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Ruby Walsh

RUBY WALSH WANTS THE MONEY

Date: January 28, 2016 - Sport of Kings

WITHIN the tight circle of Irish Horse Racing, the Walsh family are not known for their meek personality. The adjective ‘outspoken’ tends to be bandied about in any descriptions of bolshy trainer Ted Walsh, and it seems the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree with regard to heir apparent, Ruby Walsh, who spoiled the… Read more »

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Erskine Childers

EXECUTION – TG4

Date: January 28, 2016 - TV

AS PART of the 1916 Centenary, TG4 has produced several new series as well as re-screening some impressive documentaries from recent years. Execution (directed by Jerry O’Callaghan) traced the extraordinary life of Erskine Childers from staunch British imperialist growing up in Co Wicklow to hardline Irish republicanism. Childers (father of the country’s fourth President) was… Read more »

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the-little-red-chairs

THE LITTLE RED CHAIRS – EDNA O’BRIEN (FABER & FABER)

Date: January 28, 2016 - Books

SINCE WRITING The Country Girls in 1960, Edna O’Brien’s somewhat controversial reputation has been built on emotive feminism and a resonant prose style. Her new novel (the first in ten years) is receiving extravagant praise and has even been hailed as her “masterpiece” in a cover quote by Philip Roth. Divided into three unequal parts,… Read more »

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Ruth McKenzie

OPEN AND CLOSED AT THE ARTS COUNCIL

Date: January 28, 2016 - Behind the Scenes

WITH BUCKETLOADS of cash being dished out to various artistic and cultural projects under the 1916 centenary umbrella – Culture Ireland is the latest to announce a round of funding – Goldhawk decided to shine a light on the process through which almost U1m was shared out among artists and organisations by the Arts Council…. Read more »

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Sally Hawkins

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO…

Date: January 28, 2016 - Behind the Scenes

IN ANTICIPATION of the Irish run at the Oscars on February 28, there has been much editorial hot air expended on the case for giving James Hickey’s Irish Film Board (IFB) more cash. That the price of eight Oscar nominations could be the circa U1bn shelled out by the Irish taxpayer to film and TV… Read more »

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NO DRAMA FOR IRISH TIMES AWARDS

Date: January 28, 2016 - Behind the Scenes

SPARE A THOUGHT for the theatre industry luvvies who, just over a month from now, will squeeze into their fancy frocks and file into the National Concert Hall for the Irish Times theatre awards. (Not to mention the hapless television viewers, if the IT manages to get the annual knees-up aired again.) This looks like… Read more »

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Beatrice Tollman

THE TOLLMANS’ TAX BILL

Date: January 28, 2016 - Behind the Scenes

HAVING acquired Ashford Castle on 350 acres in Co Mayo back in 2013 for a handy looking €20m, South African hotelier Beatrice Tollman and her hubby Stanley have invested a reported €50m refurbishing the property. It looks like it will be quite a while before the operation turns a profit but then the Tollmans have… Read more »

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article default

DEREK O’LEARY’S ‘SYLVAN GEM’

Date: January 28, 2016 - High Society

HAPLESS property developer Derek O’Leary must have been delighted with the puff piece in the Sunday Business Post last weekend extolling the virtues of his sprawling Foxrock pile, Oakmount, which he has just stuck on the market with a hefty looking €2.25m price tag. His name will be familiar to fans of Goldhawk. Headlined “A… Read more »

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Tynte Park

TYNTE PARK’S WINNERS AND LOSERS

Date: January 28, 2016 - High Society

INTERESTING to see the impressive Georgian pile, Tynte Park on 145 acres in Co Wicklow, coming back on the market with an asking price of €3.25m. Once the abode of the colourful Miss Violet Tynte, the estate, outside Dunlavin, has passed through various hands since the 1830s. However, for the most recent owner, it has… Read more »

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Jennifer Cuffe

Jennifer Cuffe

Date: January 28, 2016 - The Young Bloods

FIANNA FÁIL’S Jennifer Cuffe is a true blue south Dublin woman who, having initially sought a place on the FF general election ticket in the Dún Laoghaire constituency, has since been parachuted into Wicklow on the instructions of party HQ. On one level, this move is an act of political masochism, given that poor Jen… Read more »

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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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