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THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: July 27, 2023 - The Hot Air Brigade

All we wanted the board and the council to do was to follow the rules and those rules involve protecting the badger. This is the badgers’ Alamo – they have nowhere else to go. Pat Kenny on permission being granted for the development of a nursing home bordering his property, Irish Independent A move to… Read more »

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CENSORSHIP AT WILDLIFE TRUST

Date: July 27, 2023 - Fowl Emissions

ONE OF Ireland’s leading environmental NGOs, the Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) has been thrown into chaos following the resignation of its campaigns officer, Pádraic Fogarty. Fogarty’s decision followed a move by the board of IWT to censor his blog published on the trust’s website that had been highly critical of a perceived lurch to the… Read more »

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Luke Holland Climate Denial John Fagan Wolf Europe David Quinn Duncan Stewart Data Centre Carbon Emissions Conor Skehan Chris Hazzard

DAVID QUINN’S CONVERSION

Date: July 27, 2023 - Fowl Emissions

IN A shocking epiphany, Iona Institute director and media commentator David Quinn has finally admitted the climate change is… real. “I think a lot of it is caused by us”. This breakthrough comes after years of mockery and denial by Quinn in assorted newspaper columns…. Read more »

SUNAK PLAYS THE DUP

Date: July 27, 2023 - Northwind

WHEN LEO Varadkar met Rishi Sunak in Moldova on June 1 he asked to be “kept informed” of any deal with the DUP about re-entering the Stormont executive. He added, “we would just like to be aware so we’re not caught off guard or by surprise and that there’s nothing that would concern us in… Read more »

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McGUINNESS PLAYS HARD TO GET

Date: July 27, 2023 - Last Refuge

DESPITE A glowing profile in the Business Post who last weekend depicted Heather Humphreys as a hot tip to be Fine Gael’s presidential candidate in 2025, Goldhawk believes that this nomination is firmly in the grasp of the, em, grasping hands of EU Commissioner, Mairead… Read more »

MARTIN GAZUMPS VLAD

Date: July 27, 2023 - Last Refuge

NO SOONER had Tánaiste Micheál Martin departed on a week-long trip to South Africa and Mozambique that he hoped would further burnish his reputation as a great European statesman, than Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made a daring – and unannounced – dash to war-torn Kyiv to… Read more »

O’KEEFFE DYNASTY AWAKENS

Date: July 27, 2023 - Last Refuge

SPECULATION ABOUT candidates for the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has alerted some of the more paranoid members of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to the spectre of a cunning plan by the long-time FF TD, Ned O’Keeffe and his brood to make a comeback. Time was when Ned O’Keeffe was a junior minister for… Read more »

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SECTARIAN SCOPING INQUIRY

Date: July 27, 2023 - Fit to Print?

The Irish Times is refusing to publish on its news pages the fact that a ministerial scoping inquiry into abuse in day and boarding schools excludes Protestant participation. Academic Niall Meehan, who has pursued the issue with the education minister, sent the paper a letter,… Read more »

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

BUGGER OFF!

Date: July 27, 2023 - Fit to Print?

IN WHAT must have ageing PSNI officers heaving with laughter at the sheer irony of it all, it has emerged that the filmmakers who were arrested following their award-winning documentary, No Stone Unturned, may also have been bugged. According to the Guardian this week, the secretive Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) is now investigating the complaint… Read more »

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AI REPORT PROLONGED

Date: July 27, 2023 - Fit to Print?

IRISH TIMES hack, Jennifer O’Connell was not five minutes in the role of opinion editor when that bogus article claiming the use of fake tan by Irish women is a form of “cultural appropriation” was published, and she came under critical scrutiny in the days immediately afterwards. Editor, Ruadhán Mac Cormaic quickly issued a statement… Read more »

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BOG CUTTINGS

Date: July 27, 2023 - Bog Cuttings

DANGEROUS STREETS MATTHEW CONROY, of Kilcommon, Tipperary appeared before Nenagh District Court charged with a number of public order offences. Gardaí discovered an intoxicated Conroy behaving erratically in The Square, Nenagh, where he was “swerving from side to side” on his feet. The court heard that the defendant staggered across a road, without looking left… Read more »

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Tailored Films Screen Ireland Perspectives DCCI Crescine Tarka Russell Lara Hickey Reality Check Sarah McInerney Irish Movies Paul Murray Arts Council Dublin Theatre Festival TWU Macdara Kelleher Richard Boyd Barrett DADC Cillian Murphy Terry McMahon Media Commission Ireland Kerlin Gallery Creative Ireland Section 481 Christine O’Donovan RTÉ Storyland NMI Board Vacancies IASCA Ossie Kilkenny RTÉ Original Programmes

MACDARA’S NEW CAST

Date: July 27, 2023 - Behind the Scenes

THIRD PLACE on the list of Screen Ireland’s upcoming productions is an “Untitled Universal Monster Thriller”, which is being produced by Wild Atlantic Pictures (WAP), owned by Macdara Kelleher. The project turns out to be a movie known variously as Abigail, Abducting Abigail, and even Dracula’s Daughter, and is currently filming in Dublin and Boston,… Read more »

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SHARK ATTACKS GALWAY

Date: July 27, 2023 - Sport of Kings

WELL-KNOWN trainer John ‘Shark’ Hanlon must be increasingly focused trying to land back-to-back runnings of the Galway Plate with stable-star and bargain extraordinaire Hewick. A good Galway festival would be just what the doctor ordered for the struggling Shark. Hewick, which was bought by Hanlon for only €850, faces no easy task in the €¼m… Read more »

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Ed Dunlop David Dunsdon Sarah Lynam Rebecca May Wayne Hassett Eoin O'Brien Michael Burke Aine O’Connor Ashroe Diamond Thomand O’Mara Peter Keatley Timmy Hyde Coolmore All About Sunday Colin Keane Ronan Whelan JP McManus Jessica Harrington Dundalk Racecourse Paul Hensey Irish National Hunt Horse-racing Doping Paddy Walsh Tom Kelly Suspension

WHAT ABOUT SUNDAY?

Date: July 27, 2023 - Sport of Kings

FANS OF racing investment syndicates might be wondering what is going on at the All About Sunday racing club, which offers micro ownership shares in racehorses. There has been significant activity on the website that appears to reflect a change of structure. The outfit was founded a number of years ago by Noel Hayes and… Read more »

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BROWNSTOWN’S PANAMA PARENT

Date: July 27, 2023 - High Society

A PIECE in last weekend’s Business Post puffed up the sprawling Brownstown Regency estate outside Navan, Co Meath, which has just come on the market with a total price tag (including the 560 acres of land) of a cool €9m. With its “magnificent reception rooms”, wine cellar, equestrian facilities, and dairy farm, the property should attract… Read more »

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WAITING AT EXPANDING IMMA

Date: July 27, 2023 - High Society

WITH IMMA boosting its collection courtesy of some munificence from arts minister Catherine Martin, there will be an expanded collection waiting for the incoming chair of the museum whenever he or she is finally put in place. Earlier this year, Martin advertised for expressions of interest in the role of chairperson in Kilmainham. This was… Read more »

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KINGSPAN SHARES CLEARLY NOT FIRE RESISTANT

Date: July 27, 2023 - Moneybags

WHILE KINGSPAN is in the news for the wrong reasons again – this time due to criticism of its sponsorship deal with Ulster Rugby – the really big concern is, of course, the final report of the Grenfell Inquiry due later this year. The Irish insulation behemoth has shipped serious damage over its handling of… Read more »

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HOLY MOLY!

Date: July 27, 2023 - Briefcases

HATS OFF to Garry O’Sullivan, who is proving that even if it is notoriously difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven, the editor of the Irish Catholic has no trouble filling the boots. Last year, publisher Garry set up a new… Read more »

IAN REDMOND’S BUM NOTE

Date: July 27, 2023 - Briefcases

DESPITE THE much hyped efforts of the Give Us the Night campaign, Dublin’s rapidly declining nightlife offering was dealt another blow this month with the closure of the Tramline nightclub off D’Olier Street in D2. A notice posted by the owners stated, “The pandemic, together with the costs now associated with running a business in… Read more »

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ZMG Cyril Murphy Newbridge College Peter Wilson Sporting Emporium Chris Wholey O'Kane God’s Creatures Film Tax Relief Anne Rossi Desmond Live Nation ESCADIA LTD Al Porter Comeback Gordon Elliott Clayton Love Ivan Wilde hot-water-brigade Parnells GAA Lawsuit

DERMOT DESMOND’S DIRECTOR

Date: July 27, 2023 - Briefcases

DERMOT DESMOND continues to slowly ring the changes at his Sporting Emporium casino business off Grafton Street. Last month, he pulled in the skills and expertise of Carol Markey, the number cruncher who currently acts as a director of the next-door Zozimus cocktail bar, a project of Dermo’s son, Dery. As fans of Goldhawk are… Read more »

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PATRICK KIELTY’S RIGHT HAND MAN

Date: July 27, 2023 - Briefcases

WHILE THERE has been plenty of media coverage of the gap between the pay packet for the incoming host of The Late Late Show, Patrick Kielty and the rather well remunerated Ryan Tubridy, the saving will not be all it’s cracked up to be. When… Read more »

BARTH O’NEILL’S INTERESTING LENDER

Date: July 27, 2023 - Briefcases

AN ENTERTAINING tussle between Kerry builder Barth O’Neill and his lender, Golden Door Lending (GDL), was settled in the Four Goldmines recently. In 2018, O’Neill’s construction firm, Dunboy Greener Homes (DGH), was a borrower with GDL where the main player is Cheng Bi, who hails from far off Vanuatu. Cheng holds his shares in the… Read more »

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NIAMH BRENNAN’S TRANSPARENCY

Date: July 13, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

AS THOSE RTÉ committee hearings concluded this week, the focus moved to the clean up at Montrose, which is being spearheaded by Niamh Brennan (aka Mrs Michael McDowell). The question must be, why. Last week, media minister Catherine Martin announced “an independent root-and-branch examination of… Read more »

PROFILE: PEADAR TÓIBÍN

Date: July 13, 2023 - Pillars of Society

ONE OF the most prolific TDs with an impressive array of interventions on everything from health to homelessness, immigration and, of course, abortion is the Meath West deputy Peadar Tóibín, leader of Aontú, which is one of the smallest political parties in the state and certainly the youngest. Tóibín could have been a significant player… Read more »

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YOUNG BLOOD: DAITHÍ DE RÓISTE

Date: July 13, 2023 - The Young Bloods

DUBLIN HAS been infertile territory for Fianna Fáil for some time but the party hopes that the newly elected lord mayor of the city, 35-year-old Ballyfermot councillor Dáithí de Róiste, can reverse the trend of recent years and lead a fight back of sorts in… Read more »

Budget Jack Chambers Nicki Minaj B’Tselem Phil Hogan UCD IRTA DIGI Katy Brown Rory Godson Pallonji Mistry Shark Hanlon Frances Ruane Taste of Dublin Listowel Writers’ Week Paddy Curran Harvey Norman Anton Savage Paul Hourican Enda O’Coineen PfP Red C Poll IFTA Ben Gilroy Luke Comer Sue Spence Fingleton Aubrey McCarthy Matt Cooper Parker Green Danny McConnell Gayle Killilea Maura Derivan Ed Honohan INS Arts Council EDAF Emuse Rosslare Golf Club Mairead Casey Colm O’Rourke Stephen Connolly Peter Aiken John Malone Tom Barry Anthony Halpin Ian Kehoe Kevin Bakhurst Geraldine O’Leary Dennis Horgan RUSI Gareth McAllister Ryevale House Joe Macken RUC Omagh Patrick Connolly Paddy Cosgrave The Ditch Newstalk Fake Tan Fred Logue Ian Paisley Sean O’Riordan Margaret Sweeney Jay Bourke Ellie Kisyombe Francesca McDonagh Ted Cunningham National Space Centre An Irish Goodbye Oscar Robert Quirke Ciara Kelly Executive Women Gathering Doug Taylor Florian Haufe Robbie Henshaw Bill Shipsey Breaking the Silence L’Ecrivain Ronan McNally National Lottery Michael Roche Energy Action Balls.ie Newspapers VAT Abbey Theatre Patricia Madden Irish Banking Culture Board Randox Aoife Gallagher Book Dalai Lama Trinity Trevor White RTÉ Chairperson Shane Houlihan Noel Smyth IKC Bob Geldof Landlord Ireland Neutrality Ukraine

JUDGE HALPIN V RTÉ

Date: July 13, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

THE LESS than media shy judge Anthony Halpin garnered himself a fair few headlines last week when he gave RTÉ execs and ‘talent’ both barrels while overseeing the prosecution of people for non-payment of the TV licence fee. He has been the subject of the odd headline himself in the past. The “appalled and disgusted”… Read more »

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HOLLY AND THE ‘SINDO’

Date: July 13, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT appears to be still infatuated with Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns and has gone to extraordinary lengths to promote her in the perhaps over-optimistic belief of its political specialist, Jody Corcoran, that Holly is destined to be taoiseach after the next general election. On Cairns’s election as leader in March, the Soc… Read more »

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DOIREANN GARRIHY’S SPLASH

Date: July 13, 2023 - Briefcases

AS REPORTS emerged of the various money-making wheezes of RTÉ broadcaster Doireann Garrihy, Montrose claimed it was an “editorial” decision to host a number of 2FM parties on boats owned by her “family business”. Garrihy’s father, Eugene, is MD of Dublin Bay Cruises (DBC) and the company’s website states that the ferry company is owned… Read more »

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DIRECT MESSAGES DIRECT TO GCHQ

Date: July 13, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

IRISH MINISTERS, senior civil servants and others in authority are going to have to take care while using Twitter to transmit ‘direct messages’, known by users as DMs. They are not a safe method of cloistered communication. Goldhawk suggested (see The Phoenix 5/5/23) that a factor in the dismissal of right-wing Fox News mega star… Read more »

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NIALL FORTUNE’S MISFORTUNE

Date: July 13, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

GOLDHAWK is surprised to spot that a couple of ventures owned by burger king Niall Fortune of Eddie Rocket’s fame are going into liquidation this week, both having availed of the Revenue Commissioners’ debt warehousing scheme that is now landing participants with interest bills. Fortune has been a fixture on the burger joint scene since… Read more »

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RICHARD FORD’S FESTIVITIES

Date: July 13, 2023 - Behind the Scenes

MAUREEN KENNELLY’S support of the new regime at Listowel Writers’ Week looks likely to land the Kerry gig a rather high-profile new president – Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford. A new festival programmer is also on the cards. Arts Council boss Kennelly was a high-profile presence at last month’s Writers’ Week and was photographed with… Read more »

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VOL 41 NO 14

Date: July 13, 2023 -

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TRIPLE-LOCK MYTHS

Date: July 13, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

THE BIG argument behind the frustration of Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin, who feel blocked from getting young Irish people to tool up and go to war with the big boys in the west, is that the triple lock on sending Irish troops abroad shackles… Read more »

SHANE ROSS’S CURRENCY EXCHANGE

Date: July 13, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

LAST WEEKEND, Shane Ross fixed his sights on Montrose, which comes as no surprise given that the former politician is penning a book on the Tubridy debacle. One of those who caught Ross’s eye was RTÉ board member and deputy chair Ian Kehoe, who is also editor of The Currency news website, which competes with… Read more »

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RTÉ BOSSES’ TORMENT

Date: July 13, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

DAVID NALLY, RTÉ editorial adviser, RTÉ content (salary €150,000), was obviously aggrieved at being ‘dragged’ into the Montrose maelstrom last week by Irish Times columnist Justine McCarthy. But given his role and remuneration as well as his professional altercation with journalist Fran McNulty, Nally appears… Read more »

NOEL KELLY’S PORSCHE

Date: July 13, 2023 - Affairs of the Nation

NOEL KELLY’S arrival at Leinster House on Tuesday came as a great disappointment to Goldhawk given the blaze of advance publicity about the Mr Big of super agents for the stars and what acquaintances described as his appetite for “the best suits and the best… Read more »