Affairs of the Nation

Martin Kenny

Affairs of the Nation

RACISM OR FILTHY LUCRE?

THE RECENT debate between Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny and Ballinamore Community Group spokesman Gordon Hughes on RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live was respectful and calm, but decidedly cool. Kenny and... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

DRINKAWARE’S STRATEGY

NEWS THAT a ban on alcohol advertising within 200 metres of a school or crèche from later this month will have been clocked by the good people in Drinkaware, the... Read more »
John McCartin

Affairs of the Nation

QUINN DIRECTOR TO STAND FOR FG?

FINE GAEL handlers are still mobbing mountains to persuade former Independent MEP Marian Harkin to stand at the general election in Sligo-Leitrim. They do not have confidence in Senator Frank... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Noel Rock

Affairs of the Nation

NOEL ROCK WALKS ALONE

The only thing red about Ballymun Blueshirt TD Noel Rock is his soccer jersey. The Fine Gael Tory boy and chair of the Oireachtas housing committee is a dyed-in-the-wool Liverpool... Read more »
John Gormley

Affairs of the Nation

JOHN GORMLEY’S REVENUE HEADACHE

IT LOOKS like red tape rather than red carpets is increasingly on the minds of the nation’s hard-pressed movie moguls following the imposition by the taxman of a raft of... Read more »
Francesco Saveerio Fontana

Affairs of the Nation

RIGHT-WING RUSTICS

RIGHT-WING activists have been using An Óige hostels – unbeknownst to management of the state-owned hostel network – for bonding and political training retreats. Last August the National Party (NP),... Read more »
Matt Cooper

Affairs of the Nation

SOLIDARITY WITH RTÉ

IVAN YATES and Matt Cooper thundered recently about the inept, spendthrift, tax-funded RTÉ on their Virgin One The Tonight Show as the private TV station piled the pressure on its... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Micheál Martin

Pillars of Society

MARTIN IN LAST-CHANCE SALOON

The year of our Lord 2020 will be make or break for the man his chief rival calls the Priest. But if Micheál Martin... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Dee Forbes

Fit to Print?

RTÉ SPLIT: DEE VS MOYA

YOU HAVE to feel sorry for RTÉ director general Dee Forbes, who is faced with the wrath not only of her staff but also the RTÉ board, which has serious... Read more »
Fintan O'Toole

Fit to Print?

BORDERLINE PARANOIA

THE IRISH TIMES has responded to growing calls for a border poll with an avalanche of criticism that reached a climax in the week of the full-page advert in the... Read more »

Last Refuge

Timmy Dooley

Last Refuge

DOOLEY: TO PURGATORY OR HELL?

THE REAL fall out for Fianna Fáil frontbenchers Timmy ‘Dolittle’ Dooley and Niall Collins must await the result of Fine Gael TD Noel Rock’s complaint to the Committee on Members’... Read more »
Norma Foley

Last Refuge

KERRY DOG FIGHT

WITH EVERY seat vital in a possible hung Dáil after the next general election, there is consternation in Fine Gael at the possibility of Fianna Fáil taking two seats to... Read more »

Hush Hush

John Finucane

Hush Hush

DUP/UDA ‘TARGETS’

A PRECURSOR to the ‘pressure’ from the UDA on the Ulster Unionist Party to give the DUP a free run in the Westminster election in North Belfast came just a... Read more »
HushHush-def

Hush Hush

GAVAN REILLY’S TWEETS

Virgin Media journalist Gavan Reilly hasn’t had a vintage couple of weeks. Known for scooping the competition by breaking big stories on Twitter, Rapid-Fire Reilly was forced to issue a... Read more »

Bird's Eye View

Nigel Dodds

Bird's Eye View

DUP TO HOLD BALANCE AGAIN?

No sooner had Mary Lou McDonald endorsed Lady Sylvia Hermon as the ‘remain’ candidate in North Down in the UK election than Lady Sylvia announced her retirement; the two announcements... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Danny O'Donoghue

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

I’m still trying to write the song that will save the world. Danny O’Donoghue of The Script, joe.ie This is probably a really arrogant thing to say, but I always... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Vogue Williams

High Society

VOGUE’S IRISH CHAMELEON

IT HAS been increasingly hard to avoid Vogue Williams/Spencer lately, with her reality TV series on E4 and an appearance on The Ray D’Arcy... Read more »

High Society

Consuelo O’Connor

High Society

HAMDAN’S HORSES

THEY DON’T call it the sport of kings for nothing. Take Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum of Dubai, brother of the rather more famous and... Read more »

High Society

Jamie Myerscough

High Society

JAMIE MYERSCOUGH’S RESTRUCTURING

THERE IS still no sign of Jamie Myerscough getting his figures into shape. Meanwhile, his mother Jane (daughter of the late Vincent O’Brien and married to former auctioneer Philip Myerscough)... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Orlaith McBride

Behind the Scenes

ORLAITH MCBRIDE’S NEW JOB

CONGRATULATIONS to outgoing Arts Council director Orlaith McBride, who has landed the I100,000 pa job of director of the National Archives of Ireland (NAI). Although her qualifications for the role... Read more »
Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

Behind the Scenes

SUDDEN EXIT AT ARTS COUNCIL

IT LOOKS like we will have to wait a while longer to have a full Arts Council following the sudden resignation of one of the new appointees. As fans of... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Willie Mullins

Sport of Kings

SUPREME SHAMBLES

THE SUPREME Horse Racing Club debacle still shows no sign of being sorted out and more fuel was added to the fire with the news that the legality of the... Read more »
Luke Comer

Sport of Kings

LUKE COMER LOADS UP

NEXT YEAR could be a fruitful one on the track for Luke Comer if a shopping spree at Tattersalls is anything to go by. At the recent Autumn Horses in... Read more »
Brendan Duke Adrian Murray Mick Bailey

Sport of Kings

BANAHAN’S EVENTFUL EVENING

JOE BANAHAN, Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) starter, had an evening to forget at Dundalk recently after a few issues with the starting stalls, one of which could have had... Read more »
Davy Russell

Sport of Kings

DAVY RUSSELL GIGGINSTOWN BLUES

There appears to have been a juggling of the ranks by the Gigginstown team of Mick and Eddie O’Leary, with Davy Russell losing out. While never officially reappointed as number... Read more »

Reviews

Books

THE GLOBALIST: PETER SUTHERLAND – JOHN WALSH (WILLIAM COLLINS)

Peter Sutherland was “possibly the most influential Irish person ever to have lived”, says this book, a smidge hyperbolically but with some justification. However, as it doesn’t pause to observe,... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Dermot Desmond

Moneybags

DERMOT DESMOND AND THE DATALEX DISASTER

THE COMPANY that has provided the most entertainment to market watchers this year is without a doubt Datalex, the deeply troubled airline booking software... Read more »

Brief Cases

WAVF Castleknock Hospitality BAL Susan Bergin Tixserve EOG Fergal Naughton hot-water-brigade def

Brief Cases

CON CREEDON’S MEDICAL MATTER

THE TAXMAN has just registered a judgment for €43,000 against a medical accreditation company based in Sandymount, D4. This represents more bad news for the hapless principals here, Con and... Read more »
Skycourt shopping Centre

Brief Cases

ANTHONY CAFFERKEY’S BAD INVESTMENT

A TROUBLED Kildare property company called Cafferkey Investments Ltd (CIL), which has called in the liquidator, rang a bell with Goldhawk. It turns out to be owned by the family... Read more »
WAVF Castleknock Hospitality BAL Susan Bergin Tixserve EOG Fergal Naughton hot-water-brigade def

Brief Cases

NO SO EMUSING

ONE of Emuse group’s creditors has lost patience with the ailing technology business. The taxman has just registered a judgment for a measly €3,400 against a group entity called Emuse... Read more »
Peter Clohessy

Brief Cases

WINDING UP PETER CLOHESSY

THE Taxman has put in a late tackle on a pub company once linked to bankrupt former Ireland and Munster rugby player Peter Clohessy. A petition to wind up Crokers... Read more »