Affairs of the Nation

John Halligan

Affairs of the Nation

HALLIGAN’S NORTH KOREAN LINKS

DESPITE saturation media coverage and general bafflement at John Halligan’s proposed mission to North Korea little attention has been paid to the close links between Pyongyang and the Independent TD’s... Read more »
Michael Colgan and Orlaith McBride

Affairs of the Nation

ORLAITH MCBRIDE’S FRIEND

SPARE a thought for Orlaith McBride who, as director of the Arts Council, has been asked to comment frequently on Michael Colgan and the Gate Theatre. The problem for McBride... Read more »
Paddy Cosgrave

Affairs of the Nation

PADDY COSGRAVE’S TALES FROM THE CRYPT

SERIAL attention-seeker Paddy Cosgrave has a knack for pushing his luck. So it comes as little surprise that Goldhawk’s old pal has had to issue a grovelling apology to the... Read more »
Christy Dignam

Affairs of the Nation

Aslan Audio

An audio recording of showbiz hack Ken Sweeney’s interview with Aslan’s Christy Dignam will form the centrepiece of a High Court libel action taken by Sweeney against Today FM. Sweeney,... Read more »
Nord Anglia Education

Affairs of the Nation

School Fees

A COMPANY called Nord Anglia Education (Ireland) Ltd has just been incorporated in Dublin ahead of the planned opening of Barry “Riverdeep” O’Callaghan’s super expensive international private school in Leopardstown... Read more »
Noeline Blackwell

Affairs of the Nation

NOELINE BLACKWELL’S WINDFALL

GOOD NEWS for chief executive Noeline Blackwell and her team at the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC). With funding for charitable bodies generally tight on the ground these days, the... Read more »
Simon Coveney

Affairs of the Nation

LEO’S LITTLE HELPERS

LEO VARADKAR and his handler, Brian Murphy, had to make some delicate decisions on how to utilise the deputy leader and defeated contestant for the leadership, Simon Coveney, at last... Read more »
Catherine Yore

Affairs of the Nation

Come back Catherine

MEATH WEST’S Catherine Yore has not been welcomed by everyone in the local party. Yore was voted hottest candidate in the 2011 general election in a disgracefully sexist poll undertaken... Read more »
Aodhan O'Riordain

Affairs of the Nation

THE ‘INSPIRATION’ OF AODHAIN Ó RÍORDÁIN

“INSPIRED by an impassioned speech made in the Seanad by Aodhán Ó Ríordáin…” So begins an online video describing the dramatic emergence of the Irish Stand, a “grassroots movement” devoted... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Fionnan Sheahan

Fit to Print?

INDO FIGHTS LIBEL ‘HORROR STORY’

WITH characteristic bombast and bereft of any sense of irony Independent News & Media (INM) titles recently reported “A major public debate on freedom of speech and the pressing need... Read more »
Stephen Rae

Fit to Print?

NON-INDEPENDENT AWARDS

GROUP editor-in-chief of Independent News & Media (INM) titles Stephen Rae had a face like thunder at the Newsbrands Ireland Journalism Awards 2017 in the Mansion House recently. Not only... Read more »

Last Refuge

Mary Mitchell O'Connor

Last Refuge

MARY MITCHELL O’CONNOR’S GENDER GAFFE

FIANNA FÁIL and The Sunday Times rained on Mary Mitchell-O’Connor’s parade recently with allegations that she was backsliding on her pledge to introduce gender quotas in third level institutions. The... Read more »
Brendan Howlin

Last Refuge

LABOUR PULLS THE HOUSE DOWN

ALAN KELLY’S warning shot over his party leader Brendan Howlin’s head – AK47 recently gave Howlin less than six months to shape up or else – came just a week... Read more »

Bird's Eye View

Theresa May

Bird's Eye View

GERRY ADAMS DOESN’T GIVE A PIP

SINN FÉIN is quite content with the way the Stormont talks ended. In fact in some ways it’s lucky for the party they ended when they did. Formally the end... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Bob Geldof

The Hot Air Brigade

The Hot Air Brigade

Her association with our city shames us all and we should have no truck with it, even by default. We honoured her, now she appals and shames us. Sir Bob... Read more »

High Society

Neil Hughes

High Society

NEIL HUGHES’S NICE PAD

ONE OF the most impressive Co Dublin properties to come on the market for a while is Emsworth in Kinsealy. The owner is looking for €7.5m which, even allowing for... Read more »
George and Wendy Magan

High Society

GEORGE MAGAN’S TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

LATER THIS week, an interesting case will be heard in the High Court. It concerns a Tory peer and one of Ireland’s most spectacular properties. But this is not the... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Catherine Day

Behind the Scenes

THE CHESTER BEATTY’S NEW CHAIR

AFTER ALMOST 20 years in the chair and a total of 26 years as a director since he was first appointed in January 1991, TP Hardiman has stepped down from... Read more »
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Behind the Scenes

MORE MILLIONS FOR BAM

INTERESTING to see a €1m allocation in the Department of Culture Budget Estimates for the troubled Cork Event Centre project. This latest allocation suggests the increasingly expensive looking 6,000-seat venue... Read more »
Ed Guiney

Behind the Scenes

RED ROCKS IN THE SUNSET

THERE REMAINS some confusion over the fate of Andrew Lowe and Ed Guiney’s TV3 Garda station soap, Red Rock. A fortnight after TV3 put the Element Pictures show into an... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Ryan Moore on Mendelssohn

Sport of Kings

COOLMORE PUNT PAYS OFF

LAST YEAR when MV Magnier signed the buyers docket at $3m for a yearling at Keeneland, that figure must have looked on the high side when the colt, subsequently named... Read more »
Luke Comer

Sport of Kings

ANOTHER SHOPPING SPREE FOR COMER?

WITH THE Goffs Foal and Breeding Stock sale looming large, it will be interesting to see if Luke Comer plays as active a role as he has done in previous... Read more »

Sport of Kings

RICCI COMES OUT AHEAD

THE MELBOURNE Cup proved an impressive showcase for Irish racing, with the first three home in Australia’s most iconic race trained here. The flamboyant Rich Ricci, who had two runners... Read more »
Ruby Walsh

Sport of Kings

RUBY’S WEXFORD WOBBLE

RUBY WALSH found himself in the unusual position recently of being the subject of a running and riding inquiry when the stewards looked into his handling of the Willie Mullins-trained... Read more »

Moneybags

Gary McGann

Moneybags

Gary McGann

GARY McGANN retired as Smurfit Kappa group chief executive just over two years ago aged 65 and duly to took on a number of lucrative non-executive directorships. Most significantly, he... Read more »

The Hot Water Brigade

Kevin Sheahan

The Hot Water Brigade

Kevin Sheahan’s China crisis

SPARE a thought for Limerick Fianna Fáil (FF) county councillor Kevin Sheahan who just had a judgment for u1m registered against him by Danske Bank. Sheahan, a councillor for the... Read more »
Paddy Mckillen Jr

The Hot Water Brigade

Paddy McKillen Jr’s Union blues

PADDY McKillen Jr will be delighted with the glowing reviews his revamped Stella Cinema in Rathmines has received since opening its doors last month. Elsewhere, things aren’t as rosy for... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

Taxman Cometh

THE High Court has ordered the liquidation of two Kilkenny printers, Colour World Print Ltd and Koverto Envelopes Ireland Ltd, both owned by Kilkenny businessman Walter Lanigan and his wife... Read more »
Soundstore

The Hot Water Brigade

Niall Crowley’s not-so sound investment

A COMPANY in Cork called Tranio Investments Ltd just filed an interesting set of accounts. Tranio is the outfit behind Soundstore, an electronics and computer retailer based in Bishopstown and... Read more »