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STEPHEN DONNELLY’S SAVINGS

Date: October 3, 2024 -

IT WILL be recalled (see The Phoenix 12/7/24) that Goldhawk was curious about a restaurant company called Castleknock Hospitality Ltd (CHL) that had quietly ceased trading and, although employees had been told the firm was to be wound up, there was no sign of any activity. The ‘good news’ is that insolvency specialist extraordinaire PJ… Read more »

APPLE TAX LAWYERS’ PRIVATE FEES

Date: September 19, 2024 -

IT IS hard to think of a story whose publication could be more in the public interest than the multi-billion-euro Apple tax charade, involving as it does enormous sums of taxpayers’ money. Ministers and other ‘responsible’ titans of industry are already sermonising against profligate demands to actually spend the dosh on trivial matters such as… Read more »

PROFILE: BRIAN POLLY

Date: September 19, 2024 -

MOST OBSERVERS were shocked at the revelations to the Committee for Public Accounts (PAC) by Darragh O’Loughlin, CEO of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), regarding questionable financial practices in the agency that oversees the regulation of the sport of horse racing. You would, however, get pretty long odds that former IHRB steward Brian Polly… Read more »

YOUNG BLOOD: JOHN CUMMINS

Date: September 19, 2024 -

CAN 36-YEAR-OLD senator John Cummins win back a seat for Fine Gael in Waterford, after the party’s wipe-out there in 2020. Heavy transfers from a phenomenal performance from Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane saw the Green Party’s Marc Ó Cathasaigh and Independent Matt Shanahan leapfrog two FG candidates and edge the party out. FG is leading… Read more »

DREW HARRIS AND MI5

Date: September 19, 2024 -

DREW HARRIS became Garda commissioner in 2018, having served as deputy chief constable of the PSNI, 2014-18. His RUC/PSNI duties once involved liaison with MI5. The selection committee for his appointment included the interim chief constable of the Scottish police, Iain Livingstone. In 2011, a report by the Historical Enquiries Team raised concerns about the… Read more »

GRÁINNE SEOIGHE’S RIVALS

Date: September 19, 2024 -

WHILE THE media fawn over broadcaster Gráinne Seoighe, who is the new Fianna Fáil Dáil candidate in Galway West, rumblings of discontent abound in the party organisation, from Connemara hopefuls who were ignored and activists in the east of Galway city who see the whole eastern part of the constituency being left without a party… Read more »

JOHN MCGUIRK V THE BROGANS

Date: September 19, 2024 -

THE HEATED reaction to the housing of ‘unvetted military-aged men’ has reached fever pitch in recent months, spearheaded by a few key personalities on social media. One such maven of the new right is John McGuirk, whose Gript news website got its knickers in a twist last month when reporting on Dundrum House in Tipperary,… Read more »

SUE GRAY: IRELAND’S FRIEND

Date: September 19, 2024 -

THE RENEWAL of “friendship” between Britain and Ireland, the Aawrish edition of the Sunday Times recently reported, has much to do with the Irish influence on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as personified by his chief of staff, Sue Gray. Is this what the newspaper’s security and intelligence sources – the ST is MI5’s favourite… Read more »

BIG PHIL’S GENDER-BENDER LAW

Date: September 19, 2024 -

BIG PHIL HOGAN’S return to the centre of Fine Gael, via its internal election committee, is not without irony as well as a ruthless logic given his formidable back-stage machinations that played out in the party’s leadership fluctuations in recent years. Just one of the problems facing FG’s election team is the gender quota, as… Read more »

MATT’S MIGHTY MOOLAH

Date: September 19, 2024 -

FILLING IN for Pat Kenny recently on his Newstalk morning show, Ivan Yates titillated listeners with the exciting news that his long-time colleague, Matt Cooper, would shortly be on air to discuss the upcoming general election. Even more thrilling for listeners was the promise that Cooper would be discussing the “fabulous live podcast show” that… Read more »

NORAH ORBITING ONCE MORE

Date: September 19, 2024 -

ONE OF the ventures of Norah Casey is about to enter a new dimension as she gears up for the launch of Planet Woman Travel. Edited by her good self, this new quarterly magazine – aimed at “intrepid women travellers” – will “curate the best of female-focused travel and destinations for solo adventure, wellness retreats… Read more »

VOL 42 NO 19

Date: September 19, 2024 -

TICKET FOR TAT

Date: September 19, 2024 -

TO DESCRIBE the Nicki Minaj ‘concert’ at Malahide Castle as a debacle would be something of an understatement. The Trinidadian-born rapper left fans waiting in pouring rain for nearly two hours and then performed for 40 minutes, causing fury among many ticket holders. The interesting aspect of the disastrous evening was the media reaction, or… Read more »

ISRAELI ABUSES IGNORED?

Date: September 19, 2024 -

RECENT REPORTS of Palestinian detainees being brutalised by Israeli guards, in abuse ranging from beating to sexual torture, have recently been chronicled by the Israeli rights organisation, B’Tselem. Based on interviews with 55 Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, “the testimonies clearly indicate a systematic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and… Read more »

REGRESSIVE IRELAND

Date: September 19, 2024 -

Things can only get better for Ivana Bacik. With New Labour back in power in London, the Irish Labour leader had to attend a football match at the Aviva Stadium to obtain an audience with her British counterpart, Sir Keir Starmer. Earlier in the week, perhaps out of a sense of reminiscence for all things… Read more »

NEW RIGHT VIEW ON CHILD ABUSE

Date: September 19, 2024 -

THE INVECTIVE of new-right agitators in Ireland, both on the streets and online, is often centred on depicting opponents as “paedos”, “groomers”, “child abusers” etc. The strategy is designed to shut down political debate and vilify their critics. Strange then that when the scoping inquiry report into abuse in schools run by religious orders was… Read more »

MEAT AND THE CITY

Date: September 19, 2024 -

A year ago this month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a light-hearted tweet featuring a photo of Kim Cattrall of Sex and the City with the tagline: “Ready to be healthier, wealthier and more fabulous? Cut down your red meat intake.” This was the proverbial red rag to the oh-so-touchy agri lobby, with “horrified”… Read more »

RTÉ: FIRST CASUALTY

Date: September 19, 2024 -

Missing in action, presumed dead, the fate of Dubliner Alex Ryzhuk, a member of the Ukrainian Army’s 3rd Assault Brigade, hit the headlines in late August. Much of the coverage was based on an RTÉ Prime Time interview with Ryzhuk, with other media reports following his disappearance quoting extensively from that programme. These reports detailed… Read more »

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: September 19, 2024 -

In Lozère, Sophie felt oxygenated, freed from the claustrophobic city. This untamed place, and the wild creatures that inhabited it, spoke to her soul. She painted rocks, hills and sky, the stone farmhouses and spilling streams, wondering at the openness of the idyll that is the least populated department in France. Senan Molony in his… Read more »

LOUGH NEAGH OWNER

Date: September 19, 2024 -

The Earl of Shaftesbury, a Dorset aristocrat and former DJ who somehow owns the bed of Lough Neagh, has been enjoying considerable kudos from his big announcement in June that he would “hand back” ownership of Ireland’s biggest lake. Among coverage of the toxic blue-green algae that has turned the lake into an ecological dead… Read more »

MARIE’S UNUSUAL OUTINGS

Date: September 19, 2024 -

Marie Donnelly has had some baffling media outings since taking over as Climate Change Advisory Council chair in 2021 but a recent comment on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland was her most baffling yet. On the subject of what consumers can do to help reduce agricultural emissions, she said we should eat less sugar and more fruit… Read more »

UNFULFILLED LEGACY

Date: September 19, 2024 -

Many people presume that the British government’s decision to repeal the 2023 Legacy Act, which halted Troubles-related inquests and inquiries, is a major success for the Government here, all northern parties, and victims’ groups and human rights organisations in the north. Not so fast. Northern secretary Hilary Benn maintains the curious position of keeping in… Read more »

JENNIFER BENDS THE KNEE TO MARTIN

Date: September 19, 2024 -

TÁNAISTE AND defence minister Micheál Martin has torn off the epaulettes and snapped the sword of Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, his junior officer or Minister of State at the Department of Defence. Control freak Martin, as some of his treasonous officers in Fianna Fáil describe him (out of earshot), had more than enough provocation to justify… Read more »

HARRIS TO WIPE OUT FF IN WICKLOW?

Date: September 19, 2024 -

INTERNAL CONVULSIONS in Wicklow Fine Gael, involving competition between two contenders for a place on the general election ticket with Taoiseach Simon Harris and resentment against Eoin O’Duffy-type discipline in the constituency organisation, led to a tense selection convention last weekend. Former poll-topping councillor Shay Cullen had been expected to put his name forward but… Read more »

WEAPONISING IRISH

Date: September 19, 2024 -

THE DUP has once again raised the charge that Sinn Féin is “weaponising” the Irish language, as Belfast City Council issues a draft language policy for consultation with the public. The draft includes proposals to allow for the use of Irish or English in correspondence with the council, along with Ulster Scots. It also sets… Read more »

ONLY CATHOLICS ABUSE CHILDREN

Date: September 19, 2024 -

MOST ABUSE survivors surely could not have been taken in by the restrictive terms of reference in the scoping inquiry to determine the form of a statutory investigation into abuse in schools run by “religious orders” – except those who do not realise that it is only Catholic clerics that are covered by the term… Read more »

FESTIVAL CASTING CALL

Date: September 19, 2024 -

AFTER 13 years at the helm, Willie White is stepping down as artistic director and CEO of Dublin Theatre Festival (DTF). Would-be applicants have until the day after the curtain comes down on this year’s shindig. The decision on the new festival boss will essentially be down to the DTF’s chairwoman, arts consultant and Arts… Read more »

A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

Date: September 19, 2024 -

DÉSIRÉE FINNEGAN’S Screen Ireland (SI) has just launched yet another funding initiative, Perspectives, which is intended to provide “a window into experiences and viewpoints that may not have been widely represented on the big screen before”. Apparently, the scheme is particularly interested in stories that can “touch on a wide range of experiences across Irish… Read more »

STEVE PARKIN’S MOVES

Date: September 19, 2024 -

FALLEN ANGEL, the Irish 1,000 Guineas winner and dual Group 1 winner, owned by Steve Parkin, has been sold to continue her racing career with Wathnan Racing. The Too Darn Hot filly had raced in Parkin’s Clipper Logistics colours for Karl Burke, winning four of her six starts. She first raced in the Wathnan colours… Read more »

SHARK SLAPPED

Date: September 19, 2024 -

FANS OF Goldhawk will recall (see The Phoenix 27/6/24) that a video of an uncovered dead horse in an open builder’s trailer, which was being towed by John ‘Shark’ Hanlon’s Boylesports-sponsored horse box to a factory for disposal, went viral. While Shark apologised for any distress caused, stating that the tarpaulin that had been covering… Read more »

INTERCEPTING JOHN STEWART

Date: September 19, 2024 -

GOFFS SUPREMO Henry Beeby and his team will have their fingers crossed that the free-spending Resolute Racing founder, John Stewart, will get to participate at the upcoming autumn sales, rather than spending his dosh at Coolmore. Former Toyota assembly line worker Stewart, who founded private equity firm MiddleGround Capital, went on a whirlwind spending spree… Read more »

HERBERT PARK’S NEW NEIGHBOUR

Date: September 19, 2024 -

LAST WEEK, Ballsbridge residents were greeted with a sign, erected on the ugly fencing fronting the controversial site on the edge of Herbert Park, announcing the 103 swanky new apartments that are to be erected there, years after the first planning application was submitted. The good news for the well-heeled potential purchasers is that 40… Read more »

AER LINGUS IN FOR A BUMPY RIDE

Date: September 19, 2024 -

AFTER THE high-profile industrial relations stand-off at Aer Lingus, the airline is in the bad books of its owner, International Airlines Group (IAG). The underwhelming performance of the Irish business in the first six months of this year reflects the turbulence and, with senior management focused on the other airlines in the group, Aer Lingus… Read more »

ONEVIEW HEALTHCARE IN SEARCH FOR RIGHT MEDICINE

Date: September 19, 2024 -

IT WAS considered a surprising move when Darragh Lyons jumped ship from Malin Corp last Christmas, at a time when he seemed to be doing a decent job of sorting out the company’s various ailments. It is surely even more surprising that he has joined up with Mark McCloskey’s Blackrock-based Oneview Healthcare, taking over as… Read more »

GAY FUTURE COUP

Date: September 19, 2024 -

FOXROCK-BASED moneybags Ger O’Leary had plenty to celebrate last month after the part-time racehorse trainer saddled Doyen For A Drink to land Cartmel’s bank holiday Monday EWGA Handicap Hurdle on the 50th anniversary of the famous ‘Gay Future Coup’. O’Leary is best known for his control of the OKR Group, which includes high-profile franchises for… Read more »

MARK QUICK’S MANY HATS

Date: September 19, 2024 -

IT’S BEEN a challenging few years for entrepreneur Mark Quick, who has dipped his fingers in a great many pies but pulled up relatively few plums lately. His eclectic track record, however, suggests he won’t be kept down for very long. Fans of Goldhawk will recall that Quick’s 9th Impact gaming company got a €170,000… Read more »