Subscribe Now
October 21 - November 3, 2022
Affairs of the Nation
BERTIE MOVING BACK CENTRE STAGE?
WHY HAS the question of Bertie Ahern re-joining Fianna Fáil suddenly become an issue and why does the former taoiseach appear willing to return to the fold? More to the... Read more »
RANDOX’S RAP ON THE KNUCKLES
THE Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) has issued its latest findings into alleged breaches of its code, including complaints about the seriously profitable Randox operation. After a significant wait,... Read more »
AOIFE GALLAGHER’S INSTITUTE
CONGRATULATIONS TO journalist-turned-analyst Aoife Gallagher, who has managed to generate a huge amount of publicity for her new book, Web of Lies (The Lure and Danger of Conspiracy Theories). She... Read more »
MARY LOU CHILLS OUT MARTIN
MICHEÁL MARTIN, Shane Ross and other journalists have accused Sinn Féin, and Mary Lou McDonald in particular, of having a “chilling… spooked” effect on the media and politicians by suing... Read more »
‘IRISH TIMES’ EDITORIAL WINS OUT
FOR MANY years the commercial side of the house in Tara Street tended to win out over the lofty editorial staff with their crusading self-image. As far back as Douglas... Read more »
FRANCES RUANE’S NEW DRAMA
GOLDHAWK WAS interested to see a tender notice has been published by the Abbey Theatre, seeking applications from consultants to carry out what should prove a most interesting review of... Read more »
CULTURE CLUB
THERE HAS been a flurry of letter writing activity in the Irish Times this month relating to the little-known Irish Banking Culture Board (IBCB), with the main question being, what... Read more »
TEVIAN’S TRAVAILS
A JUDGMENT has just been registered by PR queen Caroline Kennedy against the fabulously named Tevian Mirrelson, who previously came to the attention of the taxman. Mirrelson has an interesting... Read more »
LAW SOCIETY ABSTENTIONISTS
HOW EMBARRASSING. With elections pending to the Law Society Council, members have been informed there will be no such election as not enough solicitors have gone forward for the council.... Read more »
OUT OF AFRICA
IRISH WOMAN Lynn Sheehan has just been appointed head of operations of the EU’s advisory mission in Ukraine. This follows her service as chief of staff at the European Union’s... Read more »
Pillars of Society
PROFILE: CHRISTOPHER HEATON-HARRIS
LIZ TRUSS appointed Christopher Heaton-Harris, an arch eurosceptic, as her secretary of state for Northern Ireland, after others turned down the post. His number... Read more »
The Young Bloods
YOUNG BLOODS: EOGHAN MCNEILL & ROMAN SHORTALL
“All killer, no filler” is how The Ditch’s editorial team of Roman Shortall and Eoghan McNeill describe their modus operandi of publishing stories that... Read more »
Fit to Print?
‘SUNDAY TIMES’ CULTURE CULL
SOMETHING OF a cultural counter-revolution is happening at the Irish edition of the Sunday Times, where new staff to replace the allegedly over-paid literati are moving into the positions recently... Read more »
PLUGGING STEPHEN COLLINS
HOPEFULLY PUBLIC ennui with Brexit will not diminish sales of the recently published book, Ireland’s Call: Navigating Brexit, by Irish Times columnist and former political editor Stephen Collins. The newspaper... Read more »
RTÉ’S NEW CHAIR
THE SHORTLIST of applicants to replace the chair of the RTÉ board, Moya Doherty, is down to three: super successful broadcaster and digital innovator Mark Little; highly effective tax avoidance... Read more »
Last Refuge
FIANNA FÁIL MARCH ON DUBLIN
MICHEÁL MARTIN has hit on a devilishly clever plan to boost Fianna Fáil’s alarmingly low support base in Dublin, with its recent ard fheis confirming poll ratings and other evidence... Read more »
MARY, MARY AGAIN CONTRARY?
MARY HANAFIN may be poised to perform a political Lazarus act and attempt a return in Dún Laoghaire at the next general election, according to alarming (for Fianna Fáil leader... Read more »
TIMMY DOOLEY’S HEALTH WARNING
THAT MOST persecuted section of society, senior HSE managers, were ambushed by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbench TDs last June, according to a recent Sunday Independent report. A brief... Read more »
DEIRDRE OF THE SORROWS
IS COUNCILLOR Deirdre Conroy some sort of political masochist? As a Fianna Fáil by-election candidate in Dublin Bay South (DBS) last year, Conroy managed to pull in 4.6% of the... Read more »
Hush Hush
ENOCH BURKE PROTESTERS
ENOCH BURKE is now well into his second month in prison after he breached an injunction instructing him to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School, where he works as a... Read more »
Bog Cuttings
BOG CUTTINGS
‘SMIRKING’ KARATE KID Speaking at Ennis District Court, Judge Mary Larkin wondered whether a “smirking” defendant who verbally abused gardaí, threatening to “karate kick” them, might be “cured” by a... Read more »
Fowl Emissions
WHO BOMBED NORD STREAM?
Last month’s sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea was another godsend for the captains of the US gas industry who had surely thought things just couldn’t... Read more »
OSSIAN SMYTH’S DATA ISLAND
The CEPA energy security review commissioned by Eamon Ryan stresses the urgent need to reduce Ireland’s energy consumption and politely notes that data centres are the “main driver” as demand... Read more »
The Hot Air Brigade
THE HOT AIR BRIGADE
I don’t say “Up the ‘RA” because I think it diminishes and collapses complex things into an edgy soundbite. Una Mullally, Irish Times I am good at getting focused and... Read more »
High Society
BRENDAN’S BLING
LAST MONTH Blanchardstown shopping centre got a taste of bling when cosmetics entrepreneur Brendan McDowell shipped in the 2022 Love Island bombshell winner, the suitably glamorous Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, for the... Read more »
RACHEL FLYNN’S SWEET DEAL
INTERESTING TO see a filing in the Companies Office showing that food investment firm BiaVest pumped €700,000 into former Vogue magazine digital marketing exec Rachel Flynn and hubby Brian Nolan’s... Read more »
DANIELLE RYAN’S LATEST FOUNDATION
GOLDHAWK was interested to come across an outfit called The Form Foundation, which turns out to be the latest arty incarnation for busy actor, businesswoman, philanthropist and multimillionaire Danielle Ryan... Read more »
Behind the Scenes
VIRGIN’S ‘VANISHING TRIANGLE’
GIVEN THE popularity of the ‘true crime’ genre, including efforts “based on a true story”, it’s perhaps not surprising that the disappearances of some young women in Ireland’s so-called ‘vanishing... Read more »
CATHERINE MARTIN’S MUSEUM PIECES
AFTER 15 months, arts minister Catherine Martin has finally got around to filling the vacancies on the board of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI), coincidentally during the Dublin Festival... Read more »
Sport of Kings
JOHN EGAN’S APOLOGY
VETERAN IRISH jockey John Egan has enjoyed something of a renaissance in his riding career over the past few seasons in Britain, where he has also been helping to mould... Read more »
O’CALLAGHAN’S CRYPTO LOSS
TRAINING FOR Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing delivers access to some top-class horses but it also brings plenty of headaches when it comes to dealing with the boss’s erratic behaviour. Curragh... Read more »
PHOTO FINISH FOR TITLE
JOCKEY COLIN Keane started the flat season back in March as the heavy favourite to land his third champion title in a row but he clearly has a fight on... Read more »
MAGNANIMOUS MAGNIER
GIVEN THE focus on high inflation figures and the impact on the cost of living, it is unclear to some observers whether the amount of money being paid for flat... Read more »
Books
HAVEN – EMMA DONOGHUE
WHILE SHE has written successfully in many genres over the past 20 years, Emma Donoghue has repeatedly turned to historical fiction. Her latest novel is an imagined story about the... Read more »
Moneybags
IMPRESSIVE DALATA RESULTS DON’T IMPRESS MARKET
AFTER DALATA Hotel Group founder Pat McCann exited the company last year, the reins were handed over to Dermot Crowley. The market is starting to see the impact of the... Read more »
END OF THE (PIPE) LINE FOR PETRONEFT?
IN 2006 Denis Francis floated off Petroneft Resources, with its focus on exploring for oil in the Tomsk Oblast region of central Siberia. The company seemed to manage reasonably well... Read more »
The Hot Water Brigade
MIKE WEBSTER’S ‘BRIGHT FUTURE’
THINGS CAN change pretty fast in the tourism business as Mike Webster, chief executive and founder of Killarney-headquartered hotel booking engine Arvoia, can surely attest. In April this year, a... Read more »
PAUL HOWARD’S PAIN
BETWEEN FORGETFUL politicians failing to declare rental income and the usual bleating before last month’s Budget 2023 about the ‘exodus’ of small, private landlords from the market, there has been... Read more »
CLAYTON LOVE’S HAT-TRICK
LAST WEEK’S liquidation of Piton Properties Ltd (PPL) represents the third strike for Cork merchant prince Clayton Love, Neill Love and Sarah Cronin. Earlier this year, Blackpool Developments Ltd was... Read more »
FIONA MCHUGH’S DISAPPOINTING DISH
FORMER SUNDAY TIMES editor Fiona McHugh continues to have unhappy experiences with her own businesses, with the liquidation of a Rathmines restaurant and bar her latest setback. McHugh was previously... Read more »
ENDA WOODS’S ‘GLASS BOX’
GOLDHAWK’S EYE was caught by an increasingly costly planning dispute in leafy Killiney between private equity titan Enda Woods of Signature Capital and a couple of his high-flying legal eagle... Read more »
CARTOONS 4111-01
CARTOONS 4111-02
CARTOONS 4111-03
CARTOONS 4111-04
CARTOONS 4111-05
