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Róisín Shorhall

SOCIAL DEMOCRAT FEUD

Date: May 7, 2020 - Last Refuge

THE NUMBERS in the new Dáil indicate that Sinn Féin will dominate the opposition benches – 37 seats to six each for Labour and the Social Democrats and a disparate group of Independents. Always assuming, of course, that the Greens enable the two recidivist government parties to resume feasting on their addiction to power. But… Read more »

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Eoghan Murphy

MURPHY’S CO-LIVING WITH VIRUS

Date: May 7, 2020 - Last Refuge

THE PANDEMIC is beginning to show up the folly of housing minister Eoghan Murphy’s planning ‘reforms’. Two years ago, he lowered apartment minimum standards to allow smaller rooms, fewer balconies, more crowded lifts and single-aspect apartments in a bid to help builders and developers. The minister was a particular fan of bijou co-living, describing these… Read more »

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Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

BOG CUTTINGS

Date: May 7, 2020 - Bog Cuttings

‘Fucking Pig Guard’ JOHN MURRAY (40), of Derragh, Dunmanway, Cork, was handed a two-year suspended sentence in Cork Circuit Court following a bout of heavy drinking. Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin heard how the defendant crashed his car into the front of his local Garda station after a bout of heavy drinking. CCTV footage showed him… Read more »

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Leo Varadkar

VLAD TAKES GLOVES OFF

Date: May 7, 2020 - Fit to Print?

IT’S THE lure of dangling money at the broken newspapers for political purposes that Varadkar is about in stimulating those supportive media reports about how he is going to take on the tech giants “free riders”. The sitting taoiseach said recently that he intends to copy an Australian proposal to make Google, Facebook et al… Read more »

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

ENDA O’COINEEN’S ADS

Date: May 7, 2020 - Fit to Print?

WITH THE media suffering a collapse in advertising (at least non-state advertising) it was nice for the Business Post to be able to run ads in some of its editions last month from a company called Grid Finance. Indeed, one of the adverts even occupied a prime spot on the front page. Grid Finance, headed… Read more »

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Quim Torra

HOMAGE TO CATALONIA

Date: May 7, 2020 - Fit to Print?

VILLAGE EDITOR Michael Smith has become embroiled in a six-month-long spat with journalist Jason O’Toole over the magazine’s publication of O’Toole’s interview with cervical cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan. O’Toole’s speciality is in-depth interviews for such as Hot Press and other media, and he secured an interview with Phelan for Village last November. However, when he… Read more »

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letters-to-editor

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Date: May 7, 2020 - Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, Regarding your article on my book, The Best is Yet to Come (see The Phoenix 24/4/20), it should be noted that, while focused on Ireland’s long-term growth in economy and population, it also predicted (chapters 4 to 6) the coming crisis and urged investment in housing to prevent construction job losses. Had the… Read more »

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Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

ELAINE GERAGHTY’S SURVEY

Date: May 7, 2020 - Behind the Scenes

THE PANDEMIC has put a stop to assorted film and TV productions and has shone a spotlight on the precarious nature of work in this ‘glamorous’ business. Cue a survey of producers by Elaine Geraghty’s Screen Producers Ireland (SPI) lobby group. According to the ‘headline’ results of the SPI survey (which received responses from 69… Read more »

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Consuelo O’Connor

JOHN McGRANE’S FAMILY BUSINESS

Date: May 7, 2020 - High Society

IT IS unlikely that John McGrane – the head of the family business lobby and support organisation Family Business Network Ireland – is pleased with Paschal Donohoe’s €6.5bn package to help companies get through the pandemic. Last month, McGrane penned a piece for the Indo in which he pleaded for pure cash injections into family… Read more »

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2011 Hawker 900XP

JOE McCARTHY’S PRIVATE JETS

Date: May 7, 2020 - High Society

GOOD TO see that, while Mick O’Leary and Willie Walsh have been putting on the poor mouth, the sky appears to be the limit for sellers of private jets here, at least as far as Joe McCarthy is concerned. Certainly, McCarthy made owning a private jet look like a pretty straightforward deal, in an interview… Read more »

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Jason Hannon

MAINSTAY MEDICAL’S UNHEALTHY TREATMENT OF SHAREHOLDERS

Date: May 7, 2020 - Moneybags

MAINSTAY MEDICAL floated off in Dublin six years ago at €21 a share, raising €18m, but it has proved an underperformer ever since. The shares collapsed from €16.50 at the beginning of November 2018 to €2.40 at the end of that month due to disappointing trial results for the company’s back pain remedy and the… Read more »

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Michael Stanley

CAIRN HOMES FACING A TOUGH 2020

Date: May 7, 2020 - Moneybags

CAIRN HOMES has some notable features, including a huge number of new housing unit completions. Most notable, however, was the way in which the founders, including Mick Stanley and Alan McIntosh, scooped a massive windfall after they floated off Cairn. While McIntosh has returned to London, he is still sitting on 40 million shares, having… Read more »

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

BART DALY’S CELTIC GOLD

Date: May 7, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

AT THE weekend it was reported that insolvency specialists Jim Stafford and Tom Murray of Friel Stafford have adapted to the ‘new normal’ by hosting creditors meetings via Zoom. One of those companies is Marzean Services, where the principal player is multi-talented former legal eagle Bart Daly. Daly holds his stake in Marzean through a… Read more »

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Ronan Lynch

RONAN LYNCH’S NEW REGIME

Date: May 7, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

THE REPRESENTATIVE bodies for publicans has been putting the pedal to the floor in an effort to convince the government to allow them to open their doors at the end of next month. This looks like quite a challenge for the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland and the Licensed Vintners’ Association (LVA). The chair of the… Read more »

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

MARIE BRAMBLE’S BAD MARKS

Date: May 7, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

A COMPANY that appeared to be very much honours material in the education field thanks to its popular school app, Unique Diary Productions Ltd (trading as Unique Publishing), has just registered a fail in the High Court, where a liquidator has been appointed courtesy of the Revenue Commissioners. Certainly, it would appear that Unique Publishing’s… Read more »

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David Hall

DAVID HALL’S BUSY SCHEDULE

Date: May 7, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

COVID-19 is keeping David Hall busy. One of the self-promoter’s multitude of tweets last month proclaimed that extra services being provided by his private ambulance company to the HSE resulted in the company’s busiest day ever. This will help keep his mind off the recent publication of details of a tax settlement by his profitable… Read more »

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Consuelo O’Connor

Date: April 23, 2020 - High Society

CELEBRITY COUPLE Theresa Lowe and Frank McNamara have been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons and last month the High Court finally approved a personal insolvency arrangement that allowed the high-profile couple write off a whopping €3m of their debts. Now, a communications operation they set up has been listed for striking… Read more »

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Ballyfin House

BALLYFIN HOUSE BLUES

Date: April 23, 2020 - High Society

LIKE OTHER tourist destinations, the magnificent Ballyfin House and demesne in Co Laois has had to be shuttered due to Covid-19. Given the steep prices charged during the all-important summer season and the massive losses built up at American moneybags Fred Krehibel’s dream property, the sooner things get back to normal the better. The restoration… Read more »

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Tadhg Daly

TADHG DALY’S REVENGE

Date: April 23, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THE TURNING of the PR tide against Simon Harris has been in no small measure due to the relentless efforts of one Tadhg Daly, the chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) – the body that represents the homes. He might have enjoyed some of the digs he got in at the politicians when doing… Read more »

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Caroline Keeling

CAROLINE KEELING’S WORKERS

Date: April 23, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THERE WAS a predictable outcry by Ireland’s hair-trigger xenophobes when fruit company Keelings was reported to be bringing in migrant workers to pick fruit in the middle of the pandemic. It culminated in some half-wits from the National Party turning up at a factory with an ‘Ireland for the Irish’ banner, which predictably prompted a… Read more »

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Micheál Martin

PROFILE: MICHEÁL MARTIN

Date: April 23, 2020 - Pillars of Society

MICHEÁL MARTIN may become a scientific and political phenomenon: the man who was saved by Covid-19. But the consequences for Fianna Fáil could be fatal. The current unprecedented health crisis, and the alarming economic one it is creating, could result in Martin realising his long-cherished ambition of becoming taoiseach. The compelling need for a government… Read more »

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Neasa Hourigan

YOUNG BLOOD: NEASA HOURIGAN

Date: April 23, 2020 - The Young Bloods

THE GREEN Party – despite basking in the success of increasing its Dáil seat tally to 12, its highest ever – is coming under increasing attack in the media, at a level normally reserved for Sinn Féin, for its temerity in refusing to play ball with the old establishment parties. Before the election, it was… Read more »

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Declan Kelly

DECLAN KELLY’S DANCING SHOES

Date: April 23, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

TENEO FOUNDER Declan Kelly is not one to play down his accomplishments. The latest talent no one knew he had is that of an executive producer with one Lady Gaga for a concert to raise funds for the World Health Organisation, broadcast on RTÉ last weekend. The fundraising effort may at least help push those… Read more »

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John FitzGerald

JOHN FITZGERALD’S TWO HATS

Date: April 23, 2020 - Fowl Emissions

LIKE MOST of the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael ‘draft document’ on forming a government, the section on climate is vague and threadbare. There is no mention of climate science nor of fossil fuels. This will comfort Ireland’s oil and gas suits, who are fighting to stop their sunset industry sinking below the horizon. Fans of Goldhawk… Read more »

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Bill Holohan

BILL HOLOHAN’S WASTED COSTS ORDER

Date: April 23, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THERE WAS a pretty damning ruling issued in the High Court earlier this month by Judge Denis McDonald, in relation to the case of a personal insolvency arrangement for one Mark Fay. Of interest to Goldhawk, however, was the outcome for the solicitor involved, the highly respected Bill Holohan. Holohan is probably the biggest player… Read more »

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Siobhan and Kasao Learat

SIOBHAN LEARAT’S UPSCALE DESIGNS

Date: April 23, 2020 - High Society

GOLDHAWK WAS not surprised to see irrepressible travel agent Siobhan Byrne Learat feature in the Sindo last week, where her Adams & Butler business got another plug, this time in the context of dreary Covid-19. Siobhan explained that “people have always wanted to run away. The only difference is that what they’re running away from… Read more »

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Connor Murphy

CONNOR MURPHY’S RTÉ GIG

Date: April 23, 2020 - Fit to Print?

ALTHOUGH APPOINTMENTS to state boards have effectively been put on hold while the interim/caretaker government remains in situ, it turns out that some positions just can’t wait. This is the case for Moya Doherty’s RTÉ board – tech money wiz Connor Murphy has just been appointed by communications minister Richard Bruton. Reflecting the new focus… Read more »

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FP-3808

VOL. 38 ISSUE 08

Date: April 23, 2020 -

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article-default

ROBERT ARMSTRONG’S RECORD

Date: April 23, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THE 1,700-word obituary of Lord Robert Armstrong, published in the Irish Times last weekend, omitted a few interesting details. As principal private secretary to prime ministers Ted Heath from 1970 and then Harold Wilson until 1975, Armstrong was intimately involved with the British government’s response to the Troubles in the north from the start. He… Read more »

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John McGabhann

JOHN McGABHANN’S REPORT CARD

Date: April 23, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

TEACHERS’ UNION boss John McGabhann probably cannot believe his luck as he prepares to retire as general secretary of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) later this year. His union’s pre-election, one-day strike last February made little impact, but the absence of an annual congress this Easter has sidestepped any anticipated unruly behaviour by browned-off… Read more »

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article-default

JOHN KIDD’S LOBBYING

Date: April 23, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

GIVEN THAT there is only one thing on people’s minds these days, it is predictable that some of the latest lobbying activity has focused on the pandemic. Among those who have been busy recently, not surprisingly, is the Irish Refugee Council. Chief executive Nick Henderson has been in contact with justice minister Charlie Flanagan and… Read more »

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Niamh O'Beirne

EY RESCUES HSE

Date: April 23, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THE STRAIN on the HSE is beginning to show, with top dog Paul Reid having to turn to EY Ireland to draft in one of its senior management consultants – the highly regarded ‘Performance Improvement and People Advisory Services’ partner Niamh O’Beirne – to beef-up the Covid-19 testing teams. The re-branded EY Ireland was, of… Read more »

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article-default

IRISH TIMES AND “THAT CHURCH”

Date: April 23, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

YOU’VE GOT to hand it to the Irish Times. When it comes to the dreaded Catholic Church, the paper knows the right tone to strike. An editorial was published on Good Friday under the heading “A Tough Reality” and, for Catholics, it would not have made for easy reading, albeit there would not have been… Read more »

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Robbie Lawlor

THE DANGER OF ‘GOING NORTH’

Date: April 23, 2020 - Hush Hush

THE RECENT murder of psychopath Robbie Lawlor in Belfast has generated a lot of lurid headlines, but the media missed the all-Ireland realpolitik behind the slaying. Comment on the full details of the murder is restricted as a man may soon be brought before the courts on charges related to the killing, but Robbie Lawlor’s… Read more »

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HushHush-def

VINCENT JENNINGS’S WORKERS

Date: April 23, 2020 - Hush Hush

THE COUNTRY’S corner-shop keepers and ‘convenience store’ owners got a shock in recent weeks as their poorly paid employees did a runner. They had gone to claim the Covid-19 €350 payment, which was more than they earned for working for members of the Convenience Stores and Newsagents’ Association. The association’s boss, Vincent Jennings, and some… Read more »

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Roz Purcell

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: April 23, 2020 - The Hot Air Brigade

I am trying my best to be 100% present in whatever is happening right now, aiming to be totally and utterly ‘forcibly’ present. Roz Purcell on dealing with lockdown restrictions, TheJournal.ie, submitted by reader Admittedly, I did pull out my red sequin ballgown for a trip to Lidl. Taryn de Vere’s small thrills, RTÉ This… Read more »

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