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Brian Nelson

ANOTHER BRIAN NELSON VICTIM

Date: August 27, 2020 - Hush Hush

The abduction and torture of a registered blind, Belfast Catholic in the 1970s lends a new twist to the story of Britain’s top agent in the UDA, Brian Nelson – the man responsible for multiple assassinations, including that of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane. In 1973 Nelson was the ringleader of a UDA gang that severely… Read more »

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Pippa Hackett

HACKETT UNDER FIRE

Date: August 27, 2020 - Hush Hush

While two high-profile ministerial casualties at Agriculture have grabbed the headlines, the Greens junior minister for land use and biodiversity, Pippa Hackett, is also now in the firing line. Hackett was propelled from the Seanad to try to broaden the Greens’ electoral appeal beyond the Pale, but she has drawn heavy NGO fire for pushing… Read more »

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Phil Hogan

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: August 27, 2020 - The Hot Air Brigade

All of us must display solidarity as we try to stamp out this common plague. Phil Hogan, Twitter, submitted by reader “What would happen RTÉ if half the newsroom was struck down? I told RTÉ I was prepared to do anything to help. Be a driver. I will clean toilets if I have to. Charlie… Read more »

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Flann O'Brien

FLANN O’BRIEN LOGIC

Date: August 27, 2020 - Fowl Emissions

Joy was unconfined in dairy circles with the recent exciting news that good old-fashioned cows’ milk was “better for the environment” than those das-tardly soy-based alternatives. No less an authority than the Daily Telegraph stated that vegans “should abandon soy milk if they want to save the planet”. A slew of similar headlines followed in… Read more »

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Boris Johnson

A SHARED CONFUSION

Date: August 27, 2020 - Bird's Eye View

IT WAS probably just as well that Boris Johnson made off as soon as he could from his meeting at Hillsborough Castle on August 13, leaving Micheál Martin to do the press conference on his own. Had he stayed he would have exposed the gaping hole that yawns where Martin’s policy on the proposed centenary… Read more »

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Norma Foley

SCHOOL MARM FOLEY IN HOT SEAT

Date: August 27, 2020 - Last Refuge

FROM LOWLY councillor to the cabinet in one fell swoop, education minister Norma Foley has the political weight of the Kingdom and the country on her shoulders. If the schools don’t open the economy won’t function and Norma has looked anything but confident so far as the opposition went for her throat over the reopening… Read more »

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Billie Sparks

ALAN KELLY’S GHQ STAFF

Date: August 27, 2020 - Last Refuge

NEW LABOUR party leader Alan ‘AK47’ Kelly heads up a party of six TDs. The party has enjoyed a consistent poll rating of around 5% throughout 2020 but has been eclipsed in the Dáil by Sinn Féin with 37 seats. However, the mood in the party and media movement by Kelly suggests that SF will… Read more »

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Micheál Martin

TAOISEACH’S NEW PERSPECTIVE

Date: August 27, 2020 - Last Refuge

AN INDIGNANT Micheál Martin gave the then taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, quite a ticking off in June last year when quizzing him on the soaring cost of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) commission of investigation. However, now that he is taoiseach, Martin appears to have developed a more mature and considered approach to what he… Read more »

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Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

BOG CUTTINGS

Date: August 27, 2020 - Bog Cuttings

Sin Bin Seamus Treanor (34) of 13 Burnside, Lower Main Street, Letterkenny, appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with three counts of criminal damage. Judge Paul Kelly heard that, in the early hours of October 24, 2019, the defendant was caught on CCTV kicking the wing-mirror of a patrol car at Milford Garda Station. He… Read more »

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Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

SHINNERS V JOE DUFFY

Date: August 27, 2020 - Fit to Print?

TO INADVERTENTLY provoke a defamation action from one Sinn Féin TD could be regarded as misfortune, but to do so against another SF TD on the same programme looks like carelessness. But Cork TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire has followed his colleague, Aengus Ó Snodaigh, by suing RTÉ and one “Joseph Duffy” for remarks made in… Read more »

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Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

VALUING LOUIS LE BROCQUY

Date: August 27, 2020 - Behind the Scenes

NEXT MONTH’S auction by Sotheby’s of 19 works owned by Mick Smurfit should shine some light on the current perceived worth of a painting by Louis le Brocquy, which has been on a downward slide in recent years, despite the efforts of his son and former agent, Pierre le Brocquy. The price guide for Travelling… Read more »

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Strange Flowers - Donal Ryan

STRANGE FLOWERS – DONAL RYAN (DOUBLEDAY)

Date: August 27, 2020 - BooksReviews

SINCE The Spinning Heart was longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize, Donal Ryan has been winning consistent praise for his slight but assured “recession-lit” novels. Much of his fiction focuses on the traumatic experiences of marginalised individuals who have been mauled by the Celtic Tiger. It’s not altogether surprising that these tortured souls succeed… Read more »

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Lisa McGowan

LISA MCGOWAN’S NEW VENTURE

Date: August 27, 2020 - High Society

THIS WEEK, the case featuring influencer Lisa McGowan of Lisa’s Lust List and Facebook Ireland was back in court, with McGowan seeking the identities of anonymous online posters who, she claims, have damaged her business. Interestingly, the case coincides with a brand new venture from the blogger. McGowan is claiming that her business – the… Read more »

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Mark O'Keefe

MARK O’KEEFFE’S HOTLINE

Date: August 27, 2020 - High Society

THE IMPACT of the black economy on the hairdressing and make-up sector, post-Covid-19, is making itself felt as some stylists opt to quit the day job and offer a home service to clients. One of those who has had enough of this carry-on, it appears, is Mark O’Keeffe of the high-profile Brown Sugar hair and… Read more »

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Colin Hunt

CHEAP AIB SHARES DON’T REFLECT RECOVERY POTENTIAL

Date: August 27, 2020 - Moneybags

AIB BOSS Colin Hunt must be wondering why he is coming under fire in the media, with the Irish Times, for example, accusing him of taking a “much higher than expected €1.2bn upfront charge in the first half of the year to absorb the expected loan losses from Covid-19”. As this only represents 2% of… Read more »

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Alan Walsh

CASHING OUT AT IPL PLASTICS

Date: August 27, 2020 - Moneybags

ARYZTA AND Origin were spin-offs from Philip Lynch’s IAWS, with the other remnants transformed by him into a conglomerate and brought together under the re-christened name of One 51, for which Lynch raised €600m to kick start the venture. There has been a lot of water under the bridge since then, leading to the recent… Read more »

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David Keoghan

DAVID KEOGHAN ROLLS THE DICE

Date: August 27, 2020 - Sport of Kings

WHEN THE Fozzy Stack-trained Aloha Star was demoted from second to third for causing interference to the favourite, The Lir Jet, in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh earlier this month, it appeared that connections may have been hard done by. Things didn’t quite work out that way. It was no surprise that… Read more »

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Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

GALLOPING ODDS AT TRAMORE

Date: August 27, 2020 - Sport of Kings

TRAINED BY Gordon Elliott, Enzani will be the subject of Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) interest when he runs next, after a peculiar outing at Tramore on August 14 that caught the attention of the race-day stewards. Having finished third on his previous start, Enzani opened a 3/1 shot in the betting for a hurdle… Read more »

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Station House Hotel

SWEENEY BOYS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Date: August 27, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

THE YOUNG Sweeneys of Clifden will hardly have enjoyed the notoriety lent to them by coverage of the 80 or so members of the Oireachtas golfing society in recent days, which blew up just after the boys borrowed big on the strength of their own life insurance policies. James, Joseph and Ronan Sweeney are each… Read more »

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Larry Murrin

LARRY MURRIN’S JAZZ BLUES

Date: August 27, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

POOR OLD Larry Murrin – who owns the Sole Seafood and Grill restaurant on South William Street, D2 – has just got some bad news. Murrin has spent the last few months trying to kill off plans for a jazz bar put forward by Paul Keaveney, who owns the nearby Dakota venue as well as… Read more »

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Dermot Smurfit

DERMOT SMURFIT’S ROLLERCOASTER RIDE

Date: August 27, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

AS ANY good gambler knows, what goes up must come down. Dermot Stopford Smurfit, the now not-so-young tyro who’s been up and coming with his Game Account Network (GAN) online gambling business for more than 15 years, knows this better than most. After the euphoria of the recent Nasdaq flotation, the shareholders have been on… Read more »

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Castleknock Hospitality BAL Susan Bergin Tixserve EOG Fergal Naughton hot-water-brigade def

CHECKING OUT OF THE WESTCOURT

Date: August 27, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

THE OWNERS of the Westcourt Hotel on West Street in Drogheda, Co Louth, are treading familiar ground after calling in the liquidator. The trading entity behind the hotel is Powerscourt Hotels Ltd (PHL), which is part-owned by Mullingar businessman George Stephens through Kingsfield Holdings Ltd, where he has a 25% stake. Irish-based German businessmen Christian… Read more »

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Alan Duggan

ALAN DUGGAN’S LOBBYING

Date: August 27, 2020 - Behind the Scenes

IT WAS only a matter of months after James Hickey retired from the chief executive role at Screen Ireland that he landed some new directorships – including Galway Film Resource Centre (GFC), a registered charity and company limited by guarantee where Alan Duggan, the manager, has recently been busy lobbying. Initially conceived as a low-cost,… Read more »

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Castleknock Hospitality BAL Susan Bergin Tixserve EOG Fergal Naughton hot-water-brigade def

CROSBIES’ LANDMARK MOVE

Date: August 27, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

The oddly named Bontury Ltd is being dissolved by its owners. This turns out to have been known previously as Landmark Media Investments Ltd, which was the company established by the Crosbie family in Cork to hold their media investments, most notably the Irish Examiner, but also a number of local newspapers and stakes in… Read more »

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Ali Ryan

ALI RYAN’S TWEETS

Date: August 27, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

WITH TENSIONS rising between the hacks and the political minders (see p12), such as the health minister’s special adviser Colette Sexton – the former Business Post journalist and Edelman PR suit – Goldhawk was interested to see Ali Ryan stepping into the fray. Sexton came under fire for her firm approach when Stephen Donnelly was… Read more »

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Colette Sexton

‘POST’ MITCHELL MED WARS

Date: August 27, 2020 - Fit to Print?

HEALTH MINISTER Stephen Donnelly’s bad press can hardly be laid at the door of his new policy advisor, former Business Post health and deputy editor Susan Mitchell. But Mitchell will surely provide Donnelly and his PR team with good insights into the hostile and “toxic environment” created by fears arising from the CervicalCheck crisis. Two… Read more »

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Eamon Ryan

THE GREENS AND MILITARISM

Date: August 13, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THE DEFENCE section in the programme for government is littered with references to Ireland’s military neutrality — five mentions in just over half a page — and a final sentence that says, “Within the context of the European Peace Facility (EPF), Ireland will not be part of decision-making or funding for lethal force weapons for… Read more »

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Eamon Dunphy

‘SINDO’ REVISIONISM ON JOHN HUME

Date: August 13, 2020 - Fit to Print?

NEWLY ENSCONCED Sunday Independent editor Alan English oversaw a well-crafted but highly revisionist special section last weekend on his newspaper’s diatribes against the late John Hume during the 1990s because of his well-chronicled peace process efforts in that period. According to the Sindo’s account last Sunday – and contrary to the naïve view of Goldhawk… Read more »

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Paul Gallagher

PROFILE: PAUL GALLAGHER

Date: August 13, 2020 - Pillars of Society

CHIEF LAW officer in the state – for the second time – is senior counsel Paul Gallagher, whose reverential sycophants in the Law Library and media describe him as the best brain in modern Ireland. He is certainly one of the richest barristers in the land, a condition that allowed him to take a ‘wage… Read more »

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Lorna Bogue

YOUNG BLOODS: LORNA BOGUE

Date: August 13, 2020 - The Young Bloods

AN EXPLOSION of environmental awareness has brought opportunities as well as challenges for the Green Party. Dáil rivals are responding to voter concerns by poaching eco policy and the party is divided over what it means to be green. Rising performer Lorna Bogue has emerged as one of the most high-profile members and a trenchant… Read more »

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Francesca McDonagh

FRANCESCA’S ‘LIVELINE’ LASHING

Date: August 13, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

PRESUMABLY, THE chief executive of Bank of Ireland, Francesca McDonagh, knew she was in trouble when Joe Duffy dismissed her “blasé” comments about the bank’s customers being responsible themselves for falling victim to the recent ‘smishing’ fraud. Apparently, Joe had nearly choked on his porridge. Certainly, there was no contest in the PR battle between… Read more »

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Montague Hotel

LYONS’S SHARE OF ASYLUM LOLLY

Date: August 13, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

WHILE MUCH of the focus relating to the midlands lockdown has been on the meat plants, clusters in direct provision centres have also featured, as is the case with the Montague Hotel outside the sleepy village of Emo in Co Laois. This turns out to be just one of a number of operations controlled by… Read more »

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JP McManus

McMANUS DOUBLES DOWN

Date: August 13, 2020 - Sport of Kings

DESPITE THE absence of spectators, the allure of ‘setting one up’ for Galway remains strong and one man experienced in pulling off a successful Galway gamble is Swiss-based moneybags JP McManus. Flying Scotsman was the nag chosen this year by JP, despite three inauspicious efforts last year under the care of trainer Aidan O’Brien. Flying… Read more »

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Richard Bruton

VLADIMIR BRUTON’S VIRILITY

Date: August 13, 2020 - Last Refuge

RICHARD BRUTON’S macho triathlon through his Dublin Bay North constituency grabbed the headlines, as intended, but not so much for its stated goal – the government’s initiative to promote staycations in Ireland – or even its unstated goal – the promotion of Fine Gael. Richard made sure to present as Clontarf’s answer to Vladimir Putin,… Read more »

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Sonya Lennon

SONYA LENNON’S QUALITY ASSURANCE

Date: August 13, 2020 - High Society

AN ARTICLE in the Irish Times last week highlighted the call for a state-backed quality assurance mark for entities that commit to making progress on gender equality. The recommendation was one of a number contained in a new report from ‘fashion guru’ Sonya Lennon’s Dress for Success organisation, following on from its WorkEqual conference at… Read more »

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Rebecca Winckworth

THE WINCKWORTHS’ CLOUDS

Date: August 13, 2020 - High Society

WHILE BUSINESSES continue to monitor the impact of Covid-19, the online sector has been best protected to date. A company that appears well suited to trading via the internet is White & Green, the upmarket organic fair trade cotton operation run by Sari Winckworth and two of her daughters, Danielle and Rebecca, despite the fact… Read more »

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