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LOUIS WALSH’S APARTMENTS

Date: January 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

FANS of Goldhawk will already be familiar with the adventures of Alan Hanly, whose family has an interest in the luxury hotel resort, Kilronan Castle, and its surrounding estate. Hanly is now involved in a number of legal actions taken by unhappy owners of holiday homes on the estate (see The Phoenix 6/11/15). It turns… Read more »

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Justice Peter Kelly

Peter Kelly

Date: January 28, 2016 - Pillars of Society

THE recently appointed President of the High Court, Justice Peter Kelly (64), is the antithesis of the modern Irish judge. A devout Catholic, devoid of party political patronage and formerly dismissed as too independent minded for any government to trust, Kelly has shown an alarming willingness to confront the state on several levels. However, as… Read more »

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bog cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Date: January 28, 2016 - Bog Cuttings

FOR TUK’S SAKE ALL HELL broke loose when two men returned from a spin in a tuk-tuk tricycle taxi to find their women partners in a row with some young men – and fists flew in all directions. A golf club, a hurley and a nail bar were allegedly “in the mix”. Three young men… Read more »

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CHARITY WORKER’S ‘BAD ODOUR’

Date: January 28, 2016 - Beyond the Pale

SOCIAL MEDIA giant Facebook has become embroiled in an ugly row over alleged nasty odours at a dump in Wicklow and is now being sued in the High Court as a result. The aggrieved party is a Northern Ireland businessman and Christian charity worker, Alan Cousins, one of the owners of the dump in question,… Read more »

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Tom McHugh

TOM McHUGH’S PRIVACY

Date: January 28, 2016 - Fit to Print?

LAST month’s RTÉ programme, Standards in Public Office, resulted in certain councillors threatening to sue the pants off the station, but to date there has been no sign of legal proceedings issued on behalf of the three stars of the show, Cllr Joe Queenan (ex-Fianna Fáil), Cllr Hugh McElvaney (ex-Fine Gael) and Independent councillor John… Read more »

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article default

Sunday Times Rebel

Date: January 28, 2016 - Fit to Print?

SUNDAY Times journalist Justine McCarthy appears to have a mischievous streak in her and her recent column attacking the commentariat for their “communal self-abased apology” to Mother England for the 1916 Rising was more than ironic. That McCarthy should attack with republican abandon the post-colonial cringers at The Irish Times, Sunday Independent and the usual… Read more »

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Lise Hand

GENDER QUOTA AT INM

Date: January 28, 2016 - Fit to Print?

YET another prominent and long-standing journalist at the Irish Independent has fallen foul of the red blooded, macho culture at Independent News & Media (INM) and management now fears that she may take the legal route with a claim for constructive dismissal. Lise Hand’s byline disappeared from the Indo shortly before Christmas – after nearly… Read more »

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DAVID BEGG BEGGARS BELIEF

Date: January 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

THE multiple leaks from the banking inquiry last week came at rather a bad time for David Begg and his patron, Tánaiste Joan Burton, following the row over her crony appointment of Begg to the chair of the Pension Authority. In her defence against the Dáil motion of no confidence in her, Burton’s defence of… Read more »

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NEW FG MINISTERS

Date: January 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

SPECULATION about the next Fine Gael cabinet was far more intense among ard fheis delegates last weekend than curiosity about which Independent TDs would join Michael Lowry in supporting the next government. The strongest indication of just who will be in and out was manifest by those who were seated on the front row chairs… Read more »

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Lorraine Clifford-Lee

Gender Fodder

Date: January 28, 2016 - Last Refuge

FEMINISTS will hardly be impressed at the remarkable appetite that Enda Kenny and Micheál Martin are exhibiting for candidate gender quotas in recent, high-profile photo opportunities. Kenny’s handlers planted Senator Catherine Noone next to the Taoiseach at the launch of Fine Gael’s digital advertising campaign in the first of several such photo shoots in the… Read more »

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Mary Hanafin

HANAFIN’S FAUSTIAN PACT

Date: January 28, 2016 - Last Refuge

MARY HANAFIN’S electoral strategy in Dún Laoghaire is converging with that of Fine Gael nationally as she delivers daily two-finger gestures to her party leader, Micheál Martin. And the Irish and Sunday Independent have rowed in helpfully with massive support for, not so much Hanafin, as her repeated argument that Fianna Fáil should consider coalition… Read more »

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Martin McGuinness

BATTLE OF THE BOGSIDE

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

ON the face of it, Martin McGuinness returning to Derry from Mid-Ulster to stand in May’s assembly elections is throwing the gauntlet down to the SDLP’s inexperienced new leader, Colum Eastwood. Clearly McGuinness wants to defeat the SDLP in its last stronghold and put the party leader in his place. However, there’s a lot more… Read more »

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Donald Trump

TRUMP AND PALIN by ROBERT FANTINA

Date: January 28, 2016 - Foreign Frolics

WITH a mere ten months to go before some small percentage of eligible United States voters heads to the polls for their quadrennial exercise in futility, none other than Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate in 2008, decided that the world had waited long enough to know her selection for president. Those on… Read more »

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David Bowie

The Hot Air Brigade – David Bowie Special

Date: January 28, 2016 - The Hot Air Brigade

At the traffic lights by Blackrock, in a giant, red, fleece-lined coat and huge fur trapper hat, I started crying… As with Diana, we are all crying for ourselves. Brendan O’Connor, Irish Independent In his songwriting and performance, he epitomised mystique, alienation, uniqueness, vibrancy, curiousity, honesty, inventiveness, otherworldliness, challenge, artistry, compassion… (continues) Irish Examiner At… Read more »

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Don McManus

DON McMANUS V JOE DUFFY

Date: January 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

SOME HEATED comments on RTÉ’s Liveline programme in September last have resulted in a suit for defamation being lodged by Dún Laoghaire businessman Don McManus. The performance of a relatively new initiative – involving local councils and private operators combining to run a so-called ‘Business Investment District’ (BID) – has resulted in much grumbling and… Read more »

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BIRMINGHAM BOMBS: 41 YEARS ON

Date: January 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

THE tardiness of West Midlands Police in investigating the true identities of those responsible for the 1974 Birmingham bombs has been underlined by their leisurely pace in securing an interview with ex-IRA Director of Intelligence, Kieran Conway. The former senior IRA man is the author of a memoir, Southside Provisional, published in late 2014 and… Read more »

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Conor Killeen

CONOR KILLEEN’S SPORTS STRATEGY

Date: January 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

INTERESTING to see financier and investor Conor Killeen of Key Capital, who took control of the Sunday Business Post in 2014, now playing in another part of the media pitch, with a significant investment in Balls.ie, headed up by Ger ‘Off The Ball’ Gilroy. Since 2010, the irreverent sports website, Balls.ie, has been attracting critical… Read more »

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Eddie Sheehy

EDDIE SHEEHY’S LEGACY

Date: January 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

WICKLOW COUNTY COUNCIL (WCC) is a much duller place in the absence of its former county manager, the combative Eddie Sheehy, whose relations with various county councillors were often fractious and who retired as council boss last year. During his time at the head of WCC, Sheehy kept its lawyers busy and was involved in… Read more »

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Jarlath Munnelly

FUNDING THE MARY ROBINSON CENTRE

Date: January 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

MORE ON that Mary Robinson Centre (MRC), the multi-million euro project proposed for Robbo’s family home in Ballina. The question of exactly how the Mayo County Council intends to pay the €1.5m it has committed to the project has been raised and there are few answers evident at a time when councillors are getting worried… Read more »

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Denis O’Brien

APOLOGISING TO DENIS O’BRIEN

Date: January 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

DENIS O’BRIEN is not known for his sense of humour, especially when it comes to the media, so comparing him to Adolf Hitler was never a wise move by The Irish Sun. Last summer, O’Brien showed his low threshold for satire when the website Waterford Whispers had to remove an article about the moneybags following… Read more »

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Lucy Gaffney

LUCY GAFFNEY TO HEAD RTÉ?

Date: January 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

COULD it possibly be that the RTÉ board will hire Lucy Gaffney, right hand woman in Denis O’Brien’s media empire, as director general of the national broadcaster? And would communications minister Alex White approve such an appointment? If Gaffney does actually land the job she will not be a stranger to RTÉ board chairwoman, Moya… Read more »

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ray-bates

RTÉ CLIMATE DENIERS

Date: January 28, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

IS RTÉ easy prey for the farming lobby? One might expect that the largely liberal programmers in the national broadcaster would be enthusiastic about global efforts to combat climate change, but a comprehensive complaint to Montrose from An Taisce has the most damning things to say about the station’s coverage of this most fundamental issue…. Read more »

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Vol. 34 No. 01

Vol. 34 No. 01

Date: January 14, 2016 -

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paddy-keane

Paddy Keane’s Unfair Dismissal

Date: January 14, 2016 - Briefcases

SOME more bad news for well-known Galway solicitor Paddy Keane, who practises at Keane Solicitors in Galway city and who has various other business interests. One of Keane’s ventures is a nursing home in Galway called Oranmore Nursing Home, which has previously been the subject of highly critical reports from the Health Information and Quality… Read more »

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GregKavanagh

Back In Court With Greg Kavanagh

Date: January 14, 2016 - Briefcases

LOOKS like developer Greg Kavanagh is set for more courtroom action. Last month yet another High Court case initiated against a Kavanagh-fronted company. Kavanagh’s New Generation group, backed by UK giant Prudential, has been building in the greater Dublin area at a frantic rate and has reportedly spent around €400m snapping up development sites. The… Read more »

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TomKeane

Tom Keane’s Bust-Up

Date: January 14, 2016 - Briefcases

MORE to report on Dublin accountant Tom Keane, who is battling on several fronts and is currently facing three separate disciplinary inquiries by the accountancy body, the Certified Public Accountants Ireland (CPA Ireland) (see The Phoenix 18/12/15). Keane served as president of the CPA for a spell in the 1990s. It turns out that the… Read more »

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Disqualifying Chris Fleming

Disqualifying Chris Fleming

Date: January 14, 2016 - Briefcases

A FORMER boss of a chain of gyms has been disqualified from acting as a company director for nine years. Businessman Chris Fleming was a director of a company called Featherweight Ltd, which previously held the franchise for nine women-only ‘Curves’ gyms, before the company collapsed into liquidation in 2014. He was barred from being… Read more »

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article default

Bennett Company Goes Bust

Date: January 14, 2016 - Briefcases

A PROPERTY development company part-owned by Westmeath-based builder Christopher Bennett – of the well-known building firm, the Bennett Group – has collapsed into liquidation. The company in question, Jewelbury Ltd, was involved in a mixed-used development at East Wall, Dublin 3, known as Merchant’s Gate, and had built up accumulated losses of more than €13.8m… Read more »

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SeanRainey

More Tax Trouble For Sean Rainey

Date: January 14, 2016 - Briefcases

ONE of the larger settlements recorded on last month’s list of tax defaulters published by the Revenue was made by CDRN Partnership, a property development venture part-owned by Goldhawk’s old friend, the developer Sean Rainey. This made a settlement for a hefty €1.5m for under-declaring VAT, and it’s far from the first time Rainey has… Read more »

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FakirHossain

School Boss’s Examination

Date: January 14, 2016 - Briefcases

WHEN controversial language school Eden College went bust back in 2014, over 1,000 students were left out of pocket, with the school having previously been accused of faking students’ attendance records. The principal at Eden was Bangladeshi-born businessman Fakir Hossain, who has problems at another language school, Irish Business School Ltd (IBS), which went into… Read more »

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rebellion rte

FUNDING THE ‘REBELLION’

Date: January 14, 2016 - Behind the Scenes

THE AUDIENCE for RTÉ’s much-hyped 1916 drama Rebellion, which debuted last week, may not be aware that this programme is effectively owned by an overseas producer in the form of De Agostini Spa, the €4bn Italian company. Nevertheless, significant volumes of public dosh have been poured into the production. The five-part drama with an estimated… Read more »

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Tom Magnier

LOOKING UP DOWN UNDER

Date: January 14, 2016 - Sport of Kings

IT’S NOT very often that Coolmore don’t publicise news of a major victory, but that was the case recently when John Magnier’s Australian operation, run by heir apparent Tom Magnier, won a decisive ruling that stopped Sir John Packer’s Anglo American Mining Company in its tracks. The decision means that 500 mining jobs will be… Read more »

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Cillian and Siobhan Ryan

CILLIAN RYAN DISMOUNTS

Date: January 14, 2016 - Sport of Kings

SWORDLESTOWN STUD, which was purchased by the late Cathal Ryan in 1999 and bequeathed to his son, Cillian Ryan, in 2007, has ceased breeding operations after dispersing its broodmares to Goffs sales last November. The 160-acre Kildare stud, located a stone’s throw from Punchestown racecourse, hosted many a good knees-up during the boom years and… Read more »

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lucinda

LUCINDA VS THE BOOKIES

Date: January 14, 2016 - Sport of Kings

RENUA LEADER Lucinda Creighton has been making waves in the racing industry lately with her party’s manifesto, which plays to the horsey set gallery. The fledgling political party is calling for a 2% increase in the betting levy, a move that Sharon Byrne of the Irish Bookmakers Association claims would “put everyone out of business”…. Read more »

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Ryle Nugent

RTÉ’S RIVALS ENTER THE GATE

Date: January 14, 2016 - Sport of Kings

THE SEISMIC uprooting of Channel 4 Racing as the broadcaster of UK racing’s terrestrial TV rights for more than 30 years, may have knock-on implications for RTÉ’s ailing sports department. News broke early this month that ITV had beaten C4 and Sky to secure a four-year contract commencing in 2017, to broadcast 94 days of… Read more »

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denis-obrien

Did Denis O’Brien turn a profit on Topaz deal?

Date: January 14, 2016 - Moneybags

THE SURPRISE sale of Denis O’Brien’s Topaz to the giant Canadian Couche-Tard group raises more questions than it answers. The most obvious question is why did Dinny sell the group. Of more interest to Goldhawk is what did O’Brien actually manage to take out of the deal. A figure of U450m has been reported for… Read more »

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