Affairs of the Nation

Munira Mirza

Affairs of the Nation

BORIS JOHNSON’S ‘BRAIN’

THAT BORIS Johnson’s government should include mandarin Sue Gray, a top level member of the ‘deep state’ (see The Phoenix, 28/1/22), may not surprise everybody. But that Boris has in recent... Read more »
Budget Jack Chambers Nicki Minaj B’Tselem Phil Hogan UCD IRTA DIGI Katy Brown Rory Godson Pallonji Mistry Shark Hanlon Frances Ruane Taste of Dublin Listowel Writers’ Week Paddy Curran Harvey Norman Anton Savage Paul Hourican Enda O’Coineen PfP Red C Poll IFTA Ben Gilroy Luke Comer Sue Spence Fingleton Aubrey McCarthy Matt Cooper Parker Green Danny McConnell Gayle Killilea Maura Derivan Ed Honohan INS Arts Council EDAF Emuse Rosslare Golf Club Mairead Casey Colm O’Rourke Stephen Connolly Peter Aiken John Malone Tom Barry Anthony Halpin Ian Kehoe Kevin Bakhurst Geraldine O’Leary Dennis Horgan RUSI Gareth McAllister Ryevale House Joe Macken RUC Omagh Patrick Connolly Paddy Cosgrave The Ditch Newstalk Fake Tan Fred Logue Ian Paisley Sean O’Riordan Margaret Sweeney Jay Bourke Ellie Kisyombe Francesca McDonagh Ted Cunningham National Space Centre An Irish Goodbye Oscar Robert Quirke Ciara Kelly Executive Women Gathering Doug Taylor Florian Haufe Robbie Henshaw Bill Shipsey Breaking the Silence L’Ecrivain Ronan McNally National Lottery Michael Roche Energy Action Balls.ie Newspapers VAT Abbey Theatre Patricia Madden Irish Banking Culture Board Randox Aoife Gallagher Book Dalai Lama Trinity Trevor White RTÉ Chairperson Shane Houlihan Noel Smyth IKC Bob Geldof Landlord Ireland Neutrality Ukraine

Affairs of the Nation

WAITING ON CATHERINE MARTIN

WITH THE terms expired for a half-dozen members of the Arts Council (AC), minister Catherine Martin is taking her time about putting her stamp on the agency. Four months after... Read more »
Budget Jack Chambers Nicki Minaj B’Tselem Phil Hogan UCD IRTA DIGI Katy Brown Rory Godson Pallonji Mistry Shark Hanlon Frances Ruane Taste of Dublin Listowel Writers’ Week Paddy Curran Harvey Norman Anton Savage Paul Hourican Enda O’Coineen PfP Red C Poll IFTA Ben Gilroy Luke Comer Sue Spence Fingleton Aubrey McCarthy Matt Cooper Parker Green Danny McConnell Gayle Killilea Maura Derivan Ed Honohan INS Arts Council EDAF Emuse Rosslare Golf Club Mairead Casey Colm O’Rourke Stephen Connolly Peter Aiken John Malone Tom Barry Anthony Halpin Ian Kehoe Kevin Bakhurst Geraldine O’Leary Dennis Horgan RUSI Gareth McAllister Ryevale House Joe Macken RUC Omagh Patrick Connolly Paddy Cosgrave The Ditch Newstalk Fake Tan Fred Logue Ian Paisley Sean O’Riordan Margaret Sweeney Jay Bourke Ellie Kisyombe Francesca McDonagh Ted Cunningham National Space Centre An Irish Goodbye Oscar Robert Quirke Ciara Kelly Executive Women Gathering Doug Taylor Florian Haufe Robbie Henshaw Bill Shipsey Breaking the Silence L’Ecrivain Ronan McNally National Lottery Michael Roche Energy Action Balls.ie Newspapers VAT Abbey Theatre Patricia Madden Irish Banking Culture Board Randox Aoife Gallagher Book Dalai Lama Trinity Trevor White RTÉ Chairperson Shane Houlihan Noel Smyth IKC Bob Geldof Landlord Ireland Neutrality Ukraine

Affairs of the Nation

AGAIN, MARIAN

CONGRATULATIONS to super scribe Marian Keyes, who managed to generate a whirlwind of publicity just ahead of the publication of her latest novel. It is fair to say that her... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Sean O'Rourke

Affairs of the Nation

WHITHER SEAN O’ROURKE?

RTÉ BROADCASTER Sean O’Rourke was, presumably, one of those referred to by Judge Mary Fahy when she noted in her golfgate judgment that “a lot of very good people lost... Read more »
Eirenne Carroll

Affairs of the Nation

TENI’S REPEAT PERFORMANCE

IT’S A case of déjà vu at Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI). The lobbying group (chaired by Sara R Phillips) is once again late at filing its accounts, despite its... Read more »
Public Sector mag

Affairs of the Nation

JOHN HOGAN’S BUSINESS ‘AWARDS’

IT HAS been a hectic start to 2022 for publisher John Hogan and his business partner, US-based Tommy Quinn, who found their publishing operation’s ‘awards’ at the centre of a... Read more »
Colette Connolly

Affairs of the Nation

BACKPEDALING IN GALWAY

HOPES OF persuading some of the good citizens of Galway to leave their cars at home took a bit of a battering in recent weeks as city councillors took to... Read more »
Sinead Gibney

Affairs of the Nation

BALLAD OF DISREGARDING JAIL

FORMER CHAIRPERSON of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) Kieran Rose was one of those who welcomed the appointment of Sinéad Gibney as chief commissioner of the Irish Human... Read more »
National Party (South Africa)

Affairs of the Nation

EMBLEMATIC CONCERNS

GOLDHAWK NOTES that a complaint has recently been lodged with clerk of the Dáil Peter Finnegan by Donegal councillor Micheal Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig in relation to the right-wing National... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Simon Coveney

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: SIMON COVENEY

UNTIL RECENTLY the presumption inside and outside Fine Gael was that if any disaster – political or legal – should befall Leo Varadkar that... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Randal Plunkett

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOODS: RANDAL PLUNKETT

SO-CALLED nobleman turned eco-warrior Randal Plunkett – aka the 21st Baron of Dunsany – has garnered bucketloads of fawning media attention for the environmentally... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Peter Vandermeersch Mediahuis Awards

Fit to Print?

MEDIAHUIS SULKS OVER MEDIA AWARDS

WITH ETHICAL and egalitarian precepts in mind Newsbrands Ireland Journalism Awards were reorganised last year in a laudable effort to achieve balance, fairness etc. However, the results of this new... Read more »
Recent 'Indo' front page

Fit to Print?

PRICEY SEASONAL GESTURES

NEWSPAPER HEADLINES about soaring inflation – ‘highest in EU’ etc – are apt given the contribution of the newspaper owners themselves to this crisis over the cost of living with... Read more »
Budget Jack Chambers Nicki Minaj B’Tselem Phil Hogan UCD IRTA DIGI Katy Brown Rory Godson Pallonji Mistry Shark Hanlon Frances Ruane Taste of Dublin Listowel Writers’ Week Paddy Curran Harvey Norman Anton Savage Paul Hourican Enda O’Coineen PfP Red C Poll IFTA Ben Gilroy Luke Comer Sue Spence Fingleton Aubrey McCarthy Matt Cooper Parker Green Danny McConnell Gayle Killilea Maura Derivan Ed Honohan INS Arts Council EDAF Emuse Rosslare Golf Club Mairead Casey Colm O’Rourke Stephen Connolly Peter Aiken John Malone Tom Barry Anthony Halpin Ian Kehoe Kevin Bakhurst Geraldine O’Leary Dennis Horgan RUSI Gareth McAllister Ryevale House Joe Macken RUC Omagh Patrick Connolly Paddy Cosgrave The Ditch Newstalk Fake Tan Fred Logue Ian Paisley Sean O’Riordan Margaret Sweeney Jay Bourke Ellie Kisyombe Francesca McDonagh Ted Cunningham National Space Centre An Irish Goodbye Oscar Robert Quirke Ciara Kelly Executive Women Gathering Doug Taylor Florian Haufe Robbie Henshaw Bill Shipsey Breaking the Silence L’Ecrivain Ronan McNally National Lottery Michael Roche Energy Action Balls.ie Newspapers VAT Abbey Theatre Patricia Madden Irish Banking Culture Board Randox Aoife Gallagher Book Dalai Lama Trinity Trevor White RTÉ Chairperson Shane Houlihan Noel Smyth IKC Bob Geldof Landlord Ireland Neutrality Ukraine

Fit to Print?

‘SUN’ SUBS SACKED

CUTS AT the Irish edition of the Sunday Times have for years attracted attention as well as causing strife between Irish editorial colonials in Dublin and their superiors at the... Read more »

Last Refuge

Leo Varadkar

Last Refuge

GENDERGATE PANICS BLUESHIRTS

OH DEAR, Goldhawk’s predictions two years ago that a simmering row within Fine Gael over mandatory staff retirement at 65 would bubble over seems to be coming to pass. Of... Read more »
Budget Jack Chambers Nicki Minaj B’Tselem Phil Hogan UCD IRTA DIGI Katy Brown Rory Godson Pallonji Mistry Shark Hanlon Frances Ruane Taste of Dublin Listowel Writers’ Week Paddy Curran Harvey Norman Anton Savage Paul Hourican Enda O’Coineen PfP Red C Poll IFTA Ben Gilroy Luke Comer Sue Spence Fingleton Aubrey McCarthy Matt Cooper Parker Green Danny McConnell Gayle Killilea Maura Derivan Ed Honohan INS Arts Council EDAF Emuse Rosslare Golf Club Mairead Casey Colm O’Rourke Stephen Connolly Peter Aiken John Malone Tom Barry Anthony Halpin Ian Kehoe Kevin Bakhurst Geraldine O’Leary Dennis Horgan RUSI Gareth McAllister Ryevale House Joe Macken RUC Omagh Patrick Connolly Paddy Cosgrave The Ditch Newstalk Fake Tan Fred Logue Ian Paisley Sean O’Riordan Margaret Sweeney Jay Bourke Ellie Kisyombe Francesca McDonagh Ted Cunningham National Space Centre An Irish Goodbye Oscar Robert Quirke Ciara Kelly Executive Women Gathering Doug Taylor Florian Haufe Robbie Henshaw Bill Shipsey Breaking the Silence L’Ecrivain Ronan McNally National Lottery Michael Roche Energy Action Balls.ie Newspapers VAT Abbey Theatre Patricia Madden Irish Banking Culture Board Randox Aoife Gallagher Book Dalai Lama Trinity Trevor White RTÉ Chairperson Shane Houlihan Noel Smyth IKC Bob Geldof Landlord Ireland Neutrality Ukraine

Last Refuge

COMRADES GREALISH AND MCDOWELL

IT WAS only right and fitting that Michael McDowell should travel west to tell Judge Mary Fahy to dismiss the ‘golfgate’ charges against his client Noel Grealish TD, his old... Read more »
Mary Lou McDonald

Last Refuge

WHO WILL SF COALESCE WITH?

SUNDAY INDEPENDENT pundit Jody Corcoran appears to have given up at last on both Fianna Fáil and taoiseach, Micheál Martin in his latest analysis of the newspaper’s own poll by... Read more »
Dara Calleary

Last Refuge

CALLEARY TO BE REINSTATED?

THE APPARENT acceptance by media following the freeing of the Golfgate Four that former minister Dara Calleary could be reappointed to cabinet by Micheál Martin later this year is surprising.... Read more »

Northwind

Liz Truss

Northwind

DUP AND LOYALISTS COMBINE

A FEW weeks ago Joe Joyce and Michael McDowell were getting hot under the collar in the Irish Times about outside, unelected people influencing Sinn Féin policy and querying who... Read more »

Hush Hush

Geraldine Byrne Nason

Hush Hush

IS IRELAND NEUTRAL IN MALI?

AFTER TWO coups in Mali since June 2020 the country’s present junta is now looking to push out military forces associated with both the United Nations and the European Union,... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

‘Ya Gomie’ Midleton District Court heard the case of two men who were arrested for being threatening and abusive towards gardaí. Sgt Kelleher told the court that the guards were... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Joe Duffy

Fowl Emissions

JOE DUFFY AND GRETA THUNBERG

COMMON SENSE, as Albert Einstein put it, is “the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen”. Joe Duffy, 66, the voice of the people, is RTÉ’s third highest paid presenter,... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

ÉANNA NÍ LÉANNA’S ENDORSEMENT

GREENWASHING EFFORTS by fossil fuel interests aimed at kids have gone into overdrive. Fuel retailer Applegreen has jumped on the bandwagon with a new competition called ‘BioDive’ aimed at getting... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Stephanie Priessner

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

There’s an argument for travel being covered under health insurance – it really can be a salve on a wounded psyche. Stephanie Preissner, on her family holiday in Abu Dhabi,... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Kim Nemser

High Society

BACKING THE BOTOX BROTHERS

WITH RESTRICTIONS lifted lots of businesses will be waiting to see if Covid has changed habits; one of these is the SISU chain of... Read more »

High Society

Budget Jack Chambers Nicki Minaj B’Tselem Phil Hogan UCD IRTA DIGI Katy Brown Rory Godson Pallonji Mistry Shark Hanlon Frances Ruane Taste of Dublin Listowel Writers’ Week Paddy Curran Harvey Norman Anton Savage Paul Hourican Enda O’Coineen PfP Red C Poll IFTA Ben Gilroy Luke Comer Sue Spence Fingleton Aubrey McCarthy Matt Cooper Parker Green Danny McConnell Gayle Killilea Maura Derivan Ed Honohan INS Arts Council EDAF Emuse Rosslare Golf Club Mairead Casey Colm O’Rourke Stephen Connolly Peter Aiken John Malone Tom Barry Anthony Halpin Ian Kehoe Kevin Bakhurst Geraldine O’Leary Dennis Horgan RUSI Gareth McAllister Ryevale House Joe Macken RUC Omagh Patrick Connolly Paddy Cosgrave The Ditch Newstalk Fake Tan Fred Logue Ian Paisley Sean O’Riordan Margaret Sweeney Jay Bourke Ellie Kisyombe Francesca McDonagh Ted Cunningham National Space Centre An Irish Goodbye Oscar Robert Quirke Ciara Kelly Executive Women Gathering Doug Taylor Florian Haufe Robbie Henshaw Bill Shipsey Breaking the Silence L’Ecrivain Ronan McNally National Lottery Michael Roche Energy Action Balls.ie Newspapers VAT Abbey Theatre Patricia Madden Irish Banking Culture Board Randox Aoife Gallagher Book Dalai Lama Trinity Trevor White RTÉ Chairperson Shane Houlihan Noel Smyth IKC Bob Geldof Landlord Ireland Neutrality Ukraine

High Society

JOHN BYRNE’S SMOOTH RIDE

CONGRATULATIONS TO Ballsbridge-based moneybags John Byrne, who is in the saddle at the hugely valuable property empire built up by his father John Byrne... Read more »

High Society

John Collison

High Society

SAVING MILLBROOK HOUSE

GOLDHAWK WAS interested to see that billionaire brothers John and Patrick Collison have spent some loose change (€400,000) to buy the dilapidated Millbrook House, a stone’s throw from the rather... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Sean Rainbird

Behind the Scenes

RAINBIRD’S SUCCESSOR?

FANS OF Goldhawk will not be surprised to see that arts minister Catherine Martin continues to allow the board of the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI) limp along with depleted... Read more »
Budget Jack Chambers Nicki Minaj B’Tselem Phil Hogan UCD IRTA DIGI Katy Brown Rory Godson Pallonji Mistry Shark Hanlon Frances Ruane Taste of Dublin Listowel Writers’ Week Paddy Curran Harvey Norman Anton Savage Paul Hourican Enda O’Coineen PfP Red C Poll IFTA Ben Gilroy Luke Comer Sue Spence Fingleton Aubrey McCarthy Matt Cooper Parker Green Danny McConnell Gayle Killilea Maura Derivan Ed Honohan INS Arts Council EDAF Emuse Rosslare Golf Club Mairead Casey Colm O’Rourke Stephen Connolly Peter Aiken John Malone Tom Barry Anthony Halpin Ian Kehoe Kevin Bakhurst Geraldine O’Leary Dennis Horgan RUSI Gareth McAllister Ryevale House Joe Macken RUC Omagh Patrick Connolly Paddy Cosgrave The Ditch Newstalk Fake Tan Fred Logue Ian Paisley Sean O’Riordan Margaret Sweeney Jay Bourke Ellie Kisyombe Francesca McDonagh Ted Cunningham National Space Centre An Irish Goodbye Oscar Robert Quirke Ciara Kelly Executive Women Gathering Doug Taylor Florian Haufe Robbie Henshaw Bill Shipsey Breaking the Silence L’Ecrivain Ronan McNally National Lottery Michael Roche Energy Action Balls.ie Newspapers VAT Abbey Theatre Patricia Madden Irish Banking Culture Board Randox Aoife Gallagher Book Dalai Lama Trinity Trevor White RTÉ Chairperson Shane Houlihan Noel Smyth IKC Bob Geldof Landlord Ireland Neutrality Ukraine

Behind the Scenes

DÉSIRÉE’S ‘DIVIDEND’

IT IS 30 years since Michael Twee Higgins launched the film and TV tax break, now known as Section 481. The scheme is supposedly targeted at productions that are “of... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Ana O'Brien

Sport of Kings

ANA O’BRIEN’S BIG SALES DAY

WITH BOTH Joseph and Donnacha O’Brien opting to steer their career down the same track as their parents, Aidan and Annemarie O’Brien, it is now the turn of another sibling... Read more »
Budget Jack Chambers Nicki Minaj B’Tselem Phil Hogan UCD IRTA DIGI Katy Brown Rory Godson Pallonji Mistry Shark Hanlon Frances Ruane Taste of Dublin Listowel Writers’ Week Paddy Curran Harvey Norman Anton Savage Paul Hourican Enda O’Coineen PfP Red C Poll IFTA Ben Gilroy Luke Comer Sue Spence Fingleton Aubrey McCarthy Matt Cooper Parker Green Danny McConnell Gayle Killilea Maura Derivan Ed Honohan INS Arts Council EDAF Emuse Rosslare Golf Club Mairead Casey Colm O’Rourke Stephen Connolly Peter Aiken John Malone Tom Barry Anthony Halpin Ian Kehoe Kevin Bakhurst Geraldine O’Leary Dennis Horgan RUSI Gareth McAllister Ryevale House Joe Macken RUC Omagh Patrick Connolly Paddy Cosgrave The Ditch Newstalk Fake Tan Fred Logue Ian Paisley Sean O’Riordan Margaret Sweeney Jay Bourke Ellie Kisyombe Francesca McDonagh Ted Cunningham National Space Centre An Irish Goodbye Oscar Robert Quirke Ciara Kelly Executive Women Gathering Doug Taylor Florian Haufe Robbie Henshaw Bill Shipsey Breaking the Silence L’Ecrivain Ronan McNally National Lottery Michael Roche Energy Action Balls.ie Newspapers VAT Abbey Theatre Patricia Madden Irish Banking Culture Board Randox Aoife Gallagher Book Dalai Lama Trinity Trevor White RTÉ Chairperson Shane Houlihan Noel Smyth IKC Bob Geldof Landlord Ireland Neutrality Ukraine

Sport of Kings

RELAXED REFERRALS

THE TARDINESS of the procedures at the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) was highlighted again recently when two very minor cases, each one more than two-and-a-half years old, only came... Read more »
Cliodhna Guy

Sport of Kings

CLIODHNA’S HEAVY GOING

IT HAS not been an easy ride so far for IHRB acting CEO Cliodhna Guy, as she comes under pressure from the Public Accounts Committee to deliver on a target... Read more »
Rachael Blackmore

Sport of Kings

RACHAEL’S CHOICE

MANY PUNTERS would have been surprised not to see Rachael Blackmore in the saddle aboard Barry Maloney’s Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Minella Indo when the Henry De Bromhead-trained gelding lined... Read more »

Reviews

doineann

Movies

DOINEANN – DIRECTED BY DAMIAN MCCANN

IT’S ALWAYS somewhat bewildering when advance press releases for a film give prospective audiences vital plot information they either won’t encounter when they see the film, or quickly discover is... Read more »
The raptures

Books

THE RAPTURES – JAN CARSON

THIS IS Jan Carson’s follow-up to The Fire Starters, which portrayed a dystopian view of modern-day east Belfast and its people. The Ballymena writer’s latest novel is more of a... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Ian Ireland

Moneybags

WILL IAN IRELAND OFFLOAD DONEGAL INVESTMENT GROUP?

IAN IRELAND, the CEO at Donegal Investment Group (DIG) – formerly Donegal Creameries – has really impressed over the past decade and a half... Read more »

Moneybags

Urs Jordi

Moneybags

URS JORDI PUTS ARYZTA BACK ON TRACK

THE FIVE-year chairmanship of Aryzta is the gig that Gary McGann may best be remembered for. He oversaw huge equity destruction, with the share... Read more »

Brief Cases

Judge Senan Allen

Brief Cases

WALSH FAMILY’S FOXROCK GOLDMINE

HAVING COME a cropper in the financial crash, Foxrock developer John Walsh and his wife Bronagh are back in the game, with a huge scheme to develop just on 100... Read more »
Ian Lucey

Brief Cases

IAN LUCEY’S CREDITORS’ MEETING

GOLDHAWK’S favourite tech investor Ian Lucey is dealing with more major bugs at one of his companies. Having found himself coming out the wrong end of a High Court battle... Read more »
Michael Kavanagh

Brief Cases

MICHAEL KAVANAGH’S WEALTH PROBLEM

LAST MONTH, a company called Mittand collapsed into liquidation, with Gerard Murphy installed as liquidator. The name may not ring a bell with some of those who had done business... Read more »
Philip Meade Sr

Brief Cases

PHILIP MEADE’S BIG POTATOES

THE AMBITIOUS Philip Meade – Meath’s very own ‘potato king’ – has encountered resistance over plans to develop a vodka distillery on his sprawling Meade Farm enterprise. For the past... Read more »