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Paul Hensey

PAUL HENSEY’S NEW GIG

Date: May 3, 2018 - Sport of Kings

FORMER CURRAGH Racecourse manager Paul Hensey has bounced back with a new gig after being squeezed out of his previous role when current chief executive Derek McGrath came on board at The Curragh two years ago. Hensey has been spotted at various bloodstock sales over the last six months and despite not making too much… Read more »

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Sheila Pratschke

SHEILA PRATSCHKE’S WONDERFUL LIFE

Date: May 3, 2018 - Behind the Scenes

LAST MONTH Arts Council chair Sheila Pratschke gave a lengthy interview to The Irish Times but what was most interesting was what was not mentioned – the small matter of a €¾ bn arts plan. Pratschke (now in her final year) was given an easy enough ride by the IT – apparently her €9,000 annual… Read more »

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Fiona Muldoon

FBD’S BONUSES AND DIVIDENDS NOT JUSTIFIED

Date: May 3, 2018 - Moneybags

IT IS a pity that Fiona Muldoon has resorted to accounting mechanisms at FBD Holdings. The various strategies make it very hard for investors to grasp what is actually going on but from Moneybags’ point of view, the latest published returns look to have been boosted above and beyond the reality underlying FBD’s performance, leading… Read more »

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Gavin Slark

GRAFTON GROUP SHARES WEIGHED DOWN BY BREXIT

Date: May 3, 2018 - Moneybags

IN THE 40 years up to 2015, Mike Chadwick built up the Grafton Group to be at one stage the most successful builders merchants in Europe, while regularly forgoing the contractual bonuses he was entitled to during the boom times. Moreover, the choice of Gavin Slark as his successor has proved a wise one. The… Read more »

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THE PROJECT’S MURAL

Date: May 3, 2018 - Behind the Scenes

IT MAKES a change to see the Project Theatre making headlines. Not surprisingly perhaps, the media interest was caused not by something staged in the theatre but instead by a Repeal the 8th mural painted on the wall of Temple Bar venue by artist Maser. It is only two years since an almost identical mural… Read more »

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Hot Water Brigade default

Pat WHEELOCKS REDACTED DOCUMENT

Date: May 3, 2018 - The Hot Water Brigade

AN ENLIGHTENING High Court judgment was published recently relating to Michael O’Leary (not that one) and his former business partner Pat Wheelock, who are being sued by US vulture fund Cerberus for €2.6m. The judgment, delivered by Judge Michael Twomey in April, reveals that the two boys have settled their long-running row, clearing a path… Read more »

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Hot Water Brigade default

EUGENE McCOOL’S “SCURRILOUS” ALLEGATIONS

Date: May 3, 2018 - The Hot Water Brigade

GOLDHAWK’s old pal Eugene McCool received a serious dressing down in the High Court last month, courtesy of Judge Seamus Noonan. The beak said that McCool had made a number of “scurrilous, highly defamatory” and “unfounded” allegations about various personalities involved in the protracted case, which has been rattling on since 2005. Dublin businessman McCool… Read more »

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Hot Water Brigade default

BON VOYAGE ATLANTIC PHILANTHROPIES

Date: May 3, 2018 - The Hot Water Brigade

IT’S THE end of an era as the company behind Chuck Feeney’s Atlantic Philanthropies moves to wind itself up. Documents filed with the Companies Office reveal that Michael Sargent was appointed liquidator of Atlantic Philanthropies (Ireland) Ltd at the end of April, after 30 years in operation. In total, Atlantic has awarded €1.6bn to projects… Read more »

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Hot Water Brigade default

TAXMAN GROUNDS LEGAL EAGLES

Date: May 3, 2018 - The Hot Water Brigade

SOLICITOR Cormac Lohan’s annus horribilis continues. The High Court has just ordered the winding up of his legal consultancy, Lohan Consulting Ltd, on foot of a petition by the Revenue, which registered judgments totalling €20,000 against the company in 2015. Fans of Goldhawk will recall that Athlone legal eagle Lohan has had a rough year… Read more »

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ANTHONY MARTIN’S GAMING GAMBLE

Date: May 3, 2018 - The Hot Water Brigade

AN INTERESTING little company called Lyvegame Ltd is facing a winding-up petition in the High Court on foot of an unpaid tax bill. The chief executive here turns out to be Anthony Martin, best known for his association with the disastrous Doherty Advertising Ltd (DAL). Lyvegame provides virtual gaming software for clients such as Ladbrokes,… Read more »

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Allirajah Subaskaran

SUBASKARAN’S IRISH ANGLE

Date: May 3, 2018 - The Hot Water Brigade

INTERESTING to see reports that telecoms giant and UK Conservative Party donor Lycamobile is being investigated for alleged money laundering and tax evasion in France. The company, owned by Sri Lankan-Brit businessman Allirajah Subaskaran, has a share of the Irish market and has registered 16 companies here, many related to its business in other EU… Read more »

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Hot Water Brigade default

PETER GILBOURNE’S PERSONAL LOAN

Date: May 3, 2018 - The Hot Water Brigade

SPARE a thought for veteran businessman Peter Gilbourne, who has just had a judgment for €100,000 registered against him by architect John Smyth. Gilbourne will be familiar to fans of Goldhawk for his association in the 1990s with the Mespil Business Centre on Sussex Road in D4, which he operated through his company Cedardale Investments… Read more »

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Ian Hyland

IAN HYLAND’S GHOST ADVISERS

Date: May 3, 2018 - Fit to Print?

IAN HYLAND’S most impressive “advisory board” on his newly created PR firm, Principal Communications (PC), seems to have disappeared just weeks after it was announced. PC declared the elite group that contained a former government minister was one of the company’s “unique assets … an international advisory board whose expertise spans the core areas which… Read more »

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Ed Guiney

CALMLY DOES IT FOR ED GUINEY

Date: May 3, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

CONGRATULATIONS to Goldhawk’s favourite film producers, Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, who have added another string to their bow by tapping a fund that nobody else appeared to know had started dishing out public money. Having ended up in control of both the publicly funded Lighthouse cinema (Dublin) and Solas/Pálás cinema (Galway), the two boys… Read more »

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Fergus Finlay

FERGUS FINLAY’S FUTILE FANTASIES

Date: May 3, 2018 - Last Refuge

FERGUS FINLAY received a pointed riposte from President Michael D Higgins to his bombastic yet crafty statement that his presidency would be quite different to that of Michael D’s. Fungus would have run a “sleeves rolled up, community based presidency” at the “coalface” of communities, he declared. This would, of course, demand a physically vibrant,… Read more »

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Danielle Ryan and Richard Bourke

DANIELLE’S PLOT SPOILER

Date: May 3, 2018 - High Society

IN THE latest list of films supported by the Irish Film Board (IFB) one production – Trade from Marcie Films Ltd – landed a handy extra €100,000 on top of its original backing. This is the company established by Ryanair heiress Danielle Ryan, although she… Read more »

Stephen Rae

JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE PARANOID…

Date: May 3, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

ONE standout irony amid the welter of allegations disgorged daily from the INM imbroglio is the surveillance paranoia that has seized executives at Independent House. As reported, in May 2015 when long-time executive Gerry Wilde wanted to discuss serious business with the then chief executive, Robert Pitt, he insisted they talk away from the office… Read more »

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Denis O'Brien

DINNY AND DERMO AND INM

Date: April 19, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

THE MOST recent coverage of ODCE boss Ian Drennan’s affidavit on the alleged carry-on in Independent News and Media (INM) has seen mention of a strange deal involving the sale of the media group’s valuable stake in an Australasian media company, APN. This is a transaction that saw one Denis O’Brien scoop a very healthy… Read more »

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Simon Coveney

IRISH FOREIGN POLICY COLLAPSE

Date: April 19, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

IN JUST three weeks the disintegration of Ireland’s once honorable non-aligned foreign policy has been laid bare by the pace of events in the Middle East and the EU. This has involved capitulation to Israel, the US/British Transatlantic “special relationship” and, of course, the EU’s incipient armed force, Pesco. Foreign Minister Simon Coveney openly conceded… Read more »

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Catherine Heaney

Catherine Heaney

Date: April 19, 2018 - Pillars of Society

LAST WEEK, the Culture Minister Josepha Madigan, flanked by Leo Varadkar and Paschal Donohoe, announced a huge U1.2bn infrastructure funding package for the arts. The National Museum of Ireland (NMI) was the single biggest beneficiary of the cultural institutions, which looks like good news for its chair, former Labour Party press officer turned lobbyist Catherine… Read more »

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Síona Cahill

Síona Cahill

Date: April 19, 2018 - The Young Bloods

INCOMING Union of Students in Ireland (USI) president Síona Cahill (25) is taking charge of the national union at a very interesting time. In midsummer – as the dust from the May abortion referendum settles – the Longford native, who has close links to Fianna Fáil, will take the reins of USI amid a revived… Read more »

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Emer Martin

EMER MARTIN Vs EDNA O’BRIEN

Date: April 19, 2018 - Behind the Scenes

CONGRATULATIONS are due to writer-cum-filmaker Emer Martin, who gave Dame Edna O’Brien both barrels in a full-blooded comment piece last weekend in The Irish Times. Her timing was perfect. O’Brien – the First Lady of Irish literature – has agreed to accept the title of the most Excellent Order of the British Empire, second highest… Read more »

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Robert Nairac

ROBERT NAIRAC’S PADRE COLLEAGUE

Date: April 19, 2018 - Hush Hush

RTE’s Prime Time has begun rebroadcasting on its website an apologia for Dirty War operative Robert Nairac despite public demands for the film’s removal from its website by Stephen Travers, a victim of The Miami Showband massacre. Prime Time first broadcast the film in May 2017 as part of a well organised PR campaign by… Read more »

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3608-FP

Vol 36 No 08

Date: April 19, 2018 -

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Paddy Jackson

IRFU KEEPS ITS EYE ON THE BALL

Date: April 19, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

THE TERMINATION of the contracts of shamed rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding was never in doubt from the time the trial ended and the all-important commercial considerations kicked in. The focus of media and sponsors had been on Belfast, where pressure also came from the fans. On March 10, Ulster Rugby posted a… Read more »

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Boni Odomene

USI SIGNS UP TO Israel boycott

Date: April 19, 2018 - Student Life

USI (Union of Students in Ireland) held its national congress earlier this month in Ballinasloe, where Longford native Síona Cahill was appointed president (see Young Blood, pg 17). The most interesting decision taken by delegates was to support a motion in favour of the boycott, divestments and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli apartheid – a development… Read more »

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Emily Logan

EMILY LOGAN KEEPS MUM ON EGYPT

Date: April 19, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

HUMAN RIGHTS campaigning can be a tricky business as the head of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC), Emily Logan, found recently. Logan recently apologised to the other commission members for a lack of transparency in drawing up criteria for the appointment of new members. This followed a complaint from longstanding human rights… Read more »

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Ian Hyland

HYLAND’S SUITE GUYS

Date: April 19, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

THERE has been rather less hype about Dublin Tech Week – Ian Hyland and Paul Connolly’s attempt to replace Paddy Cosgrave’s web summit – than they would have expected. Perhaps the two boys will improve their communications via a new company they have set up entitled Principal Communications (PC) that has recruited various heavy hitting… Read more »

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Colm Tóibín

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: April 19, 2018 - The Hot Air Brigade

My Sunday ritual is to go to Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center to hear a chamber orchestra… It’s important not to shuffle or cough. When I went to hear the six Bartok quartets, someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I hope you’re going to be quiet.” It was Philip Roth. It… Read more »

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Down Loyalists Dee Stitt and Arlene Foster

LOYALIST GANGS AT WORK IN PLAIN SIGHT

Date: April 19, 2018 - Bird's Eye View

AT NOON last Friday, 200 PSNI officers with members of the British National Crime Agency and Customs and Excise raided 12 premises in greater Belfast including the towns of Crumlin and Glenavy, now nationalist. Armed with search warrants the police were looking for evidence to break up the INLA’s criminal activities: extortion, prostitution and drug… Read more »

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Mary Newman

FINE GAEL SIRENS’ SEANAD BID

Date: April 19, 2018 - Last Refuge

THE Newman blue blouse coven – TD Kate O’Connell, her sister and parliamentary aide, Theresa Newman, and third sister, would-be senator Mary Newman – are incensed at Leo Varadkar’s disregard for Mary’s bid in one of next week’s two Seanad by-elections. But they have come up with a cunning plan they believe will usher Mary… Read more »

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Micheál Martin

MICHEÁL MARTIN’S REPEAL THE 8th RISK

Date: April 19, 2018 - Last Refuge

IS the political media corps so invested in a Yes to repeal the 8th referendum that none of them wants to consider the fall-out from a No vote? Nobody is sure how the referendum will go but the consequences of a No win will shake the leadership of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. When it… Read more »

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Micheal Mac Donnacha

SINN FÉIN BLOCKS DUBLIN MAYOR FROM DÁIL

Date: April 19, 2018 - Last Refuge

DUBLIN’S Sinn Féin mayor Mícheál Mac Donncha raised his already high profile stint as mayor with pimpernel activities in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories last week. But if Mac Donncha has provoked the wrath of the Israeli government he appears not to be flavour of the month with his own party leadership either, judging… Read more »

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Anne Harris

ANNE HARRIS’S ‘WAR’ CASUALTIES

Date: April 19, 2018 - Fit to Print?

WRITING in the Sunday Business Post recently, former Sunday Independent editor Anne Harris described her “personal testimony of my experience at INM” as “the equivalent of war” and how “democracy itself seemed threatened”. Pouring scorn on those who now claim to be on the side of journalistic standards against ex-INM chairman Leslie Buckley, Harris vented… Read more »

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Gavin O’Reilly

GAVIN’S DISGUST

Date: April 19, 2018 - Fit to Print?

“It is time for answers at INM, GAVIN O’REILLY EXCLUSIVE”, was emblazoned across the front page of the Sunday Business Post following the ODCE allegations against ex-INM chairman Leslie Buckley and the accessing of journalists’ details. O’Reilly, former INM chief executive and chairman of Red Flag Consulting, expressed his “shock and absolute revulsion” at the… Read more »

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Michael Creed

POOR CHILLY SODDEN FARMERS

Date: April 19, 2018 - Fowl Emissions

CRISIS, what crisis? It seems like only yesterday when our media was awash with heart-rending stories of starving cattle and desperate farmers as the fodder crisis swept the land. Agriculture Minister Michael Creed was being berated for “not doing enough” to ease the plight of livestock owners. One or two brave souls even ventured to… Read more »

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