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Mary Lou McDonald

MARY LOU’S ELECTION BLUES

Date: November 1, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

POST-ELECTION depression among Sinn Féin members will quickly turn to anger if the leadership does not show contrition and self-criticism over the presidential election fiasco. And some internal critics are claiming that, if the same electoral method is applied at the general election, the results could also be damaging. It is not as if warnings… Read more »

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Simon Coveney

CORK DAUPHIN BOWS TO SAUDI PRINCE

Date: November 1, 2018 - Last Refuge

THE most remarkable aspect of Tánaiste and foreign minister Simon Coveney’s feeble reaction to the Saudi murder of Jamal Khashoggi was not that it took him over a fortnight to utter a cheep about the journalist’s torture and slaying. Nor was it the refusal to even threaten expulsion of any Saudi diplomat, as was the… Read more »

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Paddy Cosgrave

PROFILE: PADDY COSGRAVE

Date: November 1, 2018 - Pillars of Society

Is Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave a tech-sector profiteer or a civic-minded altruist with his finger on the pulse of current political debate? The event organiser, who has just inked a multi-million euro deal to keep his conference in Lisbon until 2028, has blurred the… Read more »

Enda O'Coineen

‘POST’ BOSS LOSES DRESSING ROOM

Date: November 1, 2018 - Fit to Print?

NEW Sunday Business Post owner Enda O’Coineen addressed his business-savvy – but worried – journalists recently in an effort to soothe concerns following his Stockholm digital TV interview. However, O’Coineen’s pep talk provoked more questions than answers. In the Stockholm interview, O’Coineen said he intended to totally reinvent the newspaper as a digital platform and,… Read more »

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Patrick Collison

COLLISON BROTHERS’ BAD PRESS

Date: November 1, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

JOHN AND Patrick Collison, the Limerick-born wunderkinds behind online payments company Stripe, are not used to negative press – particularly in Ireland. So it was very interesting to see the company centre stage in two separate PR storms in the last month. In the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre last weekend, Stripe announced that… Read more »

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Frank Fitzgibbon

CASEY’S CHORUS

Date: November 1, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

PETER CASEY brought out the Tory beast in the Sunday Times and its Dublin-based champion, Frank Fitzgibbon, editor of the Aarish edition. Like some editorial Dr Strangelove, Frank’s right hand shot up to pen clichés last weekend in an editorial praising Casey’s remarks about the welfare state and those who “pay for everything and get… Read more »

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Mary Harney

MARY HARNEY’S INVESTMENT

Date: November 1, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

GOOD TO see the busy former health minister Mary Harney putting her money where her mouth is. No doubt she has plenty of the folding stuff these days, given her array of corporate interests. Harney’s own website highlights her as a woman of “reform, innovation, enterprise”, noting that, having retired from politics in 2011, the… Read more »

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Crystal Li

CRYSTAL LI’S LIFELINE

Date: November 1, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

HAVING APPEARED to have succeeded in getting a big public translation contract cancelled and restarted, Ruski lawyer Olga Shajaku got some frustrating news last week when the state got the green light to head to the Supreme Court for yet another hearing. For Olga’s competitor Crystal Li, however, the ruling opens up the possibility of… Read more »

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Lucinda Creighton

LUCINDA’S NEO-CON FRIENDS

Date: November 1, 2018 - Hush Hush

LUCINDA CREIGHTON, former minister for Europe and Fine Gael enfant terrible, has returned to the continent and the EU lobbying gravy train with Vulcan Consulting, “Ireland’s fastest-growing government relations firm”, as Vulcan (the Roman God of Fire) puts it. But in her spare time and away from those fuddy-duddy EU liberals, Lucinda has been fraternising… Read more »

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Brendan Halligan

BRENDAN HALLIGAN’S ONE CHINA POLICY

Date: November 1, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

THERE WAS much scratching of heads in Leinster House last month when ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghail circulated a letter to members warning them to back off from any links to Taiwan. One person who will have kept a close eye on developments is Brendan Halligan, founder of the Institute for International and European Affairs… Read more »

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Graham McLaren

NATIONAL THEATRE’S US IMPORT

Date: November 1, 2018 - Behind the Scenes

FANS OF Irish theatre got a treat this week when RTÉ broadcast a show devoted to life inside the Abbey Theatre, where the director ‘team’ of Graham McLaren and Neil Murray have been in situ for two years. Not surprisingly, missing from the documentary were some of the gripes that have been growing in more… Read more »

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LIBEL STAND-OFF

Date: November 1, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

BARRISTER-turned-seminarian-turned-layman and now litigant, Conor Gannon, has taken out High Court writs against three newspapers following reports published in connection with his time at the Irish College in Rome. A report in the Irish Times last May was quickly regurgitated by two tabloids, as well as other media but, initially and within days, Gannon sued… Read more »

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NOSTROVIA!

Date: November 1, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

VODKA FANS be warned. Last month, one Francisco Xavier Fermin De Eizaguirre of La Maguna, Plum Bay Les Terre Basses, in the French territory of Saint Martin, petitioned the High Court to wind up a “premium vodka” company based in Ballymoate, Sligo. Also supporting the petition was France-based Roman Gazine. A provisional liquidator is now… Read more »

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LIMERICK STUDENTS TARGET ARAMARK

Date: November 1, 2018 - Student Life

BOXING superstar Katie Taylor is currently making her Irish box-office debut in a new documentary, but a company for whom she did some work is being dragged into a scrap of its own. Fans of Goldhawk will be well aware that food services multinational Aramark – for which Taylor has acted as a “health and… Read more »

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Gavin Duffy

DUBLIN 7 TO MOROCCO

Date: November 1, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

HOLDER of the presidential wooden spoon Gavin Duffy lost his deposit and he also got hit for a €20 spot when canvassing in Henry Street by a volunteer for the Just ASK charity trip to Morocco. Just ASK volunteers were fundraising to bring 20 or so Dublin kids to work with an orphanage high in… Read more »

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Sinead O'Connor

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: November 1, 2018 - The Hot Air Brigade

This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian’s journey. Shuhada’ Davitt (formerly Sinéad O’Connor) on becoming a Muslim, as reported in the Irish Mirror, submitted by reader They move inwards instead of out, the head itself is turned inside out, the magic box of tricks opens to reveal a dark, intense realm, a world… Read more »

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Eamon O'Cuiv

FIANNA FÁIL’S NORTHERN STAR

Date: November 1, 2018 - Bird's Eye View

LAST Thursday night’s chaotic on-off ‘selection’ of Sorcha McAnespy as a Fianna Fáil candidate for next May’s council elections in the north did nevertheless produce some clarity in the interminable on-off Fianna Fáil-SDLP courtship. It’s now clear, despite Micheál Martin announcing in 2013 that the party would fight the 2019 local government elections in the… Read more »

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Peter Casey

CASEY EYES UP DONEGAL DÁIL SEAT

Date: November 1, 2018 - Last Refuge

DONEGAL’S triumphant and Trumpian Peter Casey told Donegal Daily four years ago that he wanted to stand for the Dáil in either Donegal or Dublin, with a preference for the former. He restated this ambition last weekend, but he will have a battle against Fianna… Read more »

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

TARGETING NATO

Date: November 1, 2018 - Last Refuge

PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins and Seán Gallagher were the only two presidential candidates that responded to a letter from the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) about their position on neutrality during the election campaign. Amazingly, Sinn Féin’s Liadh Ní Riada failed to respond, as did Gavin Duffy. While Joan Freeman acknowledged the letter and said… Read more »

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John O'Donoghue

‘TIGER’ O’DONOGHUE’S POLITICAL COMEBACK

Date: November 1, 2018 - Last Refuge

WHAT on earth is former justice minister, arts minister and Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue doing in his bid to become a humble county councillor in Kerry? Most voters will recall, not fondly, the reports of O’Donoghue’s extravagant expenses and foreign jaunts when he was a minister which culminated in his resignation as Ceann Comhairle in… Read more »

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Kieran McDaid

HACKS AWARDS BEAR GARDEN

Date: November 1, 2018 - Fit to Print?

THE mega-egos of mainstream journalism will gather in the Mansion house this month for an event of far greater significance than the first Dáil, namely the NewsBrands Journalism Awards. Hopefully, there will be no repetition of the unseemly reaction to decisions in recent years that saw various piqued editorial executives respond with anger, threatened boycotts… Read more »

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Mark Ferguson

LEO’S CLIMATE ADVISOR

Date: November 1, 2018 - Fowl Emissions

Recent statements by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and many of his Cabinet colleagues regarding climate change have been so completely out of touch with reality that you might wonder if anyone is actually advising them? The answer, unfortunately, is yes. Prof Mark Ferguson is government chief scientific advisor. He’s also director general of Science Foundation Ireland… Read more »

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MICHAEL D STANDS ALONE

Date: November 1, 2018 - Fowl Emissions

The recent presidential campaign was remarkable for many reasons, not least of which was the extraordinary extent to which five of the six candidates had absolutely nothing to say on the crunch ecological issues the world faces. Equally bizarre was the active media collusion in this climate silence. Despite hours of debates, in which issues… Read more »

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Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

Date: November 1, 2018 - Bog Cuttings

“Yes, I love Cork.” “Under Duress” was the signature provided by a 70-year-old man who previously insisted that he had no name, Cork District court was told. The man was remanded in custody only because of his refusal to sign a bail bond that would have enabled him to walk free. “Do you reside in… Read more »

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Matt Carthy

MATT CARTHY

Date: November 1, 2018 - The Young Bloods

LIADH NÍ RIADA’S presidential implosion has placed a big question mark over Sinn Féin’s general election and coalition project. When Mary Lou Mcdonald took the party leadership there was a strengthening of the party’s poll ratings, but this seems to be evening out. Can energetic young election candidates like MEP Matt Carthy get the party… Read more »

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Rachel Allen

RACHEL’S ‘LESS FORMAL’ EXPERIENCE

Date: November 1, 2018 - High Society

FANS OF Goldhawk will not be surprised to hear that there have been big changes at Rachel’s, the Cork-based restaurant fronted by the one and only Rachel Allen. The whole project has taken a sharp turn and, rather than the name of ‘Ireland’s cooking queen’ being above the door, the premises has been renamed boring… Read more »

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Consuelo O’Connor

DAVID RAETHORNE’S WHISKEY STOCKS

Date: November 1, 2018 - High Society

THE OPERATION behind the ambitious Hazelwood House revamp being undertaken in Sligo by low-profile serial investor David Raethorne filed some figures last month showing the losses at Hazelwood Demesne have tipped over €1m. Given it is still early days and the fact that Raethorne has very deep pockets, this will not set any alarm bells… Read more »

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Abigail O'Brien

ABIGAIL O’BRIEN’S ELECTION

Date: November 1, 2018 - High Society

THE ELECTION of Denis O’Brien’s sister, Abigail O’Brien, as president of the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) represents quite a coup for the artist, who has become the first female president of the organisation. Meanwhile there have been some other comings and goings and lots of moolah being spent. O’Brien replaces Mick O’Dea – whose portrait… Read more »

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Milkman - Anna Burns (Faber & Faber)

MILKMAN – ANNA BURNS (FABER & FABER)

Date: November 1, 2018 - BooksReviews

THIS YEAR’S Man Booker winner (the first from Northern Ireland), Anna Burns, has published two previous novels and is well regarded in literary circles but is hardly a household name. It will be interesting to see if she becomes one given her challenging prose. The new book’s dramatic opening sentence sets the unnerving tone for… Read more »

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Richard III

RICHARD III – ABBEY THEATRE

Date: November 1, 2018 - ReviewsTheatre

GARRY HYNES must have realised that producing another Shakespearean history play demanded another angle. While Richard may be one of Western literature’s greatest villains, his story is much less complex, and much longer, than the Henry plays produced by Druid a few years ago. So audiences need a hook. Rather than a dramatic arc, the… Read more »

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Amy Huberman

FINDING JOY – RTÉ 1

Date: November 1, 2018 - ReviewsTV

AMY HUBERMAN turns her hand to ‘comedy’ in this six-part series set in an air-brushed version of modern-day Dublin. Inevitably, with Mrs Dricco being co-creator, writer, associate producer and star of the show, the avalanche of hype was even greater than usual. RTÉ’s current poster girl plays Joy, who has just broken up with her… Read more »

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Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

BOOK AWARDS BEANO

Date: November 1, 2018 - Behind the Scenes

THERE WAS an exuberant gushing plug for the annual Irish Book Awards in the Sindo last weekend when the shortlist for the 2018 gongs was announced. The paper has long been a ‘partner’ for the Derek Hughes-founded awards and its acolytes are known to feature strongly in the pompously titled Irish Literary Academy. The eventual… Read more »

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Siún Ní Raghallaigh

SIÚN NÍ RAGHALLAIGH’S GOOD NEWS

Date: November 1, 2018 - Behind the Scenes

FANS OF Goldhawk will not have been surprised by the inclusion in Pascal Donohoe’s Finance Bill of 10 pages of refinements to the operations of the Section 481 tax giveaway (see The Phoenix, 19/10/18). The big winner looks like the privately owned Troy Studios, where the cast includes the likes of moneybags Ossie Kilkenny, Joe… Read more »

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Ger Lyons

GER LYONS HITS OUT

Date: November 1, 2018 - Sport of Kings

THE DRY autumn is taking its toll on jumps tracks at the moment as they cannot risk watering the ground at this time of year because when the rain does come it just may not stop. Thurles Racecourse doesn’t have that conundrum anyway as it doesn’t even have a watering system. While they had to… Read more »

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Joseph O’Brien

O’BRIEN’S REDUNDANT REFERRAL

Date: November 1, 2018 - Sport of Kings

JOSEPH O’BRIEN found himself at the centre of one of the most pointless enquiries in the recent history of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) when he was summoned to HQ to answer questions over the apparent improvement in the form of a horse called Colfer Me. The horse won a lowly handicap at Down… Read more »

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Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

DOWN A ROYAL MESS

Date: November 1, 2018 - Sport of Kings

WHAT TO make of the Down Royal fiasco? The clash of business and sport looks set to leave some casualties, but confusion reigns. What is unclear is why a clean sweep of management is seen as a valid option by the property speculators. At the moment the issue has the hallmarks of a relatively petty… Read more »

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