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Keaveney Feeling Insecure?

Date: November 20, 2015 - Last Refuge

FIANNA FÁIL TD Colm Keaveney is facing security issues on more than one front. While he has requested that the Dáil authorities investigate the suspected hacking of his emails, he is also in conflict with Galway’s top cop, Chief Superintendent Tom Curley. The row has now gone to the Garda Ombudsman. Keaveney took issue with… Read more »

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Clare Daly

THE LEFT AND SINN FÉIN

Date: November 20, 2015 - Last Refuge

THE hysterical media reaction to Sinn Fein’s electoral transfer proposal ignores several factors, the chief one being that a natural pattern of transfers between Sinn Fein and other Left groups will assert itself in the general election in any case. The other factor is that despite the resistance of the Trotskyist left (ie. Paul Murphy’s… Read more »

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Mary McAleese

McALEESE Vs OLD BOYS’ CLUB

Date: November 20, 2015 - Clerical Errors

THE Church of Rome is constituted under the rule of a monarchical papacy and prides itself on not being democratic. However, in the more relaxed reign of Pope Francis, there is a mood to seek out a heavy hitter to break down the portals of male clericalism. Enter former President Mary McAleese. After her liberation… Read more »

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Arlene Foster

ROBINSON FOR HEAVE-HO?

Date: November 20, 2015 - Bird's Eye View

SOURCES in both Sinn Féin and the DUP predict a deal next week on welfare reform, the contentious matter which has blocked last December’s Stormont House Agreement since March. Both parties have moved, culminating in an important meeting on October 27. Afterwards, both Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson gave separate interviews, McGuinness saying there could… Read more »

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John Cooke

JUDICIOUS BUSINESS INTERESTS

Date: November 20, 2015 - Affairs of the Nation

ONE of the things that the eagerly awaited Judicial Council – which has been long-fingered by successive governments – may wish to consider is a register of business interests of judges. This could, for example, outline the protocol to be followed in circumstances where a judge is hearing a case and has a business involvement… Read more »

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The Hot Air Brigade

The Hot Air Brigade

Date: November 20, 2015 - The Hot Air Brigade

He is now a member of the establishment. It may be worse than that. He might now be a national treasure. Donald Clarke on Colm Tóibín, Irish Times (submitted by reader) I do believe that to garden is to be in love with life. It is to embrace the explicitness of the real. It is… Read more »

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MAHON TRIBUNAL’S TANGLED WEB

Date: November 20, 2015 - Affairs of the Nation

GOOD to see the media catching up with developments in the Mahon Tribunal (see The Phoenix 23/10/15 and passim), but it’s high time environment minister Alan Kelly demanded straight answers from it about what the hell has been going on over the last number of years. Last week’s smoke and mirrors statement to The Sunday Times… Read more »

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David Davies

DAVID DAVIES’ GEORGIAN CREDENTIALS

Date: November 20, 2015 - Affairs of the Nation

GOLDHAWK understands that the next president of the Irish Georgian Society (IGS) is set to be the super wealthy David Davies, a Welsh moneybags who is well known in cultural circles (last year he became president of Wexford Festival Opera) and who has a track record when it comes to creaking old properties. His arrival… Read more »

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Brenda Power

BRENDA POWER FOR DPP AGAIN?

Date: November 20, 2015 - Affairs of the Nation

SUNDAY TIMES columnist Brenda Power distinguished herself last month with a searching analysis of Travellers in the aftermath of the Carrickmines fire tragedy that saw ten Travellers, including five children, die. This is likely to provoke further complaints to the Gardaí from PC liberals and Travellers groups under the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act,… Read more »

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Hugh Lewis

HUGH LEWIS’S ALLEGATIONS

Date: November 20, 2015 - Affairs of the Nation

THERE WERE frantic scenes at Dún Laoghaire Rathdown (DLR) Council last month, when a heated debate on alterations to the Draft Development Plan featured controversial allegations from People Before Profit councillor, Hugh Lewis, and subsequent legal correspondence. The various elements of the Draft County Development Plan 2016-2022 have already been well aired, but so-called Specific… Read more »

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Simon Coveney

COVENEY’S MILITARY SPENDING PLANS

Date: November 20, 2015 - Affairs of the Nation

DEFENCE minister Simon Coveney gave little away in answer to a parliament question about the protection of Irish sovereign airspace from foreign aircraft put by Fianna Fáil defence spokesperson Seán Ó Fearghaíl recently. But the minister did say that the “development of a more capable air combat intercept capability will be considered” as would the… Read more »

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Billy Walsh

BILLY WALSH’S KNOCKOUT

Date: November 18, 2015 - Affairs of the Nation

WHILE media coverage of the move to the US of boxing coach Billy Walsh has been unanimously critical of the handling of the affair by the Joe Christle-chaired Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA), the build-up to this bruising encounter began some time ago. Then, another figure – the popular Dominic O’Rourke – was floored by… Read more »

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Keaveney Makes Guarded Comments

Date: November 16, 2015 - Fit to Print?

GIVEN the upcoming election, Galway East TD Colm Keaveney is more concerned with the Connacht Tribune than INM newspapers’ coverage of his alleged involvement in a conspiracy against their boss, Denis O’Brien. In an article headlined, “Top Garda rubbishes claims on Tuam crime”, Tribune journalist Declan Tierney wrote recently that Galway’s top cop, chief super… Read more »

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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 - Briefcases

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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