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The Hot Air Brigade

Date: April 19, 2017 - The Hot Air Brigade

This is female power. How can we have the Eighth Amendment when we have this in our culture? Look at how she’s baring her teeth. Visual artist Jesse Jones views a sheela-na-gig statue, as reported by Gemma Tipton, Irish Times I felt the dullness of that distant past reach out and fold itself around my… Read more »

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Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster

SNAP ELECTION IN THE NORTH

Date: April 19, 2017 - Bird's Eye View

THERESA MAY’S snap election call may or may not mean a second Assembly election will be held simultaneously with the Westminster poll. Either way, the northern impasse remains gridlocked. It boils down to this. Either you believe what Sinn Féin leaders have been saying about a new northern administration or you don’t. Regularly since January… Read more »

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Brendan Halligan

HALLIGAN’S QUANGO NETS €1M

Date: April 19, 2017 - Affairs of the Nation

THE LATEST accounts for the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) show its income for 2015 rose by 22.3% to €881,593 and with a community employment grant rose to over a million euro (€1,069,130), a rise of 16.4%. But the IIEA has continually refused to divulge the amount of taxpayers’ money it gets from… Read more »

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Keith Mahon’s Followers

Date: April 19, 2017 - Affairs of the Nation

CONGRATULATIONS to Keith Mahon of The Taste.ie who has been named most influential food and drink journo on Twitter by Murray Communications. But a quick look at Mahon’s list of 122,000 followers shows quite a few appear to be fake “bot” accounts. While he has a lot of flesh and blood fans, many have no… Read more »

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WILL AG SURVIVE NEW FG LEADERSHIP?

Date: April 19, 2017 - Last Refuge

AN INTERESTING sequence of stories following the recent Fennelly Report indicates that Alan Shatter is now being used to pressure Enda Kenny to resign forthwith. The former justice minister told the Sunday Independent last weekend that Kenny had “no moral compass” and was misusing his power. And while not naming them, he pointedly accused Simon… Read more »

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Brendan Howlin’s Headache

Date: April 19, 2017 - Last Refuge

RTÉ coverage of Labour leader Brendan Howlin’s conference speech this weekend will help sustain the illusion that the party is still a player in Irish politics. Labour’s goal has always been to transform the two-and-a-half party system into three with itself as one of those big boys. Unfortunately, three big parties now exist but Sinn… Read more »

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Squeezing John McGuinness

Date: April 19, 2017 - Last Refuge

IT’S hard to keep John McGuinness down, as Micheál Martin knows only too well. Motor Mouth McGuinness, as loyal frontbenchers call him, was last year dropped from the front bench and denied re-nomination to his former starring role as chair of the PAC by Martin. Now, he faces a squeeze in his Carlow-Kilkenny constituency where… Read more »

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BIFFO’S BROTHER V MICHEÁL MARTIN

Date: April 19, 2017 - Last Refuge

IT’S BEEN a bad week or so for Fianna Fáil and inside the party the choice of scapegoats for the water charges gyrations and eventual capitulation is evenly divided. There are those who blame Barry Cowen and others who say he was merely carrying out Micheál Martin’s orders. When it is put to party frontbenchers… Read more »

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Paul O'Neill

IRISH TIMES’ LAST CHANCE SALOON

Date: April 19, 2017 - Fit to Print?

EXITING Irish Times editor Kevin O’Sullivan has expressed excitement at his new role as environment, agriculture and science editor but he put up quite a fight to retain his editorial position in recent months. O’Sullivan had come under pressure from the board of The Irish Times Ltd (ITL), with chairman Dan Flinter to the fore,… Read more »

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Reviewing Desmond Traynor

Date: April 19, 2017 - Fit to Print?

IF Irish Times critic and literary diva Eileen Battersby was treated with kid gloves by the Sunday Independent, her own critic, Sindo reviewer Desmond Traynor was terminated with extreme editorial prejudice by the newspaper. The Sindo commissioned a review by Traynor of Battersby’s oeuvre, Teethmarks On My Tongue, but it was spiked as Traynor’s criticism… Read more »

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VICTORIA WHITE’S TSUNAMI

Date: April 19, 2017 - Fit to Print?

IRISH EXAMINER columnist Victoria White last week stuck it to those Harry Houdinis in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil whom she charged with trying to wriggle out of international commitments under the EU water charges directive. Victoria accused the two parties of a deal that “steals from future generations of Irish people” and that their… Read more »

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DID ASSAD REALLY USE SARIN?

Date: April 19, 2017 - Foreign Frolics

by Paul Gottinger ALMOST IMMEDIATELY after video of the alleged chemical weapons attack in Idlib hit Western media, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was declared guilty by US news networks and political commentators. The front page of the New York Times on April 5 showed a heartbreaking image of a child wounded in the alleged chemical… Read more »

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Paddy Prendergast

Date: April 19, 2017 - Pillars of Society

EXACTLY 100 years after John Pentland Mahaffy, the much-celebrated provost of Trinity College, distinguished himself by suppressing the college’s Gaelic Society (over its plans to celebrate the centenary of Thomas Davis’s birth), today’s provost Paddy Prendergast (50) concluded it was time to change the image, or was it the brand, of TCD. He wanted to… Read more »

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IFA LOSES RAG

Date: April 19, 2017 - Fowl Emissions

ARE THE wheels starting to come off Ireland’s most formidable lobbying machine? The IFA’s attack on Fianna Fáil last month for failing to roll over and support its demands on the Heritage Bill was notable for the virulence of the language used. “Fianna Fáil has now effectively done a u-turn and pandered to the Greens,”… Read more »

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Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Date: April 19, 2017 - Bog Cuttings

Urinating man claimed he was Enda Kenny A WESTPORT man who urinated in the direction of gardaí while claiming he was Enda Kenny was given the benefit of the Probation Act. Inspector Gary Walsh said that on January 4, 2014 gardaí were in Mill Street Car Park at 3.30am when they saw Geoffrey King (40)… Read more »

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Eoghan Murphy

Date: April 19, 2017 - The Young Bloods

JUNIOR finance minister Eoghan Murphy is the quintessential young (35) Fine Gael politician with the deportment of a young Tory and a CV that ticks a lot of boxes (jobs at the UN, the Department of Foreign Affairs and various NGOs). Murphy is in a hurry and believes himself to be on the verge of… Read more »

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WINDING UP ANNES GROVE ESTATE

Date: April 19, 2017 - High Society

THE TRUSTEES of Annes Grove Estate Co – which owns the impressive Annes Grove demesne and its famous garden in north Cork – have just passed a resolution to wind up the company and divvy up the proceeds. Happily, the tax bill has been reduced courtesy of last year’s donation of the property to the… Read more »

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Tadhg Campion’s Contacts

Date: April 19, 2017 - High Society

THE PLANNING row continues in Harcourt Terrace where low profile zillionaire Declan Ryan has just lost the latest round to equally media-shy auctioneer/property consultant Tadhg Campion – a man who is proving a more than capable adversary for Ryan and his army of advisers. Although Ryan also owns a pile outside Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, and… Read more »

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KATE GLEESON’S FASHION BUSINESS

Date: April 19, 2017 - High Society

FANS OF high profile boutique Kate Gleeson will not have been surprised at the splash given to her last weekend in the pages of the Sunday Independent, this time a four-page article on her “gorgeous home” and fledgling fashion business. The Sindo spread gushed about Kate’s Howth pile (completely rebuilt from scratch in 2012) from… Read more »

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‘EXTRA-ORDINARY’ generosity at the NLI

Date: April 19, 2017 - Behind the Scenes

WITH THE papers of Conor Cruise O’Brien now on the list of acquisitions being targeted by the National Library of Ireland (NLI), it is interesting to look at how the library wangled over E1/2m out of Heather Humphreys last Christmas to allow it to buy material relating to WB Yeats, including letters from James Joyce… Read more »

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DUKE V GARRAHY

Date: April 19, 2017 - Behind the Scenes

GOLDHAWK’S OLD friend Michael Duke has popped up in the court lists after filing High Court proceedings against Elizabeth Garrahy’s Arts For Peace Foundation (AFP). This is an unusual pairing, with the former being a US movie producer and the latter a charity aimed at providing succour to children from war zones. Although the cause… Read more »

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IFB Shuts The Door

Date: April 19, 2017 - Behind the Scenes

ANNIE DOONA’S Irish Film Board (IFB) recently closed its screenplay development funding scheme due, it said, to a need to reassess the fund following a 25% increase in applications. It didn’t say when this increase occurred or quote the number of applications received. The scheme is unique among the IFB’s funding operations in that it… Read more »

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FAT LADY PREPARES TO SING

Date: April 19, 2017 - Behind the Scenes

THIS WEEK is the deadline for shortlisting applicants hoping to become the go-to company for producing main-scale opera in Dublin for the next few years. Finalised proposals are then due into the Arts Council panel chaired by Sheila Pratschke by May 4, and the smart money suggests former Arts Council opera adviser Fergus Sheil is… Read more »

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THE PONZI MAN – DECLAN LYNCH (HACHETTE)

Date: April 19, 2017 - BooksReviews

DURING THE latter stages of the delirium known as the Celtic Tiger, Irish high society became the land of the pyramids – or at least the pyramid scheme. Participation in Ponzi scams of various kinds proliferated among the well-heeled and professional classes, as seemingly intelligent people queued up to hand over their life savings to… Read more »

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PRIVATE LIVES – GATE THEATRE

Date: April 19, 2017 - ReviewsTheatre

TRANSITIONS are a curious business. Former director Michael Colgan may have left the Gate Theatre at the start of April and his successor Selina Cartmell’s name now appears in the cherished top spot inside the theatre’s programmes. But for now, it’s clearly Colgan-style business-as-usual on Parnell Square. A month remains until Cartmell unveils her debut… Read more »

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LUKE COMER’S PROBATION

Date: April 19, 2017 - Sport of Kings

LUKE COMER SNR’S plan to develop a state-of-the-art training centre at his property in Kilternan had a setback recently and the jury is out on how long it will take him to get his house in order. The zillionaire developer got in a spot of bother after refusing to allow the Turf Club to inspect… Read more »

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OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS FOR JAMIE CODD

Date: April 19, 2017 - Sport of Kings

AS TRAINERS Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott continue their high profile battle for the Irish trainers championship, there is another contest going on in the amateur jockeys’ championship, which both trainers can influence. Jamie Codd, who rides most of Elliott’s bumper horses, is locked in a good tussle with Patrick Mullins, son of Willie. The… Read more »

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john-oxx

BIG YEAR FOR JOHN OXX

Date: April 19, 2017 - Sport of Kings

IT WAS good to see John Oxx start off the flat season with a nice winner but he is facing a tough season to stay in the race. Oxx is a habitual slow starter but he produced Bengala in good shape to win at Leopardstown earlier in the month. It was an important winner for… Read more »

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AIDAN O’BRIEN’S PRIORITIES

Date: April 19, 2017 - Sport of Kings

IT HAS been a less than impressive start to the flat season for Aidan O’Brien but he is getting ready for the first big day out next month when the result will really matter. First up, AOB saw a horse he bred along with wife Annemarie, under their Whisperview Trading operation, land the Lincoln Handicap… Read more »

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Datalex shares flying dangerously high

Date: April 19, 2017 - Moneybags

AIRLINE SOFTWARE engine Datalex has been one of the most impressive and surprising share performers on the Irish Stock Exchange. With its shares at €3.75, it is capitalised at €280m – no small beer for a company with a turnover of just over €50m. This means it is capitalised at more than five times its… Read more »

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Brian Hall

Aminex assets not reflected in the share price

Date: April 19, 2017 - Moneybags

ONE OF Aidan Heavey’s less fortunate decisions was to relinquish Tullow Oil’s 50% stake in Aminex’s onshore Ruvuma licence in Tanzania, after the consortium drilling the first Ntorya-1 well failed to find any resource when the drill reached its primary target in 2013. It was Brian Hall, chairman of the relatively tiny Aminex, who had… Read more »

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Jimmy Finlay’s bad punt

Date: April 19, 2017 - The Hot Water Brigade

IT’S THE end of an era as the company behind well-known independent bookmakers Bambury has moved to wind itself up in the High Court. Finbam Leisure Ltd – which traded as Bambury – is owned by Jimmy and Barbara Finlay, founder members of the Betpack group of bookies. Barbara Finlay is a scion of the… Read more »

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Daragh Heagney’s Howth return

Date: April 19, 2017 - The Hot Water Brigade

PENINSULA Brewery Ltd, with an address on O’Connell Street in Limerick City, has just had a judgment registered against it by Fingal County Council for unpaid rates. The judgment is for a meagre €12,000 but it turns out Peninsula is the company behind the Harbour Bar in Howth and is part-owned by Goldhawk’s old pal,… Read more »

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Alan Kershaw runs out of road

Alan Kershaw runs out of road

Date: April 19, 2017 - The Hot Water Brigade

SPARE a thought for Alan Kershaw – father of Goldhawk’s old pal Mark Kershaw – who has just been declared bankrupt in the High Court. Kershaw the elder founded Manvik Ireland Ltd, which rented bin lorries to local authorities until it went bust in 2011 and his family will be familiar to Goldhawk fans for… Read more »

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Anthony Fitzpatrick’s courtroom saga

Date: April 19, 2017 - The Hot Water Brigade

WELL done to Limerick accountant Anthony J Fitzpatrick who recently had a relatively good day in the Court of Appeal. Regular readers of these pages will recall that Fitzpatrick was removed in 2015 as the liquidator of Ballyrider Ltd, which operated the Hazel Hotel in Co Kildare, on foot of an application by the taxman…. Read more »

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Accountants’ not so public hearings

Date: April 19, 2017 - The Hot Water Brigade

ALTHOUGH hearings before the Disciplinary Tribunal of Chartered Accountants Ireland – the institute’s mechanism for dealing with wayward members – are advertised as public sessions, it turns out that’s not always the case. Goldhawk popped along to an appeal hearing in front of the tribunal, which was to be held on April 11 at Chartered… Read more »

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