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MEASURING THE GAS-GUZZLERS

Date: June 4, 2020 - Fowl Emissions

Prior to 2008, big cars came with even bigger annual road tax bills. Then, thanks to an ill-conceived change in the rules in which CO2 emissions were ostensibly taken into account, both vehicle registration tax (VRT) and road tax plummeted for many cars, especially the new generation of ‘clean diesels’, including prestige marques such as… Read more »

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Helen McEntee

HELEN OF NAVAN

Date: June 4, 2020 - Last Refuge

LEO VARADKAR has a serious gender issue on his hands when it comes to selecting ministers for any new cabinet in the near future. His references to gender and geography in the selection of his ministerial team – during that recent call he made to councillors – was not some PC digression and there are… Read more »

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Marian Harkin

MARIAN HARKIN VS MICHAEL LOWRY

Date: June 4, 2020 - Last Refuge

FORMER MEP Marian Harkin strolled back into the Dáil in February – after an absence of 15 years spent in Euroland – but found that her powers of networking, negotiating and fixing had waned in the intervening decade and a half. In the months leading up to the general election, the Independent candidate spent much… Read more »

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Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

BOG CUTTINGS

Date: June 4, 2020 - Bog Cuttings

FlowerS For His Bud Egiidijus Vasiliauskas, of 1 Drummin Court, Nenagh, appeared before Nenagh District Court in relation to a charge dating from October 14, 2019. Mr Vasiliauskas was arrested by gardaí on the date in question following the theft of two bouquets of flowers, worth €30, from an Applegreen Service Station in Birdhill –… Read more »

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Pat Leahy

‘IRISH TIMES’ PATRIOTIC DUTY

Date: June 4, 2020 - Fit to Print?

IF A programme for government is agreed shortly, then the Irish Times will deserve plaudits (especially political editor Pat Leahy) from the three parties involved (especially Fianna Fáil) for its responsible and, em, constructive reportage. As the Greens edged toward negotiations at the end of April, Leahy wrote that a government deal would likely be… Read more »

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

TOM MCGUIRE’S SUCCESSOR

Date: June 4, 2020 - Fit to Print?

CLAIRE BYRNE and Miriam O’Callaghan must wait until another top radio job – a replacement for the retiring head of RTÉ Radio 1, Tom McGuire – is filled before a decision is made about who will succeed Seán O’Rourke. In the meantime, Sarah McInerney is getting a good press from two influential sources, Irish Times… Read more »

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Mary Lou McDonald

‘SINDO’ RENAISSANCE?

Date: June 4, 2020 - Fit to Print?

THAT ANY newspaper editor should proclaim as ground breaking an interview with the leader of the biggest vote-getting party in the country, Sinn Fein’s Mary Lou McDonald, says more about the newspaper – the Sunday Independent – than the political party. Newly appointed Sindo editor Alan English told readers that we live in changed times,… Read more »

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Sean McCarthy

JIGS AND REELS AND LEGAL FEES

Date: June 4, 2020 - Behind the Scenes

A THIRD set of High Court proceedings has just been initiated in connection with a row between some high-profile Irish traditional music and dance stars – uilleann piper Seán McCarthy, dancer Jacintha Sharpe and accordionist Eimhin Liddy. They have all been involved with the production of a Riverdance-style show called Celtic Legends, but these days… Read more »

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Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

SPINNING AT LISSADELL

Date: June 4, 2020 - Behind the Scenes

WITH THE music festival season shot to bits, the only light at the end of the tunnel is the announcement by the owners of Lissadell House in Co Sligo that they intend to stage a lorry load of gigs on the estate next year. Given the history here, it may prove easier said than done…. Read more »

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Pat and Una McDonagh

PAT MCDONAGH’S PILE

Date: June 4, 2020 - High Society

LAST WEEK was one to forget for Supermac’s founder, Pat McDonagh, after his “winning the Lotto” comments about certain workers on the Covid-19 emergency payment. For a multi-millionaire who had been happy to splash out a cool €1.2m above the asking price for a prime Co Galway property, this looks a bit rich. With some… Read more »

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Mohammed Al Zubair

TIME TO EXAMINE AMINEX’S ACTIVITIES

Date: June 4, 2020 - Moneybags

IT IS difficult to know what exactly is going on inside Aminex and exactly where it is getting its leadership from. What is clear is that there have been some board and executive appointments that have hugely increased the links to the major shareholder – Mohammed Al Zubair. The unfortunate independent shareholders have seen the… Read more »

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Michael O'Leary

RYANAIR HAMMERED BY COVID AND FUEL HEDGES

Date: June 4, 2020 - Moneybags

THE INTERNATIONAL passenger airline business is in tatters courtesy of Covid-19. Warren Buffett dumped all Berkshire Hathaway’s airline holdings on the basis that even those companies that manage to survive will face serious problems. In Ryanair, Mick O’Leary is adopting a bolshy and confident demeanour, but a bumpy ride cannot be avoided. And there will… Read more »

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Liam Dowdall

LIAM DOWDALL’S POLISH HEADACHE

Date: June 4, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

IN THE High Court last month, a ruling was made refusing an application to remove high-profile number cruncher Liam Dowdall from his role as liquidator of a company characterised by internecine feuding among the shareholders. This is unlikely to be the end of the affair. Dowdall is a well-known player in the insolvency game and… Read more »

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Marc Ó Broin

MARC Ó BROIN’S PRACTISING CERT

Date: June 4, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

SURPRISING TO see established number cruncher and financial adviser Marc Ó Broin fall foul of Chartered Accountants Ireland’s quality assurance committee. It published a notice recently stating that he “no longer holds a practising certificate and insolvency practising certificate on the basis that the firm [MÓB Accountants] has not evidenced professional indemnity insurance”. Busy Marc… Read more »

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DISCIPLINING THE ACCOUNTANTS

Date: June 4, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

MARC Ó BROIN was not the only number cruncher who caught the attention of the Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI) in recent weeks. Earlier this year, Trevor Keenan of TOK Accountants, North Road, Monaghan, was found to have breached the CAI’s code of ethics by failing to submit VAT returns on behalf of a client and… Read more »

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Kevin Cahill

DR KEVIN CAHILL’S ACCUSER

Date: June 4, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

A POTENTIALLY devastating scandal threatens one of the most distinguished Irish-American medics in generations, New York-based Dr Kevin Cahill. Cahill studied with Mother Teresa in Kolkata and later treated Pope John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan. Described as former professor of international humanitarian affairs at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, he has… Read more »

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Desiree Finnegan

SKELETON CREW AT SCREEN IRELAND

Date: June 4, 2020 - Behind the Scenes

THE BOARD of Screen Ireland (SI) is looking pretty depleted these days, with the terms of three board members having ended in March – Larry Bass, Mark Fenton and Rachel Lysaght. This may explain why there is still no sign of the 2020 first-quarter hand-outs to producers on the agency website. At the time of… Read more »

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Leo Varadkar

BLUESHIRT ELECTION PLOT

Date: May 21, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THAT Irish Times report about general election contingency preparations “by officials on the orders of minister for housing Eoghan Murphy” was revised in next day’s Fine Gael statement to read, “officials were only doing their job by scenario planning”. But of course. Sure, why would Murphy – still Leo Varadkar’s closest friend and ally in… Read more »

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Dana

ALL KINDS OF WRITS

Date: May 21, 2020 - Fit to Print?

COVID-19 KNOWS no boundaries, but neither does the determination of Eurovision winner, ex-MEP and two times presidential candidate Dana Rosemary Scallon to exact vindication from various media. Dana’s brother, John Brown, was charged with alleged child abuse, but was acquitted of all charges in an English court in 2014, following which the two have sued… Read more »

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Brian Kavanagh

PROFILE: BRIAN KAVANAGH

Date: May 21, 2020 - Pillars of Society

THE €2bn Irish horseracing industry needs a safe pair of hands on the reins to guide the sector over some heavy going as the sport resumes next month under Covid-19 protocols. In the spotlight is the longstanding chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), Brian Kavanagh, but questions have been asked about his handling of… Read more »

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Cian O'Callaghan

YOUNG BLOOD: CIAN O’CALLAGHAN

Date: May 21, 2020 - The Young Bloods

THE SOCIAL Democrats were eclipsed in the general election by the stunning performance of Sinn Féin and the Greens’ considerable achievement in taking 12 seats, but the young party did well enough, coming back with six seats. Of these, Cian O’Callaghan is probably the most serious left-wing TD in the party. Róisín Shortall and Catherine… Read more »

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David Barniville

BARNSTORMING THE HIGH COURT

Date: May 21, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

RETIRING HIGH Court president Justice Kelly’s successor will likely come from that set which for years staffed the upper echelons of the Law Library, hogging the lucrative corporate, commercial briefs before going on to the bench. This elite includes ex-Attorney General Paul Gallagher SC, still a practicing barrister; Supreme Court judge Donal O’Donnell; Court of… Read more »

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Rory McIlroy

RORY MCILROY’S INVESTMENT

Date: May 21, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

RORY MCILROY made headlines last week after saying in an interview that he wouldn’t play golf again with Donald Tump. He has also been chipping in a fair few bob at an interesting Irish testing company. The multi-millionaire world No 1 golfer had been happy to do a round with the US prez in 2017,… Read more »

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MBS AND MCD

Date: May 21, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THERE WERE glum faces earlier this month, including Denis Desmond’s, when MCD pulled the plug on the 2020 Electric Picnic. However, Goldhawk wonders how many young (or middle-aged) ‘revellers’ are aware of a new name on the share register of MCD’s parent company, Live Nation. Rock ’n’ roll is a finicky business at the best… Read more »

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Liam Clarke

MURDOCH’S HACKS AND HACKERS

Date: May 21, 2020 - Hush Hush

The idea that a veteran journalist might also be a state spy is unfortunately not as farfetched as it sounds. Former News of the World (NOW) senior hack Neville Thurlbeck announced his withdrawal from working life recently. Thurlbeck, who was jailed for hacking offences in 2014, was not only a former senior news editor at… Read more »

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Audrey and John Cunningham

CUNNINGHAMS MEET THEIR MATCH

Date: May 21, 2020 - The Hot Water Brigade

GOLDHAWK WAS surprised to see a creditors’ meeting called for Market Match Ltd, a public relations and marketing business operating in Ranelagh, D6. The company is owned by high-flying art-collectors John and Audrey Cunningham. John Cunningham will be known to fans of Goldhawk thanks to his involvement with the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA),… Read more »

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3810-FP

Vol. 38 No. 10

Date: May 21, 2020 -

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Paul Reid

TROUBLE BREWING FOR TRACING APP

Date: May 21, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THERE HAS been much talk by Paul Reid and the HSE about the proposed Covid-19 smartphone contact tracing app due out in the next few weeks. Given the special requirements in this country in relation to extensive cross-border traffic, Goldhawk was curious as to exactly what steps, if any, the HSE has taken to develop… Read more »

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Brendan McDonagh

MANDARINS DEFEND NAMA

Date: May 21, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) went out to bat for Brendan McDonagh and Frank Daly (CEO and chair of Nama respectively), claiming that there was much ado about nothing on foot of a Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy’s report that claimed the agency had missed out on €29m. As fans of Goldhawk will be… Read more »

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George McNeice

SPECIALISTS IN SPLITS

Date: May 21, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THE HIPPOCRATIC Oath brigade are a great bunch for splits and it looks like another has emerged in recent weeks. The 400 private-only Spartan warriors in the Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association (IHCA) – who work only with privately insured patients and bravely repulsed the insulting offer of €190,000 contracts – have formed a new body… Read more »

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Aengus O'Snodaigh

AENGUS Ó SNODAIGH LEADS THE WAY

Date: May 21, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

THE MORE ‘respectable’ political parties were recently made to look amateurish and even disrespectful of parliamentary procedure by Sinn Féin. At a virtual meeting last week, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghail felt compelled to deliver a stern lecture to the party whips that make up the business committee and who are supposed to agree the… Read more »

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Francesca McDonagh

BOI SUPERWOMAN

Date: May 21, 2020 - Affairs of the Nation

Things seem to keep going from bad to worse for Bank of Ireland (BoI) boss Francesca McDonagh. Having spent days last week calming the markets after worse-than-expected first-quarter results, ‘Francey’, as Irish staffers call her, had to go into a charm overdrive with Irish brokers after the share price slid by 14.9% in one afternoon…. Read more »

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HushHush-def

GERALDINE BYRNE NASON’S DIMPLOMACY

Date: May 21, 2020 - Hush Hush

OUR WOMAN at the United Nations, Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason – recently reported as having a sharp spat with Ireland’s military advisor to the permanent mission to the UN – is well used to the rough and tumble of office politics at the heart of the permanent government. One of the country’s leading mandarins, Geraldine… Read more »

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Fintan O'Toole

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: May 21, 2020 - The Hot Air Brigade

Bono may be the first Irish person since Bernard Shaw to have become a truly global celebrity. Fintan O’Toole, Irish Times Matt, I honestly feel like I’m about to throw up, that in a few seconds I’m going to wake up naked with drool on my pillow. Radio presenter Nathan O’Reilly of Spin 1038 keeps… Read more »

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Gerry Adams

THE MONEY BEHIND THE WIRE

Date: May 21, 2020 - Northwind

Last week’s unanimous decision by the UK Supreme Court quashing Gerry Adams’s convictions for twice trying to escape from internment in Long Kesh in 1973 sparked predictable outrage from Ulster Unionist politicians. The fact that it was their party leader, Brian Faulkner, who in 1971 insisted on the efficacy of internment as the way to… Read more »

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Richard Bruton

MOORE’S ALMANAC

Date: May 21, 2020 - Fowl Emissions

US FILM MAKER Michael Moore is doing his best to sabotage the boom in renewable energy with his latest attack documentary, Planet of the Humans. Desperate to rebuild his brand as a maverick “truth-teller”, Moore’s film purports to expose hypocrisy at the heart of the renewables movement, but it’s a bizarre mix of long-ago-busted myths,… Read more »

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