Affairs of the Nation

Simon Coveney

Affairs of the Nation

SIMON COVENEY’S FAMILY VALUES

EVEN Simon Coveney’s angry critics in Fine Gael – and they are very angry – accept that his very public opposition to the proposed legislation for 12 weeks’ unrestricted access... Read more »
Simon Zebo

Affairs of the Nation

INJURY TIME FOR THE IRFU

EUPHORIA after Stade de France but the storm clouds are gathering for Irish rugby as its ability to hold onto the best players is now under real threat. Leinster’s upcoming... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

Losing out at Lisselan

THE WOMAN behind Clonakilty Black Pudding, Colette Twomey, looks to have got herself a bargain with the “close to €3m” she has paid for the splendid Lisselan House and estate... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Brian McDonagh

Affairs of the Nation

BRIAN McDONAGH’S DATA PROBLEM

SURPRISING to see a company called Granja Ltd listed for striking off by the Companies Office after failing to file its accounts. The firm is currently involved in a high... Read more »
Betty Purcell

Affairs of the Nation

HUMAN RIGHTS: NEW CRITERIA

THE refusal of Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) member Betty Purcell to go quietly after her failure to be reappointed recently produced some standard responses from the justice... Read more »
David McWilliams

Affairs of the Nation

David McWilliams’s advice

CLEVER CLOGS David McWilliams might be feeling a little bewildered given the pounding taken by one of his heroes, fund manager Neil Woodford. Although he has been quiet on the... Read more »
Nigel Farage

Affairs of the Nation

Nigel Farage’s Trinity pals

IT WAS interesting to see Declan Ganley praising Trinity College on Twitter last week for letting fellow anti-EU agitator Nigel Farage speak at an event. As Deco well knows, the... Read more »
Joanne Hayes

Affairs of the Nation

KERRY BABIES ‘APOLOGIES’

THE garda apology to Joanne Hayes as well as that of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar deserves more quizzical scrutiny than it has received. Apart from the murder charge against Joanne, the... Read more »
Gretchen Mol

Affairs of the Nation

MacDara Kelleher’s €850,000

CONGRATULATIONS to Goldhawk’s favourite film producer, MacDara Kelleher. He has just been greenlighted for a whopping U850,000 in funding from the Irish Film Board (IFB) for Nightflyers – the big... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Michael McGrath

Pillars of Society

Profile: Michael McGrath FF

UNEASY LIES the head that wears the crown and, as opinion polls continue to show Fianna Fáil lagging behind Fine Gael in the great... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Paul Stenson

The Young Bloods

Young Blood: Paul Stenson

IS Paul Stenson (37) for real or does he just play the villain on the internet? His critics would accept the former designation but... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Claire Byrne

Fit to Print?

RTÉ’S RADIO DIVAS

RTÉ proclaimed “Fresh Moves at RTÉ Radio 1” with a photo montage of six presenters – five of them women – in a press statement announcing this week’s new line-up.... Read more »
Katie Hannon

Fit to Print?

MEDIA CIVIL WAR

THOSE High Court libel actions taken out by two gardaí against various media over reports on Maurice McCabe are mirrored by the sharp divide in the press over the whistleblower.... Read more »
Independent House

Fit to Print?

The Sindo’s diverse readership

WHAT a surprisingly cosmopolitan readership the Sunday Independent has. In a recent letter to the Sindo retired Defence Forces commander and peace activist Edward Horgan said Israelis should be respectful... Read more »

Last Refuge

Heather Humphries

Last Refuge

FINE GAEL’S CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS

THE portrayal of ethical and personal agonising by Fine Gael ministers and TDs over the abortion referendum and the planned 12 weeks abortion on request legislation is fascinating. Especially when... Read more »
Louise O'Reilly

Last Refuge

SF’s right to choose

LOUISE O’REILLY’S compliment to Leo Varadkar’s statement on the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment was apt but surprisingly amicable coming from a Sinn Féin TD. However, the Fingal deputy... Read more »
Lorraine Clifford Lee

Last Refuge

OPINION POLLS – THE REAL STORY?

NATIONAL opinion polls show Leo Varadkar and Fine Gael streaking ahead of Micheál Martin’s Fianna Fail but there is something strangely unreal about the figures when compared to reality on... Read more »
Nigel Farage

Last Refuge

IREXIT PARTY BORN

IT LOOKS as if an anti-EU party with candidates running in the EU elections next year will definitely emerge from last weekend’s Irexit meeting with Nigel Farage. This will certainly... Read more »
Michael McDowell

Last Refuge

McDowell v Ross

LEGAL EAGLES can be as bitchy as politicians when they fall out and former justice minister Alan Shatter – a mere solicitor – was regularly accused of being motivated by... Read more »

Hush Hush

Benjamin Netanyahu

Hush Hush

MOSSAD’S LITTLE HELPERS

THE Israeli embassy’s exit from Dublin will not diminish that country’s intelligence apparatus from accessing Irish passport details and other useful data. On January 14 last a Mossad hit squad... Read more »

Student Life

Nigel Farage

Affairs of the Nation

Nigel Farage’s Trinity pals

IT WAS interesting to see Declan Ganley praising Trinity College on Twitter last week for letting fellow anti-EU agitator Nigel Farage speak at an event. As Deco well knows, the... Read more »

Fowl Play

Simon Zebo

Affairs of the Nation

INJURY TIME FOR THE IRFU

EUPHORIA after Stade de France but the storm clouds are gathering for Irish rugby as its ability to hold onto the best players is now under real threat. Leinster’s upcoming... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

COURTROOM Selfies  ‘for the mammy’ A NAVAN man, in court for allegedly using a vehicle without NCT, was reprimanded by a judge for taking selfies in court. Garry O’Brien (36),... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Tony O'Reilly Jr.

Fowl Emissions

O’Reilly digs deep

YOU HAVE to feel sorry for those intrepid oil and gas explorers under constant siege from scientists and campaigners. Oil prices are low – partly thanks to the divestment movement.... Read more »
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Fowl Emissions

Paddy Power’s gas terminal

EU countries can burn gas for just nine more years before exhausting their share of the earth’s carbon budget to keep global warming below 2 degrees. So says a recent... Read more »

Foreign Frolics

Martin Luther King

Foreign Frolics

AFRICA AND THE REAL DR KING

MILLIONS of Americans commemorated Martin Luther King’s Day recently. His famous speech, I Have a Dream, was repeated numerous times in media outlets as a reminder of the evil of... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Alison Canavan

The Hot Air Brigade

The Hot Air Brigade

The earth is like a gigantic battery that contains a natural, subtle electric charge – a special kind of energy present in the ground. When we connect with this energy,... Read more »

High Society

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High Society

Markus Jooste’s expensive colts

THE DISGRACED South African moneybags Markus Jooste continues to liquidate his vast string of thoroughbreds, with four select mares that he owned in partnership with the Coolmore gang going under... Read more »
Prince Charles and Paul Smithwick

High Society

PAUL SMITHWICK’S NEW INVESTOR

THE ARRIVAL to the O’Sullivan Craft Brewery (1702) shareholder register of Irish Stock Exchange chairman Padraic O’Connor is a vote of confidence for Prince Charles’s favourite brewer the company’s founder... Read more »
Niamh Patten

High Society

NIAMH PATTEN’S VALENTINE’S OFFER

READERS OF The Irish Times were presented with an offer last week to buy the “perfect Valentine’s gift for her”. The offer featured a luxury jewellery set from New Romantic... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Blake Lively

Behind the Scenes

BLAKE NOT SO LIVELY

IN LATE January, the film trade paper, The Hollywood Reporter, burst the bubble for Irish film technicians wishing a speedy recovery to star Blake Lively after a pre-Christmas injury halted... Read more »
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Behind the Scenes

Yeats masterpiece

GOLDHAWK was pleased to see the painting John Butler Yeats, Self Portrait, New York (see The Phoenix 25/8/17) has remained here despite the decision of WB Yeats’s grandchildren – Caitríona,... Read more »
Garech de Brun

Behind the Scenes

GARECH DE BRUN’S SOUR NOTE

THERE HAS been some non musical activity at the struggling Claddagh Records – the traditional Irish music company chaired by founder Garech de Brún – with longtime secretary Jane Bolton... Read more »

Sport of Kings

James Bowen

Sport of Kings

HARD GOING AT GOWRAN

UK-BASED teenage prodigy James Bowen didn’t cover himself in glory on his first trip to Ireland as a fully fledged jockey at Gowran Park recently. Bowen was drafted in to... Read more »
Brian Kavanagh

Sport of Kings

KAVANAGH’S PR EXERCISE

THE CHIEF executive of Horse Racing Ireland, Brian Kavanagh, took the opportunity to build some bridges recently when he made mollifying comments on the government’s backing of the sport of... Read more »
Joseph O'Brien

Sport of Kings

JOSEPH O’BRIEN’S MOOLAH

SPARE A thought for the hard-up Joseph O’Brien who got fined “half a week’s wages” for speeding offences recently. The Melbourne Cup winning trainer was pulled in doing 161km an... Read more »
Sheikh Joann Al Thani

Sport of Kings

AL SHAQAB’S NEXT MOVE?

FRANKIE DETTORI has had his wings clipped slightly by his retained stable, Al Shaqab Racing. The Qatari outfit’s major reduction in their UK-based string has seen Dettori’s previous six-figure retainer... Read more »

Reviews

Sive -Tommy Tiernan

Reviews

SIVE – GAIETY THEATRE

AMONG theatre companies, even the most sure-footed occasionally misstep. Druid is no exception. The Galway troupe rehabilitated the work of John B Keane over the last few decades, bringing it... Read more »
Earlie King & The Kid In Yellow

Books

THE EARLIE KING & THE KID IN YELLOW – DANNY DENTON (GRANTA)

LITERARY dystopias have become commonplace in recent times. But what distinguishes this ambitious debut novel is Denton’s anarchic language – a propulsive blend of past, present and imagined future. For... Read more »

Moneybags

Leslie Buckley

Moneybags

INM post-Buckley offers real value

THE REMARKABLE amount of controversy surrounding the Independent News & Media group (INM) – where chairman Leslie Buckley steps down next month – has... Read more »

Moneybags

Anne Heraty

Moneybags

Anne Heraty’s cash pile

CPL is a hugely successful business model that dominates Ireland’s recruitment agency sector. It is run by Paul Carroll and his wife, Anne Heraty,... Read more »

The Hot Water Brigade

Tyrone McKillen (right) and friends

The Hot Water Brigade

Tyrone McKillen’s LA estate

A TOP-END Los Angeles housing development with links to Irishman Tyrone McKillen has been catapulted into the US spotlight thanks to an investigation into a potential $1bn Ponzi scheme. McKillen’s... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

Niall Hade’s unholy row

GOLDHAWK’s old pals the Hade family popped up again recently with Brian Hade having just been slapped with a judgment by the dreaded taxman. Meanwhile, his brother Niall Hade and... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

Sharon Clancy’s Bloodstone blues

SPARE a thought for Sharon Clancy, wife of low profile Cavan property developer Martin Clancy, who has just had a hefty €2m judgment registered against her by KBC Bank. The... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

Finian Brannigan’s tax cert

SPARE a thought for Drogheda solicitor Finian Brannigan who has just been declared bankrupt in the High Court. Readers with good memories will remember Brannigan for his stint as a... Read more »
Ray Egan

The Hot Water Brigade

Ray Egan’s troubled trades

A DUBLIN company called Digital Motor (DM) Ltd has had a provisional liquidator appointed to it on foot of a High Court petition by an Isle of Man entity. Since... Read more »
Sean Doyle

The Hot Water Brigade

Taxing matters

A FEW familiar faces popped up the wrong side of the taxman recently. Sean Doyle Entertainments Ltd, the company behind Gorey boozers Paddy Blues Bar and Oscar’s, was slapped with... Read more »
Mary Harney

The Hot Water Brigade

Mary Harney’s healthy outlook

MORE good news for former Tánaiste Mary Harney whose career in the private sector is really taking off. Fans of Goldhawk will recall that former health minister Harney has found... Read more »