Affairs of the Nation

Leo Varadkar

Affairs of the Nation

BLUESHIRT ELECTION PLOT

THAT Irish Times report about general election contingency preparations “by officials on the orders of minister for housing Eoghan Murphy” was revised in next day’s Fine Gael statement to read,... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

MBS AND MCD

THERE WERE glum faces earlier this month, including Denis Desmond’s, when MCD pulled the plug on the 2020 Electric Picnic. However, Goldhawk wonders how many young (or middle-aged) ‘revellers’ are... Read more »
Paul Reid

Affairs of the Nation

TROUBLE BREWING FOR TRACING APP

THERE HAS been much talk by Paul Reid and the HSE about the proposed Covid-19 smartphone contact tracing app due out in the next few weeks. Given the special requirements... Read more »
David Barniville

Affairs of the Nation

BARNSTORMING THE HIGH COURT

RETIRING HIGH Court president Justice Kelly’s successor will likely come from that set which for years staffed the upper echelons of the Law Library, hogging the lucrative corporate, commercial briefs... Read more »
Brendan McDonagh

Affairs of the Nation

MANDARINS DEFEND NAMA

THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) went out to bat for Brendan McDonagh and Frank Daly (CEO and chair of Nama respectively), claiming that there was much ado about nothing on... Read more »
George McNeice

Affairs of the Nation

SPECIALISTS IN SPLITS

THE HIPPOCRATIC Oath brigade are a great bunch for splits and it looks like another has emerged in recent weeks. The 400 private-only Spartan warriors in the Irish Hospital Consultants’... Read more »
Aengus O'Snodaigh

Affairs of the Nation

AENGUS Ó SNODAIGH LEADS THE WAY

THE MORE ‘respectable’ political parties were recently made to look amateurish and even disrespectful of parliamentary procedure by Sinn Féin. At a virtual meeting last week, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó... Read more »
Francesca McDonagh

Affairs of the Nation

BOI SUPERWOMAN

Things seem to keep going from bad to worse for Bank of Ireland (BoI) boss Francesca McDonagh. Having spent days last week calming the markets after worse-than-expected first-quarter results, ‘Francey’,... Read more »
Michael McNamara

Affairs of the Nation

NURSING HOME CASH

INDEPENDENT CLARE TD Michael McNamara will have his work cut out running the new Oireachtas Covid-19 committee. Real teeth will be needed to get to the bottom of the bonanza... Read more »
Rory McIlroy

Affairs of the Nation

RORY MCILROY’S INVESTMENT

RORY MCILROY made headlines last week after saying in an interview that he wouldn’t play golf again with Donald Tump. He has also been chipping in a fair few bob... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Brian Kavanagh

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: BRIAN KAVANAGH

THE €2bn Irish horseracing industry needs a safe pair of hands on the reins to guide the sector over some heavy going as the... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Cian O'Callaghan

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: CIAN O’CALLAGHAN

THE SOCIAL Democrats were eclipsed in the general election by the stunning performance of Sinn Féin and the Greens’ considerable achievement in taking 12... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Philip Ryan

Fit to Print?

‘INDO’ POLITICAL TEAM

THE ELATION of Philip Ryan, newly appointed group political editor at INM, was evident on Twitter recently. Ryan enthused about the Indo’s newsroom, himself and his charges on “The Political... Read more »
Dana

Fit to Print?

ALL KINDS OF WRITS

COVID-19 KNOWS no boundaries, but neither does the determination of Eurovision winner, ex-MEP and two times presidential candidate Dana Rosemary Scallon to exact vindication from various media. Dana’s brother, John... Read more »

Last Refuge

Catherine Martin

Last Refuge

GREENS LEFT-RIGHT LEADERSHIP CONTEST

GOLDHAWK CAN put an end to speculation about whether or not Green deputy leader Catherine Martin TD will stand for the party leadership. Martin will definitely run for the position... Read more »
Neasa Hourigan Green Party Martin NPT Ivana Bacik Independents Limerick Hospital Overcrowding Barry Cowen

Last Refuge

SEAN KELLY’S HOT AIR

THE GREENS’ response to the provocative demand from Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly – a member of FG’s government formation reference group – to retain plans for the mammoth LNG... Read more »
Jim O'Callaghan

Last Refuge

BARRISTERS VIE FOR CABINET

MANOEUVRING AND speculation about who will get what cabinet postings is considered to be in poor taste in current pandemic circumstances, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. And the... Read more »
James Kelly

Last Refuge

ARMY VICTIMS AND VILLAINS

MICHAEL HENEY, author of the explosive book The Arms Crisis of 1970, gave unstinting praise to the Army’s director of intelligence at the time, Colonel Michael Hefferon, when interviewed by... Read more »

Hush Hush

Liam Clarke

Hush Hush

MURDOCH’S HACKS AND HACKERS

The idea that a veteran journalist might also be a state spy is unfortunately not as farfetched as it sounds. Former News of the World (NOW) senior hack Neville Thurlbeck... Read more »
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Hush Hush

GERALDINE BYRNE NASON’S DIMPLOMACY

OUR WOMAN at the United Nations, Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason – recently reported as having a sharp spat with Ireland’s military advisor to the permanent mission to the UN –... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

Martial Arts Expert Damian Zygmunt, 28, appeared before Letterkenny Circuit Court charged with one count of burglary relating to an incident in 2018. Judge John Aylmer heard how Zygmunt broke... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Richard Bruton

Fowl Emissions

MOORE’S ALMANAC

US FILM MAKER Michael Moore is doing his best to sabotage the boom in renewable energy with his latest attack documentary, Planet of the Humans. Desperate to rebuild his brand... Read more »
Claude Etchelamendy Ed Brophy Richard Boyd-Barrett Kish Dale Crammond Frank Mitloehner Shell Greenwashing Meta Data Centres Ireland

Fowl Emissions

NOEL SMYTH’S TACTICS

Social distancing is suddenly bringing us the wider footpaths and cycle lanes that years of campaigning could not quite manage to do. It’s a double win, since investment in cycling... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Fintan O'Toole

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Bono may be the first Irish person since Bernard Shaw to have become a truly global celebrity. Fintan O’Toole, Irish Times Matt, I honestly feel like I’m about to throw... Read more »

High Society

Richard Wood

High Society

OPPOSING RICHARD WOOD

INTERESTING TO see an objection filed in the Companies Office late in day in relation to the striking off of a company called Rockroan Estate Ltd, which is one of... Read more »
Consuelo O’Connor

High Society

GEORGIANS’ “APPROPRIATE DESIGNATION”

WITH SOME new faces arriving at the Irish Georgian Society, the shots are still being called by the company behind the heritage body, the Irish Georgian Foundation (IGF). IGF chair... Read more »
Roisin Lyons

High Society

ROISIN LYONS’ DREAM HOME

WHILE THERE was good news for businesswoman Roisin Lyons earlier this year when she was elected the ladies’ captain at Carton House demesne golf club in Co Kildare, she could... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Virginia Teehan

Behind the Scenes

UPDATING THE HERITAGE COUNCIL

AS THE coalition negotiations drag on, more state boards are running out of time. One of these is the Heritage Council, where historian and former council member Virginia Teehan is... Read more »
Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

Behind the Scenes

MIRIAM ALLEN’S EDIT

IN THE wake of similar announcements from Galway 2020 and the Galway Arts Festival, Galway Film Fleadh (GFF) chief executive Miriam Allen announced earlier this month that this year’s shindig... Read more »

Reviews

Hold Me Now - John Mackenna

Books

HOLD ME NOW – JOHN MACKENNA

THIS NOSTALGIC love story, spanning several decades from the late 1980s onwards, is loosely framed against the backdrop of the Eurovision song contest and is the literary equivalent of an... Read more »

Moneybags

Albert Manifold

Moneybags

CRH: ASIAN NIGHTMARE AND AMERICAN DREAM

ON FOOT of the pandemic-induced shutdown in March, CRH’s shares collapsed from €36 in February to a low of U16 the day after St Patrick’s Day – a drop of... Read more »
Barry O'Dowd

Moneybags

YEW GROVE REIT’S PANDEMIC VACCINE

NOT ONLY was Yew Grove REIT a late arrival to the Irish property recovery party, but with a portfolio of €141m, it is also a relative minnow in comparison to... Read more »

The Hot Water Brigade

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The Hot Water Brigade

ANTHONY FITZPATRICK’S ‘FLAWED’ STRATEGIES

ONE OF Goldhawk’s old friends got a bit of a kicking from Judge John MacMenamin in the Supreme Court recently, when liquidator Anthony J Fitzpatrick was found to be personally... Read more »
Audrey and John Cunningham

The Hot Water Brigade

CUNNINGHAMS MEET THEIR MATCH

GOLDHAWK WAS surprised to see a creditors’ meeting called for Market Match Ltd, a public relations and marketing business operating in Ranelagh, D6. The company is owned by high-flying art-collectors... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

TRIONA HARRINGTON’S HEAVY GOING

THERE WAS good news for the horseracing community last week when the government brought forward the proposed restart date for the sport to June 8. Among those most happy with... Read more »
Harry Lorton

The Hot Water Brigade

CALLING IT A DAY AT H&A

THREE YEARS after it exited examinership, Healy Design & Advertising Ltd (the company that was behind the H&A Advertising agency) has been quietly wound up. One player well-removed from the... Read more »