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Graham McLaren

PROFILE: GRAHAM MCLAREN

Date: January 24, 2019 - Pillars of Society

EARLIER THIS month, a letter signed by no less than 312 theatre practitioners was sent to the Arts Council, Minister for Culture Josepha Madigan and Abbey Theatre board chair Frances Ruane complaining about the lack of opportunities at the national theatre under its current masters. It has kicked off yet another offstage drama at the… Read more »

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Jackie Healy Rae Jnr

YOUNG BLOOD: JACKIE HEALY-RAE JNR

Date: January 24, 2019 - The Young Bloods

JACKIE HEALY-RAE Jnr (23), son of sitting TD Michael Healy-Rae, is slated to become the next member of his family to throw his hat into the political arena by running for Kerry County Council in May’s local elections. In his arsenal, he has the family name and a well-oiled local machine to get him across… Read more »

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Mary Hanafin

KINGSTOWN LADIES AT RISK

Date: January 24, 2019 - Last Refuge

MARY HANAFIN’S unquenchable ambition has not been dulled by her 30 years in politics, some of it in cabinet. She intends running for Fianna Fáil in all three pending elections — general, European and even local. But the school marm’s real target is the Dáil. Most FF activists believe that Hanafin’s belated entry into the… Read more »

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Graham Linehan

TABLOID TALKING POINTS ON ‘PRIME TIME’

Date: January 24, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

TRANS RIGHTS and gender recognition are trendy, emotive and complex issues and it wasn’t going to be too long before Prime Time blundered into them. In a clever move to boost the buzz around the programme, Montrose announced Twitter addict and occasional comedy writer Graham Linehan – who was given a verbal harassment warning by British police… Read more »

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Ian Lucey

IAN LUCEY’S SMALL MERCIES

Date: January 24, 2019 - Brief Cases

THERE was finally some good news for tech investor Ian Lucey recently. His investment vehicle, Lucey Technology Ltd, has managed to satisfy a small €30,000 judgment registered against it by a creditor, but fans of Goldhawk will be well aware of Lucey Tech’s recent woes. Tinstring, a tech consultancy owned by Dermot Casey, had registered… Read more »

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Dee Forbes

RTÉ BALANCING ACT

Date: January 24, 2019 - Fowl Emissions

IT’S NOT every day you get to find out what the taoiseach had for dinner, but Leo Varadkar recently fessed up to putting away “a very nice Hereford steak last night” in a frantic effort to assuage the Fine Gael faithful that he hadn’t gone all vegan on them. Leo had earlier let it slip… Read more »

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3702-FP

Vol 37 No 02

Date: January 24, 2019 -

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Josepha Madigan

THE ABBEY’S BAD TIMING

Date: January 24, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

IN THIS issue (see p14), Goldhawk profiles the man at the centre of the Abbey Theatre’s latest offstage drama, director Graham McLaren, and investigates the complicated relationship between the national theatre and a nervous Arts Council. And it turns out that the timing of the Abbey debacle could not have been worse. The Abbey is… Read more »

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Leo Varadkar

VARADKAR’S YELLOW PERIL

Date: January 24, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

WHAT A strange, strident initiative Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made on behalf of Ireland during his visit to North Africa’s Mali and Ethiopia recently. In the longest expedition outside Ireland – a week during the escalating Brexit crisis – since becoming taoiseach 18 months ago, Vlad sounded more like a visiting colonial statesman than leader of… Read more »

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Charlie Flanagan

ROSS VS JUDGES: INJURY TIME

Date: January 24, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

IS SHANE Ross’s Judicial Appointments Bill in its final stages of enactment or will there be extra time in the Seanad and Dáil? Threats this week from Independent senator Gerard Craughwell to prolong the bill’s progress with several more months of filibustering indicate another lengthy delay by the Parnellite pygmies. Meanwhile, justice minister Charlie Flanagan… Read more »

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GARY KAVANAGH’S PALS

Date: January 24, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

THERE HAS been quite a surge in activity in recent weeks at right-wing “think tank” the Edmund Burke Institute (EBI), where Gary Kavanagh has been appointed to the board – the first new director in 16 years – and the boys are busy tapping fellow libertarians for a few bob. Kavanagh, a management consultant based… Read more »

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Ian Paisley

PAISLEY’S JUNKET

Date: January 24, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

CO-OPERATION IRELAND, which funded Ian Paisley’s first-class junket (£6,327 in travel and accommodation) to New York last year, is headed by a former senior RUC man who headed the PSNI’s Crime and Intelligence department. Co-op Ireland chief executive Peter Sheridan is one of the few Catholics to have held a senior command post in either… Read more »

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Colm Murphy

LAW SOCIETY WARS

Date: January 24, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

MAYO SOLICITOR Daniel Coleman has just emerged from a decade-long joust with the Law Society. He was successful in an appeal to the Supreme Court, which struck out two orders against the legal eagle and ordered the original case against him to be reheard in the High Court. In 2010, following the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal… Read more »

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Freddie Scappaticci

STAKEKNIFE ‘A FICTION’

Date: January 24, 2019 - Hush Hush

THE UK government’s multimillion pound Stakeknife investigation was thrown into disarray last week after its most controversial storyline was described as a “fiction”. The head of Operation Kenova, Jon Boutcher, who has been tasked with leading the Stakeknife investigation, met victims’ Belfast solicitor Michael Brentnall… Read more »

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PADDY PRENDERGAST’S PROJECT

Date: January 24, 2019 - Affairs of the Nation

NOT FOR the first time, Trinity College Dublin students are expressing their dissatisfaction with Provost Paddy Prendergast and his administration (see The Phoenix, 21/4/17, 9/3/18, 23/3/18 etc). This time the row is over the Trinity Education Project (TEP), a major revamp of the college’s undergraduate calendar and curriculum. Introduced during the current academic term, students… Read more »

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Brippa

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: January 24, 2019 - The Hot Air Brigade

Brian Ormond and Pippa O’Connor, meanwhile, were in Dubai for 10 days just after Christmas. Looking fresh and tanned, Brippa were in the InterContinental Hotel in Ballsbridge last Monday. Barry Egan, ‘The Edge’, Sunday Independent A shower should be under three minutes – I favour 90 seconds myself. And the bar of soap is having… Read more »

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Martina Anderson

VARADKAR LEAVES NORTHERNERS BEHIND

Date: January 24, 2019 - Bird's Eye View

THE OBSESSION with the backstop on the British border in Ireland continues to paralyse the Conservative party in England. Most MPs, both Conservative and Labour, seem to wilfully misunderstand its purpose and rationale. They also forget that it was Theresa May who asked for the whole UK to be included in the backstop as a… Read more »

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Janice Boylan Irish Military Mali Coolock Says No IFP Hermann Kelly Timmy Dooley Aontú Mal O’Hara Fintan O’Toole Josepha Madigan Eoghan Harris Ukraine War Micheál Martin Middle East Philip Ryan Seán Clancy Simon Coveney Hugo MacNeill Mountbatten Neasa Hourigan Green Party Martin NPT Ivana Bacik Independents Limerick Hospital Overcrowding Barry Cowen

MICHEÁL MARTIN’S THREE AMIGOS

Date: January 24, 2019 - Last Refuge

THE SPECTACLE of three senior Fianna Fáil frontbenchers scrambling for places on the European election ticket in the South constituency says a lot about any future FF-led coalition government. Until about 12 months ago, Billy Kelleher, Timmy Dooley and Barry Cowen were part of Martin’s Praetorian Guard in the parliamentary party. However, the lads have… Read more »

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Heather Humphreys

FINE GAEL VS TICKET TOUTS

Date: January 24, 2019 - Last Refuge

THE GOVERNMENT’S effort to slay ticket touts – on street corners around Croker and the reselling of concert tickets online – is certainly a popular(ist) move, but it faces some interesting political arguments inside Fine Gael. FG Tory boy Noel Rock initiated the move – with support from Fianna Fáil’s Stephen Donnelly, then in the… Read more »

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Tiernan Brady

TIERNAN BRADY’S RACE

Date: January 24, 2019 - Last Refuge

THE DUBLIN Fianna Fáil Euro nomination contest is tightening, with gay campaigner Tiernan Brady narrowly in front. However, ex-minister and party grandee Barry Andrews is making ground, according to most party insiders. Another ex-minister, Conor Lenihan, is in third place, while Mary Hanafin is not at the races. Brady’s forte has been his presentations to… Read more »

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Sheila Nunan

LABOUR’S MOVEABLE VALUES

Date: January 24, 2019 - Last Refuge

LABOUR LEADER Brendan Howlin’s wheeze in sponsoring outgoing INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan as a European election candidate in Ireland South could provoke a backlash from some members at the selection convention next month. While Nunan and Howlin have already sealed what some might call a Faustian Pact, former Clare TD Michael McNamara, a rival… Read more »

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Pat Leahy

SDLP MEDIA SPIN

Date: January 24, 2019 - Fit to Print?

A CASE STUDY in how a political agenda is manufactured and disseminated via the media – whether or not it is factual – came in the paper of record’s eager coverage over the new year of the imminent merger of Fianna Fáil and the SDLP. Irish Times Northern editor Gerry Moriarty’s New Year’s Eve message… Read more »

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Shane Ross

SHANE ROSS’S MEDIA CRITICS

Date: January 24, 2019 - Fit to Print?

THE DISSING of Shane Ross by his Fine Gael cabinet ‘colleagues’, normally given a loud airing by FG’s media Greek chorus, recommenced last week following the transport minister’s supposed ‘gaffe’ about border checks in the event of a no-deal Brexit. But the Irish Independent’s heavyweight pol corrs, as well as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, gave the… Read more »

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Richard Bruton

‘STAR’S’ NEW REGIME

Date: January 24, 2019 - Fit to Print?

NEWS THAT the Indo group is embarking on another round of cuts has caused yet more gnashing of teeth among the hapless hacks. One title that may emerge relatively unscathed is the 50%-owned Irish Daily Star, where communications minister Richard Bruton has quietly given the final green light to the purchase of Richard Desmond’s 50%… Read more »

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RICHARD BRUTON’S OIL SLICK

Date: January 24, 2019 - Fowl Emissions

IS SOMEONE trying to hobble new climate action and environment minister Richard Bruton? He has taken to his new portfolio with gusto, including a no-nonsense speech at his ‘stakeholder summit’ in Croke Park this month. The meeting kicked off at 9am on January 18 but, just one hour earlier, Seán Canney, junior minister at Bruton’s… Read more »

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Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

Date: January 24, 2019 - Bog Cuttings

CANNABIS WAS ‘ORNAMENT’ A LISNAKEA man who had cannabis on his wall when his house was searched said it was an ornament. Mark Kiernan (43) of Trasna Way appeared at Enniskillen Magistrates Court, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a Class B drug. Police searched Kiernan’s home on December 9 and… Read more »

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Alsion Cowzer

ALISON’S BAD LUCK

Date: January 24, 2019 - High Society

SO FAREWELL then to Magpie magazine, where the directors, including Alison Cowzer, have got around to winding up the company behind the short-lived title. Looks like a case of ‘one for sorrow’. Cowzer, a former marketing exec, is quite the high-flyer these days, popping up on the boards of the Goal and Ronald McDonald House… Read more »

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Laragh Stuart

LARAGH STUART’S NEW YEAR

Date: January 24, 2019 - High Society

A CREDITORS’ meeting this week at Stuart and McClean Ltd is bad news for anyone on a New Year healthy-eating kick. This turns out to be the loss-making entity behind Wicklow gourmand Laragh Stuart’s food business, which she co-owns with one Hazel McClean. Having been, the company website explains, “inspired by her formative years, travelling… Read more »

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Domini Kemp

IN THE RING WITH DOMINI

Date: January 24, 2019 - High Society

LAST WEEKEND, celebrity chef Domini Kemp tweeted, “calling all women boxing fans”, announcing that she is writing an article and “would love to talk to anyone who has recently taken it up as a sport”. This is a departure for the blonde ‘bagel queen’, who appears to also be involved in some friendly sparring with… Read more »

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Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

ROBERT BALLAGH’S ART PROBLEM

Date: January 24, 2019 - Behind the Scenes

THE OUTBREAK of tut-tutting over Robert Ballagh’s complaint about the lack of Irish players at the top of many cultural institutions here was utterly predictable. Ballagh, however, has first-hand experience of the challenges faced by local artists, courtesy of his interactions with the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI), where British art historian Sean Rainbird has… Read more »

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James Hickey

AFTER JAMES HICKEY AT SCREEN IRELAND

Date: January 24, 2019 - Behind the Scenes

ON A rare joint appearance on radio with Screen Ireland (SI) chair Annie Doona, the agency’s outgoing chief executive, James Hickey, told RTÉ that his keenest interest in the film business was working with “talent”. It’s the kind of luvvie answer that the affable Hickey… Read more »

Andrew McNamara

McNAMARA DROPS THE BALL

Date: January 24, 2019 - Sport of Kings

FORMER JOCKEY Andrew McNamara, who combines training with his role on the RTÉ racing team, was recently a guest on Off The Ball’s weekly Newstalk horseracing show. He used the platform to highlight the worth of a horse he was planning to run at Dundalk that week. Things didn’t quite work out as planned however…. Read more »

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Luke Comer Ban

UPS AND DOWNS FOR COMER

Date: January 24, 2019 - Sport of Kings

IT’S BEEN a mixed start to the year for Luke Comer. The trainer enjoyed an early New Year winner when Mystique Heights won at Naas, but the joy of that success was short-lived when it transpired that Comer had recently lost Zonderland, an expensive purchase in Britain last autumn. The horse cost Comer 140,000gns at… Read more »

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Richard FitzGerald

RICHARD FITZGERALD’S PRIORITIES

Date: January 24, 2019 - Sport of Kings

THE SWITCH of live Irish racing from At The Races (ATR) to Racing TV has generated plenty of negative commentary since the beginning of the year. Despite assurances from Horse Racing Ireland head honcho Brian Kavanagh that the move is good for Irish racing, many feel the sport is not nearly as well served as… Read more »

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Eddie O'Leary

SOFTLY DOES IT AT LEOPARDSTOWN

Date: January 24, 2019 - Sport of Kings

WITH LITTLE rain forecast for February’s Dublin Racing Festival and with almost unprecedented firm ground conditions for jumps horses at this time of year, the Leopardstown track management may come under pressure to water the ground if sufficient rain fails to materialise. With Cheltenham just five weeks after the February 2-3 festival, many owners and… Read more »

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Willie Walsh

IAG SHARES BETTER VALUE THAN RYANAIR

Date: January 24, 2019 - Moneybags

WILLIE WALSH’S International Airlines Group (IAG) is the most profitable airline group in the world, having returned an operating profit of over €3bn last year. Within this huge group, Aer Lingus (where Wash was forced out) is now the single most profitable airline. When compared with the other big kid on the block, Ryanair, which… Read more »

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