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May 19 – June 1, 2017
Affairs of the Nation
FINE GAEL: THE DRINKS PARTY
THE recent appointment of former TD and FG health spokesperson Dr Liam Twomey as chief medical officer of the laughably entitled Drinkaware, is a sign that the alcohol industry is... Read more »
No Gong for Grogan
CONGRATULATIONS to the likes of former Chief Justice Ronan Keane (Lifetime Achievement Award) and Ronan Daly Jermyn (Law Firm of the Year) who picked up gongs from Miriam O’Callaghan at... Read more »
LESLIE BUCKLEY’S ‘PERVERSE’ CASE
THE CHAIRMAN of Independent News and Media has been in the news recently over assorted controversies in the Denis O’Brien controlled media company but he is also keeping a close... Read more »
HORSING ABOUT WITH JIM FERRY
DONEGAL waste operator Jim Ferry was treated to a full page in The Irish Times last weekend after his latest conviction for illegal dumping. But Jimbo is a man of... Read more »
PAPAL NUNCIO’S CÉAD MÍLE FÁILTE
IRELAND’S new papal nuncio, the well travelled and multi-linguist Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, has been papal envoy to the Dominican Republic and apostolic delegate in Puerto Rico. Thus, his appointment... Read more »
‘Rat-like’ Cunning
NO SURPRISE to see Harry Crosbie getting an easy ride in his fanzine, the Sindo, earlier this month. Previously, when the gloves came off in 2014 in his row with... Read more »
LAY LITIGANT WALSH STILL AT LARGE
LAY litigant David Walsh is still enjoying his freedom despite having been sent to jail for criminal contempt, twice, for insisting on his right to defend his sister in Waterford... Read more »
WHO FEARS TO SPEAK
WHERE is the Oireachtas Decade of Centenaries Committee? It automatically dissolved with the advent of the new Dáil and government over a year ago but no new committee – set... Read more »
GLEN’S OTHER ISSUES
THE goings-on in Glen (Gay and Lesbian Equality Network) hardly deserved the Sunday Business Post’s front-page headline, “Future of gay rights charity in doubt”, given the absence so far of... Read more »
DECCO’S NEW MAN
JIM MCGRATH, special adviser to Labour Party rottweiler Alan Kelly, has moved on to pastures new. McGrath’s new employer turns out to be another Kelly – Declan, brudder of AK47... Read more »
Pillars of Society
Kate O’Connell
IS Kate O’Connell a transient backbench TD whose election in Dublin Bay South (DBS) owed more to various forces intent on burying the troublesome... Read more »
The Young Bloods
Steven O’Riordan
IN A very public fashion, Social Democrat Steven O’Riordan (33) was put back in his box at a demonstration recently in Dublin. The professional... Read more »
Fit to Print?
IVORY TOWER WHISTLEBLOWERS
“THINKBigAtUL for 2017” was the call from UL Links, the University of Limerick’s glossy full-colour 64-page magazine inserted in The Irish Times recently at considerable expense. “We want our story... Read more »
‘IT’ BLACK AND WHITE KNIGHTS
LAST October, Denis O’Brien made the cryptic comment that he understood “The Irish Times is currently considering various funding options” and that certain media would not survive for long more... Read more »
Last Refuge
BRIAN MURPHY TO THE FORE AGAIN
SIMON COVENEY’S spin about Leo Varadkar’s street-fighting tactics in Fine Gael’s leadership contest is designed to paint the Cork gent as a statesmanlike figure who is above the no-holds barred... Read more »
NEW TAOISEACH’S CABINET OPTIONS
AMBITIOUS Fine Gael junior minsters have been making feverish calculations and permutations about promotion to cabinet as they weigh up their options in the leadership contest. But oddly enough, two... Read more »
Varadkar’s Allies
CLAIMS of majority parliamentary party support by Varadkar and Coveney’s campaign teams can hardly be accurate (both men are ahead). But Vlad’s side is claiming there are several constituencies where... Read more »
MICHEÁL MARTIN’S NEW TIMELINE
FIANNA FÁIL’S contortions over garda commissioner, Nóirín O’Sullivan, reached absurd levels last week when justice spokesperson, Jim O’Callaghan said that if he were justice minister he would sack her. This... Read more »
Bog Cuttings
Drunk man’s bold strategy A DRUNK man walked himself into trouble when he went into Anglesea Street Garda Station, Cork City, and verbally abused the guard behind the counter. Insp... Read more »
Fowl Emissions
BATES’S BALI-HOO
BACK IN 2007, an international group of respected mainstream scientists co-signed what was known as the Bali Climate Declaration. It warned that global carbon dioxide (CO2) was at its highest... Read more »
Bird's Eye View
SDLP’S FAUX CANDIDATES
THE SDLP stands accused of putting up no-hope candidates in two northern constituencies in the UK general election. This is to avoid the opprobrium the party would earn if it... Read more »
Foreign Frolics
THE RUSSIAN HACKING FIASCO
By Mike Whitney THERE’S NO proof that Russia hacked the US elections. There’s no proof Russian officials or agents colluded with members of the Trump campaign. There’s no proof that... Read more »
The Hot Air Brigade
I had a very clear idea that I wanted to save journalism. Mark Little in an ad for RTÉ’s MojoCon or Mobile Journalism Conference, RTÉ.ie, Submitted by reader [A 5... Read more »
High Society
BUYING BALLYMACOLL STUD
THE GREAT and the good of the bloodstock world will descend on Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel at the end of June when Ballymacoll Stud comes under the hammer. Most will be... Read more »
DRICO’S CONVERSION
A NEW planning application has just been submitted for the redevelopment of an impressive corner house on leafy Palmerston Road, Rathmines. The applicants are rugby superstar Brian O’Driscoll and his... Read more »
PAUL SMITHWICK’S ROYAL CONNECTION
CONGRATULATIONS TO Paul Benedict Smithwick who was invited to the British ambassador’s residence at Glencairn to personally receive his Order of the British Empire honour from Prince Charles himself. Given... Read more »
Behind the Scenes
JUMPING THE GUN AT ABBEY
AS PREDICTED by Goldhawk (see The Phoenix 5/5/17), arts minister Heather Humphreys has appointed Frances Ruane, former director of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), as chair of the... Read more »
COOKING UP A STORM
NEXT MONTH sees the publication by Mercier Press of the debut book by the latest celebrity chef to hit the airwaves, known by his stage name as Chef Adrian. Certainly,... Read more »
Sport of Kings
CATHAL BEALE’S BIG JOB
CATHAL BEALE would not have been a name at the top of many people’s lists when it came to the chief executive vacancy at the Irish National Stud but that... Read more »
DAVID WACHMAN’S ‘WINNERS’
WHEN TRAINER David Wachman announced his plan to retire from training last year, a lot of eyebrows were raised among the horsey set who openly questioned how a player with... Read more »
GOFFS GETs its MAN
THERE HAS always been a healthy rivalry between the two Irish sales companies, Goffs and Tattersalls Ireland, but Henry Beeby and his team at Goffs have just pulled the rug... Read more »
JESSICA’s SYNDICATE
THERE WERE celebrations in Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) when the Jessica Harrington-trained Tilly’s Chilli toughed out a game success at Roscommon recently, the filly’s second victory in a row. The... Read more »
Movies
THE JOURNEY – DIRECTED BY NICK HAMM
IRISH AND BRITISH critics have been relatively united in their dismissive attitude to The Journey, Belfast director Nick Hamm’s film about an imagined car trip shared by Martin McGuinness and... Read more »
Books
THE FRACTURED LIFE OF JIMMY DICE – RONAN RYAN (TINDER PRESS)
CLONMEL-BORN Ronan Ryan’s debut novel joins the already saturated field of coming-of-age fiction published over recent years. Ryan’s story begins in 1980 and traces the lives of a close-knit Tipperary... Read more »
Reviews
ASSASSINS – TV3
GANGLAND CRIME and manufactured celebrity are TV3’s central obsessions. Before 9pm most evenings, it’s all X Factor and Xposé but, after the watershed, the station immerses itself in the brutality... Read more »
Moneybags
Real value of INM unrecognised by the market
HAVING WITNESSED the rationalisation and reorganisation of Independent News and Media (INM) into a solid financially strong Irish-focused print media operation, Denis O’Brien tried to sell his loss-making Newstalk radio... Read more »
Will Druid finally pay off for Providence?
IT IS extraordinary that after 36 years of failure, Providence Resources is still there to engage in one of the most exciting drillings ever undertaken offshore Ireland, with the big... Read more »
The Hot Water Brigade
O’Gara’s company in the sin bin
CONGRATULATIONS are very much in order to Irish rugby legend Ronan O’Gara who was recently awarded the freedom of his native Cork City. But the former out-half will be less... Read more »
Eugene McCool’s ‘trifling’ complaint
CONGRATULATIONS to solicitor Colin Monaghan who had good day in the Court of Appeal recently. Arthur Cox partner Monaghan has been embroiled in a row with engineer Eugene McCool –principal... Read more »
David Ronan back in court
GOLDHAWK’s old pal Tipperary businessman David Ronan popped up again recently after an interesting day out in the High Court before Judge Robert Haughton at the end of April. Ronan’s... Read more »
Geoffrey Branigan’s Monkstown moves
SOUTH Dublin businessman Geoffrey Branigan looks like he’s onto a winner now that he’s put his fully renovated Victorian home on Monkstown Road on the market for a cool €1.75m,... Read more »
Rough times for Phelan Hotels
SPARE a thought for the owners of the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght, the company behind which has been hit with a judgment it can scarcely afford. Phelan Hotels Ltd –... Read more »
Sarah Ponsonby’s New Leaf
GOLDHAWK recently came across a company called New Leaf Health Company Gts Ltd with links to an interesting family. New Leaf – which has just collapsed into liquidation – traded... Read more »
Not really such a difficult choice!
ONE of the more intriguing company names that Goldhawk has come across is Sophie’s Choice Ltd, which collapsed into liquidation earlier this year. It turns out that the Dublin company... Read more »
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