Affairs, 15 December 2020

It’s a long way from the suburbs of Cork to hobnobbing at Highclere Castle, aka the Downton Abbey castle, but celebrity chef Clodagh McKenna has managed it quite nobly. Since hooking up in 2017 with her fiancé, Harry (Henry) Herbert, whose father was the 7th Earl of Carnarvon, McKenna has moved into Broadspear, which is… Read more »

Affairs, 14 December 2020

Popular Instagrammer Claire Fullam, aka Claire Balding, bade a tearful farewell to her 85k followers over the weekend. Announcing that she was signing off the social media site permanently, Fullam attributed her decision to trolls sending her threats and people gossiping about her in online forums, following remarks she made on the day the Late… Read more »

Affairs, 11 December 2020

PLANS TO enhance the state’s soft power overseas continue with two new Government appointments. Ten years after many a scheme was floated amid the rubble of recession, official efforts, on paper at least, are beginning to look like something approaching coherence. In 2018, the Government launched the ‘Global Ireland 2025’ plan with Leo Varadkar announcing… Read more »

Affairs, 11 December 2020

MYLES NA gCopaleen would be impressed to witness the woes of the Official Languages Bill in Leinster House. Every now and then a piece of legislation demonstrates its value before reaching enactment. Earlier in October, Culture Minister Catherine Martin was “delighted” that debate had finally commenced on amendments which will strengthen the status of the… Read more »

Affairs, 11 December 2020

THE IRONY of RTÉ’s website po-facedly reporting on the Sky News Covid-19 rule-breaking debacle hasn’t been lost on the rest of us. The British station’s founding presenter Kay Burley has been taken off air for six months after celebrating her 60th birthday last weekend in an extravaganza that saw London’s Covid-19 guidelines breached. An internal… Read more »

Affairs, 10 December 2020

BABY NEWS has brought a welcome change in media coverage for Justice Minister Helen McEntee, but not everyone is happy. October’s Court of Appeal ruling, which upheld certain reporting restrictions, has been greeted with disdain across the press. The ban on identifying children who have been murdered has greatly exercised journalists. RTÉ and the Irish… Read more »

Affairs, 10 December 2020

FRESH FROM his adventures on the high seas, Paul Williams has returned to the “cocaine highway”, this time by air. The intrepid crime fighter took to the skies with the Air Corps on maritime defence and security operations in October ahead of another report in this week’s Irish Independent. Readers followed Williams over some of… Read more »

Affairs, 8 December 2020

VIRGIN MEDIA viewers were treated to some brass neck revisionism on Thursday courtesy of Fine Gael’s Barry Ward. While those TDs who voted against paying student nurses ran for cover last week, it fell to the Senator to defend the Government’s embarrassing delay. In the Dáil this afternoon, Micheál Martin accused the opposition of “short… Read more »

Affairs, 7 December 2020

It may be the season of goodwill, but John McGuirk is not feeling too benevolent towards Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, or undocumented migrants in this country. As well as being editor of Gript, McGuirk is a regular contributor to The Irish Catholic, where, one presumes, the “love thy neighbour as thyself” commandment still resonates…. Read more »

Affairs, 4 December 2020

INTERESTING TO see that Micheál Martin has finally worked up a thirst. That other great Corkman, Fr Mathew, would have been disappointed to see An Taoiseach finally succumb to temptation on Wednesday, when he assured the Dáil that “there is nothing I would like better right now than a pint in some rural pub in… Read more »

Affairs, 4 December 2020

THE APPOINTMENT of Paul Clarkson as the new Government press secretary is sure to yield some useful insights. The Ulsterman’s time as Group Managing Editor at The Sun in London coincided with a crucial period in Anglo-Irish relations, beginning as it did just two months before the Brexit referendum took place.  On voting day The… Read more »

Affairs, 3 December 2020

DID THE Irish Times slip in its commitment to civility in public discourse this week? The paper has long cautioned against the corrosive impact of online rage and kneejerk reaction in what it believes is an age of dangerous polarisation. Late last month, the Irish Times was almost alone in standing back from the controversy… Read more »

Affairs, 3 December 2020

THE RECOMMENDATION that former Ulster Unionist MP, Ken Maginnis, be suspended from the House of Lords for 18 months for “bullying … homophobic and offensive” behaviour towards more than one MP and a parliamentary security officer may have come as a surprise to some southern journalists. The ‘Dublin’ media has long regarded Maginnis as a… Read more »

Affairs, 2 December 2020

WITH HEADLINES again promising that Brexit talks are entering “endgame”, warnings about the threat of Loyalist violence have made their now customary appearance. As the big promises disintegrated and Downing Street floundered in negotiations, the British and Unionists in particular have sought to leverage fears of a return to paramilitarism in a bid to gain… Read more »

Affairs, 2 December 2020

FANS OF Barry Egan were said to be bereft upon discovering that last weekend’s newly-launched Sindo “People & Culture” section did not include his gossip column, The Edge. The SoCoDu set were reportedly inconsolable at the realisation that their Champagne-swilling Marbella antics will no longer get an outing, and how the nation will survive without… Read more »

Affairs, 1 December 2020

THE SPIRIT of giving around the Late Late Toy Show reached well beyond our shores this year with a generous donation all the way from Silicon Valley. Among the record viewing figures and over six million raised for charity, were Stripe founders and billionaire brothers, the Collisons, who were clever not to let the opportunity… Read more »

Affairs, 1 December 2020

ITS VINTAGE INSPIRED creations have been worn by Imelda May and Holly Willoughby, and its founders are big believers in “female empowerment” and sustainability. All very noble, but whether the fabrics used by the Queens of Archive brand are truly eco-friendly is up for debate.  Speaking on RTÉ’s The Business Show recently, co-founder Sarah Plunkett… Read more »

Affairs, 30 November 2020

THE DECISION to rebrand Independent News and Media is certainly a symbolic one. INM, which includes the Indo, Sindo, Herald, Belfast Telegraph, Sunday World and several regional titles is set to be known as Mediahuis Ireland in the new year. With its harp logo and roots in the Parnell era, it is of some note… Read more »

Affairs, 30 November 2020

THE GREEN Party has managed to lose a large swathe of its animal-loving supporters in one fell swoop, due to its lack of support for the recent bill to defund the Irish greyhound racing industry. All 12 of the Green TDs voted against the Social Democrats’ motion to oppose increased funding for the sector, redirect… Read more »

Affairs, 27 November 2020

AS THE SEASON of goodwill approaches, the prospect of left unity begins to look likely. After  years of fractious splits and territorial divisions, socialist TDs are set to fly the same red flag. People Before Profit and RISE have worked closely since the election. Joint campaigns and statements, a united front urging the Green Party… Read more »

Affairs, 27 November 2020

THE LIGHT of liberty will continue to shine under the watchful eye of Marc MacSharry. Fianna Fáil’s Mr Angry is ever vigilant as to the authoritarian creep threatening the foundations of Irish democracy. Responding to the news that Nphet had advised against reopening the hospitality sector this week, MacAngry hit back asking “why not just… Read more »

Affairs, 27 November 2020

WHILE WE all wait with bated breath to see who will take home the gongs at her Gossies 2021 awards, founder Ali Ryan has adopted a new persona.  Not content with running online gossip site Goss.ie, Ryan is channelling an Erin-Brockovich-meets-Elle-Woods vibe these days.  The 31-year-old has set up an Instagram page called Bare it… Read more »

Affairs, 26 November 2020

IT HAS been a bruising week for Carolan Lennon as the Eir chief executive faced scrutiny in the media and at the Oireachtas. The company has been the subject of sustained negative comment in the Dáil in recent years. TDs across all parties regularly express the frustration of constituents over Eir’s list of sins in… Read more »

Affairs, 26 November 2020

TOUCHING TO see some Irish hacks express solidarity with their colleagues across the Irish Sea. The departure of long standing Guardian columnist Suzanne Moore has generated plenty of controversy, and raised eyebrows. Over 7000 words for the conservative website Unherd this week, Moore has finally opened up about her ordeal, suggesting that she was bullied… Read more »

Affairs, 26 November 2020

AS DEBATE on reform of the Lobbying Act commenced in Dáil Éireann this week, the careers of some former politicians are in renewed focus. Amendments tabled by Pearse Doherty and Máiréad Farrell on Tuesday were countered by Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath to the effect that change will be put on ice for at least… Read more »

Affairs, 26 November 2020

FROM BEING the hottest commercial model in the country and a place in the Top 10 in the Donald Trump-owned Miss Universe in 2010, Roz Purcell’s career has pivoted in recent years to espouse a wholesale promotion of inclusivity and body positivity. While the slender Tipperary woman’s sharing of her stretch marks and cellulite has… Read more »

Affairs, 24 November 2020

WHILE HER name echoes around Dáil Eireann, Helen McEntee was instead holding a press conference. Following Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, the Justice Minister has gained approval for new measures to amend the Harassment, Harmful Communications and other Related Offences Bill. Back in the Dáil, Alan Kelly pointed out the absurdity of the Justice Minister outside talking… Read more »

Affairs, 24 November 2020

THE WOULFE saga continues as another week kicks off in Dáil Eireann.  Tuesday afternoon was again dominated by the absence of Justice Minister Helen McEntee. The entire opposition have only one issue on their minds and Micheál Martin faced question after question about it.  The Government may have avoided the spectacle of impeachment proceedings but… Read more »

Affairs, 24 November 2020

HAVING ANNOUNCED himself on the Irish publishing scene in 2017 when picking up a bunch of magazine titles, including women’s glossy Irish Tatler, things haven’t quite worked out according to plan for Irish American investor Liam Lynch. Irish Studio Media Ltd (ISM) was set up in November 2017, when Lynch’s New York-based Irish Studio operation… Read more »