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Vol 37 No 04

Date: February 21, 2019 -

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SIMON COVENEY’S PRIORITIES

Date: February 21, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

WITH THE children’s hospital overrun grabbing headlines for the last month, the contractors, BAM, are at the centre of a media storm. This is uncomfortable for Simon Coveney, who has been a prominent supporter of a multimillion euro event centre planned for Cork, where BAM… Read more »

DEALING WITH CYRIL BURKE

Date: February 21, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

FINE GAEL’S executive council must grapple with a delicate issue in the next few weeks as controversial Mayo county councillor, Cyril Burke, requires to be dealt with on two fronts. Watchdog SIPO ruled that Cyril had acted “recklessly” when dealing with Independent councillor Frank Durcan in rezoning issues, although no personal gain was alleged. But… Read more »

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STOP THAT WOMAN HANAFIN!

Date: February 21, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

BARRY ANDREWS’S formidable, family political machine was a big factor in his Fianna Fáil convention victory for the Dublin Euro ticket last Sunday, but Mary Hanafin played an unintentional part in his victory. Just how helpful the FF leadership was to gay activist Tiernan Brady is hard to gauge, but certainly Micheál Martin et al… Read more »

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RONAN KEATING’S CORPORATE PAL

Date: February 21, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

WITH BOYZONE winding down their farewell tour, which concludes in Dubai (natch) in April, hopefully lead singer Ronan Keating will not be overly distracted by news that his pal, Andrew Tinkler, has come a cropper in the UK High Court. Tinkler had been fired as chief executive of the UK-listed transport/infrastructure company Stobart (which operates… Read more »

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STAKEKNIFE AN RUC CONSTRUCT

Date: February 21, 2019 - Hush Hush

THE EPIC John Le Carré-type tale about super spy ‘Stakeknife’, aka Fred Scappaticci, was last week seriously challenged by Operation Kenova, the team tasked to investigate the Stakeknife saga. Kenova’s head, senior British police office Jon Boutcher, has stated that the ‘name swap’ story attached… Read more »

BRITISH SPOOKS TARGET VARADKAR

Date: February 21, 2019 - Hush Hush

The anarchist ‘Hacktivist’ group Anonymous continues to leak details of a disinformation campaign run jointly by the UK’s Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence, known as the ‘Integrity Initiative’. Its targets have not only included British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his communications director, Seumas Milne, but also our own Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. In cyberwar… Read more »

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THE ‘BURKEAN JOURNAL’S’ GENETICS PROBLEM

Date: February 21, 2019 - Student Life

Oh dear, it looks like the Burkean Journal has lost its way. The right-wing journal – founded by Trinity College students to combat the supremacy of the damn blasted left on campus – is currently mired in a controversy that has seen some of its founders and high-profile cheerleaders withdraw support. Fans of Goldhawk will… Read more »

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SORCHA RYDER’S HEADACHES

Date: February 21, 2019 - Student Life

TRINITY debating society president Sorcha Ryder is having a term of office to forget. Fresh from the controversy over the sudden decision to disinvite prominent Israel critic Norman Finkelstein (see The Phoenix, 8/2/19), her society, The Phil, has come in for more negative publicity. This time, the Trinners students have had to issue a grovelling… Read more »

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THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: February 21, 2019 - The Hot Air Brigade

But what the congresswoman’s post shows is how, in the past two years, the concept of skincare has changed beyond all recognition. The Irish Times on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s skin routine Instagram post I was somewhat inspired by the movie Zulu, where Michael Caine looked so amazing in his red army jacket and his blond hair…. Read more »

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TOWN HALL BUN FIGHTS

Date: February 21, 2019 - Bird's Eye View

Simon Coveney had to travel north from the All-Island Civic Dialogue on 15 February to participate in what Mary Lou McDonald called a “sham” at Stormont. The northern secretary, Karen Bradley, had called the northern parties together to discuss – nothing much. There seemed to be no other reason except that it was exactly a… Read more »

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SINN FÉIN GOES BACK TO BASICS

Date: February 21, 2019 - Last Refuge

SINN FÉIN is still struggling in the polls following its disastrous presidential campaign and appears to have reverted to harder, more Republican and leftist policies following a fractious post mortem. The post mortem was held under the vigilant eye of that old soldier Martin Ferris TD, a long-time member of the leadership, who led a… Read more »

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FRANK O’ROURKE TD: SIMPLY THE BEST

Date: February 21, 2019 - Last Refuge

“IF A cow calved in Ardclough, Frank would claim to be its father” is how Kildare Independent councillor Bernard Caldwell described Kildare North Fianna Fáil TD Frank O’Rourke’s inimitable public relations campaign last September. That was after Frank beat all other councillors to the media punch when claiming credit for improvements to the bridge in… Read more »

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MICHEÁL MARTIN’S STRATEGY

Date: February 21, 2019 - Last Refuge

SIGNS OF establishment anxiety about the government’s durability were visible last weekend and they were not eased with a poll that showed Fine Gael holding on 30%, but Leo Varadkar flatlining on 39% personal satisfaction. This indicates that discontent with FG could be imminent, especially when one drills down into the sectoral figures in the… Read more »

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FINE GAEL FLEES FROM HEALY-RAES

Date: February 21, 2019 - Last Refuge

DANNY HEALY-RAE’S clownish antics on climate change and sundry issues are beginning to wear thin, even amongst the family’s large fan base in the Kingdom, but Fine Gael is still running scared of the TD and his brother, Michael, also a TD. Dublin HQ had been looking for a candidate in the northern part of… Read more »

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VINCENT BROWNE’S LIBEL FEUDS

Date: February 21, 2019 - Fit to Print?

FORMER justice minister Paddy Cooney (88 next month) has received comforting financial compensation and a measure of vindication arising from his serial litigation involving stories penned by provocative journalist Vincent Browne. A short notice in the Irish Times recently stated that Cooney had settled his libel action against the newspaper and Browne following an article… Read more »

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

BOYCOTTING BETHANY

Date: February 21, 2019 - Fit to Print?

THE VIRTUAL boycott of the Bethany Homes scandal (over 200 babies died there in the first 27 years of the state) by the media, the Irish Times in particular, is baffling. Despite saturation coverage of Catholic institutions and their role in the abuse of children down the years, the IT’s failure to scrutinise the same… Read more »

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‘IRISH TIMES’ HUBRIS

Date: February 21, 2019 - Fit to Print?

THE TRIUMPHAL tone of Irish Times managing director Liam Kavanagh’s recent message to staff declaring victory over its Rome correspondent Paddy Agnew’s unfair dismissal case may be a bit previous. The judge’s ruling in Italy’s version of the Labour Court was based on Agnew’s failure to continue membership of the Italian register of professional journalists… Read more »

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KIDS 4 CLIMATE

Date: February 21, 2019 - Fowl Emissions

MINISTERS HAVE been talking a good fight on tackling climate change recently. On the other hand, actual policies to make this happen are as transparently threadbare as the emperor’s new robes in the Hans Christian Anderson tale. As leaders in Ireland and around the world… Read more »

OIL PAINTINGS

Date: February 21, 2019 - Fowl Emissions

An interesting sidebar to the ongoing debacle over the National Children’s Hospital has been the state’s decision to turn down giving naming rights to the Ronald McDonald charity to help fund the building of family accommodation adjacent to the hospital. It’s unsurprising that having a junk food corporation sponsor any aspect of a children’s hospital… Read more »

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BOG CUTTINGS

Date: February 21, 2019 - Bog Cuttings

RANTED AT OFFICERS A SON of a garda called gardaí “cunts”, “bastards” and “faggots” in the seaside resort of Lahinch last November. At Ennis District Court, Judge Patrick Durcan described Finbarr O’Leary’s behaviour in the early hours of November 17 as “absolutely reprehensible”. Outlining the facts, Sgt Aidan Lonergan told Judge Durcan that O’Leary –… Read more »

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ALI BARKER’S DAY IN COURT

Date: February 21, 2019 - High Society

THERE WERE sighs of relief last week when a long-running, high-stakes legal action between a separated couple was settled after the opening day in court. With the meter ticking since 2011, this was presumably the best outcome for all concerned. Goldhawk was interested to see that one half of the couple turns out to be… Read more »

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MARTIN JOYCE’S PILE

Date: February 21, 2019 - High Society

AN IMPRESSIVE pile in Sandymount D4, previously owned by TP McKenna, has gone on the market with a hefty €3m price tag. The vendors are Martin and Joyce Henihan. The former is a well known name in architectural circles and has also been involved in a rather less lucrative property venture. Sandymount, however, is a… Read more »

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TAXMAN STARS IN ARTHOUSE DRAMA

Date: February 21, 2019 - Behind the Scenes

JUST WHEN the dust seemed to have settled on Galway’s dalliance with ‘cultural cinema’ – the bijou Pálás art house having been folded at considerable public cost into Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe’s Element empire – it turns out that a sequel, involving the Lelia Doolan-chaired Solas-Galway Picture Palace Company, may be in the offing…. Read more »

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COOPER CUT LOOSE

Date: February 21, 2019 - Sport of Kings

BRYAN COOPER’S stint as first jockey to Chris Jones was certainly short-lived, with the association coming to an end just before the Dublin Racing Festival. Cooper had only joined forces with Jones in November and, while the partnership got off to a reasonable start with a win on board the promising Coeur Sublime at Down… Read more »

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MULRYAN TARGETS BALLYMORE

Date: February 21, 2019 - Sport of Kings

COMEBACK KID Sean Mulryan – once again a major player in the national hunt owners’ league – took another step forward recently when he enjoyed a weekend double at his local tracks of Naas and Punchestown. More significantly for Mulryan, one of his winners, City Island, now looks good enough to tackle his owner’s own… Read more »

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JIM BOLGER’S TWO YEAR OLDS

Date: February 21, 2019 - Sport of Kings

SOME EYEBROWS were raised a few years ago when Jim Bolger sent around 20 of his mares to be covered by little-known stallion Fracas, who stands at Joe Joyce’s Cahermorris Stables in Galway. The sceptics will have their predictions put to the test in the… Read more »

ANDREW HUGHES’S HICCUP

Date: February 21, 2019 - Sport of Kings

THE BRITISH Horseracing Authority (BHA) offered little room for manoeuvre to a nonplussed Andrew Hughes when he made the trip to Scotland recently. He needs some good news and fast. When the Irish-trained The Tartan Spartan arrived at Musselburgh racecourse in Scotland for the first day back racing after the enforced six-day break, he was… Read more »

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EXCEPTIONAL COSTS MEAN IFG SHARES ARE OVERVALUED

Date: February 21, 2019 - Moneybags

IT IS difficult to know exactly how IFG got involved in the £200m Elysian bioethanol plant scandal that kicked off a few years ago, but it is still casting a pall over the group. It is also hard to understand why John Gallagher got involved… Read more »

LIAM HAZEL’S ‘NIGHTMARE’

Date: February 21, 2019 - Briefcases

GOLDHAWK got a blast from the past recently when he saw old pal Alex Gibbons pop up in the Court of Appeal. The rogue Clonakilty solicitor will be familiar to readers for his numerous scraps with the Law Society, which struck him off the Roll of Solicitors in 2016 for a third time for, among… Read more »

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JACKIE GREENE’S PROFIT SPLIT

Date: February 21, 2019 - Briefcases

A DUBLIN-based building company, Jackie Greene Construction (JGC) Ltd, had a bad time of it in the Supreme Court last month in a long-running scrap with the IBRC. The judgment by chief justice Frank Clarke contains some interesting insight into the modus operandi of Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS) under Michael Fingelton. Founded by Jackie… Read more »

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THOMAS FLANAGAN’S ITALIAN PALS

Date: February 21, 2019 - Briefcases

CONNEMARA aeuronautics business Éirecomposites Teoranta (ET) has finally gotten around to filing its 2017 accounts. And there was some good news at last for its largest shareholder, Tuam businessman Thomas Flanagan. The company exited examinership last August and, according to the recent filings, has managed to secure €1.5m in investment since then. It’s a rare… Read more »

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JOHN SWAN’S ROTTEN FRUIT

Date: February 21, 2019 - Briefcases

INTERESTING to see that accountant John Healy has just been appointed provisional liquidator to Carlow wholesaler Bestwell Ltd. The largest shareholder here is Palatine businessman John Swan (80%), who has managed to seriously piss off the taxman with his alleged conduct at another company, Swan Fruit Ltd. His Kernanstown-based cash-and-carry company, Swan Fruit, where his… Read more »

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NOT SO TASTY FOR BRODERICKS

Date: February 21, 2019 - Briefcases

NEWLY filed accounts suggest the brothers behind Broderick’s cakes and bars could do with sweetening their mix. Although sales were up slightly at Ina’s Kitchen Desserts (IKD) Ltd, the company behind the brand made a loss of €1.8m in 2017, with accumulated losses at the Tallaght-based outfit topping €2m by the end of the year…. Read more »

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DÉJÀ VU FOR NICHOLAS CUSHNAHAN

Date: February 21, 2019 - Briefcases

For a second time in as many years, Dublin bean counter Nicholas Cushnahan, a partner at Houlihan Cushnahan chartered accountants in Glasthule, has found himself on the wrong side of the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board (CARB). At the end of last month, Cushnahan was yet again slapped on the wrist for failing to cooperate with… Read more »

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DES COFFEY’S NEW JUDGMENTS

Date: February 21, 2019 - Briefcases

MORE hard cheese for restaurateur Des Coffey, who has just had two small tax judgments registered against him, less than a month after the Revenue wound up one of his companies. Fans of Goldhawk will recall that the taxman successfully petitioned the High Court to wind up Farm Food Emporium Ltd – the company behind… Read more »

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