Affairs of the Nation

Mary Lou McDonald

Affairs of the Nation

MARY LOU’S NON-APOLOGY

THE WORLD’S press, including most of the Irish media, rushed to poor judgment about Mary Lou McDonald’s non-apology last Sunday for the IRA’s 1979 killing of Lord Mountbatten. But if... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

RICHARD CORRIGAN’S DIVIDENDS

MOUTHY CELEBRITY chef Richard Corrigan has plenty to shout about as customers flock back to expensive restaurants in London. Accounts for 2019 signed off at the end of last month... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

JAMES GOUGH’S LIBEL ACTION

BUSINESSMAN, BLUESHIRT and racehorse owner James Gough is building up quite a track record in the litigation stakes, with his most recent target being the Sunday Times. The latest legal... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Simon Coveney

Affairs of the Nation

IRELAND’S SECRET MILITARY PLANS

AN ARTICLE in the Defence Forces Review 2020 has caused a spat between its authors, the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence over charges that the latter micro-manages and stifles the... Read more »
Ranjit Boparan

Affairs of the Nation

‘CHICKEN KING’ BOPARAN

A COMPANY called Ilderstone Ltd has just been liquidated. This turns out to be an entity linked to the Harry Ramsden’s outlets in Ireland, a business until recently owned by... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

DAVID KENNEDY’S CASE

THIS WEEK will see the eagerly awaited 2020 annual report from the controversial Datalex firm. The impact of developments in China will be of particular interest to investors. Separately, Dermot... Read more »
Alastair Adair

Affairs of the Nation

THEY HAVEN’T GONE AWAY, YOU KNOW

THE GOOD Friday Agreement was signed almost a quarter of a century ago, with one of its key commitments that the north would be demilitarised. To some extent this has... Read more »
Damian O'Reilly

Affairs of the Nation

DOWN ON THE FARMERS

WHATEVER ELSE you might say about RTÉ, it does take impartiality seriously. You would be generally hard pressed to say for sure how its presenters personally feel about the topics... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Sarah McInerney

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: SARAH MCINERNEY

IS SARAH McINERNEY really a cross between Martha Gellhorn and Kate Adie? Or is she a competent journalist who struck it lucky by being,... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Tom Gleeson

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: TOM GLEESON

TOM GLEESON’S burger joint Bunsen recently issued High Court proceedings to block Dublin City Council from interfering with its food collection point in Ranelagh,... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Prince Philip

Fit to Print?

ON AN ASS IN STEPHEN’S GREEN

ISN’T IT time the London based Sunday Times filled the editor’s post at its Aawrish edition – vacant since Frank Fitzgibbon announced his retirement last October – with a trusted Irish journalist?... Read more »
Diageo Dana An Garda Síochána IT Trust No Stone Unturned Irish Times Black Friday Vicky Conway

Fit to Print?

FORBES’S FOIBLES

FORBES MAGAZINE obviously values its reputation as one of the most authoritative financial publications in the world. This helps to explain why the mag dumped all over Stephen McBride, the... Read more »
Eoghan Harris

Fit to Print?

MICHEÁL’S FOURTH ESTATE DESERTERS

AN ALARMING development for beleaguered taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader, Micheál Martin, is that his long-time media champions have begun to desert him with the biggest, or loudest, loss appearing... Read more »

Last Refuge

President Higgins

Last Refuge

PRESIDENT’S UNCIVIL LINE ON CENTENARIES

THE LOOMNG centenaries of the Treaty and Civil War are causing tremors among various politicians, especially those in Fine Gael and especially also because of President Higgins’s trenchant views on... Read more »
Neale Richmond

Last Refuge

RICHMOND’S ROAD TO TOP OF GREASY POLE

THE SCENT of long-term leadership ambition wafts from the utterances and persona of Neale Richmond, Fine Gael TD for Dublin Rathdown, who has made headlines with his call for the... Read more »
Stephen Donnelly

Last Refuge

DONNELLY’S ROLLERCOASTER

HOW DID Stephen Donnelly go from zero to hero and back again to zero in a fortnight? When the health minister sensibly proposed to extend the mandatory quarantine list of... Read more »
Leo Varadkar

Last Refuge

IRELAND’S WAR GAMES IN AFRICA

THE ONLY article among 29 contributions in the Defence Forces Review 2020 that does not openly support or presume Ireland’s integration into an EU armed force concerns our involvement in... Read more »

Northwind

Nigel Dodds

Northwind

DUP BOYCOTTS GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT

THE DUP is boycotting Strand Two of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) – north south institutions – and may extend the boycott to Strand Three – east-west. So far Arlene... Read more »

Hush Hush

John Douglas

Hush Hush

HOW TO RECRUIT INFORMANTS

THE DREGS of loyalist paramilitaries took a break in recent weeks from selling drugs on an industrial scale to rage against borders in the Irish Sea. However, this was in... Read more »
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Hush Hush

STEFAN HALLENIUS’S LOSSES

PUBLISHERS ARE among those struggling with Covid and Stefan Hallenius finds himself in the front line. He entered the Irish publishing world with the freesheet Totally Dublin in 2004 and,... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

‘Slapped Bare Backside’ Patrick Lynch (18) appeared before Buncrana District Court to face numerous charges of dangerous driving. The defendant, of Inch Road, Burnfoot, came to the attention of gardaí... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Tom Fitzpatrick

Fowl Emissions

‘EXAMINER’ SEES RED ON GREEN COLUMN

IT’S ALWAYS a little embarrassing when a newspaper removes an opinion column from its online edition after publication. Embarrassing both for the journalist and the editors. Even more so when... Read more »
Climate Disinformation Coillte Climate Action EU Livestock NDC Claude Etchelamendy Ed Brophy Richard Boyd-Barrett Kish Dale Crammond Frank Mitloehner Shell Greenwashing Meta Data Centres Ireland

Fowl Emissions

WES EDEN’S NEXT ATTEMPT?

THE GOVERNMENT is irrelevant. That seemed to be a High Court message recently, when Judge Garrett Simons agreed with barristers for Eamon Ryan’s department that, under the 2015 Climate Act,... Read more »

Clerical Errors

Bishop Denis Nulty

Clerical Errors

BISHOP NULTY AND TAKING THE FALL

HE IS now known as Bishop Denis, the feminist menace. Denis Nulty, the twitter-loving Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin, is one of a new breed of lace-loving ultra-conservative prelates who deploy... Read more »
Niall Meehan

Clerical Errors

ECUMENICAL ERRORS

AN INTERESTING story about a Protestant woman’s High Court challenge to the report of the Commission on Mother and Baby homes centres on her claim that it misidentifies her as... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Jon Williams

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

That’s what Prime Time’s new look – and its new set – is designed to do. To help us explain what’s really going on and get answers to important questions.... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Lars and Caroline Bjoerk

High Society

LARS BJOERK’S LIECHTENSTEIN LOANS

THE FORMER owners of Dollanstown Stud in Co Meath have moved to strike off the company behind the operation. It is clear that running... Read more »

High Society

Consuelo O’Connor

High Society

FRAGRANT FAREWELL

SO FAREWELL then International Cosmetic & Fragrances (ICF), part of the cosmetics business developed here by German businessman Claus Michel. The move to dissolve... Read more »

High Society

Helen McAlinden

High Society

HELEN McALINDEN’S BOTTOM LINE

EVERY SO often, Irish fashion designers pop up in the media with some words of wisdom for the locals. The latest to take a pop is Helen McAlinden, who “provides... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Gerry O'Brien

Behind the Scenes

GERRY O’BRIEN’S SEQUEL

IT IS safe to say that the ‘Irish Film Agreement’ inked by Irish Actors Equity and Screen Producers Ireland (SPI) won’t be winning script awards anytime soon. The spear-carriers of... Read more »
Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

Behind the Scenes

OPEN CALL WINNERS

WHILE ARTS minister Catherine Martin has been throwing millions of euro at the arts during the pandemic, the Arts Council has also been getting in on the act, and this... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Michael O'Leary

Sport of Kings

O’LEARY PROVES POINT

AS IF Michael and Eddie O’Leary needed another opportunity to annoy the wider racing community, then their recent handling of Tiger Roll served such a purpose. Their well-publicised spat with... Read more »
Douglas Taylor

Sport of Kings

DOUG’S ROLL OF THE DICE

A SURPRISE name among the entries for Punchestown this year is the grade 1 winning mare Laurina, who was retired from racing by her former trainer Paul Nicholls last winter.... Read more »
Rachael Blackmore

Sport of Kings

GAME ON FOR BLACKMORE

AS THE jumps season draws to a close, there is one final task to be achieved by wonder jockey Rachael Blackmore – to win the jockeys’ championship. It looked like... Read more »
Michael O'Callaghan

Sport of Kings

MICHAEL O’CALLAGHAN FLIES THE FLAG

A SIZEABLE cohort of Irish horse traders drew a collective sigh of relief after the first Breeze Up sale of the season took place in Newmarket. With 90% of horses... Read more »

Reviews

Mario Rosenstock podcast

Podcasts

THE MARIO ROSENSTOCK PODCAST

LAST AUTUMN saw the cancellation of Mario Rosenstock’s Today FM show, Mario’s Sunday Roast, due to – in the comic’s own words – “circumstances beyond my control”. The “circumstances” appeared... Read more »

Books

THE ART OF FALLING – DANIELLE McLOUGHLIN

ONE OF Danielle McLoughlin’s writing strengths comes from her powerful depictions of everyday life, often with undertones of sinister uncertainty. This was evident in Dinosaurs on Other Planets, her 2015... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Gary Morrison

Moneybags

HOSTELWORLD PRIMED FOR 2022 BOUNCEBACK

IT LOOKED bad for Hostelworld when it released its 2020 results revealing a loss of a whopping €50m on the back of an 80%... Read more »

Moneybags

Albert Manifold

Moneybags

‘GLOBAL’ CRH CONTINUES TO SHRINK

MAYBE SOMEBODY should tell CEO Albert Manifold to stop claiming “CRH is the leading global building materials business in the world”. In fact, the... Read more »

Brief Cases

25 Wellington Road

Brief Cases

PAUL HOURICAN’S RENT ROLL

LAST YEAR a little noticed legal row over the sale of a €3m pile on Wellington Road D4 was quietly settled. The plaintiff here turns out to be a company... Read more »
Paul Holden

Brief Cases

THE HOLDENS’ GYM WORKOUT

AMONG THE businesses banjaxed by Covid-19 are gyms, and one high-profile player here, Ben Dunne, has been in retrenchment mode. Oddly, a company he controlled until earlier this year is... Read more »
Jim Durie

Brief Cases

ÉNERGIE SAPPING

THE GYM business continues to find it difficult during the pandemic and a number of unhealthy looking outfits haven’t been able to get back into shape. One of these is... Read more »
Natale Ferrara

Brief Cases

NATALE FERRARA’S IRISH OUTFIT

WITH BITCOIN and other cryptocurrencies attracting a significant boost in value in recent weeks, it is interesting to look at an operation incorporated here to provide Italian investors with a... Read more »