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January 17 - January 30, 2020
Affairs of the Nation
VLAD’S FALSE START
LEO VARADKAR met his election target date, but the manner of its announcement was belated and cack-handed. Fine Gael’s delicate political choreography came undone a week ago as plans to... Read more »
SHANE ROSS’S LIFEJACKETS
WHILE SHANE Ross has been busy generating headlines for himself, one area of responsibility for his Department of Transport, the Irish Coast Guard (ICG), has attracted attention for all the... Read more »
ANGUS’S ASSETS
THERE WAS a fl urry of fi lings around Christmas by players at the centre of a legal action by the Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund (SMDF) against assorted former partners... Read more »
Sponsored Content
National Enterprise Hub Offers Easy Access to Government Supports for Businesses
Conor O’Donovan, Head of the National Enterprise Hub & Global Marketing & Communication, Enterprise Ireland. Running a business is challenging, but accessing government supports shouldn’t be. While there is... Read more »
IAN BAILEY: THIRD TIME UNLUCKY?
MUCH LEGAL comment has focussed on the change in extradition law and how this may enable the despatch of Ian Bailey to the tender mercies of the French for allegedly... Read more »
‘SINDO’ INSIDERS ‘SWOTTED’ ASIDE
A MOOD of rejection and indeed resentment was palpable at Independent House last week as various ‘leading’ in-house contenders for the post of Sunday Independent editor were told they would... Read more »
TENEO’S SPORTING INTERESTS
TENEO, THE global corporate communications outfit headed by Declan Kelly, brother of Labour TD Alan ‘AK47’ Kelly, has won a contract as PR and media advisor to Sport Ireland (SI),... Read more »
SINKING SOC DEMS
THE SOCIAL Democrats might be staring into the abyss at this election. The centre-left group, headed by TDs Catherine Murphy and Roísin Shortall, had pretensions of replacing the moribund Labour... Read more »
COVENEY’S €50M COUP
WITH THE general election having been called, Tánaiste Simon Coveney must be relieved he got to deliver the news of a big funding boost in his Cork South Central constituency... Read more »
TRUMP CARD FOR EU ARMY
THOSE MODERATE Irish Europhiles who are so aghast at Donald Trump’s belligerent foreign policy have managed to use his latest excess against the Iranians as another argument to create an... Read more »
GAME OVER
A COMPANY called Tag Media Ltd (TML) has shut it doors, but a new one has opened for its principal. The digital print design company was founded by Jesse Morris,... Read more »
STUDENTS NO-VOTE
THE CONTROVERSY over the voter register for next month’s election threatens to undo a lot of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) work over the past year. It was... Read more »
Pillars of Society
PROFILE: PASCHAL DONOHOE
For a finance minister and someone who holds not one but two powerful cabinet portfolios, Paschal ‘Dimples’ Donohoe is not exactly a household name... Read more »
The Young Bloods
YOUNG BLOOD: WILLIAM MCGLADE
Rich-kid William McGlade is hoping to square up to the likes of Airbnb, Travelocity and Booking.com with his short-term letting platform, HipHipStay. The business... Read more »
CEA 2024 Conference: Advancing Corporate Law Enforcement and Compliance
The Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) held its 2024 conference on October 17 at The Honorable Society of King’s Inns, Dublin. The event was attended by policymakers, regulatory bodies, and... Read more »
Fit to Print?
RIC AND THE ‘IRISH TIMES’
THE Irish Times may be ruing its own campaign – via former political editor Stephen Collins and its own editorial platform – in support of the state’s decision to “acknowledge... Read more »
CONOR GANNON CLEANS UP
A FORMER clerical student at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, Conor Gannon, is ploughing his way, so far successfully, through a raft of eight libel actions against various newspapers.... Read more »
MARIAN’S ADMIRERS
LIKE EVERY other media and many politicians, the Sunday Independent eulogised the late Marian Finucane, but there was a slight edge to Liam Collins’s profile. And Sinn Féin leader Mary... Read more »
Last Refuge
HOWLIN GOES FOR TÁNAISTE
BRENDAN HOWLIN’S weekend jibes at the “Tory Boys” of Fine Gael and his gung-ho election demand to “bring it on” reflect his desire to reinvent Labour’s image created under his... Read more »
COVENEY’S RIGHT HAND MAN
FINE GAEL had been hoping to restore the natural order of things in Cork South-West by running Senator Tim Lombard with junior minister Jim Daly to take the two seats... Read more »
MCDOWELL’S CHOICE
HAVING MARSHALLED his resources for a comeback in the general election in Dublin Bay South (DBS) former minister and PD leader, Senator Michael McDowell has dashed Goldhawk’s prediction that he... Read more »
REBELS COVENEY AND O’CALLAGHAN
THE DUAL war of words over commemoration of the RIC and advance discussions on a united Ireland has not created a fundamental rift between Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin, but... Read more »
Hush Hush
MIAMI SHOWBAND: NEW EVIDENCE
SEISMIC NEW evidence regarding the 1975 Miami Showband massacre will be revealed at Belfast High Court in the coming months by bass player Stephen Travers who survived the gun and... Read more »
ALAN HYDE’S PROVISION CENTRE
GOLDHAWK NOTES that an old friend is to close the doors of his direct provision centre next month. The Mount Trenchard operation in Foynes, Co Limerick, has been described as... Read more »
CATHERINE HEANEY’S NEW COMPANY
NATIONAL MUSEUM chair Catherine Heaney is winding up the limited company behind her DHR Communications PR outfit, but the good news is that there is a new venture already up... Read more »
Bog Cuttings
BOG CUTTINGS 3801
Stolen Elvis Picture A 43-year-old Roscommon Town woman who stole a picture of Elvis Presley from a house was given a suspended sentence at a recent District Court sitting. Nell... Read more »
Fowl Emissions
VEGAN VAGARIES
The agri-industrial sector has worked itself into a lather over what it clearly sees are threats to its core beef-and-dairy business, with the latest pro-vegan billboard campaign the target of... Read more »
JOHN PAUL PHELAN’S CHEAP SHOT
Embattled Australian PM Scott Morrison has shipped plenty of well-earned flak for his staunch defence of the most polluting industries in his country. And, as the country burned, he retreated... Read more »
The Hot Air Brigade
THE HOT AIR BRIGADE
The Domestic Goddess ordered various puddings and wines and insisted – almost matronishly – that I taste all of them with her. She spoon-fed me and ordered me – utterly... Read more »
High Society
SOPHIE CAFOLLA’S BABY BOXES
AN ARTICLE in the Sunday Times business section last weekend featured advice for small businesses, with one of the players featured being Sophie Cafolla... Read more »
NEW FACES AT IMMA
THERE ARE some vacancies to be filled on the board of Imma that should appeal to culture vultures out there. The vacancy that arises... Read more »
FOUR FAULTS IN CONNAUGHT
THERE WERE fun and games last week at a specially convened (and ultimately especially heated) meeting of the Connaught region of Showjumping Ireland (SJI) in Co Mayo, which ran until... Read more »
A Year of Innovation with NEAT Fusion
As we approach the end of 2024, NEAT Gates celebrates a landmark year of innovation, marked by the success of NEAT Fusion – a cutting-edge, one-piece, easy-install automated gate... Read more »
Behind the Scenes
DÓNALL CURTIN’S COMMITTEE
OVER ON Merrion Square, the Arts Council has been adding to its sprawling art collection with the purchase of 19 new works from assorted creative types. The artists whose work... Read more »
KEVIN RAFTER’S REQUEST
AS FANS of Goldhawk are aware (see The Phoenix, 29/11/19), the Abbey Theatre is looking to fill three seats on its board that have lain vacant for around a year.... Read more »
MARIAN FINUCANE’S ADVISOR
GOLDHAWK WAS interested to hear his old friend, tax accountant-cum-filmmaker Kieran Corrigan, pop up briefly at the end of the radio tribute to Marian Finucane hosted on Radio 1 by... Read more »
Sport of Kings
TOTE’S WOES, O’LEARY’S WINNERS
LEOPARDSTOWN’S annual Christmas festival had its usual mix of thrills and spills and, on the whole, it was considered a fine week for the track, with top-class racing and kind... Read more »
ELLIOTT’S CATCH OF THE DAY
GORDON ELLIOTT was obviously one of the chief beneficiaries of the Gigginstown success at Leopardstown, but he will also have gained plenty of satisfaction from the success of The Bosses... Read more »
NO LENIENCY FOR COLM MURPHY
THE OPENING day of racing in 2020 saw the stewards at Fairyhouse on New Year’s Day hand out their first big fine of the year and it was ironic that... Read more »
HRI CUTS ITS CLOTH
THE 2020 budget for Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) was approved just before Christmas and, given the government’s standstill allocation to racing, it was no surprise to see the development of... Read more »
Reviews
GREAT IRISH INTERIORS – RTÉ 1
AS PART of the national broadcaster’s “jam-packed” Christmas schedule (ie seasonal specials and jaded family-friendly staples), Great Irish Interiors followed the work of interior design teams as they restored three... Read more »
Moneybags
GREENCORE’S SHARE-PRICE RISE DEFIES LOGIC
A READING of Greencore’s 2019 annual report could suggest a highly successful business that claims to be focusing on “sustained growth and returns from... Read more »
MARKET OVERDOES TULLOW SHARE COLLAPSE
THE SURPRISE stepping down on December 9 of Tullow Oil’s relatively recently appointed (April 2017) CEO, Paul McDade, and the equally sudden resignation of... Read more »
Gold – Uncertainty and Your Business
Have you ever considered holding gold as part of your business’s portfolio? It’s not that surprising if you haven’t, but it’s also not surprising that an increasing number of... Read more »
The Hot Water Brigade
HIPHIPSTAY’S ROWDY RESIDENTS
YOUNG GUN William McGlade (see p17) got a lot more than he bargained for when he began renting out a number of townhouses at 14-18 Grattan Court East, Dublin 2,... Read more »
MARC BEREEN’S BARS
WILL SOMEONE please think of the hipsters in Dublin? They will surely be at a loss at the revelation that Papa Fred Ltd, the company behind trendy nightlife hotspot The... Read more »
DENMARK’S SHOPPING SPREE
MALCOLM DENMARK’S local-newspaper shopping spree shows no sign of ending soon. The British advertising tycoon has more than 20 regional titles here under his belt, held through a majority share... Read more »
RICHARD QUIRKE’S RETURNS
IT IS surprising to see that profitable Dublin Pool and Juke Box Company Ltd (DPJB), the holding company of casino impresarios Richard Quirke and his wife Ann, was listed for... Read more »
FALLON & BYRNE’S BACKERS
WHAT NOW for the well-heeled food shoppers of D4 and D6? Following the decision by Fallon & Byrne owners Paul Byrne and Fiona McHugh to shutter their largest location in... Read more »
REINING IN THE BLOODSTOCK
MORE ON businessman Peter Kelly, whose Kildare bloodstock operation, Emerald Equine, was hit with a hefty €2.73m judgment in 2018 (see The Phoenix, 13/07/18). The judgment was registered by the... Read more »
TIME TO PAY THEIR DUES
SOME LEGAL eagles have had setbacks recently. Kinsale solicitor Nuala Teahan and her business partner, Kieran McCarthy, were handed a €250,000 judgment by Allied Irish Bank in late November 2019.... Read more »
Credit Review: Helping Irish Businesses Secure Credit
Recent economic surveys indicate that Irish SMEs are positive about the future, with more than two-thirds expecting sales to grow. To support their growth, many businesses will seek bank... Read more »
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