Affairs, 3 February 2021

WHILE GOLDHAWK is secretly pleased at being spared attendance at any beef-or-salmon nuptials this year, a group of the country’s wedding planners have come out in protest at the “crisis” in their industry. While they’d normally be competing with one another for a slice of the industry’s very lucrative cake, nine planners, including Peter Kelly,… Read more »

Affairs, 2 February 2021

WHILE NORAH Casey sold most of her Harmonia magazine titles to Irish Studio in 2017, she retained ownership of weekly magazine, Woman’s Way. Its long-term editor, Áine Toner, recently departed to take up the position of features editor at the Belfast Telegraph, which left Casey to unveil the surprise new magazine editor in this week’s… Read more »

Affairs, 2 February 2021

THE PUBLIC was treated to a quintessential performance of Blueshirt environmentalism on Monday thanks to up and coming social media influencer, Richard Bruton. Posing from his kitchen counter with a half chopped carrot, the former Climate Action Minister is maintaining an active retirement. Bruton announced that he intends to “write a report on waste” for… Read more »

Affairs, 2 February 2021

THE BATTLE between two fledgling online publications to capture women’s hearts – and more importantly, their cash – has taken an interesting turn, thanks to Enterprise Ireland awarding a load of dosh to one of them. Rogue and Heyday are two subscription-based sites that launched in 2020. What’s also common to both is that their… Read more »

Affairs, 2 February 2021

IN RELATION TO the comprehensive backlash against the Mother and Baby Homes Report last month, it is worth noting just how easily Government figures abandoned any public defence of the Commission and its findings. Even as Micheál Martin rushed to perform another act of Dáil contrition, the official narrative was under extreme stress, and, within… Read more »

Affairs, 30 January 2021

OBSERVERS COULD be forgiven for looking at the shameful malaise that passes for an Irish property sector to conclude that housing languishes well down the list of political priorities. As the indefinite nature of the pandemic begins to sink in, the issue that electrified the general election is now returning to the centre of political… Read more »

Affairs, 30 January 2021

THAT WAS clever stroke from Jim O’Callaghan this week. Experience down at the Four Goldmines has clearly taught the Fianna Fail TD a thing or two about cutting to the most salient detail. October’s Court of Appeal ruling preventing the media from identifying children who have been murdered has come as a source of great… Read more »

Affairs, 29 January 2021

The uber-polite Tomás Ryan didn’t even attempt to hide his exasperated eyerolls as travel journalist, Eoghan Corry, came out with his advice on Ireland AM this week, Corry’s insistence that the country has had only nine imported cases of Covid-19 drew incredulous glances from Ryan, a professor at Trinity’s school of biochemistry and immunology. While… Read more »

Affairs, 28 January 2021

HAS FORMER INM executive editor, Shane Doran, bitten off more than he can chew with his portfolio of news websites? Having launched in 2019, WaterfordNow.ie and WicklowNow.ie are no longer accessible, and anyone typing in their addresses will find themselves redirected to KilkennyNow.ie. DublinNow.ie is barely limping along, as it has only published four articles… Read more »

Affairs, 27 January 2021

THE SCOURGE of keyboard warriors continues to torment the rarefied debate of Irish politics. Sinn Féin has been subject to long-running condemnation over the activities of its alleged supporters online, but it remains to be seen if the same energy will be maintained now that scandal has reached the door of the Health Minister. From… Read more »

Affairs, 27 January 2021

THE SENSE of siege among Unionism has become acute in recent times and while such situations are fundamental and even advantageous to the DUP’s political project, the party only has itself to blame for its growing isolation. Last week, former chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne outlined in cold economic terms that Northern Ireland’s “prosperity… Read more »

Affairs, 26 January 2021

HEARTWARMING to witness Irish politics renew its commitment to democracy and human rights in recent days. As concerning scenes from Russia are beamed across the globe, TDs ever keen to advance the sanctity of liberal governance have denounced the Kremlin for its treatment of Alexei Navalny. Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has expressed his dismay at… Read more »

Affairs, 26 January 2021

OUR PRESUMPTION that members of the judiciary might enjoy a bit of gangland drama were dashed upon learning that Circuit Court judge, Keenan Johnson, isn’t a fan of RTÉ’s Love/Hate. The Sunday Worst reported that the Sligo-born judge blasted TV and filmmakers for inspiring viewers to carry out “barbaric” acts, while dealing with a case… Read more »

Affairs, 26 January 2021

A SEASONAL malady is known to descend on a sizable portion of the Irish population at this time of year, commonly known as Kathryn Thomas-itis. Roughly translated, its main symptoms are a crippling sense of ennui and chronic eye-rolling whenever the presenter of Operation Transformation pops up in print, radio or TV. Onset usually occurs… Read more »

Affairs, 25 January 2021

ANOTHER WEEK sees more defections from the Green Party with divisions over policy and internal culture continuing to cause upset. South Dublin County Councillor Peter Kavanagh is the latest out the door following Dublin City Councillors Liam Sinclair and Sophie Nicoullaud last week. Éamon Ryan’s task of whipping his members into abandoning long held party… Read more »

Affairs, 25 January 2021

MICHEÁL MARTIN’S hopes of basking in the emerald glow of Biden’s inauguration on Friday were cruelly dashed as the new Taoiseach’s first substantial interview on American television was overshadowed by questions about the darker aspects of Ireland’s past. The Gaelic twinkle noticeably vanished from Martin’s demeanour as CNN host Christiane Amanpour turned to the Mother… Read more »

Affairs, 25 January 2021

KAY SHEEHY’s film reviews on Brendan O’Connor didn’t impress the managing editor of the Sunday Business Post, Gillian Nelis, last weekend.  Nelis took to Twitter to complain that Sheehy was giving away “too much of the plots.” “It’s ridiculous, humph,” she railed. “Was looking forward to The Dig, really didn’t need all of those spoilers.”… Read more »

Affairs, 25 January 2021

CELEBRITY MEDICS have become a feature of life more than any of us would have liked in recent times. Amongst the scrum, one name proving most adept at grabbing some headlines is Cork entrepreneur, Ali Rose Sisk. This week the Irish Examiner brings plucky news of how the nursing student has developed software which promises… Read more »

Affairs, 22 January 2021

LIAM COLLINS’ Indo piece about RTÉ’s top earners made for interesting reading, mainly because he revealed that his own salary in 2019 as a “lowly hack” was €39,679. Semantics are important, as the former news editor of the Sindo and comment editor of the Indo would know. We presume that the 66-year-old used the word… Read more »

Affairs, 22 January 2021

THE UBIQUITOUS Mairéad Ronan has shown an admirable knack for garnering column inches lately, as she “opens up” about finding lockdown difficult, with her husband Louis and two of their children testing positive for Covid-19 and whether she’ll have a fourth baby. While she has no problem rehashing the same topics ad nauseam – her… Read more »

Affairs, 22 January 2021

EMBATTLED GREEN Party leader Éamon Ryan can sleep easier than usual this week after putting the Irish Environmental Network (IEN) on a more sustainable footing. The support of NGOs was critical in securing Ryan’s coveted return to government and with the announcement of a six figure increase in support for groups like An Taisce, BirdWatch… Read more »

Affairs, 21 January 2021

TRINITY COLLEGE Dublin has never been shy about celebrating its achievements so how to explain the curious silence this month. From Leo Varadkar to Sally Rooney, scarcely a day goes by without publicity of Trinners’ contribution to the world of arts, science, literature and public life. Inspection of the Mother and Baby Homes Report, however,… Read more »

Affairs, 21 January 2021

CONGRATULATIONS are in order for Stephen Donnelly who has finally managed to get through a media appearance unscathed, at least for a few hours. During a one-to-one with Miriam O’Callaghan on Tuesday night, the Health Minister cleaved to positive sound bites about the vaccine roll out. The hapless Wicklow TD has drafted yet more advisors… Read more »

Affairs, 21 January 2021

THERE WAS much talk of a new era around Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration, but it was definitely business as usual for RTE News, whose live coverage stuck rigidly to a stale format. Proceedings kicked off with Montrose anchor Caitriona Perry quizzing RTE’s Washington corr, Brian O’Donovan, on the latest developments. “It’s eerily quiet, there’s nobody… Read more »

Affairs, 20 January 2021

IRELAND’S RENEWED role as an honest broker on the United Nations Security Council is not one reflected at home. The spectacle of Alexei Navalny’s return to Russia has not been marked by independent journalism, mirroring the drift of Irish foreign policy. Reports on the RTÉ Six One and Main Evening News over the weekend were… Read more »

Affairs, 20 January 2021

CYNICS MIGHT think that RTÉ timed the publication of the fees earned by its highest-paid presenters from 2017-2019 to directly coincide with the US presidential inauguration. Perhaps the broadcaster hoped Trump would pull a few parting stunts to distract Irish media and bury the announcement? The eyes of the world may have been trained on… Read more »

Affairs, 20 January 2021

IRISH EYES are smiling today as Ballina native Joe Biden enters the White House. Emotional scenes on Capitol Hill will be no match for the Montrose studios where RTÉ contributors are likely faint at the first Heaney quote. The media has beamed this week as names like John and Gina McCarthy, Carmel Martin, Samantha Power,… Read more »

Affairs, 20 January 2021

While it’s hard to raise a smile from hoteliers these days, you’d have to admire John and Francis Brennan’s impressive level of optimism. Even though the pandemic has wreaked havoc on the hospitality industry, the confidence the brothers have shown in acquiring Kenmare’s Lansdowne Arms out of receivership has to be admired. Particularly as not… Read more »

Affairs, 19 January 2021

NORMA FOLEY’S high risk game playing has blown up in the Government’s hands, leaving a fireball of anger among families and teaching staff. The education minister was too clever by half last week in announcing a resumption of additional needs education provision mere moments before she was due to account for herself in the Dáil…. Read more »

Affairs, 19 January 2021

THE FALLOUT from any Irish church scandal is not complete without the nation taking its lead from the secular beating heart of the Labour Party. Throughout the years, the belief that “no social change is delivered without Labour in Government” has been promulgated in the party’s own catechism. While its TDs had, for example, criticised… Read more »

Affairs, 18 January 2021

NATHAN ADAMS, the 25-year-old model boyfriend of former Cork goalkeeper Dónal Óg Cusack (43), is fairly lashing out new businesses these days. The Cork-based entrepreneur has just launched Nato Glow, a brand of teeth whitening products to “guarantee you a visibly whiter smile in only 14 days.” Its products include teeth whitening strips (€25.99) and… Read more »