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Tom Taaffe

TOM TAAFFE’S TRIBULATIONS

Date: March 7, 2019 - Sport of Kings

TOM TAAFFE’S form-filling skills – or lack thereof – have been put under the spotlight recently. The trainer brought one of his horses, Walking Fame, to Gowran in January to make its debut but, when inspected by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) veterinary officer, as every newcomer is, it could not be identified as… Read more »

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Brendan McAtamney

QUESTIONS OVER UDG’S DISASTROUS SELL-OFF

Date: March 7, 2019 - Moneybags

LAST YEAR it was almost impossible to decipher the results for UDG Healthcare (previously United Drug) and, this year, the damage done to the group by a disastrous sell-off has again been well disguised. There are serious questions to be asked about the sale of UDG’s Aquilant subsidiary, which resulted in a loss of $100m…. Read more »

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Jeremy Masding

VARADKAR KEY TO OVERDUE PTSB-ULSTER BANK MERGER

Date: March 7, 2019 - Moneybags

IN A recent review of British bank RBS, Davy analysts Stephen Lyons and Jack O’Halloran included a small section on its Irish subsidiary, Ulster Bank. They noted it has only 88 branches compared with over 300 for each of the two pillar banks, Bank of Ireland and AIB. This means Ulster Bank doesn’t have the… Read more »

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THE KELLYS’ EXAM RESULTS

Date: March 7, 2019 - Brief Cases

THERE WERE some interesting claims in the Four Goldmines last month in a case that could cost the taxpayer a few bob. Interestingly, the plaintiff, a Ballinasloe-based firm that sued a Department of Education agency on grounds of bias, is understood to be currently pursuing a potentially lucrative tender from the same agency. KPW Print… Read more »

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Jed Dowling

JED DOWLING’S WRONG PRESCRIPTION

Date: March 7, 2019 - Brief Cases

INTERESTING to see Jed Dowling popping up recently in relation Donal MacNally Opticians Ltd (DMO), the company behind some of the entities that trade under the Donal McNally name (in the likes of Sutton, Swords and Malahide), which has just gone into examinership. The news… Read more »

Rolling Donut kiosk

CAFOLLA FAMILY’S HOTEL KERFUFFLE

Date: March 7, 2019 - Brief Cases

DUBLIN City Council has pulled the brakes on the proposed development of a Dublin city centre property with some interesting names attached to it. The council says that it has “serious reservations” about plans to convert the upper floors of the former Broadway Café at number 8 O’Connell Street Lower and has requested more information… Read more »

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Pat O'Sullivan

PAT O’SULLIVAN’S RECOVERY

Date: March 7, 2019 - Brief Cases

CONGRATULATIONS are in order to former Kingspan suit turned management consultant Pat O’Sullivan. His company, Denis Moriarty The Kerries Ltd (DMTK), returned a profit of just over E8.5m in 2018, dragging the civil engineering outfit back into the black after a rocky patch. Fans of Goldhawk will recall that DMTK – then owned by brothers… Read more »

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BREEGE O’CONNOR GROUNDED

Date: March 7, 2019 - Brief Cases

FANS of Goldhawk will recall the adventures of Galway builder and used car salesman Donal O’Connor, who was declared bankrupt in the north in 2012 after getting his fingers burned in the crash (see The Phoenix, 4/5/12). Now the banks have caught up with his wife, Breege O’Connor, who just had two judgments totalling €3m… Read more »

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Avril Stanley

AVRIL STANLEY’S PLANNING WOE

Date: March 7, 2019 - Brief Cases

HIPPY capitalist Avril Stanley is having some planning trouble. The event organiser behind the Body & Soul music and “wellbeing” festival is looking for retention permission for an extension to her Rathmines home, but Dublin City Council has had some issues with her application. Readers… Read more »

Roderick Smyth

RODERICK SMYTH’S MATCHMAKER

Date: March 7, 2019 - Brief Cases

SPARE a thought for Roderick Smyth, the founder of the award-winning TempBuddy app and a senior suit at recruitment agency Erecuit. His company, Matchmaker Software Limited (MSL), has fallen foul of the dreaded taxman. A self-described “experienced entrepreneur”, Smyth was once praised by MEP Mairead McGuinness after winning best social category at the StartUp Europe… Read more »

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Hampton Hotel

OFFSHORE AT THE HAMPTON HOTEL

Date: March 7, 2019 - Brief Cases

SOME interesting developments at Crofter Properties Ltd, the property vehicle behind the Hampton Hotel on Morehampton Road in D4. Classiebawn Castle owner Hugh Tunney controlled Crofter until his death in 2011. Subsequently, the trustees of his estate – legal eagles Brian Baily, Jacqueline Coen and Michael Lavelle of Lavelle Coleman solicitors (which has now rebranded… Read more »

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CATHERINE ARNOLD’S SETBACK

Date: March 6, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

THE COUPLE behind the super successful Nurse On Call (NOC) agency, Dan and Catherine Arnold, have had their latest plans for a new nightspot slap in Harcourt Street shot down by the planners. The Arnolds have been coining it in through their nursing agency for decades, although it is impossible to guess how much the… Read more »

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Fred Barry

WHAM BAM THANK YOU KERRY

Date: February 21, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

WHAT an interesting story Kerry’s Eye sleuth Aidan O’Connor had recently about BAM, the construction firm at the centre of the National Children’s Hospital contract increase from €983m to €1.7bn. According to the newspaper, BAM upped the cost of two by-pass roads in Kerry from… Read more »

Dearbhail McDonald

TROUBLE AT INM SHOCK!

Date: February 21, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

AS IF there were not enough industrial relations problems at the Irish Independent and other INM titles (slashed budgets, compulsory redundancies etc), a serious clash has occurred between the Indo’s editor, Fionnan Sheahan, and its group business editor, Dearbhail McDonald. McDonald has lodged a bullying claim against Sheahan and has compiled a catalogue of alleged… Read more »

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Helen McEntee

PROFILE – FG’S HELEN MCENTEE

Date: February 21, 2019 - Pillars of Society

THE PRESENTABLE and quietly assured woman seen accompanying Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at almost every meeting with EU power brokers is minister for Europe Helen McEntee. She is also trotted out for second-tier media interviews to explain the government’s Brexit strategy, but has more recently graduated to defending Ireland against British media jibes about the impertinent… Read more »

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Rob Lipsett

YOUNG BLOOD: ROB LIPSETT

Date: February 21, 2019 - The Young Bloods

FITNESS FREAK Rob Lipsett (27) is one of the beautiful people. In the era of Instagram models and unrealistic body standards, the lantern-jawed former bodybuilder and internet entrepreneur has amassed an impressive cross-platform audience for his training guides, diet tips and assorted titbits of lifestyle advice. With his new book, The Rob Lipsett Game Plan,… Read more »

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Michael O'Leary

TIME FOR O’LEARY TO DISEMBARK AT RYANAIR

Date: February 21, 2019 - Moneybags

RYANAIR INVESTORS can’t be happy with the company tailspinning into pre-tax losses of U84m for its quarterly three-month trading to the end of December 2018 compared with a pre-tax profit of €113m in the corresponding period in 2017. At the same time, Ryanair achieved the unenviable status of being voted the worst airline in Europe…. Read more »

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Claire Loftus

CLAIRE LOFTUS’S CRITICS

Date: February 21, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

SPARE A thought for poor Claire Loftus, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who has had a bruising couple of weeks. Criticism of the DPP by judges is rare enough, although the DPP’s office did get something of a pasting over the trial of former Anglo Irish Bank boss Seán Fitzpatrick – an issue back… Read more »

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Ruthie Heatherington

RUTHIE H’S SKINNY TEA

Date: February 21, 2019 - High Society

SPARE A thought for super fit entrepreneur Ruth Hetherington, whose health and fitness brand of teas and coffees has fallen foul of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). She is in the process of winding up her Miss Fit Enterprises company, but Goldhawk suspects it won’t be long before ‘Ruthie H’ bounces back. Earlier… Read more »

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Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

NEIL MURRAY’S TACTICS

Date: February 21, 2019 - Behind the Scenes

ALMOST A month after the Abbey Theatre found itself the star of yet another offstage drama, courtesy of a critical letter signed by hundreds of disgruntled luvvies, progress has proved very slow and patience is wearing thin. After the meeting that took place on February 1 between 14 of the signatories and Abbey co-director Neil… Read more »

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Rachel Weisz

THE OIRISH FAVOURITE

Date: February 21, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

SUNDAY’S OSCARS look certain to feature The Favourite heavily and the green jersey has been very much in evidence in recent weeks, especially given the estimated $76m (and counting) at the global box office. After this month’s Baftas, the Irish Times ran a piece headlined “Irish production wins seven awards”, despite one of them being… Read more »

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Sheila Pratschke

REGIME CHANGE ON MERRION SQUARE

Date: February 21, 2019 - Behind the Scenes

WATCH OUT for an advert seeking to fill vacancies in the Arts Council. Given that the most important seat to be filled on Merrion Square is that of chair Sheila Pratschke, whose term ends next week, culture minister Josepha Madigan is leaving it late in the day if she intends to throw the net wide…. Read more »

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3704-FP

Vol 37 No 04

Date: February 21, 2019 -

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Simon Coveney

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 »

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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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Mary Hanafin

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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Freddie Scappaticci

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 »

Jeremy Corbyn

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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Louis Hoffman

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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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

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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Declan O’Loan

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

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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Willie O'Dea

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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