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Phoenix BW

Godley’s Bum Notes

Date: November 12, 2015 -

INTERESTING to see Dermot Desmond’s IIU register a charge against Kevin Godley’s company, which is behind the former 10CC member’s much hyped music software product, which describes itself as a “global recording studio in the cloud”. Apparently, the draw is that fans can collaborate online with their heroes and possibly earn money as a result…. Read more »

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Phoenix BW

Micheál Peers Through Fog of War

Date: November 12, 2015 -

MICHEÁL MARTIN’S mantra about Fianna Fail refusing to join in government with either Fine Gael or Sinn Féin is not as ridiculous as it sounds. While various TDs have on occasion expressed a preference for coalition with either of the two parties, the masterplan is for something quite different. There is a genuine fear that… Read more »

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Madigan’s Steamy Briefs

Date: November 12, 2015 - Affairs of the Nation

FINE GAEL councillor and general election candidate Josepha Madigan has a knack of generating publicity, good and bad. The recent halting site tragedy involving the death of ten Travellers generated yet more media comment, this time about Madigan’s opposition to a proposed halting site at Mount Anville as highlighted in her 2014 local election leaflet,… Read more »

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Michael Dwyer and Eduardo Rozsa Flores

REBALANCING MICHAEL DWYER

Date: November 6, 2015 - Affairs of the Nation

ALTHOUGH the story has not been receiving much media attention of late, RTÉ opted to broadcast a new documentary on the subject of the killing of Michael Dwyer in Bolivia by a special forces team on April 16 2009, entitled Death of a Son. Produced by Phoenix Films and directed by Martina Durac and Julien… Read more »

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Dermot Bannon

DERMOT BANNON’S COURT DATE

Date: November 6, 2015 - Affairs of the Nation

DUBLIN architect Dermot Bannon has made a name for himself through the RTÉ programme, Room to Improve, in which the affable architect helps punters redesign their homes. Of course, this gives Bannon publicity that money can’t buy, but one woman, Mary Moore, who appeared on the show in 2009, is far from pleased with the… Read more »

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Jonathan Powell

LOYALISTS PLEDGE NEW LEAF

Date: November 6, 2015 - Bird's Eye View

JONATHAN POWELL, Tony Blair’s former chief of staff, last week made his first public intervention in the North’s politics for a decade. This time he was speaking on his own behalf, rather than on behalf of the British government, when he announced the establishment of a Loyalist Community Council. It was not well received. It’s… Read more »

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Ed Guiney

BAILING OUT LELIA DOOLAN

Date: November 6, 2015 - Affairs of the Nation

FOLLOWING a meeting of Galway City Council earlier this month, the expensive end credits are now rolling for Lelia Doolan’s ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ in Galway. At the October 12 council meeting, CEO Brendan McGrath proposed that at least another €250,000 in public funds be poured into the €8.5m pot in order to see the… Read more »

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HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: November 6, 2015 - The Hot Water Brigade

Alfred Hitchcock once said that the greatest female stars had the trick of transforming themselves into a blank canvas onto which the masses could project their private hopes, dreams and desires. There is something of the great auteur’s blueprint for stardom about Claire Byrne. Donal Lynch, Sunday Independent While the birds of a feather of… Read more »

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MAHON TRIBUNAL’S HOT POTATOES

MAHON TRIBUNAL’S HOT POTATOES

Date: November 6, 2015 - Bird's Eye View

MAJOR dilemmas face the current Mahon Tribunal members struggling with the poisoned chalice passed to them by its long retired original chairman, Justice Feargus Flood. These include a continuing stand-off over Flood’s second and third reports; a challenge by Cork developer Owen O’Callaghan to their own final report; and the huge costs paid to their… Read more »

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Enda Kenny

KENNY’S BIG BLUNDER

Date: November 6, 2015 - Last Refuge

THE shambles that was Enda Kenny’s agonising over and eventual retreat from a November election helps to explain a 3% drop in the latest Sunday Times/ Behaviour and Attitudes poll. Kenny has lost authority inside Fine Gael and he will know there is real danger ahead as a result. The poll was taken in the… Read more »

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Micheál Martin

BERTIE’S BOYS RETREAT TO FINGAL

Date: November 6, 2015 - Last Refuge

TWO reports in The Sunday Times a fortnight ago indicated the bitterness of the BEGOBs (Bertie’s Good Ol’ Boys) at being routed and outmanoeuvred by that bloody woman, Mary Fitzpatrick, at the Dublin Central (DC) Fianna Fáil convention recently. One of the ST articles reported that two of Bertie Ahern’s “most seasoned campaigners”, Chris Wall… Read more »

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Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

SF AND FF IN GOVERNMENT?

Date: November 6, 2015 - Affairs of the Nation

THE notion that Sinn Féin would form a coalition government with Fianna Fail was raised this week in the book, Power Play: The Rise of Modern Sinn Féin, by ex-Irish Times Northern editor Deaglán de Bréadún. It was backed last weekend by prominent SF Donegal TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, who endorsed the proposition that an… Read more »

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Paul O’Neill

DISCORD AT IRISH TIMES

Date: November 6, 2015 - Fit to Print?

THAT recent reshuffle at The Irish Times involving some of the most senior posts at the Court of Tara Street has created serious discontent among those who believe that the appointments were handled in an autocratic fashion. The elevation of such as Paul O’Neill to deputy editor; Mark Hennessy to news editor; John McManus to… Read more »

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John Horgan

HONOURING HORGAN

Date: November 6, 2015 - Fit to Print?

THE ACCOLADES heaped upon former Press Ombudsman, Professor John Horgan, by establishment figures last week would embarrass a man with less self-confidence. But Horgan took it all in his stride at the launch of a collection of Essays in Honour of John Horgan by Kevin Rafter and Mark O’Brien (the book does what it says… Read more »

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PASCHAL BERGIN’S POCKET MONEY

Date: November 6, 2015 - Beyond the Pale

FANS of Goldhawk will already be familiar with the many battles of property developer Mervyn Walsh, originally from Wexford, who was behind a disastrous housing development in Co Laois through Event Horizon Ltd (see The Phoenix 4/5/12). Centrally involved here was accountant Paschal Bergin who has also been in the wars, including with his former… Read more »

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bog cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Date: November 6, 2015 - Bog Cuttings

HAD BOTTLE OF VODKA DOWN PANTS A THURLES man who was found with a “large bottle of vodka down his pants” was fined E350 at Thurles District Court for verbally abusing a garda. Sergeant Declan O’Carroll told Judge Elizabeth McGrath that Garda Dara Rogers encountered the defendant, Tony Quinlan, at Garyvicleheen, Thurles on September 2… Read more »

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James Buckley

FOUR FAULTS FOR JAMES BUCKLEY

Date: November 6, 2015 - High Society

THE PURCHASE of the former Jessbrook equestrian centre outside Johnstownbridge in Co Kildare – originally built by the notorious John Gilligan – has not proved a happy deal for Carlow horse owner and former showjumper, James Buckley. He is now planning to ship the whole structure abroad. The 34-year-old Buckley purchased the controversial Jessbrook and… Read more »

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Atalanta Pollock

ATALANTA POLLOCK’S WIND PROBLEM

Date: November 6, 2015 - High Society

SPARE A thought for the Pollock family and their Mountainstown House outside Navan, Co Meath. After being in the same family for 250 years, the sprawling demesne has been on the market for over six months, but even a significant price cut has had no effect to date. The problem may be wind-related. The impressive… Read more »

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Deirdre O’Kane

ARE YOU THERE, GARTH …? GAIETY THEATRE

Date: November 6, 2015 - Theatre

EVERY SO often, life can really let you down. Irish fans of Garth Brooks know this. They experienced it in the summer of 2014, when their erstwhile hero stuck to his guns and refused to play any fewer than five concerts in Croke Park. After that silly-season planning dispute with Dublin City Council, which resulted… Read more »

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Panti Bliss

THE QUEEN OF IRELAND DIRECTED BY CONOR HORGAN

Date: November 6, 2015 - Movies

  THE MUCH HYPED ‘Panti movie’, The Queen of Ireland, opened in Irish cinemas with a live panel discussion with its subject, Rory O’Neill/Panti Bliss, streamed into multiple screens on its first night. It’s an appropriately showbiz opening for a documentary film about a drag queen who left dreary Ireland in the 1990s because it… Read more »

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The Blue Guitar

THE BLUE GUITAR – JOHN BANVILLE (VIKING)

Date: November 6, 2015 - Books

SEVERAL OF John Banville’s previous novels have been about disillusioned men reviewing their failed lives and wondering about what might have been. Like most of his other damaged heroes, the narrator of The Blue Guitar is typically cantankerous and constantly at odds with the world around him. The novelist’s latest work has attracted mixed reviews,… Read more »

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Pixie McKenna

FUNDING PIXIE McKENNA’S ‘SEX CLINIC’

Date: November 6, 2015 - Behind the Scenes

THE STRUGGLING UTV Ireland got a small shot in the arm from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) when it announced the latest handouts under its Sound & Vision funding programme (fuelled by the TV licence fee). Motive Television’s Irish arm will produce a six-part series, Knock on a Wing and a Prayer, for the… Read more »

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Colm Tóibín

Druid Theatre Company & Colm Toibin

Date: November 6, 2015 - Behind the Scenes

THINGS HAVE been good on stage and off at Druid theatre company in recent times, where artistic director Garry Hynes generated plenty of plaudits for the lauded DruidShakespeare production. Next up is Big Maggie at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin – and Dublin now features very prominently in the make-up of the Galway company’s board…. Read more »

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Willie Mullins

WILLIE MULLINS’S SMART MOVE

Date: November 6, 2015 - Sport of Kings

CHAMPION trainer Willie Mullins is now operating out of a stable he runs near Irish racing HQ at the Curragh. The remarkably successful handler, whose main yard is located in Carlow, is stabling a number of his high end jumpers at a yard near to the home of his stable jockey, Ruby Walsh, in Calverstown,… Read more »

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Aidan O’Brien

AIDAN O’BRIEN’S ‘DUCKS’

Date: November 6, 2015 - Sport of Kings

“THE DUCKS are not in a row.” Aidan O’Brien’s words before unwrapping the thick layers of cotton wool from his star miler, Gleneagles, at the Sheikh Fahad Al Thani-sponsored Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot last weekend. O’Brien clearly communicated via media interviews before and after the race that he was not happy running the horse,… Read more »

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Eamon McElroy

BLUE DAY FOR BOWLER HATS

Date: November 6, 2015 - Sport of Kings

THE FINE PRINT of Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney’s new Horse Racing Bill 2015 was unveiled to the public earlier this month and the legislation marks the death knell for the once powerful Bowler Hats. After the defeat of the William Flood-led old guard in a recent landmark election (see The Phoenix 25/9/15) resistance to… Read more »

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Bernard Caldwell

WINNER ALL RIGHT

Date: November 6, 2015 - Sport of Kings

ONE OF the big winners of Simon Coveney’s new Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015 is Joe Keeling’s Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), which sees its influence increase significantly. The two seats taken from the Bowler Hats are both transferred to Kildare Street, which now has the power to appoint three persons to the 13-member board for… Read more »

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Owen Killian

Can Owen Killian’s strategy pay off for Aryzta?

Date: November 6, 2015 - Moneybags

OWEN KILLIAN has been under pressure since March when Aryzta’s shares peaked at €73. Progressive trading updates have increasingly warned of not just a halt to the group’s fantastic growth record since it acquired Cuisine de France back in 1997, but an actual reversal, with underlying revenue for the year to July 2015 falling over… Read more »

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Carl McCann

Total Produce expanding rapidly but what’s the plan?

Date: November 6, 2015 - Moneybags

CARL MCCANN has been running Total Produce, the fruit and veg merchanting arm of the original Fyffes group, for nine years and has not done too bad a job of it. He has made an attempt to reposition the company on a more global basis, moving it away from full dependence on western Europe with… Read more »

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Kathryn Thomas

Kathryn Thomas’s Shares

Date: November 6, 2015 - The Hot Water Brigade

THERE was some bad news last month for Carlow-based developer Gwynne Thomas – father to RTÉ star Kathryn Thomas – when a company he part-owns, Thomas Thompson Holdings Ltd, was put into receivership by Nama. An Irish company called Hermitage Investment Trust Ltd (HIT) holds a 45% stake in Thomas Thompson Holdings Ltd, and up… Read more »

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Jamie White

Jamie White’s Rehabilitation

Date: November 6, 2015 - The Hot Water Brigade

CONGRATULATIONS are in order to budding young Dublin publisher, Jamie White, who enjoyed a nice plug earlier this month in the Sunday Independent, which included him in its ‘30 under 30’ list of up and coming business people. White may be a familiar name to fans of Goldhawk thanks to his website, College Times, although… Read more »

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Luigi Wewege

Luigi Wewege’s Legal Contacts

Date: November 6, 2015 - The Hot Water Brigade

MORE ON Luigi Wewege, the colourful boss of Irish registered subprime mortgage company, Vivier Mortgages Ltd (VML), which is currently suing RTÉ for defamation over an investigation broadcast earlier this year that detailed the outrageous interest rates charged by the company (see The Phoenix 9/10/15). Wewege is also a plaintiff in that action and it… Read more »

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Tom Keane’s Bust Up With Beancounters

Tom Keane’s Bust Up With Beancounters

Date: November 6, 2015 - The Hot Water Brigade

DUBLIN accountant Tom Keane – of BKRM accountants in north Dublin – has come out on the losing side of a row with the Certified Public Accountants Ireland (CPA Ireland), where he previously served as president. But it turns out that Keane has problems elsewhere. Keane had asked the High Court to judicially review professional… Read more »

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Clare Dooley

Clare Dooley’s Double-Dealing

Date: November 6, 2015 - The Hot Water Brigade

FINANCIAL advisor Clare Dooley escaped jail last month over an insurance scam against New Ireland Life Assurance plc, but she was disqualified from acting as a company director for five years following her conviction. Dooley, an insurance broker and the principal in Dooley Financial Services Ltd (DFS), made a name for herself as a financial… Read more »

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Ruairi O’Ceallaigh’s Tax Affairs

Ruairi O’Ceallaigh’s Tax Affairs

Date: November 6, 2015 - The Hot Water Brigade

SOME more bad news for disgraced legal eagle Ruairi O’Ceallaigh, who was jailed in 2014 for five years (with the final two years suspended) for pilfering €2.8m from clients to fund a property buying spree and to play the stock market. The Taxman has just registered a €33,000 judgment against O’Ceallaigh. O’Ceallaigh’s profession is described… Read more »

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The Return Of Alan Hynes

The Return Of Alan Hynes

Date: November 6, 2015 - The Hot Water Brigade

GOLDHAWK was curious to learn of reports emanating from Wexford concerning disgraced accountant Alan Hynes, who has clocked up numerous findings of misconduct at the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board (CARB). Hynes has “teamed up” with his cousin, Frank Hynes, and made an offer of €10m to buy a property in Wexford town through a Hynes-linked… Read more »

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