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Niall Cussen

CUSSEN’S CUSSED CRITICS

Date: October 5, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

ONE OF the big beasts in the permanent government, Niall Cussen – his last civil service gig was as chief planning officer in the Department of Housing and Planning when he served minister Alan ‘AK47’ Kelly, among others – was made planning regulator in 2019. Cussen will not have expected the recent resurrection of a… Read more »

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Malachy Steenson

FAR RIGHT DÁIL TANTRUM

Date: October 5, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

The far-right activists who attended the recent Call to the Dáil protest outside Leinster House were an eclectic bunch. While there were National Party, Irish Freedom Party and Ireland First activists in attendance, most of the 150 or so protestors showed no sign of party… Read more »

John McKeague

MI5’S SERIAL KILLER

Date: October 5, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

THE PHOENIX reported last May that the BBC was refusing to broadcast The Lost Boys, which has become the documentary du jour, because it linked the disappearance of five boys in Belfast to a paedophile ring employed by MI5 (see edition 6/5/23). A lucky few… Read more »

Matt Carthy Repmus

IRELAND’S DISCREET NATO INVOLVEMENT

Date: October 5, 2023 - Hush Hush

REPMUS IS an annual Nato exercise that takes place in Portugal’s Troia Bay. While there have been many congratulatory media reports about the Irish Naval Service’s recent involvement in the impounding of a cargo ship carry 2.2 tonnes of cocaine, there has been no mention… Read more »

Joe Brolly

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: October 5, 2023 - The Hot Air Brigade

Like Donald Trump, Mickey is entirely transactional. Joe Brolly on Mickey Joe Harte, Sunday Independent They’re basically the Jedi Knights of the army, really. Independent TD Cathal Berry on the Army Ranger wing operation on MV Matthew, Morning Ireland, RTÉ Radio 1, submitted by reader She makes a Love Island-esque surprise entrance in the first… Read more »

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Simon Coveney Data Centres

DATA CENTRES SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Date: October 5, 2023 - Fowl Emissions

Simon Coveney is the latest big hitter in the data centre PR crusade. He is the keynote speaker at DataCentres Ireland conference in the RDS next month and Goldhawk feels sure he’ll be excellently briefed with industry talking points that portray a sector selflessly innovating Ireland towards sustainable prosperity. We’ve heard about data centres heating… Read more »

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Keir Starmer Northern Ireland Troubles Act

THE TORIES’ LEGACY

Date: October 5, 2023 - Northwind

Leo Varadkar says relations with Britain have improved in the last year. What he didn’t say was that is because of the departure of former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, which set a pretty low bar for improvement. Serious strains remain on a… Read more »

Mary Lou McDonald Sinn Féin Government

SHINNERS AT THE GATE

Date: October 5, 2023 - Last Refuge

THE FIRST line of defence from the Government and its Greek chorus in the media against the increasing likelihood of Sinn Féin coming to power is that the combined poll rating of the Government parties is still greater than that of SF. The second is… Read more »

Gerard Howlin

‘IRISH TIMES’ AND MICHEÁL MARTIN

Date: October 5, 2023 - Last Refuge

THE IRISH TIMES appears to have offered itself as a surrogate platform for internal political and leadership debate in Fianna Fáil given the absence of same inside the once Republican Party. The muttering inside FF for a long time – although not in the presence… Read more »

Irish Military Mali Coolock Says No IFP Hermann Kelly Timmy Dooley Aontú Mal O’Hara Fintan O’Toole Josepha Madigan Eoghan Harris Ukraine War Micheál Martin Middle East Philip Ryan Seán Clancy Simon Coveney Hugo MacNeill Mountbatten Neasa Hourigan Green Party Martin NPT Ivana Bacik Independents Limerick Hospital Overcrowding Barry Cowen

TÁNAISTE’S LONG WAR

Date: October 5, 2023 - Last Refuge

THE WESTERN-NATO pact driving the Ukraine war with Russia has long been seen as primarily an American initiative. But cracks are appearing in this western front, with signs of weariness in not only the US but also some European countries. Thus, Tánaiste Micheál Martin was… Read more »

Michael Taft

POLEMIC ON CHILDCARE PROVIDERS’ ‘STRIKE’

Date: October 5, 2023 - Last Refuge

LONG-TIME socialist, union activist and Siptu researcher Michael Taft can hardly be accused of being soft on the ‘right-of-centre’ FFG-led Government. So given the recent ‘strike’ of some childcare providers demanding extra Government subsidies, Taft’s attack on their rising “profits, dividends and directors’ remunerations” is… Read more »

Martin Kenny

GARDAÍ ACCUSED OF PRIVACY BREACH

Date: October 5, 2023 - Fit to Print?

AN INTRIGUING case that Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny is taking against not only Mediahuis title the Irish Independent but also An Garda Síochána is one for breach of privacy, not defamation. This is intriguing because it is the gardaí as much as the media that is in the firing line – not for the… Read more »

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Diageo Dana An Garda Síochána IT Trust No Stone Unturned Irish Times Black Friday Vicky Conway

“PARTITIONIST” ALISON

Date: October 5, 2023 - Fit to Print?

What an unusual angle Alison O’Connor deployed in defending beleaguered Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in her Sunday Times column last weekend headlined, “Garda commissioner Harris’s biggest crime? Being a Protestant”. According to Alison O’Connor, “there is no way there would have been a vote of no confidence in him”, let alone 99% majority support for… Read more »

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Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

BOG CUTTINGS

Date: October 5, 2023 - Bog Cuttings

‘KING OF IRELAND’ A MAN who claimed to Judge Cormac Dunne that he was “the king of Ireland” appeared before Navan District Court having taken a number of cases against the “superintendent of Ashbourne Garda Station” as well as several named gardaí. The plaintiff, James Carey, of Preston Hill, Stamullen, refused to be addressed by… Read more »

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Fergus Finlay

MOOLAH IN MONAGHAN

Date: October 5, 2023 - Behind the Scenes

THE NEWS that the Tyrone Guthrie Centre for artists, which is located in Annaghmakerrig, is to benefit to the tune of €1.5m for a brand-new studio courtesy of the arts department’s Shared Island initiative will come as a major fillip to the Co Monaghan operation and marks quite the welcome for the new incoming resident… Read more »

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Joseph O'Brien Ray Grehan

RAY GREHAN’S RESULT

Date: October 5, 2023 - Sport of Kings

PROPERTY DEVELOPER Ray Grehan has had his fair share of tumbles off the track in his high-profile business career but one of his race horses must have caught him by surprise at the Curragh. Grehan’s Magellan Strait, trained by Joseph O’Brien, went to post the 150/1 rank outsider of the 30-runner field last month for… Read more »

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Melfort Peter Gleeson

PETER GLEESON’S PILE

Date: October 5, 2023 - High Society

THE LATEST multimillion-euro pile to come on the market is Melfort on leafy Shrewsbury Road in D4. This turns out to be the humble abode of moneybags Peter Gleeson, who picked it up way back in 1988. This sale looks like a rather better bet than his investment in the gambling software business set up… Read more »

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The Lion in Winter Racing Royalty Le Brocquy City of Troy Fitzwilliam Square AIRO Dermot Smurfit Ballinacarrig Park Club Cosgrave Fitzpatrick Keith Jameson National Gallery Collection Marissa Carter VG Tom Higgins Neil Jordan Laura Bonner Paul Ward Variety Jones Dtat Eathos Sharon Keegan Angela Scanlon Desmond Canouan Bellair Estate Bobby Flay John O’Conor Portrait of Omai Eibhlín Ní Chonghaile Wedding NGI Board Rachel Flynn JP McMahon Ash Quinn Pamela Laird Abdullah Al Naboodah Boundless Ocean

FEMALE ARTISTS

Date: October 5, 2023 - High Society

THE NATIONAL Gallery of Ireland (NGI) has expanded its collection through the acquisition of Rachel Ruysch’s ‘Vase of Flowers with an Ear of Corn’ (1742) and it should not come as a surprise that the 18th-century artist responsible for the work is a woman. Unlike the case of the far more high-profile purchase of Paul… Read more »

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Charlie Cullen

CHARLIE CULLEN’S SWISS CHRONOGRAPHS

Date: October 5, 2023 - High Society

NO DOUBT Charlie Cullen was delighted with the plug for the Swiss Watch Club in the Sunday Times last month. Unfortunately, the article was published immediately before a judgment was registered against the company for €30,000 by the UK-registered World Shiner (UK) Ltd, a diamond and jewellery wholesaler with offices all over the world. In… Read more »

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Tony Smurfit

SMURFIT KAPPA SHAREHOLDERS FACE UNEASY FUTURE

Date: October 5, 2023 - Moneybags

FANS OF Moneybags will be aware that he has long highlighted the lack of a trans-Atlantic presence for Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG), a state of affairs that, rather late in the day, CEO Tony Smurfit has finally got around to addressing. As he prepares to turn 60 at the end of this year, the proposed… Read more »

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Aminex

AMINEX FINALLY READY FOR THE BIG TIME?

Date: October 5, 2023 - Moneybags

THE REAPPOINTMENT last month of Bob Ambrose as a director of Aminex is a real signal that the potential game-changer well – Chikumbi-1 (CH-1), which had originally been planned for last November – will actually be spudded this autumn. Alongside the 35-km gas pipeline that… Read more »

The Design House Bébhinn Flood

BÉBHINN FLOOD’S FASHION FAUX PAS

Date: October 5, 2023 - The Hot Water Brigade

THIS WEEK sees the creditors’ meeting for a company called The Design House (Bespoke) Ltd, which was incorporated a decade ago by fashion designer/entrepreneur Bébhinn Flood, who was previously shortlisted for Image Businesswoman of the Year. Despite attracting some investment in the early days from her mentor, marketing consultant John Fennell (ex-Penneys), the business is… Read more »

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Niamh Parker

NIAMH PARKER’S RETWEETS

Date: October 5, 2023 - The Hot Water Brigade

AFTER MONTHS of relative silence, it was interesting to see one of Goldhawk’s favourite tech gurus, Allan Beechinor, pop up again – this time on the Revenue’s latest list of tax defaulters. Meanwhile, Niamh Parker – Beechinor’s wife and former ‘co chief-executive’ of the ill-fated artificial intelligence company Altada –continues to entertain on social media…. Read more »

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Luke Comer

LUKE COMER’S HANDICAP

Date: September 21, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

THE WIDELY reported three-year suspension of the training licence of billionaire tax exile property developer Luke Comer is dividing opinion on the severity of the penalty. What is clear is that, despite the number of horses involved, Comer is not the Lance Armstrong-type figure that bolshy trainer Jim Bolger referred to when claiming Irish racing… Read more »

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Darragh O'Loughlin

PROFILE: DARRAGH O’LOUGHLIN

Date: September 21, 2023 - Pillars of Society

THE SHENANIGANS at RTÉ have hogged headlines in recent months and one outfit more than happy with this state affairs, surely, is the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), the entity that was established by the Bowler Hats of the Turf Club and the Irish National… Read more »

Clara Roche

YOUNG BLOOD: CLARA ROCHE

Date: September 21, 2023 - The Young Bloods

THE NEW editor-in-chief of the University Times (UT), Clara Roche, has assumed leadership of a paper crying out for stability. Recent controversies have tarnished the reputation of the paper, which is funded by Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU). Roche ran for election on a manifesto emphasising accountability, accessibility and community. With the new college… Read more »

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Siobhan Talbot

SIOBHÁN TALBOT’S SURPRISE EXIT FROM GLANBIA

Date: September 21, 2023 - Moneybags

IT IS a surprise to see Siobhán Talbot exiting Glanbia given that the CEO for the last 10 years appears to be on something of a roll, having almost doubled her remuneration package last year from €3.5m to a whopping €6m. With Glanbia heading for a 15% increase in earnings this year, it would seem… Read more »

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Sean Quinn

SEÁN QUINN V JOHN McCARTIN

Date: September 21, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

IT IS clear that former bankrupt Seán Quinn has little time for John McCartin – one of the two names he dropped on Newstalk last week when asked which executives in Mannok Holdings (formerly Quinn Group) he would be happy to see beaten up. It… Read more »

Michelle O'Neill Lough Neagh

MICHELLE O’NEILL’S HEADACHE

Date: September 21, 2023 - Fowl Emissions

LOUGH NEAGH is by far the biggest lake in either Ireland or Britain. At 400 sq km, it is as large as the island of Malta and provides 40% of all of the north’s drinking water. The lake, however, is dying, crippled by pollution, overexploitation and neglect. There is also no little political fall-out, as… Read more »

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Iah Kehoe

LEAKS FROM RTÉ BOARD

Date: September 21, 2023 - Fit to Print?

BRENDAN GRIFFIN’S attack on RTÉ at last week’s Oireachtas media committee was colourful but it obscured an intriguing tussle between committee chair Niamh Smyth and deputy chair of the RTÉ board Ian Kehoe, who is also co-owner and founder of The Currency website. After a… Read more »

Lyra McKee Alleycats

LYRA’S LEGACY

Date: September 21, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

BBC NI commissioned a documentary called The Lost Boys of Belfast from TV production company Alleycats. It was due for broadcast in May 2021 but was never shown (see The Phoenix 6/5/22). It will now open the Irish Film Institute Documentary Festival on September 27…. Read more »

Ali Curran

ALI CURRAN’S NEW GIG AT IMMA

Date: September 21, 2023 - High Society

ALI CURRAN is now in situ as chair of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) following a small hiatus when there was no chair in place. The arts consultant will now have to turn her attention to a long-overdue strategic plan and the small matter of a strange proposal from the west. Former chair… Read more »

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Ashling Kilduff

ASHLING KILDUFF’S CURATED COMEBACK

Date: September 21, 2023 - The Hot Water Brigade

GOLDHAWK SPIES that Naas-based number-cruncher Patrick McDonnell has stepped down as a director of a company called Curated Designs Ltd just 16 months after its incorporation. The company turns out to be one set up with fashion queen Ashling Kilduff in the aftermath of the liquidation of her Design Centre business in Dublin’s Powerscourt Townhouse… Read more »

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David Mongey INS

DAVID MONGEY’S GOOD GOING

Date: September 21, 2023 - The Hot Water Brigade

THE IRISH National Stud (INS) in Tully, Co Kildare, has had a change at the top as a result of the retirement of Irish Farmers Journal/Irish Field chairman Matt Dempsey and his replacement on the board, courtesy of agriculture minister Charlie McConalogue, is former Irish Times chairman Dan Flinter. The latter is getting into the… Read more »

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IHT Board Clare McGrath

McGRATH’S EXPANDING BOARD

Date: September 21, 2023 - Behind the Scenes

THIS WEEK was the closing date for expressions of interest in joining the board of the Parnell Square-headquartered Irish Heritage Trust (IHT). According to the trust’s constitution, directors can serve a term of five years and then be eligible for re-election by the board “for one further” five-year stint. The current 13-member board features three… Read more »

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VOL 41 NO 19

Date: September 21, 2023 -

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