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Vol. 35 No. 14

Date: July 13, 2017 -

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VARADKAR AND THE ATTORNEYS GENERAL

Date: July 13, 2017 - Affairs of the Nation

THE unhealthy politicisation of the office of attorney general has been a hallmark of Fine Gael in government since 2011. And Leo Varadkar has barely been in power a wet week before he has carried on this process by dragging his new AG, Seamus Woulfe, into the political controversy over his remarks about garda evidence… Read more »

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TROUBLE BREWING

Date: July 13, 2017 - Affairs of the Nation

HOW EMBARRASSING that the auditors of the company behind a state-backed craft brewery have found that it had contravened assorted Companies Act regulations when preparing the 2015 accounts. This is the brewery operation into which the former head of C&C Ireland, Michael Merrins, has invested €100,000 and is in situ as chairman. Bluebay Ireland, the… Read more »

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PATRICK O’SULLIVAN V RICHARD CONROY

Date: July 13, 2017 - Affairs of the Nation

NEXT MONTH well known exploration entrepreneur Richard Conroy, executive chairman of Conroy Gold and Natural Resources, will go head to head with a little known investor, Patrick O’Sullivan, who has managed to build up a 28% stake in the listed vehicle and now wants to shake up what he sees as an underperforming company with… Read more »

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SCHOOL TRIP TO THE HIGH COURT

Date: July 13, 2017 - Affairs of the Nation

THE PHONEY war is over in Deansgrange south County Dublin, where the initial salvos over the proposed sale by the Christian Brothers of school playing fields at Clonkeen College have resulted in the almost inevitable lodging of High Court proceedings. “Significant legal costs for all parties” are now forecast. As has been widely reported, earlier… Read more »

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NO ASYLUM FOR KENNY GROUP

Date: July 13, 2017 - Affairs of the Nation

IT WAS reported in the Sunday Times last weekend that an accommodation centre for asylum seekers in Limerick was closed as a result of fire safety issues. What was not revealed is that the company behind the centre (which has a capacity to house up to 90 asylum seekers) is a well known west of… Read more »

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WEST BRIT HISTORY FEST

Date: July 13, 2017 - Affairs of the Nation

ASSEMBLING Roy Foster, Eoghan Harris, Kevin Myers, Ruth Dudley Edwards and various academic and media fellow travellers in the same room to discuss the War of Independence sounds like a humorous two fingers to the government’s Decade of Centenaries. Already the West Cork History Festival has been dubbed the West Brit History Festival by a… Read more »

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Kenny Libel Win

Date: July 13, 2017 - Affairs of the Nation

HOWLS of indignation from Newstalk rang around the media following a front page “exclusive” in the Irish Sun whose headline claimed, “Kenny Facing Radio Axe”, in December 2015. The radio station lodged a High Court writ against Murdoch’s red top and the day after the Sun splash Denis O’Brien’s Irish Independent published a pointed article… Read more »

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KING OF THE BAR COUNCIL

Date: July 13, 2017 - Wigs on the Green

CONGRATS to rebel barrister Maura King whose vociferous critique of the Good ’Ol Boys that run the Bar Council saw her top the poll in recent elections to the council with a message demanding that the council “regain the respect of the Bar and the public”. Maura was elected on the first count with 273… Read more »

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The Hot Air Brigade

Date: July 13, 2017 - The Hot Air Brigade

Who knows really, but yesterday, amid all the excitement of Canadian Prime Minister (and all-round dreamboat) Justin Trudeau’s State visit to Ireland, our very own Leo Varadkar became a certified “Sock-star” (badum-tish!) Kirsty Blake Knox, Irish Independent Leo Varadkar is a serious guy. He shouldn’t be afraid of being a serious guy. Brendan O’Connor, Sunday… Read more »

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ALAN FARRELL BUCKS THE TREND

Date: July 13, 2017 - Last Refuge

LEO VARADKAR’S promise of future promotion for the disappointed ones has not assuaged the ire of various unrewarded Fine Gael backbenchers. Immediate threats of rebellion over a government bill were not anticipated within the first weeks of Vlad’s government and yet two of the most militant anti-Kenny rebels behind his long march to power have… Read more »

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AK47 FACING SQUEEZE IN TIPP

Date: July 13, 2017 - Last Refuge

LABOUR leader Brendan Howlin has earmarked Drogheda as the venue for the party’s next think-in to assist Senator Ged Nash’s bid to retain his Louth Dáil seat. But if the Labour leader is seriously concerned about retaining as well as regaining party seats he should pay a visit to Tipperary. The constituency commission has brought… Read more »

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Brian Hayes Home?

Date: July 13, 2017 - Last Refuge

IS the architect of Fine Gael’s 2016 general election debacle, MEP Brian Hayes, about to return to domestic politics? Reports that the party’s 2016 director of elections intends to return to the Dáil have circulated for some time (see The Phoenix, 12/2/16) with Hayes targeting Dublin Bay North (DBN) on the presumption that Richard Bruton… Read more »

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O’CALLAGHAN EMASCULATING MARTIN

Date: July 13, 2017 - Last Refuge

MICHEÁL MARTIN’S Cardinal Richelieu, justice spokesperson Jim O’Callaghan, is coming under serious fire in Fianna Fáil as someone who is leading the party astray and Martin with him. Martin’s recent attack on Leo Varadkar over garda evidence in the Jobstown trial has, yet again, placed the party to the right of a right wing government… Read more »

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DAIL’S WAR CORRESPONDENTS

Date: July 13, 2017 - Fit to Print?

THE Fine Gael leadership contest was a polite straightforward affair compared to the machinations surrounding the election of a new chair of the Oireachtas press gallery at its recent annual meeting. Time was when then INM group political editor, Fionnan Sheahan, as chair of the press gallery committee, ruled with an iron fist and there… Read more »

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Indo Contempt

Date: July 13, 2017 - Fit to Print?

THE Irish Independent’s angst about TD Paul Murphy and supporters of the Jobstown Six being allegedly in contempt of court may be intensified next week depending on the outcome of their appeal against a contempt ruling two years ago over coverage of the Anglo tapes. Then, judge Iseult O’Malley ruled that the Indo and its… Read more »

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TORIES TO PUSH EQUALITY AGENDA

Date: July 13, 2017 - Bird's Eye View

HEIDI ALLEN, Conservative Cambridgeshire South, expressed the outrage of many MPs on both sides of Britain’s parliament when she told the House of Commons: “I can barely put into words my anger at the deal my party has done with the DUP. We didn’t need to do it. I must put on record my distaste… Read more »

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‘MR SHOWBIZ’ DONE FOR FRAUD

Date: July 13, 2017 - Fit to Print?

LEO VARADKAR will have been impressed at the northern Department for Communities’ successful prosecution last month of journalist Paul Martin for defrauding £13,250 benefit, one of 20 such convictions in June. So, too, are the tabloid red tops which are fond of running stories about “dole spongers” with the Irish Mirror titles, daily and Sunday,… Read more »

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Vincent Browne

Date: July 13, 2017 - Pillars of Society

IT IS not exactly characteristic of Vincent Browne to walk out of a €400,000 pa contract which still has a year to run. So what exactly happened to the ringmaster of TV3’s most controversial show which has survived for 10 years under his very personal direction? And where does the septuagenarian interrogator go from here?…. Read more »

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TRUMP’S IRISH ALLIES

Date: July 13, 2017 - Fowl Emissions

DESPITE the efforts of the Trump regime, the international consensus on stepping up action to tackle climate change remains largely intact. In some areas, the pace of change is surprisingly quick. France has announced a complete ban on all petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040. Car manufacturer Volvo will only produce electrics or hybrids from… Read more »

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Bog Cuttings

Date: July 13, 2017 - Bog Cuttings

‘Look at that big thick head on you’ AN EGG seller lost his temper and began shouting abuse at a garda on a street in Birr, a recent sitting of Tullamore District Court was told. Garda Michelle Sweeney from Birr Garda Station told the court that at 2pm on a Wednesday she was driving down… Read more »

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Pat Crean

Date: July 13, 2017 - The Young Bloods

FRESH-FACED developer Pat Crean (37) has stepped out from the shadow of his former business partner, Greg Kavanagh, and is starting to generate his own headlines. After arriving on the scene with Kavanagh at New Generation Homes, Crean was central to some of the biggest land deals since the crash and now he’s beginning to… Read more »

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CYNTHIA CHUA’S PROPERTY PLAY

Date: July 13, 2017 - High Society

GOLDHAWK was most impressed with the audacious scheme drawn up by the owners of the Deepwell mansion in Blackrock, south County Dublin, involving the proposed sale of the property for €13m, just three years after its purchase from the estate of John Reihill of Tedcastles fame. The current owners are financier and energy investor Nick… Read more »

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Strancally Wedding

Date: July 13, 2017 - High Society

IT IS probably not surprising that there was little coverage of one of the high society weddings of the year – that of Portia Alen-Buckley to her beau in the impressive surroundings of Strancally Castle. Portia is the daughter of wealthy hedge fund operator Michael Alen-Buckley of RAB Capital and Giancarla “Gianni” Alen-Buckley, scion of… Read more »

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BIDDING FOR BALLYMACOLL

Date: July 13, 2017 - High Society

ALTHOUGH NOT confirmed, the name of Frank Dunne of Dunnes Stores fame is doing the rounds as the buyer of Ballymacoll Stud (which neighbours his impressive Hamwood Stud in Co Meath) for a tasty €8.15m. One underbidder was a husband-and-wife team who seem to have a fair few bob at their disposal these days. Despite… Read more »

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ROOM – ABBEY THEATRE

Date: July 13, 2017 - ReviewsTheatre

NEARLY a decade on, Emma O’Donoghue’s breakthrough story keeps on giving. It was only a matter of time before Jack and Ma, and the claustrophobic living space that defines their existence in the Booker nominated Room, made it to the stage. The Canada-based Dubliner “always had a feeling” that it belonged in theatre, she writes… Read more »

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HALAL DADDY – DIRECTOR CONOR McDERMOTTROE

Date: July 13, 2017 - MoviesReviews

FORGET JOHN Carpenter, George A Romero and other masters of horror, there are few more disturbing sights in cinema than the phrase “Bord Scannán na hÉireann presents” appearing in a film’s title credits. Like most movies bearing the legend, Conor McDermottroe’s Halal Daddy has the feel of a potentially promising project hastily completed when last-minute… Read more »

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CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS – SALLY ROONEY (FABER & FABER)

Date: July 13, 2017 - BooksReviews

DEBUT NOVELIST Sally Rooney creates a portrait of modern young women in this slow-moving tale centring around two university students, Frances and Bobbi, inseparable since their teens. Narrated entirely from Frances’s viewpoint, her quietly observant, cool detachment is in sharp contrast to her friend’s brash self-confidence. The pair are part of “the spoken word scene… Read more »

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VISUAL’S NATIONAL AMBITIONS

Date: July 13, 2017 - Behind the Scenes

EARLIER THIS month, the Indo’s Creative Ireland summer series paid a visit to Carlow’s expensive Visual Centre for Contemporary Art (VISUAL), where chief executive Ann Mulrooney revealed that a drive for national cultural institution status was well under way. This may come as a surprise to observers given the venue’s troubled history. The Indo article… Read more »

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Judicial Archivists

Date: July 13, 2017 - Behind the Scenes

AFTER A lengthy delay, arts minister Heather Humphreys has finally got around to appointing new members to the National Archives Advisory Council (NAAC). Not surprisingly perhaps, she has decided to stick yet another judge in the chair. The good news is that while there is no remuneration for the chairman, as is the case with… Read more »

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ED GUINEY’S LATEST BARGAIN BUY

Date: July 13, 2017 - Behind the Scenes

PERHAPS IT is no surprise that Andrew Lowe and Ed Guiney’s Element Pictures is behind the latest cinematic clean-up operation. It turns out that the two boys are taking the Cinemobile mobile cinema off liquidator George Maloney’s hands, in a move that follows on from Element’s interventions at the Lighthouse Cinema and, more recently, the… Read more »

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JOHN MAGNIER’S TACTICS

Date: July 13, 2017 - Sport of Kings

MUCH HAS been written of the Curragh this year and the hullaballoo over the board’s decision to run the Irish Derby and day two of Irish Champion’s weekend on a building site. But at least John Magnier seems happy. No doubt the decision has made for a particularly awkward period for chief executive Derek McGrath… Read more »

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COLIN KEANE’S CHANCES

Date: July 13, 2017 - Sport of Kings

LOOKING AHEAD from the flat season’s mid-point, it looks as if there could be a surprise in store at the end of the year, when the champions are crowned. At the season’s outset, Pat Smullen was a long odds-on shot to maintain his grip on the jockey’s championship but he has a major challenge ahead… Read more »

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Lambe’s Loss

Date: July 13, 2017 - Sport of Kings

DUNGANNON trainer James Lambe is back in the courts. The handler found himself in a spot of financial bother back in 2015, having lost a Supreme Court appeal that challenged the Bowler Hats’ authority to enforce the rules of racing. This resulted in him and his former jockey, Eddie O’Connell, being landed with costs of… Read more »

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LUKE COMER’S TRAINER

Date: July 13, 2017 - Sport of Kings

IT WILL be interesting to follow the latest instalment in the Luke Comer training saga, the story that just keeps on giving. Comer has recently employed Jim Gorman as his private trainer in a bid to salvage his training licence, which remains suspended following further inspections from the Turf Club. Earlier this month, the referrals… Read more »

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Tougher times ahead for Dalata in UK

Date: July 13, 2017 - Moneybags

IN 2007, Pat McCann set up Dalata Hotels with the backing of Davy stockbrokers and Shane Reihill. Thanks principally to the timing, this proved disastrous with the market writing off the entire E50m raised. But happily for McCann, he managed – again with Davys’ help – to raise new equity of €265m in March 2014… Read more »

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