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CRYSTAL LI’S TENDER DOCUMENTS

Date: March 21, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

CONGRATULATIONS to Goldhawk’s favourite Russian lawyer, Olga Shajaku, who has sent a shot across the bows of Paschal Donohoe’s Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER), where the mandarins are getting nervous. It will be recalled (see The Phoenix, 1/6/18) that, after numerous visits to court, Olga won out when the Court of Appeal ordered… Read more »

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letters to editor

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Date: March 21, 2019 - Letters to the Editor

ISRAEL ACFI Further to your article “Israeli backlash at DCU”, we would like to make the following points: 1. ACFI is entirely Irish, with no affiliation or relationship of any sort with Israel. Your headline is misleading and not supported by anything in the article itself. 2. In describing tweets calling for Israel to “cease… Read more »

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Billy Kelleher

KELLEHER: PRO- LIFE VENGEANCE

Date: March 21, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

MYSTIFICATION AT Fianna Fáil TD Billy Kelleher’s defeat at the Euro convention for the South constituency was soon clarified as most delegates and members elsewhere realised that the frontbencher had fallen victim to a number of factors, with the strong pro-life lobby in the party being one of them. The pre-convention speculation had earlier focussed… Read more »

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Sinead O'Connor

SINÉAD O’CONNOR’S EX

Date: March 21, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

THE DREADED taxman has just registered a judgment against one Fachtna O’Ceallaigh, who happens to be the former long-term manager and former lover of the singer formerly known as Sinéad O’Connor. O’Ceallaigh is currently suing O’Connor (sorry, Shuhada’ Davitt as she now prefers to be known) through his talent agency, TAL Management, for more than… Read more »

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Jack Sen

SLEEPWALKING WITH THE FAR RIGHT

Date: March 21, 2019 - Hush Hush

The biggest shock for New Zealanders is that the Christchurch massacre at two mosques happened at all. The Kiwis pride themselves on being a ‘land of the welcomes’. But just like Ireland, it has become vulnerable to the global social media reach of the far right, whose constant anti-immigrant messages include repeated references to things… Read more »

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David McWilliams

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: March 21, 2019 - The Hot Air Brigade

The key difference between England and Ireland is class dynamics and education. A lovely expression of this is the cheese counter at the new artisan Dunnes. David McWilliams, Irish Times, submitted by reader I feel very sorry for Ireland – sometimes things just go all wrong in life and this is one of those days… Read more »

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Theresa May

DUP’S HARD BARGAIN

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

WHAT WERE the DUP and what passes for a British government talking about as Theresa May headed towards a third attempt to get her withdrawal agreement over the line? All roads lead back to the joint report of December 2017, which created the basis for the British to enter negotiations on a Brexit withdrawal agreement…. Read more »

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Clare Daly

DALY AND WALLACE FOR EUROPE?

Date: March 21, 2019 - Last Refuge

THE FOURTH seat in the Dublin Euro constituency is seen as hard to call, with the first three going to Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael), Barry Andrews (Fianna Fáil) and Lynn Boylan (Sinn Féin). No strong personality has yet emerged to claim the Independent slot that… Read more »

Ruth Coppinger

RUTH COPPINGER’S BORDER LINE

Date: March 21, 2019 - Last Refuge

THE CURIOUS fascination of the ‘bourgeois media’ with the attacks on TD Paul Murphy’s Socialist Party (SP) from its comrades on the Committee for a Workers International (CWI) may have missed the point. The CWI – in particular, England and Wales SP leader Peter Taaffe – criticised the Irish SP and its TDs (Murphy, Ruth… Read more »

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Paschal Donohoe

PASCHAL, SIMON AND VLAD

Date: March 21, 2019 - Last Refuge

SOMEBODY IS stirring it for Simon Coveney, with the Sunday Times followed by the Irish Times both suggesting that Paschal Donohoe is now the anointed successor to Leo Varadkar. This line of patter on the leadership succession began earlier than the media speculation. The suggestion was floated by sources at senior level that Simon might… Read more »

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Mark Durkan

MARTIN LET DURKAN SLIP TO FG – TWICE

Date: March 21, 2019 - Last Refuge

FINE GAEL’S acquisition of former SDLP leader Mark Durkan to its Euro election ticket in Dublin has been characterised as a brilliant coup by Leo Varadkar. It seriously embarrassed Fianna Fáil following its recent, abortive bid for a merger with the SDLP and it is… Read more »

Ruth Dudley Edwards

RUTH DUD DEPARTS ‘SINDO’

Date: March 21, 2019 - Fit to Print?

LONG-TIME Sunday Independent scourge of Republicanism Ruth Dudley Edwards bid the newspaper au revoir recently. However, she reassured anxious readers that, while she was exiting the paper, she would occasionally treat them to further offerings (ie, diatribes against such as the Satanic Gerry Adams and his coven, Mary Lou and Michelle O’Neill). Many have assumed… Read more »

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

FIONA MITCHELL’S DESK

Date: March 21, 2019 - Fit to Print?

RTÉ’S departing south-eastern correspondent, Damien Tiernan, gave the station a lash as he walked out the door in January. Tiernan pointed out that news stories broadcast from the Waterford studio had declined by about 300% since the 2000s and were now at a low of 50 or 60 a year. This compares to the London… Read more »

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Gemma O'Doherty

GEMMA EXPOSES CHRISTCHURCH!

Date: March 21, 2019 - Fit to Print?

“INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST” Gemma O’Doherty has either produced the international scoop of the 21st century or shot herself in various limbs with the assertion that the Christchurch horror “has all the hallmarks of a classic false flag operation… à la 9/11. A professional job. The public… Read more »

Richard Bruton

KIDDING YOU NOT

Date: March 21, 2019 - Fowl Emissions

The kids are all right. Last Friday, an estimated 1.4 million schoolchildren worldwide walked out of school and took to the streets to demand climate action. The scale and intensity of the protest was without precedent. Up to 15,000 students convened on Stephen’s Green in Dublin and marched noisily, colourfully and peacefully to a mass… Read more »

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LEO VARADKAR’S FARM FAN

Date: March 21, 2019 - Fowl Emissions

Just days before the schools climate strike, another street-based show of strength took place in Dublin, this time in the leafy environs of Lansdowne Road. Donning their green scarves, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and foreign minister Simon Coveney were photographed strolling to the rugby match with… Read more »

Bog-Cuttings-Default

BOG CUTTINGS

Date: March 21, 2019 - Bog Cuttings

Garda called a ‘dickhead’ A CARRICK-ON-SUIR man called a garda a “dickhead” and made a rude gesture at him when the officer seized a car he was sitting in. Dean Foley of 19 Glenview, Carrick-on-Suir, pleaded guilty in the District Court to engaging in disorderly… Read more »

Rosheen McGuckian

ROSHEEN McGUCKIAN’S EXIT

Date: March 21, 2019 - High Society

THERE HAVE been changes at NTR’s charitable foundation, with NTR chief executive Rosheen McGuckian, who chaired the charity, stepping down last year. McGuckian is a woman in demand and a high-profile gig as a non-executive director of Green Reit will surely be taking up a chunk of her time. She also sits on the board… Read more »

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Consuelo O’Connor

KAREN’S WEDDING DATES

Date: March 21, 2019 - High Society

THE IRISH arm of a business that organises glamorous weddings in the port of Lindos on the sunny Greek island of Rhodes has come a cropper at the hands of the dreaded taxman. The good news is that another venture is up and running. An operation called Lindos Weddings was established in 2004 by Karen… Read more »

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Seána Kerslake

THE HOLE IN THE GROUND – DIRECTED BY LEE CRONIN

Date: March 21, 2019 - MoviesReviews

THERE’S NOT much wrong with Lee Cronin’s technically adept debut, The Hole in the Ground. Its problem is that, although it is streets ahead of recent Irish-made schlockers, like Brian O’Malley’s The Lodgers, Cronin’s film is not remarkable enough to rise above humdrum genre fare. It falls down in its storytelling, confusing plot with story,… Read more »

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WHEN ALL IS SAID - ANNE GRIFFIN (SCEPTRE)

WHEN ALL IS SAID – ANNE GRIFFIN (SCEPTRE)

Date: March 21, 2019 - BooksReviews

THIS DEBUT novel from the prize-winning short-story writer takes the form of a series of expansive inner monologues by a recently widowed 84-year-old farmer, Maurice Hannigan. Over the course of a fateful night, he sits at the bar of his local hotel, where he drinks several elegiac toasts to the most influential people he has… Read more »

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Sheila Pratschke

NO QUEUE TO SUCCEED PRATSCHKE

Date: March 21, 2019 - Behind the Scenes

CULTURE MINISTER Josepha Madigan’s search for the next chair of the Arts Council has begun (albeit a little late in the day), but suitable candidates are in rather short supply. When outgoing chair Sheila Pratschke’s five-year term was coming to its end date (February 25), Goldhawk asked about the advertising of the post, as well… Read more »

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Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

SLOWLY DOES AT IVEAGH HOUSE

Date: March 21, 2019 - Behind the Scenes

DOCUMENTS released to Goldhawk reveal that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade created the new post of cultural director as it was deemed one of a number of “urgent positions”. Mandarins had agreed they should “seek to immediately reinforce a number of areas… identified as critical in helping the department mitigate against significant risks… Read more »

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Katie Holly

MORE HAPPY ENDINGS FOR FILM PRODUCERS

Date: March 21, 2019 - Behind the Scenes

BY HAPPY coincidence, figures have emerged from three separate film and television funding schemes that dispense public lolly to hard-pressed producers. The Sound and Vision fund at Michael O’Keefe’s Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has come up trumps, with just over €5m for 29 TV projects, while Annie Doona’s Screen Ireland (SI) threw a handy… Read more »

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Sean Mulryan

BOOM GETTING BOOMIER

Date: March 21, 2019 - Sport of Kings

FANS OF Goldhawk may not have been too surprised to see Sean Mulryan in the winners’ enclosure at Cheltenham last week (see The Phoenix, 22/2/19). Mulryan celebrated his first runner at the Cheltenham Festival in 10 years in the best way – by winning his own race, the Ballymore Novices Hurdle, with City Island (bought… Read more »

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Rachael Blackmore

BLACKMORE’S BRACE

Date: March 21, 2019 - Sport of Kings

DESPITE HER ascension into the top tier of jump jockeys, Rachael Blackmore still had a point to prove as, before the Cheltenham festival, she hadn’t ridden a Grade 1 winner nor had she ridden a winner there. She put those two omissions to bed in style, breaking her festival duck in the prestigious colours of… Read more »

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Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

DECLAN LAVERY’S SURPRISE BAN

Date: March 21, 2019 - Sport of Kings

A GROUP of Irish amateur jockeys felt the full force of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) at Cheltenham when the trio of Declan Lavery, Rob James and Noel McParlan were banned for a total of 37 days between them in circumstances that could have long-term repercussions for the sport. The first case has caused very… Read more »

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Rich Ricci

RICCI FEELS THE HEAT

Date: March 21, 2019 - Sport of Kings

CHELTENHAM provided liberal helpings of thrills. There was also karma of sorts at play when the Rich Ricci-owned Benie Des Dieux, considered by many as one of the bankers of the meeting, stumbled and fell after the last in the Mares’ Hurdle with the race… Read more »

Albert Manifold

TIME FOR CRH TO SPIN OFF US INTERESTS

Date: March 21, 2019 - Moneybags

TAKING ADVANTAGE of the recent collapse in CRH’s share price, the arrival on the share register last month of the largest activist fund in Europe – the Stockholm-based Cevian (which picked up a 3% stake for €600m) – caused excitement in Dublin, but wrong-footed the… Read more »

Tony Smurfit

WILL INT PAPER SWOOP ON SMURFIT AGAIN?

Date: March 21, 2019 - Moneybags

SMURFIT KAPPA’S Tony Smurfit has proven a short-sighted CEO who displays little awareness of the bigger picture. When the much larger International Paper (IP) cardboard box company requested a meeting on February 14 last year to put forward “a specific proposal”, Smurfit informed IP that it was his firm belief that it would not be… Read more »

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Hot Water Brigade default

BACSTROKE’S BAD NEWS

Date: March 21, 2019 - Brief Cases

SPARE a thought for the production company and, er, specialists in inflatable leisure Bacstroke Limited, which featured on the tax defaulters’ list, having paid the Revenue almost €60,000, including penalties and interest. The Ballymount-based Prop Me Up group (owned by Bacstroke) was hit for underdeclaration of corporation tax, PAYE, USC and PRSI. A quick glance… Read more »

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Rachel Graham

RACHEL GRAHAM BOUNCES BACK

Date: March 21, 2019 - Brief Cases

Rachel Graham and hubby Victor Graham’s Italian-themed Dundalk restaurant, Eno, had a liquidator appointed last month. Entrepreneur Rachel previously owned a specialist shoe shop, The Shoe Room, which catered for women with larger feet. It operated above the restaurant for four years before folding. The good news is the couple had already launched a new,… Read more »

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Evan Chamberlain

TV PRODUCER FEELS THE PINCH

Date: March 21, 2019 - Brief Cases

A busy Ranelagh-based television production firm, Good Company Productions Limited, starred in the latest tax defaulters’ list, having paid the Revenue some €219,000 (including €78,000 in penalties and interest) for underdeclaration of VAT, PAYE, PRSI and USC. Judging by the last accounts, Good Company has gone through a bit of a rough patch, with accumulated… Read more »

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Alan Hynes

FINAL WORD ON ALAN HYNES?

Date: March 21, 2019 - Brief Cases

A small legal notice published in the media last week by Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI) marks the final chapter in the long-running Alan Hynes saga. The legal note confirmed that the exclusion of Hynes from CAI membership has now come into effect (following the dismissal of the controversial accountant’s appeal). Fans of Goldhawk will recall… Read more »

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Hot Water Brigade default

VITGESON’S MILLION EURO BONUS

Date: March 21, 2019 - Brief Cases

THE receiver of a Nama-controlled property development company, Vitgeson Limited, offloaded a 59-acre site in Blackcastle, Co Meath, for a healthy €9.5m – €1m more than it had been previously valued. Meath-based Vitgeson has begun to turn things around since Tom O’Brien was appointed receiver in 2016, but there are still some lingering issues. Vitgeson… Read more »

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Ruthie Heatherington

RUTHIE H’S HARD TIMES

Date: March 21, 2019 - Brief Cases

FANS of Goldhawk will remember nutrition entrepreneur Ruth Heatherington and her company, Miss Fit Enterprises Ltd, which has now been wound up. Heatherington previously refused to tell Goldhawk if the recall of her Miss Fit Skinny brand of teas and coffees by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) had anything to do with the… Read more »

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