Affairs of the Nation

Affairs of the Nation

THE BUCK STOPS NOWHERE

IF Leo Varadkar is half as smart as his supporters make out, he will stamp his authority on the new administration by immediately making an example of at least one... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

DCC SUES PHILIP McGLADE

HIGH COURT proceedings have just been initiated by Temple Bar Cultural Trust (now controlled by Dublin City Council) against a couple of familiar names on the Dublin scene – the... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

JOHN MORIARTY’S SWIMMING LESSON

SPARE A thought for John Moriarty, Kieran Ruttledge and Liam Bohan, the principals in Dublin Waterworld Ltd (DWL) who, Goldhawk can reveal, have just had a €30m claim for damages... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Affairs of the Nation

DECLAN KELLY GOES REPUBLICAN (US)

TENEO principal, Declan Kelly, would have been anything but embarrassed at allegations in recent years that he provided his multinational clients with access to the White House. That’s what Teneo’s... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE AT COI GAZETTE

CHURCH of Ireland Gazette editor, Canon Ian Ellis, has just retired and he leaves behind a legacy that puts The Irish Times to shame in the fundamental area of child... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

BILDERBERGER’S BOY IN IRELAND

THE shadowy Bilderberg Group, that elite assembly of bankers, industrialists, politicians and military bosses is currently holding its 2017 conference in Chantilly, Virginia under the chairmanship of Henri de Castries,... Read more »
Simon Coveney

Affairs of the Nation

SIMON COVENEY’S FORMER FRIENDS

RIGHT up to the last hours of the Fine Gael leadership contest Simon Coveney’s team persuaded themselves that ‘defeat-jaws-victory-snatch’ was on the cards. Their calculation was that the 21 declared... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

Who Is Declan Kearney?

THE Sunday Independent’s public act of contrition and apology to a “Mr Declan Kearney” last weekend admitted that their assertion about him in an article on 19/2/17 being “a one-time... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Pillars of Society

Leslie Buckley

THESE ARE testing times for the chairman of Independent News and Media (INM), Leslie Buckley, trusted lieutenant and boardroom representative of the group’s biggest... Read more »

The Young Bloods

The Young Bloods

Cllr John Lyons

ODDS on an early general election have shortened with the advent of a new Fine Gael leader and Leo Varadkar has already outlined part... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Fit to Print?

COVENEY’S INDO CHOIR GIRLS

THE Irish Independent made a desperate attempt to rally support for its favoured Fine Gael contender Simon Coveney last Saturday while also lauding Simon’s siren Kate O’Connell, one of just... Read more »
Eoghan Harris

Fit to Print?

Harris’s Pendulum Swings Again

THE straight-talking, no-nonsense Eoghan Harris told Sindo readers and Newstalk’s Ivan Yates recently that if he were a Fine Gael member he would vote for Leo Varadkar as leader. This,... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Israeli Intervention?

THE Irish Times appears to be the target of a cyber attack from Israeli supporters as a concerted attempt has been made to reverse its poll on support or not... Read more »

Last Refuge

Last Refuge

DR VARADKAR’S DILEMMA

LEO Varadkar has received favourable commentary for his work ethic in his chosen profession of medicine in early life – “a young man who gave over his life to medicine”... Read more »
Frances Fitzgerald

Last Refuge

FRANCES FITZGERALD’S FINESSE

TÁNAISTE and justice minister, Frances Fitzgerald, has degenerated from being a potential Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach to a minister fighting for her political life within a matter of months.... Read more »

Last Refuge

Simon’s Tactics

SIMON COVENEY was congratulated for his plucky and gentlemanly fight back against Leo Varadkar’s Conor McGregor type assault in the first days of the leadership campaign. But Simon’s side was... Read more »
leo-varadkar

Last Refuge

Leo’s Headache

LEO VARADKAR’S troika in the South-East of Kilkenny TD, John Paul Phelan, Wexford junior defence minister, Paul Kehoe and his constituency rival, Michael D’Arcy TD, gives the new leader a... Read more »

Last Refuge

martin baulks at action on vulture funds

Micheál Martin appears to have developed a Hamlet complex. The conservatism and fear of a premature election that has seized the party over the last few months has paralysed Fianna... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

‘Your shirt is too pink’ Kerry county councillors have voted in favour of a motion calling for a dress code to be introduced for TDs and county councillors. Fine Gael... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Fowl Emissions

VICTIMISED CLIMATE DENIERS

FROM the moment Claire Byrne uttered her sulky opening question – “Climate change: should anyone dare to debate the fundamentals?” – it was clear this would be RTÉ at its... Read more »

Bird's Eye View

Bird's Eye View

UUP TO SUFFER IN NI ELECTION

All elections in the north are polarising but none more than British general elections using the sudden death first-past-the-post voting system. The results of these elections confront the southern media... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

The Hot Air Brigade

The Hot Air Brigade

I was in the jacks at about 2.30am and two lads, who were leaning up against the urinal, started giving me a lecture on remortgaging and second homes. David McWilliams... Read more »

High Society

High Society

High Society

THE TAN WAR

LAST WEEK, the Oirish Mail on Sunday highlighted a move by make-up/lifestyle blogger and cosmetics phenomenon, Suzanne Jackson “into Marissa’s patch” – claiming that... Read more »

High Society

High Society

JAMIE to cut the FAT

THESE ARE unhealthy times for Jamie Myerscough, grandson of the late Vincent O’Brien (whose daughter Jane is married to former auctioneer Philip Myerscough of... Read more »

High Society

High Society

BAD DREAMS IN CASTLE DURROW

THE OWNERS of Castle Durrow outside Abbeyleix – Peter and Shelly Stokes – will have been delighted with the puff piece in the Sunday Times last weekend highlighting their adventures... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Selina-Cartmell

Behind the Scenes

NO PIZZA FOR SELINA CARTMELL

AS SHE gets started as the new director at the Gate Theatre, Selina Cartmell seems intent on doing all she can to break with the Michael Colgan-stamped past. In recent... Read more »
hugh-maguire2

Behind the Scenes

STILL ON THE HUNT

STILL NO sign of white smoke at the Hunt Museum in Limerick, where the former Director, Hugh Maguire, exited exactly one year ago. Maybe the arrival of a new director... Read more »
Amy Huberman

Behind the Scenes

MICHAEL O’KEEFFE’S €5M

THERE WAS good news for assorted producers last month when Michael O’Keefe’s Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) dished out over €5m in grants to the independent TV luvvies under its... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Sport of Kings

ENGLISH LESSON

UP AND COMING young Dublin trainer, Damien English, has carved out a well-earned reputation for buying cheap cast-offs from other trainers and developing them into winning machines. But he must... Read more »
horses

Sport of Kings

MOOLAH FOR McCARTAN

JIM McCARTAN has been having a stellar season at the breeze up sales (see The Phoenix 5/5/17) and he landed another almighty touch in France a couple of weeks ago.... Read more »
horses

Sport of Kings

Tatts v Goffs

With two strong Irish companies operating in the small market of Irish bloodstock sales there is always going to be attempts to get ‘one over’ on the opposition. Recently Goffs... Read more »

Sport of Kings

COMER CASE CLOSED?

THE TURF CLUB certainly finds itself in an awkward position with moneybags Luke Comer these days. After handing out another €2,500 fine plus €5,000 costs to the wannabe trainer, Denis... Read more »

Reviews

Books

SKINTOWN – CIARÁN McMENAMIN (DOUBLEDAY)

THIS DEBUT novel touches on well-trodden aspects of yoof culture, with themes of male friendship and the prospect of redemption running the length of the book. Occasionally echoing Irvine Welsh... Read more »

Books

ITHACA – ALAN McMONAGLE (PICADOR)

THE DEBUT novel from Galway-based Alan McMonagle is set in the summer of 2019 in an unnamed Irish Midlands town “miles from anywhere, and built inside a hole made out... Read more »

Movies

IN VIEW – DIRECTED BY CIARAN CREAGH

WHEN IT comes to film pitches, a story about a suicidal Garda officer is not exactly Pirates Of The Caribbean. It is much to the credit of the writer-director of... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Moneybags

Glanbia farmers sold down the river

SIOBHÁN TALBOT has now been group managing director of the Glanbia plc group for four years and, in that time, she has turned on... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Why Heavey must exit undervalued Tullow

IT IS not often Irish companies are covered in the agenda-setting Lex column of the Financial Times but at the beginning of March, on... Read more »

Briefcases

Briefcases

Aussie BBQ burns the taxman

WELL done to south Dublin businessman Barry Sheehan whose company Rathmond Ireland Ltd had a good day in the High Court recently courtesy of Judge Caroline Costello. Rathmond is the... Read more »
Niall McGarry

Briefcases

Niall McGarry’s apology

FANS OF Goldhawk are well aware of the ups and downs at Niall McGarry’s Maximum Media group – the entity behind Her.ie and Joe.ie. In recent times, there have been... Read more »
Gerry Adams

Briefcases

Gerry Adams’s Actions

hoping to build up his pension pot before retiring later in the year. The SF president is suing the BBC for its Spotlight programme’s ‘exclusive’ on the Donaldson murder last... Read more »
Frank Walsh

Briefcases

Stormy weather for wind farm investors

SPARE a thought for investors in Sunflower Design Ltd who claim they are still getting short shrift from the directors of the company. The exasperated backers have been given a... Read more »

Briefcases

Murray’s Twitter Index

READERS will recall an article a few weeks ago about the Murray Tweet Index, an annual ranking of Irish journalists on Twitter by PR agency Murray Consultants. The index assesses... Read more »
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Briefcases

Blooming Success

PHOENIX PARK is again set to be choc-a-bloc with garden enthusiasts, foodies and assorted day trippers for the annual Bloom Festival run under the auspices of Bord Bia. While the... Read more »