Affairs of the Nation

joan-burton

Affairs of the Nation

COALITION DIRTY TRICKS

PAT RABBITTE (in)famously remarked that politicians say certain things during election campaigns, but Enda Kenny and Joan Burton’s cynical response to the gangland shootings is remarkable, with the Tánaiste in... Read more »
michael-orourke

Affairs of the Nation

RADIO INTERFERENCE FOR SETANTA

THERE WAS plenty of back-slapping going on this month after the announcement of the deal that sees Frank Gleeson’s Mercantile group of bars and restaurants ‘merge’ with the Capital Bars... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

Donegal Councillors court date

THE CURRENT chairman of Donegal County Council, Fianna Fáil’s Ciaran Brogan, is due before Letterkenny District Court next month on a drink-driving related charge. The charge relates to an alleged... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Affairs of the Nation

PEGIDA TO RUN IN ELECTION?

THE leader of the Aryan super race in Ireland, Pegida founder Peter O’Loughlin, has until High Noon today (Thursday) to declare his intended general election candidacy in Cork North Central.... Read more »
LisaChambers

Affairs of the Nation

FIANNA FÁIL ON A ROLL

HAVE Fine Gael strategists been seduced by their own propaganda? The notion that they are fighting for civilisation and seats against the Provo-Bolsheviks of Sinn Féin is nonsense as both... Read more »
Ferdinand Von Prondzynski

Affairs of the Nation

FERDINAND TRUMPS DONALD

HAVING BEEN the subject of a failed move to have him banned from entering the UK, following his call for a ban on Muslims entering the US, presidential hopeful Donald... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

MICHAEL RING’S WESTPORT HEADACHE

WITH COUNTLESS local battles being fought around the country as the election gains momentum, in Mayo the issue of Westport House has garnered more than its fair share of headlines,... Read more »
sean-dorgan

Affairs of the Nation

MICHEÁL MARTIN’S FF MACHINE

IT’S back to the future for the Fianna Fáil election campaign with most of the core group of handlers being long time party strategists going back at least a decade... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

Rathdown Shatter Vs White

LOOKS like Fine Gael candidate, solicitor Josepha Madigan (author of Negligent Behaviour, a novel containing “steamy sex sessions”), is heading for a Dáil seat in that most rarified constituency, Dublin... Read more »
Ged Nash

Affairs of the Nation

LABOUR’S LOSING LEADERS

LABOUR’S election strategy committee in 2015 was initially dominated by its four senior ministers, Joan Burton, Alan Kelly, Brendan Howlin and Alex White. Pat Rabbitte graciously agreed to attend later... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Brian Hayes

Pillars of Society

Brian Hayes MEP

HOW did Brian Hayes, Member of the European Parliament, end up as Fine Gael’s director of elections? And why did he opt for the... Read more »

The Young Bloods

MartinHeydon

The Young Bloods

Martin Heydon

FINE GAEL Kildare South TD Martin Heydon is expected to walk back into the next Dáil after this month’s general election, but he is... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Denis-OBrien

Fit to Print?

O’BRIEN’S MEDIA GREEK CHORUS

THE preferential treatment and soft soap interview that Newstalk Breakfast host Chris Donoghue gave to disgraced former minister, Michael Lowry, last week is just one more example of station owner... Read more »
Paul McNamara

Fit to Print?

TWO McNAMARAS WORLDS APART

THE High Court may shortly be required to assess damages for defamation arising from a Sunday Worst special on internal convulsions within Sinn Féin just over a year ago, which... Read more »
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Fit to Print?

RTÉ top job

SUNDAY INDEPENDENT denials that Denis O’Brien’s right hand woman, Lucy Gaffney, has applied for the job as RTÉ director general are doubly interesting. Two articles in last weekend’s Sindo contained... Read more »

Last Refuge

Lucinda

Last Refuge

KATE O’CONNELL Vs LUCINDA IN DBS

ENDA KENNY and most of Fine Gael in Dublin Bay South would be ecstatic if they were able to retain two seats in Sir Garret’s old Dublin South-East constituency. But... Read more »
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Last Refuge

MONEY ON FF TO TAKE SIX IN DUBLIN

DUBLIN is supposed to be a graveyard for Fianna Fáil but perusal of Paddy Power’s constituency odds – a combination of research and money on candidates – indicates that a... Read more »
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Last Refuge

Union Blueshirts

WHO are the Larkinites in the Fine Gael parliamentary party and why did five of them (out of 94) sign up for the Ictu charter (living wage, right to union... Read more »
gerry-adams

Last Refuge

ADAMS TO LOSE TOP SPOT IN LOUTH?

GERRY ADAMS will not be deposed as Sinn Féin leader nationally any time soon, but he could well lose his pre-eminence in Louth to lowly SF councillor, Imelda Munster. SF... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

bog cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

SLAPPED DOCTOR ON HEAD A MAN who assaulted two doctors and two nurses has been jailed for six months. Liam Christopher Harkin, of John Street, pleaded guilty to four charges... Read more »

Bird's Eye View

1993 shankhill-belfast

Bird's Eye View

WHY SHANKILL INFORMER WAS REVEALED

WHY did Belfast republicans reveal to the media recently just one item out of the vast warehouse of intelligence documents the IRA secured in its 2001 raid on PSNI HQ... Read more »

Beyond the Pale

Beyond the Pale

BEN GILROY’S ELECTION CAMPAIGN

ONE of the fringe political parties involved in this month’s general election is Direct Democracy Ireland (DDI), which is running around 20 candidates, including Goldhawk’s old friend from Meath East,... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Rich Ricci

High Society

RICH RICCI’S NEXT GAMBLE

THE COLOURFUL banker Rich Ricci has just been appointed chairman of the Irish bookmaking operation, Betbright. Best known on this side of the Irish... Read more »

High Society

Michelle Morrison

High Society

ARISE LADY MORRISON

THERE WAS plenty of coverage of rock legend Van Morrison receiving his knighthood from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace earlier this month. While Van... Read more »

High Society

Feargal O’Rourke

High Society

FEARGAL O’ROURKE’S MANSION

WITH IRELAND’S Six Nations campaign underway, one man who will be paying particular attention to Joe Schmidt’s boys is ‘celebrity accountant’ Feargal O’Rourke, who sits on the finance committee of... Read more »
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High Society

Eddie O’Leary’s Profits

CONGRATULATIONS to Eddie O’Leary, younger sibling of high-flying Ryanair boss, Michael. While he may not be in the same league as his big brother when it comes to earning the... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Heather Humphreys

Behind the Scenes

HEATHER HUMPHREYS’ EMPTY SEATS

AS THE politicians go about trying to get re-elected, it’s business as usual on the various state boards. In the case of the arts sector, however, there are an awful... Read more »
tania-banotti

Behind the Scenes

TANIA BANOTTI TO CHAIR FILM BOARD?

WITH the general election campaign under way, time is running out for the Government to appoint a safe pair of Fine Gael hands to the chairmanship of the Irish Film... Read more »
SineadMcCoole

Behind the Scenes

LORETTA CLARKE’S SETTLEMENT

DÉTENTE has broken out in Mayo, where a rather interesting looking defamation action has just been settled in Castlebar Circuit Court. The case in question featured the indefatigable Loretta Clarke... Read more »
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Behind the Scenes

Evicting Paddy Dunning

‘MR TEMPLE BAR’ Paddy Dunning is used to being on the wrong end of bad news in recent years as a number of his businesses have struggled badly. However, the... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Willie Mullins

Sport of Kings

THE MULLINS FACTOR

SPEAKING in the Dáil during the debate on the Horse Racing Ireland Act 2015, which was passed on January 20, Labour’s Willie Penrose called for the implementation of a finding... Read more »
Willie Penrose

Sport of Kings

CUTTING OFF SIMON COVENEY

WHILE Simon Coveney is regarded by followers of the sport of kings as a fairly shrewd operator, his attempt to pull a fast one during the final stages of the... Read more »
Meta Osborne

Sport of Kings

META OSBORNE’S DRUGS PRESCRIPTION

OVER A YEAR in the making, the long awaited report by the Irish Thoroughbred Industry Anti-Doping Task Force, chaired by Senior Steward Meta Osborne, was published last week. The ‘task... Read more »
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Sport of Kings

Free Lunch

THEY SAY there is no such thing as a free lunch, but Joe Keeling’s Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) is handing out complimentary meals to the top end of Irish racing.... Read more »

Reviews

the-scrap

Reviews

THE SCRAP – GENE KERRIGAN (DOUBLEDAY IRELAND)

AS THE 1916 centenary approaches and the commemorative market becomes increasingly crowded, Gene Kerrigan’s book traces the involvement of one rebel unit – F Company, 2nd Battalion Irish Volunteers. Based... Read more »
Aisling O’Sullivan

Reviews

BIG MAGGIE – GAIETY THEATRE

BIG MAGGIE is back, and cynics have plenty of reason to raise an eyebrow. The timing of this revival by Druid – a nearly identical restaging of the company’s 2011... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

TommyBreen

Moneybags

DCC’s high energy performance

THE €464m takeover of the big French Butagaz liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) business is a real game-changer for Tommy Breen in DCC. In the... Read more »

Moneybags

StephenGlancey

Moneybags

C&C’s share buyback programme unfair to investors

IT TOOK the US share activist, Daniel Lewis, who runs the Orange Capital hedge fund in New York, to really shake up Stephen Glancey... Read more »

The Hot Water Brigade

Kathryn Thomas

The Hot Water Brigade

Gwynne Thomas Vs Musgrave

CARLOW businessman Gwynne Thomas – father to RTÉ star Kathryn Thomas – is a man under pressure these days and, late last year, Nama installed receivers to a number of... Read more »
Eamon Gilmore

The Hot Water Brigade

Matthew J Connolly’s Industrial Strife

DUBLIN businessman Matthew J Connolly is the principal of Connolly Shoes, a business that has been the focus of various complaints in recent years over breaches of employment law. Four... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

Galway Builders €9m judgement

SPARE A THOUGHT for Galway builder Tommy Finnerty, who found himself on the receiving end of a whopping €9.2m judgment, courtesy of Danske Bank. Finnerty is one of the principals... Read more »
Ger Killally

The Hot Water Brigade

Killally’s Victim Loses Appeal

AN UNFORTUNATE victim of bankrupt developer Ger Killally has failed in a legal attempt at recouping some of his losses, having made the big mistake of loaning Killally more than... Read more »
Alan Hanly

The Hot Water Brigade

Alan Hanly’s Legal Woes

FANS of Goldhawk will already be familiar with the legal woes faced by Alan Hanly, one of the principals at Kilronan Castle Hotel and Resort in Co Roscommon, where a... Read more »