Affairs, 28 July 2020

TENSIONS IN the Green Party show no signs of abating and the first weeks in government have provided critics with plenty of ammunition. Éamon Ryan retained his leadership by the most slender margin, eroding certainty gleaned from a thumping endorsement of the programme for government. With fresh doubts over his authority, Ryan will need to… Read more »

Affairs, 28 July 2020

THE RED flag is apparently still flying in the Labour Party where deputies are incensed about the Government’s handling of the pandemic payment and foreign travel. Transport spokesman Duncan Smith described as “absolutely incredible” stories of gardai and departmental inspectors roaming terminal two, and asked if “the Government thinks it’s a better deployment of resources… Read more »

Affairs, 27 July 2020

LAST WEEK, Peter Foott’s The Young Offenders returned for a third series on RTE One, accompanied by the obligatory tidal wave of hype. On the day of the series premiere, RTE released a story about its Montrose HQ being vandalised with penis-shaped graffiti and a giant “Fuck you!” message – which turned out not to… Read more »

Affairs, 25 July 2020

GOLDHAWK DETECTS a dangerous hubris in response to the Apple corporation tax ruling. At the level of the Government and the IDA, the champagne remained on ice, in public at least. Soothing statements from the state is the business of foreign direct investment but does little to hide the political pressure currently unfolding. Last Friday… Read more »

Affairs, 23 July 2020

FOLLOWING ON from Ireland On Call earlier this year – which effectively functioned as the Department Of Health’s Pravda during the Covid crisis – Open For Business represents another step in RTE’s metamorphosis from public service broadcaster to public information service. Broadcast at 7pm on a weekday evening, these shows have been of dual benefit… Read more »

Affairs, 22 July 2020

THE POLICING AUTHORITY is showing no signs of relenting in its concern about the use of controversial spit hoods by An Garda Siochana. The fifth review of Covid policing presented to the justice minister last week points to the evidence, or rather the lack of it, from other jurisdictions, that the plastic face mesh is… Read more »

Affairs, 21 July 2020

GRAVE CONCERNS about a backlog in CervicalCheck and other screening services has provided a persistent din throughout the pandemic. Patients, politicians and the medical profession have all expressed fears about mounting delays in diagnosis, treatment and care. The media and Oireachtas have heard warnings about the likelihood of personal and systemic disaster in the health… Read more »

Affairs, 21 July 2020

ACTOR AND activist John Connors was most contrite in a personal apology to Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman this week. Drawing the outrage of LGBT activists, feminists and other elements of the Twitterati is considered a business model for some, but the O’Gorman affair escalated into something far beyond the usual online fracas. Connors was among… Read more »

Affairs, 20 July 2020

DEADLOCKED EU leaders could take an example from the Irish as negotiations over the costly pandemic response continue in Brussels. If Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, one of the oldest extant party rivalries in Europe, can put aside their remaining differences then surely the EU’s leading politicians can find a way to work together. Despite… Read more »

Affairs, 17 July 2020

There was good news this week for Adrian Fitzgibbon following the sale of Horse Island. The private West Cork property was snapped up by a mystery individual for €5.5m having been on the market since 2018. Fans of Goldhawk will recall that it has not always been splendid isolation for the former financier. ADRIAN FITZGIBBON’S… Read more »

Affairs, 17 July 2020

RESUMING HIS post as Attorney General, last occupied in Brian Cowen’s doom laden car-crash government of 2007-11, Paul Gallagher SC is already asserting himself. Gallagher was regarded by many — and certainly by himself — as the superior brain in that cabinet and he is currently strongly advising that housing minister, Darragh O’Brien desist from… Read more »

Affairs, 16 July 2020

THE ONCE all powerful pub trade must feel like the poor relation in comparison to how the beef barons have been shielded from any consequences of the lock down. The hard fought reopening of bars has been surrounded with stern warnings from garda HQ, on site inspections from police officers, stern comments from senior politicians… Read more »

Affairs, 16 July 2020

BELEAGUERED PUB landlords were left stunned by the news that their doors will remain closed for at least another month. Time was when Fianna Fáil in government were notoriously receptive to the plight of publicans and counted many among their own parliamentary party. During the dark winter of 2009, FF could proudly stand to applaud… Read more »

Affairs, 15 July 2020

BARRY COWEN’S time in high office came to an end the moment he set himself on a collision course with the gardaí. In their support for Maurice McCabe, Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar have the distinction of being among a handful of figures to have emerged from those episodes that rocked the previous two governments… Read more »

Affairs, 14 July 2020

MICHEÁL MARTIN’S astonishing confirmation that Leo Varadkar is to benefit from the wisdom of “five or six” special advisers underlines an aggressive and unprecedented expansion of the office of Tánaiste. With generous salaries and public perceptions of ‘jobs for the boys’, the appointment of political staff always contains a potential for controversy. This was none… Read more »

Affairs, 14 July 2020

MINISTER OF STATE Patrick O’Donovan demonstrated a show of strength over the Green Party in his decision to reopen Phoenix Park to traffic. Eamon’s Ryan’s oversight in failing to get his own people into the frame already looks unwise. The Greens’ Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman, a Dublin West TD, expressed how “surprised” he was… Read more »

Affairs, 13 July 2020

THE TASK of carrying the can for the previous administration began in earnest on Thursday as new Justice Minister Helen McEntee took questions in the Dáil. Fans of Goldhawk will be aware of a curiosity on new Anti-Racism Committee established by Charlie Flanagan, where Margot Slattery of French multinational Sodexo will contribute to the development… Read more »

Affairs, 10 July 2020

THE NATION held its breath on Thursday before Ireland’s own finance minister was elevated to President of the Eurogroup. No sooner were the last remaining morsels of nostalgia squeezed from Italia 90 when the Government provided Reeling in the Years 2020 with scenes of jubilation across the country. Shane Ross raced toward airport arrivals with… Read more »

Affairs, 9 July 2020

OVER ONE hundred days since the country went into lock down, Leo Varadkar is finally adjusting to work from home. On Twitter, the Fine Gael leader shared the news that he is “setting up my new home working station. The Government wants remote working to become part of the new normal. If done right, the… Read more »

Affairs, 9 July 2020

THE NOTION that damaging leaks about politicians come from opposing parties is very wide of the mark. In Goldhawk’s not inconsiderable experience leaks that target particular politicians almost always come from close, rival members of their own party.  An iron law in politics is that the most intense rivalries and even hatreds are invariably internal… Read more »

Affairs, 7 July 2020

GREEN PARTY minister Roderic O’Gorman is the latest figure to be targeted by the noisy fringes of Irish online ‘patriotism’. As detailed extensively by Goldhawk, Sinn Féin’s Réada Cronin, Social Democrat Holly Cairns,  Fianna Fáil’s Lorraine Clifford Lee.,  Fine Gael’s Catherine Noone and Labour’s Duncan Smith have all faced similar treatment with varying levels of… Read more »

Affairs, 7 July 2020

WITH RECESSION looming, unemployment soaring and dulcet Offaly apologies for ill-judged pints all around us, the sense of déjà vu is palpable.  The last disaster was at least a boom for commentators who set about the task of explaining where it all went wrong and who was to blame.  Irish Times columnist Fintan O’Toole enjoyed… Read more »

Affairs, 6 July 2020

WHILE SEVERAL jilted deputies would have been content with any seat at the table, the same cannot be said for Fianna Fáil’s James Lawless who has nursed a particular set of ambitions. With seemingly no room government, his unwavering loyalty to the present leadership will no longer be guaranteed. Before achieving any elected office, Lawless… Read more »

Affairs, 3 July 2020

IRISH TIMES columnist Jennifer O’Connell dug herself into a Twitter hole on Wednesday over the complex issue of schools reopening. Inspired after this week’s RTÉ Prime Time double bill, which featured selfless healthcare staff returning to work once recovered from the virus, O’Connell lambasted teaching unions who “bring up all the reasons their members cannot… Read more »

Affairs, 3 July 2020

A SIZEABLE cohort of Green Party members choked on their muesli Wednesday morning upon opening the Irish Times. In an opinion piece headed “generational divide within Green Party cannot be glossed over”,  academic Sadhbh O’Neill sagely advised that “divisions, however unseemly, should spark a deep reflection.” Rather than being the extension of an olive branch,… Read more »

Affairs, 2 July 2020

THAT unprecedented outburst from disappointed Fianna Fail TD, Michael Moynihan — ‘I-could-a-bin-a-minister’ — was not borne of an over developed sense of entitlement. Moynihan’s remarks — “ I took a lot of shit up and down the country and kept it from (Martin) … there’s not a county that I wasn’t in when we were… Read more »

Affairs, 1 July 2020

THE COLLAPSE of fintech company Wirecard may be a little too close for authorities in Dublin.  The German payments firm is facing criminal investigations for fraud on an eye-watering scale, while former CEO Markus Braun is on bail having been arrested last week. Wirecard has filed for bankruptcy after much of its business turned out… Read more »

Affairs, 1 July 2020

MANDARINS AT the Department of Finance are no doubt scratching their heads at the avalanche of submissions to the Oireachtas Covid Response Committee.  With almost every sector in the country looking for support, the orthodox handbook, heavily revised toward lean and mean since the crash, is unlikely to survive if the economy is to stay… Read more »

Affairs, 30 June 2020

THERE WAS cause for celebration in Tara Street this weekend after a relentless Irish Times campaign on government formation finally saw results. Across editorials, opinion pieces, the entire political staff and several cartoons, the paper remained stridently on message in coaxing the parties towards a deal and swatting away anything that might sway members from… Read more »

Affairs, 30 June 2020

THE non-inclusion of Richard Bruton in cabinet represents the end of a career that was long thought destined for the Taoiseach’s office.  As Blueshirt royalty Bruton was deemed fit to lead the unsuccessful coup against Enda Kenny in 2010, but now he finds himself left behind by co-conspirators Varadkar and Coveney as part of a… Read more »

Affairs, 29 June 2020

THE ABSENCE of any senior minister from west of the Shannon looks like the first major misstep of the new régime in government buildings. The benefits of having a local representative in a national role vary widely and are often overstated, but perceptions still matter.  Connacht was exceptionally well represented in the Cabinet ranks of… Read more »

Affairs, 28 June 2020

AMONG THE members of the new cabinet, the name with probably the least national recognition is the Green Party’s Roderic O’Gorman. Goldhawk, however, spotted he was going places last September when penning a profile of the Dublin West TD (see below). The wily politician was to the fore one year ago in stymieing a party… Read more »

Affairs, 26 June 2020

CHARLIE FLANAGAN’S courageous defence of the judiciary last week looks rather opportunistic when set against Fine Gael’s recent record. The justice minister is up in arms over comments from Bríd Smith, who suggested that a recent High Court ruling constitutes a “war on workers.” Flanagan has written to the Ceann Comhairle in the belief that… Read more »