Affairs of the Nation

mick-martin

Affairs of the Nation

COALITION SECRETS AND LIES

THE four main political parties are lying through their teeth about their coalition options or non-options and the post-election scramble for power will prove it. But for sheer Machiavellian bluster... Read more »
Cormac Dunne

Affairs of the Nation

JUDGE CORMAC DUNNE’S COSTS

JUDGE CORMAC Dunne has had his fair share of scrapes, but the good news is that at least he doesn’t have to pay the legal costs associated with a High... Read more »
Michael O’Leary

Affairs of the Nation

MICK O’LEARY’S OIL BILL

HOW IRONIC it was to see Mick O’Leary popping up at the annual Dublin Chamber of Commerce Christmas lunch last week claiming that Ryanair will be cutting fares in response... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Leo Varadkar

Affairs of the Nation

RUNNING RINGS AROUND DRINK BILL

ARE Fine Gael and sport minister Paschal Donohoe having a laugh with the minister’s recent statement that he was handing over responsibility for submissions on the anti-drinks legislation to his... Read more »
Ann Reihill

Affairs of the Nation

ANN REIHILL’S REDUCED IMAGE

ALMOST FORTY years after the magazine first appeared, these are interesting times at Image Publications. There has been a complex restructuring of the shareholders at the magazine publishing house that... Read more »
Alan Kelly

Affairs of the Nation

ALAN KELLY’S PARIS EMISSIONS

“CRAZY” and “frankly not sane” were among the words used by Alan Kelly in Paris last week in relation to Ireland’s beef sector in the context of climate change. Anyone... Read more »
Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan

Affairs of the Nation

‘MING’ FLANAGAN’S FACEBOOK POST

COMBATIVE MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan is no slouch when it comes to a legal row and lodged High Court proceedings against The Irish Times in September over an interview given... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Frances Fitzgerald

Pillars of Society

Frances Fitzgerald

THE meteoric rise of justice minister Frances Fitzgerald within Government and party has led to rumours that she is Enda Kenny’s anointed successor when... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Sarah Holland

The Young Bloods

Sarah Holland SF

Sinn Féin is gearing itself up for a high noon showdown with the Socialist Party in Dublin South West in the general election, with... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Derek Wilford

Fit to Print?

IRISH TIMES ETHICAL WAR EFFORT

WITH the recent arrest and questioning about Bloody Sunday of a former British paratrooper in the North and more to follow, The Irish Times responded with a reassuring article about... Read more »
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Fit to Print?

Garda Vs Sunday Times

YET another fraught libel action facing The Sunday Times that involves arguments about subversive accusations is that of a former female garda who claims she has been seriously defamed by... Read more »
Amal Clooney

Fit to Print?

KEVIN MYERS’S “LEGAL AUXILIARIES”

THE torture case being take to the European Court of Human Rights against the British Government by the ‘hooded men’ – backed by the Irish Government – has led to... Read more »

Last Refuge

Jimmy Deenihan

Last Refuge

JIMMY DEENIHAN’S GENDER AGENDA

THAT damned gender quota being imposed on the Good Ol’ Boys in Fine Gael has led to internal convulsions among candidates and one of the few party ministers that has... Read more »
Noel McCarthy

Last Refuge

Noel McCarthy’s Skills

YOU have to hand it to political chameleon Cllr Noel McCarthy in Cork East whose recent electoral journey has been chronicled in The Phoenix lately (see edition, 4/12/15). But news... Read more »
Joan Burton

Last Refuge

LABOUR SPLIT OVER FINE GAEL

REMARKS from various Labour backbenchers about the dangers of returning to the grizzly embrace of Fine Gael unless Labour return with at least 15 seats (unlikely) has not attracted the... Read more »

Wigs on the Green

Declan Ganley

Wigs on the Green

DECLAN GANLEY’S ACTION AGAINST RTÉ

DECLAN GANLEY was the subject of a two page fawning interview in his fanzine, the Sunday Business Post, earlier this month and although many subjects were discussed, there was no... Read more »
Kevin O’Higgins

Wigs on the Green

KEVIN O’HIGGINS’S MISSING LINKS

INCOMING President of the Law Society, Simon Murphy, was not presented with the Society’s chain of office on November 6 last as is the customary practice at this ritual for... Read more »

Foreign Frolics

John F Kennedy

Foreign Frolics

DONALD TRUMP: THE POLITICS OF HATE

By Robert Fantina AS the three-ring circus known as the US presidential campaign plods along towards its inevitable conclusion, wherein we will all ‘meet the new boss, same as the... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Aoife Walsh

The Hot Air Brigade

The Hot Air Brigade

Aoife Walsh and her new beau Gary must really be getting serious, mustn’t they? They jetted to New York for a pre-Christmas romantic break last Tuesday morning. Were they buying... Read more »

High Society

Sonia Rogers

High Society

SONIA ROGERS’S TRIPLE WHAMMY

THERE WAS good news for Sonia Rogers and her boys at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale recently, when they managed to shift three nags in the space of ten minutes... Read more »
Shane Ryan

High Society

THE RYANS HAVE ARRIVED

INTERESTING to see that Shane Ryan is the mystery buyer of the former French consulate on leafy Ailesbury Road in D4. When the mansion on one acre was sold for... Read more »
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High Society

COOLMORE’S CENSORS

MORE ON the book that Squire John Magnier wants banned. Solicitors for Coolmore Stud have been contacting book stores warning them that legal action will be taken if they continue... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

David Agler

Behind the Scenes

WEXFORD OPERA’S STRAINED FINANCES

STILL NO sign of the overdue March 2015 accounts for Wexford Festival Trust, the organisation behind the annual Wexford Festival Opera (WFO). Given the financial strains in the David Davies-chaired... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

RACHEL LYSAGHT’S FILM PLOT

THE ABBEY (off-stage) farce – starring Fiach Mac Conghail as the director who forgot to include women playwrights in the National Theatre’s 1916 centenary programme – has put gender centre... Read more »
Dominic Stevens

Behind the Scenes

DOMINIC STEVENS’S ‘EXTRAORDINARY HOUSES’

CURRENTLY running at the Mermaid arts centre in Bray, Co Wicklow is an exhibition entitled ‘Works by Nature and Man’ by trendy architect Dominic Stevens. However, his back catalogue may... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Padraig McManus

Sport of Kings

SADDLING UP FOR CURRAGH TOP JOB

ADVERTS have appeared for the position of chief executive of Curragh Racecourse Ltd, the private company set up with the assistance of Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney to manage the... Read more »
Alayna Cullen

Sport of Kings

FAUGHEEN FORCED TO SHARE AWARD

THE ANNUAL Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) awards were dished out at Leopardstown last week, with junior minister Tom Hayes in attendance at the ceremony, which featured ex-FG minister-tuned broadcaster, Ivan... Read more »
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Sport of Kings

STABLESTAFF UNDER SCRUTINY

THE Irish Stablestaff Association (ISA), which represents the interests of staff working in the thoroughbred racing industry, is currently reviewing its policy as to who can be elected onto its... Read more »
Martin Ferris

Sport of Kings

TURF CLUB GRABS CONCESSIONS

SINN FÉIN spokesman on Agriculture Martin Ferris was successful in his amendment to remove a contentious clause in Simon Coveney’s Horse Racing Ireland Act 2015, which passed through the Agricultural... Read more »

Moneybags

Denis O’Brien

Moneybags

Cash rich INM now undervalued

RARELY DOES a day go by now without references in the media to Denis O’Brien. As he continues to scatter writs like confetti, it is interesting to see how well Independent News &... Read more »
Breon Corcoran

Moneybags

Cashing in is smart bet for Paddy Power shareholders

NEXT WEEK, four days before Christmas, Paddy Power shareholders face a key decision, deciding on a crucial reverse takeover by the much smaller Betfair group. If they vote this through,... Read more »

The Hot Water Brigade

Tom Keane

The Hot Water Brigade

Tom Keane’s Many Battles

MORE to report on the adventures of Tom Keane, the principal of BKRM accountants in north Dublin (see The Phoenix 23/10/15). Keane is currently facing four separate disciplinary inquiries by... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

Striking Off Robert Sweeney

LETTERKENNY-BASED legal eagle Robert Sweeney was struck off the Roll of Solicitors last month by the President of the High Court for a string of misdeeds which resulted in of... Read more »
Philip Marley

The Hot Water Brigade

Philip Marley’s “Sham” Lease

NOT much has been heard lately from Goldhawk’s old pal, colourful property developer Philip Marley, although that may be about to change, as a company the businessman is involved with... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

Keith McDonnell’s Settlement

AMONG the names to appear on Revenue’s recently published list of tax defaulters was that of Extreme Event Ireland Ltd (EEA), a tour operator company where the principal is Dublin... Read more »
Eoin Ó Cofaigh

The Hot Water Brigade

Eoin Ó Cofaigh’s Report

THE RESIDENTS of an apartment development known as Riverwalk Court in Ratoath, Co Meath, face an uncertain future after Meath County Council (MCC) issued a draft report outlining a number... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

John Gallagher’s Troubles

THESE are nervous times for businessman John Gallagher, the founder of the private clinic, Charter Medical Group (CMG) in Smithfield, where his previous business associate was property developer Paddy Kelly.... Read more »
aine-feeney-mctigue

The Hot Water Brigade

Áine Feeney McTigue Struck Off

MORE TO REPORT on Galway-based legal eagle, Áine Feeney McTigue, who was suspended from practising as a solicitor in September over an alleged deficit of more than €500,000 in her... Read more »