Affairs of the Nation

Tiina Jauhiainen

Affairs of the Nation

SHEIKH MAKTOUM’S GOOD GOING?

HORSE RACING Ireland (HRI) finds itself in the spotlight again as the sport faces new pressure to acknowledge the toxic issues surrounding Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum. But, where is the... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

KERRY GUINAN’S UNION

IT’S NOT every day that a new union comes along but the arrival of the Artists’ Union of Ireland (AUI) looks set to shake up the relatively staid culture sector... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

TV’S ROYAL FAMILY

IN CASE you missed it, the ‘RTS Irish Television Awards’ had its inaugural outing last week on Virgin Media One, where many of the usual suspects found themselves competing in... Read more »
Stephen Donnelly

Affairs of the Nation

STEPHEN DONNELLY: ZERO TO HERO?

THE BIGGEST cabinet split between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael ministers since the formation of government occurred last week over health minister Stephen Donnelly’s plan to extend the number of... Read more »
Breege O'Donoghue

Affairs of the Nation

BREEGE O’DONOGHUE’S SUCCESSOR?

THERE IS still no sign of a new chair being appointed by Leo Varadkar at the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCI), where Penneys matriarch Breege O’Donoghue stepped down... Read more »
Irish Medical Times logo

Affairs of the Nation

‘IRISH MEDICAL TIMES’ PACIFIST

THE WINDS of austerity have swept through the Irish publishing industry, with even the medical media feeling the chill in recent years. Chief among these is the Irish Medical Times... Read more »
Simon Coveney

Affairs of the Nation

COVERT SECURITY PLANS

THE YEAR 2021 is supposed to see a strategic review of defence as scheduled in the 2016 White Paper, it being the midterm point of its decade- long cycle. Also... Read more »

Goldhawk's New Blog

Pillars of Society

Paul Clarkson

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: PAUL CLARKSON

IS THE taoiseach’s new government press secretary, former editor of the Irish Sun Paul Clarkson, Micheál Martin’s Andy Coulson? Emphatically not. The then British prime... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Brian Leddin

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: BRIAN LEDDIN

UNEASY LIES the head which has just won a Dáil seat, and nowhere is this uneasiness more prevalent than in the ranks of the... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Deirdre Heenan

Fit to Print?

‘BUSINESS POST’ REVISIONISM

TIME WAS when the Business Post dissented from the mainstream media in several ways, chief among them being a nationalist interpretation of the north that was not always a simple regurgitation of... Read more »
Irish Times Black Friday Vicky Conway

Fit to Print?

TACKLING ROBBIE KEANE

HAS SINDO sports writer Tommy Conlon struck again in the libel stakes as a rather full-on apology to former Irish soccer star Robbie Keane indicated a few days ago? An... Read more »
Sarah McInerney

Fit to Print?

SARAH’S PRIME TIME HAS COME

COVERAGE OF the cabinet row over new countries to be earmarked for quarantine states and queue jumping vaccine grabbers were nearly eclipsed by saturation coverage – in the ‘quality’ print... Read more »

Goldhawk's New Blog

Last Refuge

Jim O'Callaghan

Last Refuge

MARTIN SET FOR LONG HOT SUMMER

THE LATEST polls have concentrated minds in Fianna Fáil in a way they have not done since the general election and this could serve to shorten Micheál Martin’s leadership span... Read more »
Michael Leahy

Last Refuge

IRISH FREEDOM PARTY’S NEW CHAIR

PROF DOLORES Cahill’s resignation from the Irish Freedom Party (IFP) following some whacky – not to say dangerous – statements about face masks and the pandemic, was accepted with some... Read more »
Michael Healy-Rae

Last Refuge

DANNY V MICHAEL HEALY-RAE

THE DIVIDE between the Healy-Rae brothers – TDs Michael and Danny – is an open secret in Kerry and it appears to be reflected in two adverts, situated side by... Read more »
Richard Bruton

Last Refuge

BRUTON DOES STRUMPET CITY

SOUNDS LIKE Fine Gael chairperson Richard Bruton believes in method acting judging by his performance as William Martin Murphy at a virtual on-screen shoot (or re-enactment of Strumpet City) with... Read more »

Hush Hush

Francie Mackey

Hush Hush

WHO IS BEATING THE WAR DRUMS?

IT MAY seem a little surprising in the midst of a global pandemic and the costly Brexit process that British prime minister Boris Johnson has budgeted an extra £16bn to... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

‘I Am King’ It took four gardaí to arrest a man who was standing in the middle of a Cork road, beating his chest and yelling “I am king”. Garda... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Charlie Flanagan

Fowl Emissions

AN TAISCE TARGETED

KILDARE FARMER Thomas Reid has fought a long battle against the proposed €3.6bn extension of the Intel computer facility, including against An Bord Pleanála’s (ABP) decision in favour of Intel.... Read more »
Richard Boyd-Barrett Kish Dale Crammond Frank Mitloehner Shell Greenwashing Meta Data Centres Ireland

Fowl Emissions

VERONA MURPHY LETS FLY

COMPETITION to be our whackiest rural TD is intense, with a motley collection of ‘colourful’ characters clamouring for media attention. Independent Wexford TD Verona Murphy this week launched a rant... Read more »

Clerical Errors

Bishop Paul Dempsey

Clerical Errors

CLERICS HOT UNDER THE COLLAR

MARY MCALEESE’S tirade against Pope Francis’s unexpected endorsement of the Vatican doctrinal watchdog’s banning of blessings for same-sex couples has elicited a guardedly positive response from the youngest member of... Read more »
Derek Scally

Clerical Errors

IN PRAISE OF DEREK SCALLY

DEREK SCALLY, of the Irish Times, has emerged from his Berlin bunker to become the transcendental seer of the lost souls of Irish youth with the publication of his much hyped The... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Eoghan Harris

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Trawl through my past columns and you find my favourite writers are lesbian feminists. Eoghan Harris, Sunday Independent, submitted by reader If there’s anyone on television here or in Britain... Read more »

High Society

Zion Road, Rathgar

High Society

NOELLE MAGUIRE’S IRFU RUCK

A RATHER nice pile on Zion Road in Rathgar, D6, is now on the market, with the owners looking for a tasty €2.65m. Norham Mains (named after a village in... Read more »
Consuelo O’Connor

High Society

TOM GLEESON’S BURGERS

THE COMPANY behind the highly profitable burger chain, Bunsen, has issued High Court proceedings to block Dublin City Council from interfering with its collection point in Ranelagh, which has been... Read more »
Mary Keane

High Society

MARY KEANE’S NEW JOB

CONGRATUALTIONS TO Mary Keane, the chair of the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI), who has just landed the sought-after job of director general of the Law Society. She looks set... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Annie Doona

Behind the Scenes

ANNIE’S SUCCESSOR?

ALTHOUGH THE board of Screen Ireland (SI) lost three directors a year ago when their terms ended, no replacement cast members were found. Now the terms of the remaining four... Read more »
Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

Behind the Scenes

GENDER GAP

NOT MUCH attention has been paid to the latest report churned out by the Merrion Square Mafia, this time concerning the handouts to artists and the role diversity plays. It... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Dermot Weld

Sport of Kings

THE FUTURE OF SHADWELL

FOLLOWING THE death of Prince Khalid Abdullah a few months ago, racing lost another major benefactor recently when Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum died at the age of 75. A question... Read more »
Masaaki Matsushima

Sport of Kings

COOLMORE’S JAPANESE BACKER

AIDAN O’BRIEN’S team is not normally quick off the blocks at the start of the flat season, with his horses often improving markedly after their first runs of the year.... Read more »
Mick Bailey

Sport of Kings

POINTING THE WAY

WHILE RACING overall may have been left relatively unscathed by the pandemic, the point-to-point sector has been left reeling in comparison. The return of action ‘between the flags’ in April... Read more »
David Dunne

Sport of Kings

DAVID DUNNE’S DARK HORSE

JOCKEY TURNED Racing TV presenter Fran Berry has made a seamless transition to his current career after being forced to retire from the saddle due to a neck injury. Berry... Read more »

Reviews

2 Johnnies podcast

Podcasts

THE 2 JOHNNIES PODCAST

SINCE ACHIEVING wide popularity with a series of viral music videos in 2017, comedy duo the 2 Johnnies have had a trajectory similar to the Rubberbandits, with the freshness and... Read more »
We are not in the world

Books

WE ARE NOT IN THE WORLD – CONOR O’CALLAGHAN

IN THIS follow-up to his 2016 debut, Nothing on Earth, Conor O’Callaghan focuses mostly on one man’s fractured relationships with his family. This curious road trip novel also explores the... Read more »

Moneybags

Rahul Dhir

Moneybags

TULLOW OIL SHARES WORTH MULTIPLES OF CURRENT PRICE

IT WOULD be a real irony should Sam Dossou-Aworet, from whom Aidan Heavey bought Energy Africa for €433m in 2004, end up controlling Tullow Oil. The former is a man... Read more »
Eamonn Rothwell

Moneybags

EAMONN ROTHWELL’S LANDBRIDGE STRATEGY LOOKS ALL AT SEA

WITH THE demand for direct Ireland to France RoRo ferry services cresting since Brexit docked on January 1, three of the competitors of Irish Continental Group (ICG) have increased capacity... Read more »

The Hot Water Brigade

Seamus Walsh

The Hot Water Brigade

SÉAMUS WALSH’S STAND-OFFS

MELBOURNE-BASED Irish moneybags Séamus Walsh has been rutting up against Waterford County Council over his latest property venture – beside the beach in Tramore. He is used to disputes, including... Read more »
Noel Smyth

The Hot Water Brigade

NOEL SMYTH’S LATEST LIQUIDATIONS

THE BAD news keeps coming for solicitor-turned-property-developer Noel Smyth, with another raft of his businesses being the subject of creditors’ meetings next week. Dealmaker Smyth (who was Ben Dunne’s legal... Read more »
Noel Kelly

The Hot Water Brigade

NOEL KELLY’S INVESTMENTS

ANOTHER JUDGMENT has just been registered against the Pulse F6 telematics business where a significant backer turns out to be the private investment company controlled by Tipperary moneybags Noel Kelly.... Read more »
hot-water-brigade def

The Hot Water Brigade

GERRY MURPHY’S BAD TIMING

A COMPANY called Brightroom Media is being wound up next week after things turned dark. Behind this fledgling online business was experienced exhibition organiser Gerry Murphy, who has been associated... Read more »