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March 10 - March 23, 2023
Affairs of the Nation
SUE GRAY STILL TO RUN UK?
THE MOST powerful woman in Britain – according to various British sources – is Sue Gray and she has now emerged as British Labour Party leader Keir Starmer’s chief of... Read more »
CONSULATE’S OSCAR PERFORMANCE
THERE IS one possible result at Sunday’s Oscars that may not be top of the wish list for film funding agency Screen Ireland. While the media coverage has focused on... Read more »
BRENDAN MULLIN SCORES
INTERESTING TO see a judgment for the sum of €163,000 being registered against a property development company by one Brendan Mullin – former Ireland and Lions star outside centre. The... Read more »
Sponsored Content
Empowering Growth: Fibre Connectivity and Cybersecurity for the Digital Era
Reliable high-speed internet is critical for SMEs to remain competitive and operationally efficient. Connectivity powers customer engagement, cloud-based services, remote work capabilities, and digital transformation initiatives. As businesses grow,... Read more »
LITTLE MUSEUM, BIG BRANDS
CLEVER TREVOR WHITE, director of the Little Museum of Dublin, exudes ethical concern for children, climate and other issues as manifest in various ways. Last September White commissioned Irish women’s... Read more »
MODEST ANNE HARRIS
THE HEROISM attributed to TD Catherine Murphy by Anne Harris in the Irish Times this week was a study in selfless endeavour untainted by any egotism or self-interest by the... Read more »
PRINCE KHALED’S IRISH JET
GOLDHAWK WAS interested to see that a colourful Saudi prince, Khaled, who owns the most expensive house in the UK, is currently embroiled in litigation with a company registered in... Read more »
ROBERT QUIRKE’S MALTESE MOOLAH
THE Comptroller and Auditor General’s scathing report into the farce surrounding HSE spending on ventilators in the early days of the Covid pandemic reminded Goldhawk of his old pal, Robert... Read more »
TRICOLOURS AND THE FAR RIGHT
SOME OF the boneheads running the Irish far-right scene have stumbled on the contradictions of cosying up to right-wing extremists and criminals from Blighty such as Tommy Robinson – real... Read more »
BURNING ISSUE
If an outsider were to land in rural Ireland for the first time in recent weeks, what would be their enduring impression of the ‘emerald isle’? Most likely, they would... Read more »
Pillars of Society
PROFILE: EDWARD HORGAN
RECENTLY ACQUITTED of criminal damage to a US navy warplane in Shannon Airport six years ago, the 77-year-old ex-military officer, commandant Edward Horgan, must... Read more »
The Young Bloods
YOUNG BLOODS: NAOMI O’LEARY
THERE’S A new breed of journalist stalking the land – confident, ambitious and committed, with their eyes set firmly on the future. Naomi O’Leary,... Read more »
Mater Private Network Announces €4.5m Investment in Cancer Services in Mid-West Region for 2025
A €4.5m investment in cancer services was outlined at an event celebrating an important treatment milestone of the Halcyon Linac radiotherapy treatment system at Mid-West Radiation Oncology Centre (MWROC)... Read more »
Fit to Print?
‘IRISH TIMES’ CENSORSHIP
THE RECENT statement to the Irish Times from various TDs and senators proposing a peace dialogue in Ukraine was responded to by a sack full of letters, which were overwhelmingly... Read more »
EILIS O’HANLON’S ‘INTERNALISED LOATHING’
THE JOINT committee on children, equality, disability, integration and youth held a discussion on “integration and refugee issues” in the Dáil last month, which attracted the malign attention of some... Read more »
DANA V VIRGIN MEDIA
ONE OF the last defamation actions in the raft of such cases undertaken by Dana following the acquittal on all charges of child abuse against her brother, John Brown, in... Read more »
Last Refuge
SOC DEMS LEADER TO LOSE SEAT?
THE BIG bounce that new Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns gave the party – up five points to 9% – says something about the way in which the two mesdames... Read more »
GREEN PARTY DROPS TRIPLE LOCK
THE FIANNA FÁIL leader and Tánaiste, Micheál Martin, will be pleased with Cabinet colleague Eamon Ryan, who recently persuaded his now-domesticated Green Party members to adapt to modern realities –... Read more »
MICHEÁL MARTIN’S NUCLEAR RECORD
THE 2023 Conference on Disarmament in Geneva last month heard Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister Micheál Martin denounce Russia for its recent pronouncements on nuclear weapons. Days earlier Martin boasted:... Read more »
SINN FÉIN FLEES TO CENTRE
A RECENT statement by left-wing TDs and senators, excluding Sinn Féin, in the Irish Times made the ever so provocative suggestion that Ireland should use its neutral status to call... Read more »
Hush Hush
SWIFT JUSTICE?
FOLLOWING THE shooting of detective chief inspector John Caldwell at Omagh last month, PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne was quite bullish in his claims of how the PSNI would bring... Read more »
Bog Cuttings
BOG CUTTINGS
‘NOT A TAXI SERVICE’ AN INTOXICATED Tullamore man who walked into his local Garda station to ask for a lift found himself arrested instead. Speaking to Tullamore District Court, Sergeant... Read more »
Fowl Emissions
‘GOUGING’ THE EARTH
‘Writing the Earth’ is the catchy title of a programme starting this week at the Irish Writers’ Centre in Dublin, which brings writers and scientists together to explore climate and... Read more »
BERNARD LOONEY’S CLIMATE FIGHT
The Healy-Raes aren’t the only famous Kerry men with a knack for spouting nonsense on climate. The head of oil giant BP, Bernard Looney, who is originally from Kenmare, warned... Read more »
The Hot Air Brigade
THE HOT AIR BRIGADE
When Cairns’ name is mentioned, the first things I always hear – from people of all political affiliations – are almost effusively positive sentiments; “I love her!”, “she’s so great!”,... Read more »
High Society
LAUREN WHELAN’S MANAGERS
RTÉ WAS undoubtedly hoping to attract some of TikTok star Lauren Whelan’s 1.6 million followers when it posted her off to Donegal to acquire... Read more »
JEANNE BAARS’ BELLAIR SALE
GOLDHAWK NOTES that the sprawling Bellair Estate outside Ballycumber village in Co Offaly has been sold, a year after coming on the market with... Read more »
DOMINI KEMP’S NEW RECIPE
THE OPENING of a new Rathmines restaurant called Lottie’s on the site of Fiona McHugh’s shuttered Lenehans eatery is the second venture for Domini Kemp’s Valence Hospitality group, where she... Read more »
Local Business Raising Awareness About the Dangers of Skin Cancer
SUNiRE is the brainchild of Linda Chanders – a wife, mother, and entrepreneur, who faced the life-changing diagnosis of malignant melanoma in 2021. She discovered a small black spot... Read more »
Behind the Scenes
ARTS COUNCIL EXIT
THERE WERE some significant developments in the Arts Council last month, including the sudden exit of council officer Rachel West, probably best known for her stint as head of theatre... Read more »
TERRY MCMAHON’S BROADSIDE
IN THE glut of recent Oscars-inspired media coverage of Irish cinema, fans of Goldhawk will be familiar with the absence of references to Irish performers’ battle to get the same... Read more »
Sport of Kings
THE MORANS CROSS THEIR FINGERS
WITH CHELTENHAM kicking off next week, all those big-spending owners will again battle it out to bag even the one winner that might justify the eye-watering sums being spent on... Read more »
DENIS HOGAN’S GAMBLE
IT IS three years since that controversial race in Dundalk in 2020 when the Denis Hogan-trained stable mates Tony the Gent and Yuften finished first and second in a claiming... Read more »
REUBEN BROTHERS CLOSING IN
THE NEWS that UK outfit Arena Racing Company (ARC) is in advanced negotiations to buy Dundalk racecourse could have interesting implications for the landscape of Irish racecourses if the deal... Read more »
O’BRIEN’S AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE
HAVING PLUNDERED two of Australia’s most iconic races – the Melbourne Cup and the Cox Plate – in recent years, Joseph O’Brien has shipped a strong team down under for... Read more »
Reviews
THE DRY – RTÉ ONE
AS THE nepo-baby debate continues online, it’s ironic that RTÉ’s latest comedy-drama, The Dry, arrives courtesy of writer Nancy Harris, scion of one-time Sindo royalty Anne and Eoghan Harris. While... Read more »
Moneybags
MALIN CORP’S SHARES CONTINUE TO BE UNDERRATED BY MARKET
DARRAGH LYONS has the valuable quality, as far as Malin Corp shareholders are concerned, of being boring. After the rollercoaster ride during Kelly Martin’s... Read more »
SMURFIT KAPPA’S CRAZY PROFITS COMING UNDER PRESSURE
OVER THREE years after Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) copped a huge fine for its role in a price-fixing cartel in the cardboard box market... Read more »
Navigating the Trump Era: Gold as a Harbour in Uncertain Times
This week, Donald Trump’s inauguration marks a significant shift in the global landscape. It also brings some economic uncertainty to Ireland. Numerous institutions and commentators have highlighted the risks... Read more »
Briefcases
BRIAN ORMOND’S MISSTEP
BARELY A year after benefiting from oodles of free advertising in the Irish media, courtesy of gushing articles about Brian Ormond’s move into the footwear business, one of the companies... Read more »
PHARMACISTS’ FINANCIAL HEADACHE
IN RECENT weeks Dermot Twomey’s Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) has been getting its fair share of attention, most notably as a result of the high-profile shortage of many medicines. No... Read more »
DUNCAN STEWART’S MANY HATS
WITH THE critically acclaimed Eco Eye television series jettisoned by RTÉ (see The Phoenix 24/2/23), it may not be too long before presenter and climate activist Duncan Stewart is back... Read more »
CERREJÓN’S IRISH MINING COMPANY CALLS IT A DAY
THE IRISH-registered company that has been the sole marketer of coal from the controversial giant Cerrejón mine on the Colombia-Venezuela border has just been wound up. Not surprisingly, there was... Read more »
A Family Run Hotel – 100 Years of History
Nestled in the heart of Killarney, The Lake Hotel offers a perfect blend of traditional elegance and modern luxury. With its stunning lakeside location, this four-star hotel boasts breathtaking... Read more »
Popular Stories
DERMOT DESMOND’S SMASH
THERE COULD be quite the racket in Old Belvedere Rugby Club next ...
MAURICE REGAN’S LATEST MOVE
GOLDHAWK WAS not overly surprised to see one Maurice Regan riding to ...
DOIREANN GARRIHY’S U-TURN
ANOTHER FAMILIAR name from Dances With The Stars is Doireann Garrihy, who ...
NIALL GUNNE’S BUS CORRIDOR
ONE OF the juicier-looking properties to arrive on the market is a ...
ARCHIVES COUNCIL IN STORAGE
JUST OVER a year on from a leak, which started on the ...
VIRGIN MEDIA’S ‘VIDEO NASTY’
THE CRITICAL reaction to Virgin Media’s TV’s accomplished comedy/horror drama series set ...
DUNDON’S QUICK STEP
HAVING LASTED longer than most predicted, clunky Kevin Dundon’s participation in RTÉ’s ...
HUSBANDS’ CUSTOMERS
LEOPARDSTOWN BOSS Tim Husbands and his team have decided it’s time to ...
HAYES BACK ON TRACK
FOLLOWING HIS 15-month suspension for failing to take proper care of a ...
GATHERING FEEDBACK
LAST MONTH Jessica Drum’s Screen Guilds of Ireland (SGI) – an association ...