Subscribe Now
January 12 - January 25, 2024
Affairs of the Nation
IRISH ARMS TO ISRAEL
IT WAS hardly surprising that little or no fanfare accompanied Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney’s release of the 2022 Annual Report on activity under the Control of... Read more »
NO DRAMA AT THE IRISH TIMES
THIS IS the time of year when the Irish Times announces the various luvvies who have been shortlisted for the annual IT Theatre Awards. That familiar script has been binned,... Read more »
DAVID WHELAN’S DANCE MOVES
THERE WAS the usual hype in the run-up to last weekend’s launch of the latest season of Dancing With the Stars on RTÉ 1 and Goldhawk was struck by the... Read more »
Sponsored Content
XtraPension – Helping Thousands Globally Boost Their UK State Pension
John Ring, Operations Director, XTraPension For many people who previously worked in the UK but then left, the idea of receiving a UK State Pension (SP) feels... Read more »
GOLDEN GLOBES GUFF
WHEN THE heat really came on last year, RTÉ emphasised its news and current affairs output as evidence of its commitment to public service broadcasting. Its Six-One News coverage, however,... Read more »
PRINCESS COLONNA’S NEIGHBOUR
FANS OF Goldhawk with long memories will recall that the Clonmannon retirement village in Ashford, Co Wicklow was bought out of liquidation in the 1990s by Roddy and Jane McGrath,... Read more »
MARY LOU BETS THE HOUSE ON IT
THE MOST interesting item in last weekend’s Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks opinion poll was not the 1% rise in those who prioritised immigration but instead the focus on the housing crisis... Read more »
DONALDSON RETREATS AGAIN
THE BACKLASH over the Irish Government’s case against the British government’s legacy act began with ex-northern secretary Brandon Lewis making a full-frontal assault against Dublin at the end of December... Read more »
FINTAN O’TOOLE ON ISRAEL
A RATHER Jesuitical argument from Irish Times resident ideologue Fintan O’Toole came in a polemic this week claiming: “It’s striking how brazen incitement against Irish Jews has become.” O’Toole used... Read more »
BLOODY SUNDAY: KITSON AND WILFORD
COL DEREK WILFORD, the commander of 1 Para in Northern Ireland in 1972, died last November. His former superior, Brigadier (later, General) Sir Frank Kitson, passed away earlier this month.... Read more »
Pillars of Society
PROFILE: JOHN HEGARTY
TO ALL other media, the Irish Times exudes high principles, standards and a commitment to objective journalism. The paper claims to be liberal, a... Read more »
The Young Bloods
YOUNG BLOOD: SINÉAD SHEPPARD
With Cork East’s Fine Gael TD David Stanton having announced his intention to bow out at the next general election, has an opportunity opened... Read more »
Alternative Savings in Ireland: Beyond the Traditional Pension Pot
For most Irish workers, the word “pension” still conjures up the familiar structures of occupational schemes or private PRSAs. These remain essential but, with shifting economic conditions and increasing... Read more »
Fit to Print?
DEIRDRE VELDON’S LOVE LETTER
JOURNALISTS AT the Irish Times – once jealously regarded by their peers elsewhere as the pampered literati of the newspaper world – were not exactly swooning with gratitude at the... Read more »
ARSON ABOUT
THOSE MOST-favoured words of security correspondents, “security… senior… sources”, can cover a multitude of issues when gardaí want to get a message across without having it ascribed to them individually... Read more »
‘SUNDAY TIMES’ NEW LINE
THE NEW editorial regime at the Aawrish edition of the Sunday Times – with editor Kieran McDaid and associate editor Michael McNiff – appears to have overturned decades of imperialist... Read more »
Last Refuge
LABOUR AND SOC DEMS: NO DEAL
FOR YEARS the debate between left and right in the Labour Party was over whether or not to enter coalition government with ‘right-wing’ parties such as Fine Gael or Fianna... Read more »
EOGHAN HARRIS’S GRIPE
EOGHAN HARRIS may have lost his platform in the country’s biggest-selling newspaper – the Mediahuis-owned Sunday Independent – but he appears to be welcome in the strongly unionist News Letter,... Read more »
Ó RÍORDÁIN’S EU ELECTION TACTIC
COMMENTARY ON the EU election bid of Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has noted that it is effectively another defection from the Labour Party as it lies crashed on the dual rocks... Read more »
MICHEÁL MARTIN’S ‘SHAMELESS’ NEW POLITICS
POLITICAL CORRESPONDENTS appear to be disinterested in the discernible differences between Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin on Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians, including thousands of children, and also... Read more »
Northwind
ORANGE AND GREEN STILL BLOOM
At least we know there will be one election in the north this year. British prime minister Rishi Sunak has said he’s operating “on the working assumption” that he will... Read more »
Hush Hush
ORBÁN’S IRISH YOUNG EAGLES
When Hungary takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months in July, Viktor Orbán hopes that the media outlets his government is sponsoring in... Read more »
Bog Cuttings
BOG CUTTINGS
POETRY CORNERED A man appearing before Gort District Court was told by Judge Alec Gabbett that his offer to pen a ‘short poem’ to the court, in lieu of paying... Read more »
Fowl Emissions
FOSSIL FUEL FINITO?
In light of the PR trainwreck that was Sultan Al Jaber’s presidency of the Cop28 climate summit – including his extremely high-profile row with Mary Robinson – you’d imagine future... Read more »
HOT AIR HOLIDAYS
One of the Irish Times’s last editorials of 2023 called for “a more radical approach” to climate action. Goldhawk looks forward to the day when the new generation at the... Read more »
The Hot Air Brigade
THE HOT AIR BRIGADE
I think in the UK, I’m underrated. Not so much here, but in the UK. And I think I know tailoring as good as anybody. I still think I’m a... Read more »
High Society
LADY MARY’S WINDFALL
WHILE 2023 was a year to forget for many employees of the giant Norbrook veterinary pharmaceutical group, it turns out that it was a... Read more »
DES O’NEILL’S DES RES
A BARRISTER who made quite a name (and a lot of money) for himself as the star performer in the Mahon Tribunal, Des O’Neill... Read more »
LISA JORDAN’S WINDING UP
INTERESTING TO see that blogger/influencer/businesswoman Lisa Jordan has just wound up the company that registered the name “Lisa Jordan”. This follows her move last year into the fashion world with... Read more »
Auto-enrolment: What Will this Mean for Employers?
Auto-enrolment is a new retirement savings scheme for employees that will be introduced on 1 January 2026. It will apply to those who do not already have a workplace... Read more »
Behind the Scenes
MORGAN’S PLOT TWIST
FANS OF Goldhawk have been kept up to date with the travails of John Arkins’s Irish Film Workers Association (IFWA) over the years. The organisation took to picketing film and... Read more »
Sport of Kings
TONY MARTIN’S CHRISTMAS PRESENT
WHILE TRAINER Tony Martin must have breathed a sigh of relief after avoiding having his licence suspended before Christmas, he has nevertheless lodged an appeal against the severity of the... Read more »
Moneybags
RYANAIR SHARES SET TO SOAR, UNLESS…
THE STARS have been aligning for Ryanair, with Mick O’Leary keeping one eye on the share price given the potential astronomical bonus on the... Read more »
BOTSWANA DIAMONDS LOOKING ROUGH FOR TEELING
WHILE JOHN Teeling has been overseeing remarkable success in his whiskey distilling business in Ireland, further afield his Botswana Diamonds mining outfit has struggled,... Read more »
Forestry as a Smart Investment for 2025 and Beyond
As global markets continue to face uncertainty, many investors are seeking stable and reliable options that offer strong returns and long-term growth potential. In 2025, Green Belt Ltd is... Read more »
Brief Cases
NOH20 HITS THE BRAKES
THE MUCH-hyped “bespoke on demand in-house app for carwashing”, NOH2O Ltd, has just collapsed into liquidation. Founded by self-described “brand innovator” Emmet O’Brien, the company’s business was based on waterless... Read more »
SIMONE ROCHA’S FRENCH FANCY
LATER THIS month, superstar fashion designer Simone Rocha will appear at the prestigious Haute Couture Week in Paris, where she will be filling the role of guest couture designer for... Read more »
THE NYHANS’ TAX BILL
THE DREADED Revenue has just registered a judgment for €221,000 against a company called Rostella Nyhan Holdings Ltd. This outfit should be familiar to fans of Goldhawk given its ties... Read more »
MARK LENHERR’S CARIBBEAN COLLAPSE
THE EXOTIC-sounding Caribbean Jewel Investments Ltd is to be liquidated next week but this is far from the first setback for one of the main players here, English property investor... Read more »
Whelehans Wines Leads the Way with Green Initiatives and Industry Recognition
Whether you’re a seasoned wine enthusiast or a novice, Whelehans Wines offers a personalised experience that brings the world of wine to your doorstep. As a leading wine retailer,... Read more »
Popular Stories
KEARNS SIBLINGS’ LEGAL LESSON
GOLDHAWK SPIES an interesting-looking case filed in the High Court, with two ...
JENNY KEANE’S OH! MOMENT
GOLDHAWK’S FAVOURITE “trail-blazing holistic sex educator”, Jenny Keane, was generating media attention ...
DECLAN RYAN’S DISCOUNT
GREAT NEWS for fans of saunas and minted publishers. One of the ...
SUTHERLANDS SELLING UP
INTERESTING TO see a modern three-bedroom house in the gated ‘Shrewsbury’ development ...
JOE LEWIS’S TACTICS
CONTROVERSIAL BILLIONAIRE Joe Lewis – familiar in these parts thanks to his ...
MOLING’S MISSION
AS REVEALED by Goldhawk (see The Phoenix 25/7/25), culture minister Patrick O’Donovan ...
MAKING PLANS FOR NIGEL
CONGRATULATIONS to Nigel Flegg, who has landed one of the most prestigious ...
MOLI’S SCARY PLOT
ALMOST 20 months on from when it first emerged that the Museum ...
JOE ELLIOT’S GARDEN
LAST WEEKEND it emerged that veteran rock-n-roller Joe Elliott was in yet ...
INTERVIEW WITH THE JOCKEY
THREE JOCKEYS – Ben Harvey, Alex Harvey and Tom Harney – were ...