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November 6 - November 19, 2015
Affairs of the Nation
BILLY WALSH’S KNOCKOUT
WHILE media coverage of the move to the US of boxing coach Billy Walsh has been unanimously critical of the handling of the affair by the Joe Christle-chaired Irish Amateur... Read more »
COVENEY’S MILITARY SPENDING PLANS
DEFENCE minister Simon Coveney gave little away in answer to a parliament question about the protection of Irish sovereign airspace from foreign aircraft put by Fianna Fáil defence spokesperson Seán... Read more »
HUGH LEWIS’S ALLEGATIONS
THERE WERE frantic scenes at Dún Laoghaire Rathdown (DLR) Council last month, when a heated debate on alterations to the Draft Development Plan featured controversial allegations from People Before Profit... Read more »
BRENDA POWER FOR DPP AGAIN?
SUNDAY TIMES columnist Brenda Power distinguished herself last month with a searching analysis of Travellers in the aftermath of the Carrickmines fire tragedy that saw ten Travellers, including five children,... Read more »
DAVID DAVIES’ GEORGIAN CREDENTIALS
GOLDHAWK understands that the next president of the Irish Georgian Society (IGS) is set to be the super wealthy David Davies, a Welsh moneybags who is well known in cultural... Read more »
JUDICIOUS BUSINESS INTERESTS
ONE of the things that the eagerly awaited Judicial Council – which has been long-fingered by successive governments – may wish to consider is a register of business interests of... Read more »
MAHON TRIBUNAL’S TANGLED WEB
GOOD to see the media catching up with developments in the Mahon Tribunal (see The Phoenix 23/10/15 and passim), but it’s high time environment minister Alan Kelly demanded straight answers... Read more »
Pillars of Society
Karl Brophy
IMPENDING danger or conflict is one meaning of the phrase ‘red flag’ and the head of Red Flag Consulting, Karl Brophy, is certainly no... Read more »
The Young Bloods
Young Bloods – Greg Ryan
LIMERICK businessman Greg Ryan (31) pulled quite a stunt last month when he organised a topless photo shoot on Dublin’s Harcourt Street, featuring contestants... Read more »
Fit to Print?
PROF KENNY AND SINDO
IS it really possible that the Sunday Independent can dumb down under the post Anne Harris editorial regime? Apparently so, judging by the despairing exit from the Sindo of Professor... Read more »
Free and Independent Press?
HOW heartening to see the Sunday Independent is prepared to take on those bullying corporate moguls who abuse their untrammelled wealth and power to stifle a free media by use... Read more »
UTV HACKS’ GRIM FUTURE
THE galaxy of broadcasting stars and pretty faces lined up by UTV Ireland, which faces likely extinction when ITV completes the purchase of UTV north and south, will be recalling... Read more »
Last Refuge
AK47 OUTGUNNED BY ALL SIDES
ENVIRONMENT minister Alan ‘AK47’ Kelly is facing not only vastly superior fire power from the much bigger guns on Fine Gael finance minister Michael Noonan’s side, but also appears to... Read more »
Keaveney Feeling Insecure?
FIANNA FÁIL TD Colm Keaveney is facing security issues on more than one front. While he has requested that the Dáil authorities investigate the suspected hacking of his emails, he... Read more »
THE LEFT AND SINN FÉIN
THE hysterical media reaction to Sinn Fein’s electoral transfer proposal ignores several factors, the chief one being that a natural pattern of transfers between Sinn Fein and other Left groups... Read more »
BLUESHIRT SPLIT IN CORK
ENDA KENNY has gone out of his way to support his beleaguered junior minister for Europe, Dara Murphy, in Cork, as well as Europe but he is risking the sole... Read more »
Bog Cuttings
HAD BOTTLE OF VODKA DOWN PANTS A THURLES man who was found with a “large bottle of vodka down his pants” was fined E350 at Thurles District Court for verbally... Read more »
Bird's Eye View
ROBINSON FOR HEAVE-HO?
SOURCES in both Sinn Féin and the DUP predict a deal next week on welfare reform, the contentious matter which has blocked last December’s Stormont House Agreement since March. Both... Read more »
Clerical Errors
McALEESE Vs OLD BOYS’ CLUB
THE Church of Rome is constituted under the rule of a monarchical papacy and prides itself on not being democratic. However, in the more relaxed reign of Pope Francis, there... Read more »
Beyond the Pale
BERNARD O’BYRNE’S BASKETBALL BUST-UP
BASKETBALL IRELAND, the governing body for basketball in Ireland, is currently involved in a bitter dispute with a number of coaches and officials in the north east, who were members... Read more »
The Hot Air Brigade
He is now a member of the establishment. It may be worse than that. He might now be a national treasure. Donald Clarke on Colm Tóibín, Irish Times (submitted by... Read more »
High Society
ACCOUNTING FOR LOUISE KENNEDY
FASHION designer Louise Kennedy must have been delighted with the puff piece in the Sunday Business Post last month, where she outlined her plans for her business. Reading like an... Read more »
JOHN FARRINGTON’S SATISFACTION
CONGRATULATIONS to Drury Street antique jeweller John Farrington, who did rather well out of the sale of contents of his Capard House pile. He has just registered a satisfaction of... Read more »
SEAMUS ROSS JR SELLS UP AGAIN
THERE WAS plenty of coverage of the impressive Georgian house on Wellington Place in the heart of Dublin 4 which came on the market, again, last month, with a price... Read more »
Behind the Scenes
FIACH Mac CONGHAIL’S CURTAIN CALL
THE NATIONAL Theatre unintentionally kicked off a storm in an online teacup last week with the announcement of its 2016 programme, when writers and actors raged against director Fiach Mac... Read more »
NO IRISH NEED APPLY
INTERESTING to see Michael Dervan in The Irish Times querying the lack of Irish involvement in the 2015 Wexford Festival Opera, which concludes this week. Of course, the agency that... Read more »
STILL COUNTING CROWES
IT IS exactly a year since James Hickey’s Irish Film Board (IFB) announced its intention to put together a brave new five-year ‘Strategic Plan’ for its future (see The Phoenix... Read more »
Humphreys Picks Modern Chair
MINISTER for the Arts Heather Humphreys has turned to experienced troubleshooter David Harvey to chair the new board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Imma). Her move marks something... Read more »
Sport of Kings
DERMOT WELD’S NEW NEIGHBOURS
RACEHORSE trainer and Curragh resident Dermot Weld, whose Rosewell House yard borders the proposed €55m redevelopment of the Pádraig McManus-managed Curragh racecourse, is not too happy with the arrival of... Read more »
JOE KEELING’S MEDIA MOVE
THE ASSOCIATION Of Irish Racecourses (AIR) and Galway racecourse supremo John Moloney have lost the battle to retain control of the all-important media rights committee of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI).... Read more »
JOSEPH O’BRIEN’S TWEETS
IN A BID to “clear things up a bit” amid the speculation surrounding his future plans, ex-Champion Jockey, Joseph O’Brien, recently released a confusing statement on Twitter that ruled everything... Read more »
GETTING TO THE POINT
THERE WAS very little cheer for the Bowler Hats in Simon Coveney’s new Horse Racing Ireland Act 2015, but one battle they did manage to win was the fight to... Read more »
Moneybags
Muldoon’s new boom boosts outlook for FBD
FIONA MULDOON has had a significant impact at FBD Insurance. The former Central Bank exec was only appointed finance director of FBD in January of this year, but in July... Read more »
Goffs proving itself a thoroughbred
THE LATE Charlie Haughey’s only daughter, Eimear Mulhern, has tended to keep a relatively low profile but she put her head above the parapet 10 years ago when taking on... Read more »
The Hot Water Brigade
Fresh Legal Woes For Alan Hanly
NAMA developer Alan Hanly of the Hanly Group has fresh legal woes to contend with and is currently being sued by various owners of cottages on Kilronan estate in Co... Read more »
Brian Goff’s Court Date
VETERAN Dublin restaurateur Brian Goff – one of the founders of the Insomnia coffee chain – is one busy man and is currently involved in a number of ventures, including... Read more »
Rick Larkin And The Taxman
SOME bad news for highflying developer Rick Larkin. His family owned company, Vieira Ltd, which trades as Twinlite, has just come out on the losing side of a Supreme Court... Read more »
Mary Cullen On The Warpath
FANS of Goldhawk will recall that earlier this year, Dublin publican and hotelier David Cullen – who was on the receiving end of a whopping €29m judgment by Nama in... Read more »
Arnold Fanning’s Bank Blues
BIRR-BASED businessman Arnold Fanning, the principal in Midland Web Printing Ltd (MWP) – which came close to buying Buy and Sell last year, but was beaten by Denis O’Brien’s Demerica... Read more »
‘Ronaldo’ Kavanagh’s Own Goal
DEVELOPER Greg Kavanagh of New Generation Homes has been making plenty of waves in the business pages in recent months and is currently involved in a vast array of projects... Read more »
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