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March 11 - March 24, 2016
Affairs of the Nation
WHAT PRICE THE IRISH TIMES?
“DELIGHT” was expressed by The Irish Times’ editor and managing director, Kevin O’Sullivan and Liam Kavanagh respectively, in a recent message to staff announcing that the newspaper had secured “substantial... Read more »
HALAWA INTERNED IN CAIRO
IT is now clear that the Egyptian government has effectively interned Ibrahim Halawa, with the latest adjournment of his trial and nearly 500 others being the 13th postponement since his... Read more »
PR OWN GOALS IN SOUTH DUBLIN
FOR A school to be involved in one public controversy is unfortunate, two starts to look like carelessness. The Harold School in Glasthule, south County Dublin, has been hit by... Read more »
Sponsored Content
Ireland’s Economic Moment: Ibec Calls for Bold Action Ahead of Election
IBEC, the group representing Irish businesses, believes that Ireland’s current economic strength offers a generational opportunity for the next government to address barriers to growth and tackle areas that... Read more »
TONY GREGORY’S LEGACY
WAS it for this that Tony Gregory created a movement of the wretched of the inner city? So that Maureen O’Sullivan could become Ceann Comhairle with a guaranteed double term... Read more »
NORA KHALDI’S BACKERS
HOT SHOT entrepreneur Nora Khaldi has been generating plenty of headlines recently, as a result of securing one of the ten places available at the ‘TEDx Talks’ final to be... Read more »
Tim Caffrey’s Departure
FAREWELL then to former Longford County Council (LCC) boss, Tim Caffrey, who retired earlier this month. Last October, Caffrey was found by ethics watchdog SIPO to have acted negligently “to... Read more »
JOHN GRAYKEN: THE IRISH VULTURE
THE LATEST Forbes list of billionaires included assorted ‘Irish’ moneybags who obtained citizenship here under the now defunct passport-for-sale scheme in the late 1990s, the most interesting of whom is... Read more »
FICKLE FG SENATORS
POLITICAL reform is a moveable feast and the decision of several Fine Gael TDs who lost their seats at the election to now go for the Seanad reflects the deep... Read more »
Pillars of Society
Mary Lou McDonald
HAS Sinn Féin vice-president Mary Lou McDonald’s time arrived at last, or is she destined to be forever the bridesmaid? Gerry Adams’ public broadcasting... Read more »
The Young Bloods
Lorraine Higgins
THE dismal electoral record of Senator Lorraine Higgins continued at last month’s general election, after she failed to win a seat for Labour in... Read more »
Protecting Your Wealth with Merrion Gold
Used to store value and as currency for thousands of years, gold has consistently provided long-term returns for investors looking to protect their wealth. In recent years, many have... Read more »
Fit to Print?
(S)INDO ELECTION TARGETS
THE Sunday and Irish Independent had a bad election in so far as their ‘side’ lost, but they derived some compensation hits against selected targets at a lower level. The... Read more »
HOOK CRASH TACKLES SEXTON
DON’T mess with George Hook if you want a quiet life seems to be the message from someone who can certainly dish it out himself, but who also has a... Read more »
UL Ponders Libel Action
UNIVERSITY of Limerick president and vice-president, Don Barry and Paul McCutcheon respectively, are weighing up the unpalatable prospect of backing down from the Limerick Leader, against whom the college had... Read more »
Last Refuge
KENNY TO FORCE FF COALITION
ENDA KENNY is determined to drag Fianna Fáil into coalition government – by any other name – and will threaten a general election if Micheál Martin continues to refuse. This... Read more »
Kenny to Survive?
IS Enda Kenny really a dead duck? Enda may not be Francois Mitterrand or Winston Churchill but he is one of the canniest political operators in the business and the... Read more »
PARTIES’ (MIS)FORTUNES
THE new Dáil arithmetic occupied the minds of various parties’ leaders and handlers post-election, but attention quickly turned to the knock-on effects on party finances. Fianna Fáil is in line... Read more »
LABOUR MINISTERS SURVIVE BLOODBATH
THE most fascinating statistic in the entrails of Labour’s general election massacre is that out of the seven surviving TDs, no less than four are ministers (out of a total... Read more »
Bog Cuttings
CLIMBED CITY CENTRE CHRISTMAS TREE A 22-YEAR-old man climbed the Christmas tree in Derry city centre while ‘baring his rear’ to passers by. Phillip O’Donnell, of Baldrick Crescent, pleaded guilty... Read more »
Bird's Eye View
ABORTION UNITES TAIGUES AND DUP
ENDA Kenny told the Irish Examiner in January that if Fine Gael were returned to power a referendum on the Eighth Amendment would take place ‘over the next couple of... Read more »
Beyond the Pale
THE RETURN OF TOM COUGHLAN
LITTLE has been heard in recent years from the colourful former owner of Cork City Football Club and former Progressive Democrat candidate, Tom Coughlan, who also built up substantial property... Read more »
The Hot Air Brigade
She is beautiful, but not intimidating. She is impeccably groomed but wears mostly high street. She’s someone that women think they can almost emulate. Sarah Caden on Pippa O’Connor-Ormond, Sunday... Read more »
High Society
MARTIN NAUGHTON’S FOUNDATION
THE LATEST Forbes list of billionaires estimates Martin ‘Glen Dimplex’ Naughton’s wealth at $1.6bn – the only Irish-based moneybags on the list, with the... Read more »
Noel O’Callaghan’s Expansion
WEALTHY property developer-turned-hotelier, Noel O’Callaghan, generated plenty of headlines during his time as a director of both Bord Fáilte and CIE in the 1990s,... Read more »
JOHNNIE COOKE’S NEW RECIPE
THE NEW restaurant at Brown Thomas has been officially launched and the man brought in to spice things up is Goldhawk’s old pal, Johnnie Cooke. For a handy €50 a... Read more »
Innovating Wellness with Cutting-Edge Technology
Eden One, Dublin’s premier health club and spa located on Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, is an elite destination redefining wellness. It seamlessly integrates cutting-edge technology, state-of-the-art equipment, and meticulously curated... Read more »
Behind the Scenes
OPERA IRELAND’S FINAL SHOW
STRANGE GOINGS-ON at the defunct Opera Ireland, where a skip-load of documents have just been filed in the Companies Registration Office in order to have the entity restored to the... Read more »
COUNCIL’S “CONCERN”
WHILE THE backlash against the Abbey Theatre’s testosterone-fuelled 1916 centenary programme – ‘Waking The Nation’ – was well-ventilated, it turns out that the members of the Arts Council had their... Read more »
LIGHTS, CAMERA, BUBBLE
TO ALL appearances, it’s full steam ahead for John Kelleher, Siún ní Raghallaigh and Ossie Kilkenny’s Troy Studios play at the former Dell plant in Limerick, whether or not Michael... Read more »
Sport of Kings
MEDIA RIGHT AND WRONGS
THE HOT TOPIC of media rights within Irish racing is set to continue as a divisive factor within John Moloney’s Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR). The retired Galway racecourse manager... Read more »
CHELTENHAM CHOICES
WITH THE annual Irish pilgrimage to the Mecca of national hunt racing that is Cheltenham set to begin next week, Goldhawk has the onerous task of marking the festival card... Read more »
NEW TRACK FOR 2016 AWARDS
AFTER CRITICISM regarding the lack of balance on the judging panel handing out the cash prizes and gongs at the Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum-sponsored Godolphin Stable Staff Awards last year... Read more »
Secret Gallops
SECRECY continues to surround the traditional after racing gallops held last week at the state-owned Leopardstown racecourse for horses engaged to run at Cheltenham. While racetracks in England are more... Read more »
Reviews
JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK
GATE THEATRE WHEN IT comes to tenement life in 1920s Dublin, Thomas Hobbes nailed it: poor, nasty, brutish and short. That’s the dominant aesthetic in the Gate Theatre’s grim production,... Read more »
Books
THIS LIVING AND IMMORTAL THING
AUSTIN DUFFY (GRANTA) THE TITLE of this debut novel refers to the remarkable effort cancer cells give to growing and multiplying. Duffy’s story opens with the narrator’s compassionate account of... Read more »
RECAP: Inside Ireland’s Financial Crisis
Kevin Cardiff (The Liffey Press) KEVIN CARDIFF was a senior mandarin at the Department of Finance from 2006 to 2010 and secretary general from 2010 to February 2012 – a... Read more »
Moneybags
Only takeover talk justifies Diageo’s rating
SINCE Ivan Menezes got the top job at Diageo in July 2013, taking over the reins from the hugely successful Paul Walsh, the chief... Read more »
What went wrong at Tullow Oil?
OVER the past 20 years, Aidan Heavey has adopted a deliberate strategy of exposing Tullow Oil to the high risk end of the oil... Read more »
Gold Surges to New Heights: Why Now is the Time to Invest
“PRICE OF gold bar hits $1m for the first time!” This was one of the many striking headlines last month, soon followed by “A gold bar is now worth... Read more »
The Hot Water Brigade
Tax Judgment For Labour Lawyer
SPARE A THOUGHT for Joe Revington, a senior counsel and a former advisor to Dick Spring, who has recently fallen foul of the Taxman. The Revenue has just landed the... Read more »
Karl Mulvee Gets Squeezed
DUBLIN businessman Karl Mulvee has been adept at generating positive press for his juicing business, Pure Green, although this wasn’t enough to make the business a success and the company... Read more »
Stephen Cheung’s Conviction
LOOKS like the game is up for former liquidator Stephen Cheung, who was accused of stealing around €450,000 from various companies he was the liquidator of over a period from... Read more »
Oisin Hanrahan’s Settlement
HIGHFLYING US-based businessman Oisin Hanrahan has one less legal squabble to worry about now that a pesky court case taken against him and the company he founded, Handy, has been... Read more »
Eversheds Ponders Libel Action
EVERSHEDS, the Dublin-based law firm, is the latest to join the lengthy list of entities that have recently lodged legal proceedings against supermarket giant, Dunnes Stores, over alleged bad debts.... Read more »
David Coleman’s Appeal
SOME bad news for solicitor and property developer David Coleman, a founding partner in the well-known law firm, Lavelle Coleman, which was split up in 2014. Coleman, who is now... Read more »
Giraffe’s Neck in the Sand
GIRAFFE Childcare – the company behind crèche chain, Giraffe, which featured in the RTE exposé on crèches in 2013 – has taken its eye off the ball, as the company... Read more »
Brian Walsh’s Next Move
FORMER Fine Gael TD Brian Walsh resigned his seat for Galway West in January on the grounds of ill-health and is presumably taking things at a slower pace these days.... Read more »
Lifeline Ambulance Service Leading in Patient Care
Lifeline Ambulance Service holds the position of the second-largest ambulance provider in the state. Established in 1998 by CEO David Hall, Lifeline operates from 11 different bases nationwide, with... Read more »
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