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Vol. 34 No. 15

Date: July 28, 2016 -

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More pain at Providence Resources

Date: July 28, 2016 - Moneybags

THE SHAREHOLDERS in Providence Resources had much to be annoyed about last year when a share placing caused significant damage to their investment. The March 2015 placing to raise a desperately needed €28m saw the new shares issued at 34c, representing a 94% discount on the April 2013 placing price of €5.90, diluting the existing… Read more »

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JOINING NATO BY STEALTH

Date: July 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

THE NATO summit in Poland this month was regarded as a key event in the US and European powers strategy of military expansion against Russia. That neither the Department of Foreign Affairs nor Defence issued a solitary press statement – before, during or after the summit – indicates our aloofness as a neutral country from… Read more »

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‘RACING POST’ WINNER ALRIGHT

Date: July 28, 2016 - Sport of Kings

THE NEWS that the Racing Post has been sold to private equity company Exponent represents a big windfall for the various moneybags who came on board when the loans attached to the horseracing bible were being sold off at a massive discount by the IBRC liquidators in December 2013. It looks like the profit being… Read more »

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BAR COUNCIL CHAIRMAN’S TAX BILL

Date: July 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

THE NEW chairman of the Bar Council is Paul McGarry SC, a busy barrister who has made quite a name for himself. And a little run-in with the dreaded Revenue Commissioners a few years back (see The Phoenix 23/10/09) has, happily, not impeded his rise through the ranks of the Law Library. McGarry is certainly… Read more »

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MOYA DOHERTY’S COMMISSIONS

Date: July 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

THERE WAS plenty of coverage of the latest annual report from RTÉ published last week but not so much attention to the report of the Independent Productions Unit (IPU) which commissions independent producers to supply programming to the stations. The good news is that RTÉ chair Moya Doherty continues to earn a few bob from… Read more »

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Apology

Date: July 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

The Commissioner of an Garda Síochána, The Minister for Justice and Equality and the Attorney General and The Phoenix magazine Further to the settlement of Contempt of Court proceedings brought against this publication by the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Attorney General, The Phoenix wishes to acknowledge… Read more »

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NOEL C DUGGAN’S LEGAL ACTION

Date: July 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

NOEL C DUGGAN is getting as well known in the Four Goldmines as the showjumping world. He has just escalated his legal stand-off with the Show Jumping Ireland (SJI) and Horse Sport Ireland (HIS) by firing off summonses … on the day of the Dublin Horse Show kick off. It will be recalled (see The… Read more »

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MAX BARRETT VS THE BAR COUNCIL

Date: July 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

LAST WEEK’S ruling in favour of former judge Barry White, who was seeking to be allowed to practise as a barrister in courts lower than those he oversaw, has caused significant ripples in legal circles. White turned up with a high powered legal team but even his own barristers may have been taken aback by… Read more »

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THE PERENNIAL ATTORNEY GENERAL

Date: July 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

‘BAFFLEMENT’ is the overwhelming response to the failure of government to appoint Attorney General Máire Whelan, now into her second term as AG, to the Court of Appeal last week. The convention is that at a change of government, a departing AG is granted the highest judicial place available and given the newly created Court… Read more »

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VW in Mayo court

Date: July 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

BALLYHAUNIS solicitor Evan O’Dwyer has giant multinational Volkswagen on the run in Castlebar District Court. The Mayo legal eagle has forced the car manufacturer to disclose a voluminous number of internal documents relating to tampering with its car emissions, something it has successfully resisted in other European jurisdictions. The successful discovery order has now seen… Read more »

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PARAMILITARIES TO SCOOP £50 MILLION

Date: July 28, 2016 - Bird's Eye View

AT THE beginning of July a memorial banner was hung from a pole in Dungannon extolling the murderous activities of Billy Wright, known as ‘King Rat’, a man generally held to be responsible for at least twenty killings the majority blatantly sectarian. Relatives of some of his victims complained. Local nationalist and Alliance party politicians… Read more »

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The Hot Air Brigade

Date: July 28, 2016 - The Hot Air Brigade

“We don’t do Abba. We don’t do Robbie f*****g Williams. Brentwood, we are the Boomtown Rats. We are mega.” Bob Geldof fooling nobody at Brentwood gig, VIP Magazine, submitted by reader “But, just as America got its head around a basketball playing president, and Canada has gotten its head around its yoga-practising premier, we should… Read more »

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FINE GAEL’S ELECTION POST MORTEMS

Date: July 28, 2016 - Last Refuge

BRIAN HAYES is the most likely to be targeted in the two Fine Gael election post mortems – if they ever see the light of day. The first, initiated by the parliamentary party, was in effect conducted by four TDs: Maria Bailey, Peter Burke, Alan Farrell and Kate O’Connell. The second was launched by FG… Read more »

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ALAN KELLY RELOADED

Date: July 28, 2016 - Last Refuge

ALAN AK47 KELLY has neither gone away nor been decommissioned and after a temporary ceasefire is firing off salvoes against the government in a bid to reassert himself again. But his real target is party leader Brendan Howlin. It may or may not be a good idea to become the Sunday Independent’s Labour poster boy… Read more »

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Renua’s money

Date: July 28, 2016 - Last Refuge

RENUA HAS no TDs or senators but is being kept alive by state funds of €250,000 a year and is already making preparations to fund a full time party leader and also a candidate coordinator. Offaly councillor John Leahy is likely to be elected leader in September and the job description has already been drafted…. Read more »

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MICHEÁL MARTIN’S LONG-TERM GAME PLAN

Date: July 28, 2016 - Last Refuge

FINE GAEL’S Brendan Griffin is not the only member of his party terrified of Fianna Fáil suddenly pulling the plug and racing to the country. Griffin exaggerated the danger in order to increase party paranoia about either having Kenny as leader at such an election or having a leadership contest on the eve of an… Read more »

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EOGHAN HARRIS HOUNDS HALAWA

Date: July 28, 2016 - Fit to Print?

AS IF Ibrahim Halawa, jailed for three years in Egypt without trial and facing a possible death penalty, had not enough to contend with, his release campaign has now been attacked by Eoghan Harris in the Sunday Independent. In an extraordinary article recently, Harris began by praising former Portuguese dictator Salazar, suggesting that EU countries… Read more »

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MCD’s blacklist

Date: July 28, 2016 - Fit to Print?

IS Irish Independent feature writer and music critic John Meagher the latest disrespectful hack to fall foul of omnipotent music promoters MCD Productions? Goldhawk recently reported on how MCD blacked another music critic, Ed Power, following his scathing critique of Hozier (managed by MCD director Caroline Downey) as the best example of all that is… Read more »

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DEE FORBES’S GOODBYE KISS

Date: July 28, 2016 - Fit to Print?

RTE’S NEW director general Dee Forbes gave her “enormously talented” charges a corporate pep talk via a memo to staff when she landed at her desk a fortnight ago. But behind the luvvy lingo – “you should be proud of … [RTE’s] unique place in Irish life” etc – the real message was that of… Read more »

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Paul Williams

Date: July 28, 2016 - Pillars of Society

CAN Paul Williams save Newstalk from disaster as Denis O’Brien’s station faces life without Ivan Yates, with George Hook heading towards the door and RTE stealing listeners as well as backroom staff? There is an air of desperation at Newstalk as indicated by the choice… Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Date: July 28, 2016 - Bog Cuttings

‘Beyoncé could have slipped on her backside’ KILRUSH, Co Clare, has been buzzing with the rumour that Beyoncé was a recent guest to the area. Locals were convinced the singer was one of several individuals who landed at Aylevarroo, Cappa, on a luxury yacht some weeks ago. Many say they saw blacked out cars collecting… Read more »

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Brendan Griffin

Date: July 28, 2016 - The Young Bloods

Brendan Griffin (34) TD was the only Fine Gael backbencher to call openly for the resignation of Taoiseach Enda Kenny in the latest anti-Kenny bout of dissent. The Kerry Blueshirt has crafted a public image in the last five years as a straight-talking and rebellious backbencher, willing to be a thorn in the side of… Read more »

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RENVILLE HOUSE’S NEW OWNER

Date: July 28, 2016 - High Society

THE NEW owner of Renville House on 130 acres outside Oranmore overlooking Galway Bay is burger and chips millionaire Pat McDonagh of Supermac’s fame. He lashed out €3.2m for the property at the auction in Galway’s Radisson Blu Hotel, a cool E1.2m above the guide price. The Georgian Renville House had been in the ownership… Read more »

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Colgan’s property pals

Date: July 28, 2016 - High Society

THE HIRING of the Gate’s Michael Colgan as an arts adviser by boom-time developer Sean Mulryan (who has now exited Nama) is the kind of move that suggests the old ways may be returning. Colgan, who previously described Mulryan as “special”, has form in this area. A couple of years ago, the outgoing Gate Theatre… Read more »

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GREG BRODERICK’S CLEAR ROUND

Date: July 28, 2016 - High Society

SHOWJUMPING has been in the news thanks to the Irish Horse Show at the RDS but there has also been another story garnering attention in the media – the selection of Tipperary’s Greg Broderick to represent Ireland at the Rio Olympics next month, ahead of the dashing young 20-year-old Wexford-born superstar, Bertram Allen. As it… Read more »

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SECOND CAPTAINS SUNDAY – RTÉ RADIO ONE

Date: July 28, 2016 - Reviews

IN THIS latest version of their old Newstalk Off the Ball programme, presenters Eoin McDevitt, Ciarán Murphy and Ken Early aim to attract a wider weekend audience than traditional sports fans. With music, chat and interviews, the lads have temporarily replaced Miriam O’Callaghan’s regular10am Sunday slot with a tried and tested format that offers few… Read more »

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FILLING THOSE TOP ARTS JOBS

Date: July 28, 2016 - Behind the Scenes

WITH THE renewal of the contract of James Hickey as chief executive of the Irish Film Board (IFB) this month, a pattern is starting to emerge in the manner in which the previously understood “fixed-term” contracts for the heads of the national cultural institutions are quietly renewed without any advert. Hickey follows hot on the… Read more »

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NOW THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT

Date: July 28, 2016 - Behind the Scenes

THEY SAY “there’s no business like show business” and this is strongly supported by the latest healthy flow of public money into the coffers of the country’s mendicant film and television producers, totalling U28.2m. Second quarter figures for the Section 481 tax break (U17.5m), James Hickey’s Irish Film Board (€6m) and at Michael O’Keefe’s Broadcasting… Read more »

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Jim BOLGER’S US friends

Date: July 28, 2016 - Sport of Kings

OVER THE last 10 years, Jim Bolger has generally relied on himself rather than outside owners to produce the raw material to train. But he has also shown quite a knack for following the money, Bolger has developed a large broodmare band that provides the Master of Coolcullen with an annual influx of yearlings to… Read more »

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GILLIGAN VS THE BHA

Date: July 28, 2016 - Sport of Kings

PAUL GILLIGAN, the Galway-based trainer who sent out Bertie’s Dream to win at the Cheltenham Festival in 2010, is continuing to lock horns with the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) over his six month suspension handed down in March this year. Gilligan was found guilty of running a horse at Uttoxeter Racecourse in 2014 that had… Read more »

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BRIAN KAVANAGH: WINNER ALRIGHT?

Date: July 28, 2016 - Sport of Kings

AS PREDICTED by Goldhawk (see The Phoenix 17/6/16), Brian Kavanagh has been reappointed chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland for third time, without any advertisement for the position. However the race to the finish proved rather bumpy one for Kavanagh and HRI chairman, Joe ‘Strawberries’ Keeling. A stewards’ inquiry would not be out of the… Read more »

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Moguls taking on Denis O’Brien

Date: July 28, 2016 - Moneybags

IT IS now much clearer what strategy was behind Eir’s decision to buy Setanta Sport. It was not just the building up of a better “quad play” – offering mainline telephony, mobile phone, broadband and TV content – but also as an asset to take on one of its main broadband competitors: John Malone’s Virgin… Read more »

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Michael O’Leary’s tax woes

Date: July 28, 2016 - Brief Cases

SPARE A thought for Michael O’Leary (not that one) who just had a judgment for €54,000 registered against him by the Revenue in July. O’Leary, a Co Wexford-based accountant and auctioneer, also dabbled in property developing and will be familiar to fans of Goldhawk because of a legal spat with an ex-business partner of his…. Read more »

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Revenue gets tough with solicitors

Date: July 28, 2016 - Brief Cases

THE REVENUE has registered judgments against no less than five solicitors since the start of June. The legal eagles will now have to explain themselves to the Law Society as per its rules for tax defaulters. Of the five, Brendan Walsh from Blackrock, Co Louth, had the largest judgment registered against him by the taxman… Read more »

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Bad times get worse for O’Connor brothers

Date: July 28, 2016 - Brief Cases

THERE WAS bad news in July for Kerry developers and builders WK O’Connor & Sons Ltd (WKOC) which had a receiver appointed to it on foot of eight Anglo Irish Bank mortgages, some dating back to 2001. The company, which is already in NAMA, also showed some eye-watering losses in its latest set of accounts…. Read more »

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