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Paddy Power

IRISH BOOKIES UNDER THE WHIP

Date: March 24, 2016 - Sport of Kings

THE HEAT is being turned up on the betting sector in Ireland. Big time gambling has found itself under the spotlight in recent weeks, including the once Teflon-coated Paddy Power, which was fined over €350,000 by the UK Gambling Commission. That was for breaches of gambling controls that were deemed to facilitate a customer who… Read more »

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Joseph O’Brien

JOSEPH O’BRIEN’S NEW JOB

Date: March 24, 2016 - Sport of Kings

AS WAS widely reported in the racing press, after months of speculation, Twitter statements and course changes, heir to the O’Brien fiefdom, Joseph O’Brien, has called an end to his professional career in the saddle. The dual Irish Champion jockey is to apply for his trainer’s licence after he completes a competency course run by… Read more »

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Kieren Fallon

KIEREN FALLON’S RETURN

Date: March 24, 2016 - Sport of Kings

THE ERRANT Kieren Fallon, who has not been sighted on a British or Irish racetrack for over six months, has resurfaced in County Kildare, where he started his racing career with Kevin Prendergast in the early ’80s. The ex-Champion Jockey, who went missing after he failed to turn up for two booked rides at Tipperary… Read more »

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Padraig McManus

WAITING ON CURRAGH’S NEW BOSS

Date: March 24, 2016 - Sport of Kings

THE SEARCH for a new chief executive at the Curragh racecourse continues and there is still no sign of white smoke emanating from Joe Keeling’s Horse Racing Ireland (HRI)headquarters at Ballymany, three months after applications for the position closed. Goldhawk’s fans will recall (see The Phoenix 29/1/16) that 19 runners declared for the top position… Read more »

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Iain Glen

WATCHING THE DETECTIVES

Date: March 24, 2016 - Behind the Scenes

THE RETURN of author Ken Bruen’s Jack Taylor detective series to Galway has largely gone under the radar, perhaps because of the series’ chequered production history in the city and because of the programme’s links to Ralph Christians’s Magma business. Magma collapsed under E5m debts, while U3m was also owed to the Irish Film Board… Read more »

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article default

KCLR Sue Nunn

Date: March 24, 2016 - Behind the Scenes

THE SUNDAY TIMES got a frosty reception when it lobbed in some queries about a dispute between radio station KCLR in Carlow/Kilkenny and its former presenter, Sue Nunn, who has lost her morning show after returning from time off to attend to her terminally ill husband. Given the amount of red ink at the station,… Read more »

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kathleen-holohan

A VISUAL CHALLENGE

Date: March 24, 2016 - Behind the Scenes

THERE HAVE been a number of comings and goings in Carlow’s arts sector in recent weeks, with changes at the Éigse Carlow Arts Festival and a new member appointed to the board of the VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art, where the debts continue to mount. On his way out of the county is Hugo Jellett… Read more »

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the-drowned-detective

THE DROWNED DETECTIVE – NEIL JORDAN (BLOOMSBURY)

Date: March 24, 2016 - BooksReviews

  THE OPENING chapter of Neil Jordan’s first novel since 2011 appears to be in keeping with the conventional fast-paced crime thriller. Jonathan, the narrator, is an English private investigator working in an unspecified Eastern European city. He has been hired by a government minister’s wife to find her husband’s mistress. To begin with, the… Read more »

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sing-street

SING STREET – DIRECTED BY JOHN CARNEY

Date: March 24, 2016 - MoviesReviews

JOHN CARNEY’S obsession with music and film and films about music continues in Sing Street. It is fair to say that this is his most accomplished film so far, building upon the charming Once and the rather less charming Begin Again. As sparse as Once was, Sing Street has all the bells and whistles of… Read more »

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plough-and-the-stars

THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS – ABBEY THEATRE

Date: March 24, 2016 - ReviewsTheatre

NO MATTER what, Sean O’Casey’s Plough was going to be the natural dramatic centrepiece of this year. One of our definitive documents about the Easter Rising, it captures the pain and confusion, the aspirations and misgivings, the division and struggle, in voices that remain fresh and familiar. So, it might be natural for the National… Read more »

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Norma Smurfit

NORMA SMURFIT’S ACTIVITIES

Date: March 24, 2016 - High Society

IT LOOKS like Norma Smurfit has managed to upset Dublin City Councillor Mannix Flynn with her proposal that a ‘pavilion’ for the diaspora be erected in the heart of Dublin’s Merrion Square. The high profile fund raiser wants to help pay the cost of building the €2m structure and gift it to the city, but… Read more »

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charles-noell

CHARLES NOELL’S INVESTMENT

Date: March 24, 2016 - High Society

THE SQUIRE of Ardbraccan House estate in Co Meath, US moneybags Charles E Noells III, has got the thumbs up from Meath County Council for a significant upgrading of the waste water treatment facilities on the sprawling 120 acre estate. Elsewhere, he has been throwing around plenty of his dollars. It will be recalled that… Read more »

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Peter Reynolds

SELLING BALLYMACOLL STUD

Date: March 24, 2016 - High Society

THERE COULD be some interesting runners at the starting gate if the famous Ballymacoll Stud finds itself on the market in the next year, as has been speculated. Having been put firmly on the map by the flamboyant Dorothy Paget in the 1950s, the Co Meath stud outside Dunboyne was picked up for IR£250,000 by… Read more »

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bog cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Date: March 24, 2016 - Bog Cuttings

CROSSBOW ATTACK AFTER MAN KNOCKED OUT OF WHEELCHAIR A MAN who fell out of his wheelchair during a scuffle later shot someone with a crossbow, a court has heard. Thomas Scarlett (36), of Ballynagard Crescent, pleaded guilty to common assault on December 23, 2014. A co-accused, 63-year-old Ivan James Hetherington, of Drumleck Drive, also admitted… Read more »

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FRACKING NORTH AND SOUTH

Date: March 24, 2016 - Fowl Emissions

THE “end of the fossil fuel era” was the favoured description for December’s historic agreement at the COP21 climate summit in Paris, as nearly 200 world leaders pledged to transition rapidly to renewable energy. Whatever this might mean for functioning oil and gas fields, the idea of fracking to find new reserves must now surely… Read more »

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sunday-business-post

Business Post vacancies

Date: March 24, 2016 - Fit to Print?

THE departure of Pat Leahy from the Sunday Business Post to The Irish Times (his deputy political editor title indicating that he will succeed the soon to retire IT political editor, Stephen Collins) has left two vacancies at the Post – political editor and deputy editor of the paper. Post political correspondent Michael Brennan will… Read more »

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Caroline Downey

MCD BLACKLIST CRITIC

Date: March 24, 2016 - Fit to Print?

A WELL written review of musicians like “bestubbled young guitar strummer, Hozier” – too well written – by music critic Ed Power for The Sunday Times recently has resulted in the freelance journalist being blacklisted by MCD Productions. Commenting about the current wave of Irish songsters, Power described them as, “a demographic that regards blandness… Read more »

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Miriam O’Callaghan

SINN FÉIN LIBEL LOOT

Date: March 24, 2016 - Fit to Print?

THE media onslaught against Sinn Féin has not been entirely without consequence but it is RTÉ, not the Irish Independent, that faces High Court actions from two SF members. When Murrium O’Callaghan squared up to Gerry Adams in the party leaders’ debate shortly before the election, she demanded to know about the republican “cronies” that… Read more »

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RIchard Boyd Barrett

FAR LEFT: FIRST ITEM

Date: March 24, 2016 - Last Refuge

THE ‘united front’ of AAA/PBP aka, the SP (Paul Murphy) and SWP (Richard Boyd Barrett), have six TDs between them, three each, whereas it was 2-1 to the SP in 2011. Through gritted teeth, the two bitter rivals are determined to stay together, even if it is only to secure speaking rights, which are likely… Read more »

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LisaChambers

Lisa Chambers’s appeal

Date: March 24, 2016 - Last Refuge

IF Micheál Martin experienced a bitter sweet moment at Mary Hanafin’s election defeat in Dún Laoghaire he was gratified by the victory of his Mayo candidate, Lisa Chambers. And he may also have experienced another moment, this time of relief, when Mary told RTÉ after her election defeat that she would not be seeking a… Read more »

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Frank Flannery

WASTED WEST WINGERS

Date: March 24, 2016 - Last Refuge

HAVE former advisers, Fine Gael’s Frank Flannery and would-be Fianna Fáil handler, Noel Whelan, over-extended themselves just a tad? Flannery, in particular, has gone way beyond his current station in political life as when he told The Sunday Times a fortnight after the election that it was time for FG to clear out the leadership,… Read more »

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Amal Clooney

VILLIERS FACES ANGRY JUDGE

Date: March 24, 2016 - Bird's Eye View

LATE this week, Northern Secretary Theresa Villiers was due to present an affidavit to Belfast’s High Court explaining the British government’s delay in submitting documents and information the court has ordered, which deal with the cases of the 12 so-called ‘Hooded Men’ who suffered ‘Deep Interrogation’ in 1971. Failure to produce the material could result… Read more »

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DonaldTrump

DONALD TRUMP’S MEDIA REGIME

Date: March 24, 2016 - Foreign Frolics

By David Crisp DONALD Trump’s most recent assault on the First Amendment came in a speech in Texas last Friday, during which the tycoon promised to rewrite libel laws to make it so that when reporters “write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.” The record… Read more »

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shane-mcgowan

The Hot Air Brigade

Date: March 24, 2016 - The Hot Air Brigade

We’re restoring a national treasure with Shane. It’s like someone presents you with the Book of Kells and says “Here you go, this needs restoration.” Dentist Darragh Mulrooney on restoring Shane MacGowan’s teeth, in the TV documentary, Shane MacGowan: A Wreck Reborn From her irreverent early work to ‘volunteering her breasts’ for DruidShakespeare and on… Read more »

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Richard Bruton

REFERENDUM ON EU-US TRADE DEAL?

Date: March 24, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

THE Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP), the trade and investment-protection deal between the EU and the US, threatens to undermine national sovereignties, domestic law and living standards across Europe with its unprecedented corporate power-grab. It has sparked huge public outcry and demonstrations across Europe. Parts of Irish civil society have been up in arms… Read more »

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Kieran Rose

KIERAN ROSE’S CAMPAIGN

Date: March 24, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

CONGRATULATIONS to wily NUI Seanad candidate and impressive self-promoter Kieran Rose. The Dublin City Council senior planner has managed to attract oodles of coverage in the run-up to his first attempt at election to the Senate. Rose has recently clashed very publicly with environment minister, Alan Kelly, over the significantly reduced apartment quality standards introduced… Read more »

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kate-feeney

LABOUR’S SENATE GENDER DEFICIT

Date: March 24, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

LABOUR’S horrendous general election, coupled with its equally abysmal local election results, mean that its Seanad voting franchise – councillors and newly elected TDs as well as outgoing senators – is significantly diminished. The first casualty of this small voting base has been Labour’s preoccupation with gender equality, and its two nominees for the Seanad… Read more »

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MaryRobinson01

MARY ROBINSON’S NEW DIRECTORS

Date: March 24, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

AS PLANS proceed for Mary Robinson’s multi-million euro shrine in Ballina, she had beefed up the board of her new foundation with some familiar faces. It will be recalled (see The Phoenix 15/1/16) that the budget for the Mary Robinson Centre is around €8.5m, with a significant chunk coming from the taxpayer via the Department… Read more »

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Denis-OBrien

DENIS O’BRIEN IN THE GOLDMINES

Date: March 24, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

WHAT now for the media mogul Denis O’Brien and Red Flag, the PR firm that Denis has chased through the courts for alleged defamation and conspiracy via that elusive USB stick containing files on him. On October 16, 2015, Judge Colm Mac Eochaidh ordered that the USB stick be delivered “forthwith” to O’Brien’s solicitors, Eames… Read more »

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feargus-flood

FLOOD/MAHON TRIBUNAL WIPE-OUT

Date: March 24, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

THE fiasco that is the Mahon Tribunal has now climaxed with virtually all findings of culpability against previously named parties being dumped. Estimates of the tribunal’s cost – so far – range between €160m circa to €300m, and yet there is no forum for scrutiny of this unprecedented legal debacle. There is no better example… Read more »

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bob-gunkel

“CURIOUS AND UNSETTLING” IN CORK

Date: March 24, 2016 - Affairs of the Nation

A RETIRED chartered engineer, William Bailey, has just won an important and interesting legal battle in the Court of Appeal concerning an unauthorised multi-million euro wind farm outside Dunmanway, Co Cork. A star player here turns out to be former senior planner with Cork County Council, Bob Gunkel, who worked on the controversial planning application… Read more »

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Simon Coveney

SIMON COVENEY MOVES TO SUCCESSION SLOT

Date: March 24, 2016 - Last Refuge

SIMON COVENEY is now playing a central role in Fine Gael’s efforts to construct a rainbow coalition and is acting in tandem with Enda Kenny in talks with the Independents. This happened partly by accident and partly because Coveney and Simon Harris have shown a purposeful intent that others appear to lack. Kenny has assembled… Read more »

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Michael Healy-Rae

Michael & Danny Healy-Rae

Date: March 24, 2016 - Pillars of Society

When the 32nd Dáil first met for the first time a fortnight ago, the real show in town that day appeared to be Healy-Rae brothers, Michael and Danny, throwing a mini concert on the bonnet of a jeep outside Leinster House. The duo from Kilgarvan in Kerry made history by becoming the first siblings to represent the… Read more »

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Jack Chambers

Jack Chambers

Date: March 24, 2016 - The Young Bloods

TWENTY-five year-old Jack Chambers, the newly elected Fianna Fáil TD for Brian Lenihan’s old constituency of Dublin West (and the youngest TD elected in last month’s general election) is not exactly in sync with the ‘left-of-centre’ image projected by party leader, Micheál Martin. He’s young, clean and biddable, but is very much in the new… Read more »

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Vol. 34 No. 05

Vol. 34 No. 05

Date: March 10, 2016 -

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article default

Giraffe’s Neck in the Sand

Date: March 9, 2016 - Briefcases

GIRAFFE Childcare – the company behind crèche chain, Giraffe, which featured in the RTE exposé on crèches in 2013 – has taken its eye off the ball, as the company is currently facing the threat of being struck off by the Companies Registration Office (CRO). Giraffe was listed for strike off last month for failing… Read more »

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