’s 30th anniversary rolls around later this year. In… Read more »

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Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

THE TAXMAN GIVETH

Date: January 28, 2021 - Behind the Scenes

WITH THE taxman having just published details of fourth quarter 2020 beneficiaries of the generous film and TV tax incentive Goldhawk wondered about the cost to the taxpayer of the scheme for 2020 and 2019. The Revenue noted, “a company must file its Corporation Tax return, and pay the balance of tax due, nine months after… Read more »

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Peter Jackson

FLUTTER ROLLS THE DICE IN THE USA

Date: January 28, 2021 - Moneybags

AS THE US sports betting sector gradually opens, there is clearly a huge market emerging as individual states legislate for online sports betting. This is proving a slow process, however, with only five US states having made the move so far and, significantly, none of the prime states like California and New York. At the… Read more »

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Patrick Coveney

GREENCORE’S SHARES CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE

Date: January 28, 2021 - Moneybags

PADDY COVENEY has now been CEO of Greencore for more than a decade. His core objective was to turn the group into “a leading international manufacturer of convenience food” but Greencore has instead shrunk. The figures for the year to September 2020 were worse than anticipated from a profitability point of view and the shareholders… Read more »

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Judge Aileen Donnelly

ANTHONY FITZPATRICK’S ‘OBJECTIVE BIAS’ CLAIM

Date: January 28, 2021 - Briefcases

FANS OF Goldhawk will be familiar with a legal saga surrounding the liquidation of Star Elm Frames Ltd (SEF), which was the subject of a winding-up petition in June 2016 by the Revenue on foot of an unpaid tax bill of more than €½m (see The Phoenix 9/9/16). There has been a raft of litigation… Read more »

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Jim Farrell

HRI HANDICAPPED

Date: January 28, 2021 - Briefcases

GOLDHAWK WAS interested to see the Irish Examiner reporting that Horse Racing Ireland, (HRI) has claimed to the Public Accounts Committee that it dropped €390,000 as a result of the liquidation of a cash-in-transit provider it had been using in 2019. The company provided services to both HRI and Tote Ireland, although a new contract… Read more »

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David McKeown

TIKTOK TENANTS

Date: January 28, 2021 - Briefcases

ELSEWHERE in this issue Goldhawk takes a look at the TikTok players who set up the so-called The Go House before going offline in the run-up to Christmas. The operation, which was previously known as the GOAT House, had initially been based in a modern pad on Lansdowne Lane. This property had been put on… Read more »

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Stephen Evans-Freke

CASTLE FREKE’S VIEWS

Date: January 28, 2021 - Briefcases

GOLDHAWK favourite millionaire Wall Street banker, Stephen Evans-Freke, has suffered a setback in his efforts to block the demolition of a former hotel and the construction of nine houses near his luxurious Castle Freke in Cork. Evans-Freke is the son of Peter Evans-Freke, the 11th Lord Carbery, and he bought his ancestral home, Castle Freke,… Read more »

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Darragh O’Brien

FF: O’BRIEN ENTERS THE STAGE

Date: January 14, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

A FLURRY of statements, off-record briefings and spin from Fianna Fáil personalities in the Christmas/new year period has triggered renewed pressure on Micheál Martin’s leadership. There appeared to be no particular political blunder or negative development – not even the pandemic surge – that sparked the renewed leadership speculation. Nor was there any significant drop… Read more »

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Graeme De Renzy

PROFILE: GRAEME DE RENZY

Date: January 14, 2021 - Pillars of Society

LATER THIS month, the Four Goldmines will be the setting for a face-off between Irish wheeler-dealer, named Graeme de Renzy and Harvey Boulter, the Ferrari-driving boss of Cayman Islands-based cryptocurrency outfit GuardianCoin. At stake is the small matter of $60m. How did Castleknock-based GDR get to play in such a high stakes poker game and… Read more »

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Pippa O'Connor

YOUNG BLOOD: PIPPA O’CONNOR

Date: January 14, 2021 - The Young Bloods

Model-turned-entrepreneur Pippa O’Connor owes much of her success to staying steps ahead of the bevy of bikini-clad beauties she hung out with in Stephen’s Green as a PR photocall model. She has paved the way for the blight of Irish influencers shilling fashion and beauty products these days, but whether she can continue expanding her empire… Read more »

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Bibi Baskin

BIBI’S ‘INSPIRED’ PANDEMIC PITCH

Date: January 14, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

IT WOULD be difficult to find a more original gesture towards nursing home residents, assailed as they are by the pandemic, than that of No. 1 Books publisher, Michael Mulcahy, who wants to distribute complimentary copies of Bibi Baskin’s latest pocket book, The Happy Book, to every nursing home resident in the country – all… Read more »

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Eugene Murtagh

WHY KINGSPAN NEEDS A NEW CHAIRMAN

Date: January 14, 2021 - Moneybags

KINGSPAN’S shares have been riding high from €64 on February 21 last year, just before the pandemic hit, at which point they were on a lofty price-earnings multiple of 31.5 times, on the back of an increase in earnings in 2019 of 11%. Covid-19 knocked the shares back to €43 on March 28 but, despite… Read more »

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article-default

WHITMORE’S WEDGE

Date: January 14, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

LOVE ISLAND presenter Laura Whitmore will be looking forward to making a few bob in 2021 with a new book on the way. The good news is that she already has a rather healthy bank balance. Bray girl Whitmore (now based in London) likes to keep a low profile, when it suits her that is…. Read more »

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Brody Sweeney

LITTLE MUSEUM’S BIG GRANT

Date: January 14, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

WITH COMMENTATORS warning of economic misery coming down the tracks as a result of the huge pandemic spend, a lot of expensive projects that were set to get under way now have question marks over them. In the decimated tourism sector funding could be particularly curtailed but hopefully this will not impact on the big… Read more »

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Dermot Desmond

DERMO’S CARIBBEAN COMPETITION

Date: January 14, 2021 - High Society

SHORTLY BEFORE Christmas, an article in the Sunday Times extolled the virtues of basing yourself in the sunny Caribbean to avoid much of the drudgery associated with the pandemic. Not surprisingly, the article was aimed squarely at the more minted variety of “digital nomads”, who can splash out seven-figure sums on villas. No doubt Dermot… Read more »

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Ken Murphy

LAW SOC TOP JOB

Date: January 14, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

WITH THE Law Society looking for a new director general to replace the retiring Ken Murphy, it is inevitable that the chat will turn to the impressive financial rewards the successful candidate may expect. But, there is more focus than ever by members on the spending at Blackhall Place as a result of the hammering… Read more »

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Maureen Kennelly

MAUREEN KENNELLY’S COLLECTION

Date: January 14, 2021 - Behind the Scenes

THE BAD times have resulted in some good times at the Arts Council after years of penny pinching from successive governments, with sackloads of cash being delivered to 70 Merrion Square. One of the beneficiaries has been the council’s bulging art collection, which had an impressive 82 works added in 2020. The overall value has… Read more »

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Vol. 39 No. 01

Date: January 14, 2021 -

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Graeme De Renzy

DE RENZY’S POWER OF ATTORNEY

Date: January 14, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

ON PAGE 14 of this issue, we profile the colourful Graeme de Renzy, whose adventures have been closely followed by Goldhawk down the years. What is intriguing is that having only been discharged as a bankrupt six years ago, he has been offering to invest millions recently to fund businesses, mainly across the Atlantic. Goldhawk… Read more »

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Dermot Farrell

CULCHIES RULE OK!

Date: January 14, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

POPE FRANCIS’S promotion of a provincial, conservative member of the current nondescript bench of bishops to succeed Diarmuid Martin as Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland amounts to a snub to the Dublin clergy. Martin, the former Holy See diplomat, was sent back from Rome to his native Dublin two decades ago to deal with the… Read more »

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Tracy Mahony

FIGHTING ANTI-COVID LAWS

Date: January 14, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

FORMER RENUA member, barrister Tracey O’Mahony, has been organising a crowd-funding campaign to finance challenges to anti-Covid restrictions and laws. An initial target of €50,000 was exceeded within five days last August and a new sum of €250,000 was set in the hope that a High Court action can be organised to overturn government policy… Read more »

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Coveney on Palestine

IRELAND’S UN CON TRICK

Date: January 14, 2021 - Affairs of the Nation

GRANDIOSE STATEMENTS from foreign minister, Simon Coveney on Palestine, and Ireland’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Geraldine Byrne Nason indicate not merely vanity and hubris, but an abandonment of the government’s supposed attachment to the plight of the Palestinians. Having spent several years claiming to be the Palestinians’ best friend in Europe and the… Read more »

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