Affairs of the Nation

Billy Kelleher

Affairs of the Nation

BILLY KELLEHER’S ATTEMPTED PUTSCH

THE SIGHS of relief from Fianna Fáil’s Mount Street HQ could be heard all the way to Cork this week, where Billy Kelleher’s rebel plotters were concentrated as the tide... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

GAVIN’S MEDIA FANS

THE DIFFERENCE between the Indo and Irish Times’s coverage of Fianna Fáil’s Jim Gavin v Billy Kelleher presidential contest was startling in its emphasis and analysis. The day after the... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

RYAN’S NEW POST

FORMER ENVIRONMENT minister Eamon Ryan’s new grace-and-favour gig as EU “housing tsar” kicks off in earnest this month in apparently straight-faced celebration of the resounding success of Irish housing policy.... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Catherine Connolly

Affairs of the Nation

SINN FÉIN TO SUPPORT CONNOLLY?

AFTER MUCH agonising and ideological debate about downgrading the central demand for a united Ireland, Sinn Féin’s ard chomhairle (AC) is likely to endorse the left unity campaign of Catherine... Read more »
Alan Kelly

Affairs of the Nation

ALAN ‘AK47’ KELLY MISFIRES

THE SPECTACLE of Alan Kelly being brought to heel by Labour leader Ivana Bacik, not to mention the brazen, public defiance by him of the leadership and a democratic party... Read more »
Ciara Kelly

Affairs of the Nation

COURAGEOUS CIARA KELLY

NEWSTALK PRESENTER Ciara Kelly last week promised Independent readers that her column that day defending U2’s disingenuous statement on Gaza would be “OUTRAGEOUS” (her emphasis), code for brave, provocative etc.... Read more »
Canon Ian Ellis

Affairs of the Nation

REDRESS FOR CATHOLICS ONLY

AN INTERESTING article in the Belfast News Letter in June by a Church of Ireland cleric, Canon Ian Ellis, has been brought to Goldhawk’s attention. It deals with the attitude... Read more »
Sean Clancy

Affairs of the Nation

GENERALISSIMO SEÁN CLANCY

MOMENTUM BEHIND the militarisation of the EU has not abated. While there has been some comment in Ireland’s media about removal of the triple lock, there has been little or... Read more »
Lord Mountbatten

Affairs of the Nation

BURYING MI5 TRUTH

Kincora’s Lost Boys: The Truth MI5 Buried (KLB), written by an anonymous author, went on sale via Amazon a few months ago. It purports to delve into the Kincora child... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Michael Hackman

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: MICHAEL HACKMAN

AT THE start of the 2020s, LA-based real estate moneybags Michael Hackman started making big waves in the film and TV business, not by... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Seán Thim O’Leary

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: SEÁN THIM O’LEARY

SEÁN THIM O’LEARY will lead Trinity College Dublin’s Student Union (TCDSU) into the 2025/26 academic year. The non-binary student from Wexford is former chair... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Peter Vandermeersch

Fit to Print?

MEDIAHUIS WARNING

A SOMBRE if little noticed announcement from Mediahuis Ireland last week contained some rather bleak, if understated, commentary about the future of the European publishing group as well as a... Read more »
Ivan Yates Nell McCafferty RTÉ Lord Laird Intro Matchmaking NewsBrands Martin McGuinness Dún Laoghaire Pat Leahy Cormac Lucey John Cooney Irish Journalism Awards Steve Aiken Anton Savage John Downing Lucinda Creighton Marina Sologub Eilis O'Hanlon Ian Kehoe Danny McConnell Sindo O'Connor Mediahuis Stephen Collins Book Justine McCarthy Rewriting the Troubles Lynn Ruane Sinn Féin

Fit to Print?

GAZA JOURNALIST IN US COURT

The Palestine Chronicle – whose editor Dr Ramzy Baroud’s family has suffered many, many fatalities in Gaza since October 2023 – is facing proceedings in a federal US court that... Read more »
Stella Rimington

Fit to Print?

MAJOR TOM McDOWELL LIVES ON

WAS IT the memory of the exposure of the Irish Times’s long-time chief executive, Major Tom McDowell, as an MI5 agent years ago that inspired the newspaper’s most sycophantic tribute... Read more »

Last Refuge

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

Last Refuge

CARROLL MacNEILL AMBUSHES HARRIS

THE PRESIDENTIAL splits in Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and Labour are timid affairs compared to the titanic political assault being prepared by Fine Gael’s answer to Maggie Thatcher, health minister... Read more »
Jim O'Callaghan

Last Refuge

JIM O’CALLAGHAN’S HIGH-WIRE ACT

AFTER LESS than a year in Cabinet – the most high-achieving minister so far among their number – justice minister Jim O’Callaghan did not welcome MEP Billy Kelleher’s mutinous moves... Read more »
Anthony Coughlan

Last Refuge

THOMAS BYRNE: ‘NO PRESS GANG’

EUROPEAN AFFAIRS minister Thomas Byrne was most indignant at Sinn Féin’s recent suggestion that conscription was on the cards if abolition of the triple lock and neutrality were implemented. He... Read more »
Fergus Finlay

Last Refuge

FINLAY ‘COULDA BEEN A CONTENDER’

FORMER GOVERNMENT spin doctor Fergus Finlay made a right Horlicks of explaining away his latest, mortifying effort to win the Labour Party’s nomination for the presidential election. Fungus has spent... Read more »

Northwind

Jim Allister

Northwind

UNIONISTS MOVE SHARP RIGHT

The latest polling in the north shows no change in nationalism but a marked shift to the right in unionism and a shrinking so-called ‘middle ground’. Sinn Féin remains the... Read more »

Hush Hush

Jordan Crowley

Hush Hush

IRISH QUISLINGS AMBUSHED

IN THE lead up to Remig 2025, a far-right conference organised by the Norgesdemokratene (ND) in Norway, Ireland’s National Party (NP) was keen to highlight on social media that it... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

LEGLESS AND SHOELESSBANTRY DISTRICT Court heard the case of a young woman who engaged in abusive and threatening behaviour towards a garda during an incident in Bantry on October 28... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Claire Hanna

Fowl Emissions

SDLP MUDDIES WATER

LOUGH NEAGH has emerged as the number one late-summer destination for the north’s political leaders, with high-profile visits in recent days by the Alliance Party’s agriculture, environment and rural affairs... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

GARDA COLONISE NORTH

IN ANTICIPATION of public order (and public relations) problems caused by a planned protest against a proposed gold mine near Greencastle in Co Tyrone, Canadian mining company Dalradian Gold has... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Alison O'Connor

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

She says she condemns Russia for the war on Ukraine. But when President Zelensky addressed the Dail in 2022, it was noted that while the vast majority of her colleagues... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Tony Bloom

High Society

O’CALLAGHANS GET BACKSIDES KICKED

The loaded O’Callaghan family of Tally Ho Stud opted for a high-profile gamble with one of their racehorses in the Coolmore Wootton Basset Nunthorpe... Read more »

High Society

IHT CHL The Lion in Winter Racing Royalty Le Brocquy City of Troy Fitzwilliam Square AIRO Dermot Smurfit Ballinacarrig Park Club Cosgrave Fitzpatrick Keith Jameson National Gallery Collection Marissa Carter VG Tom Higgins Neil Jordan Laura Bonner Paul Ward Variety Jones Dtat Eathos Sharon Keegan Angela Scanlon Desmond Canouan Bellair Estate Bobby Flay John O’Conor Portrait of Omai Eibhlín Ní Chonghaile Wedding NGI Board Rachel Flynn JP McMahon Ash Quinn Pamela Laird Abdullah Al Naboodah Boundless Ocean

High Society

BEACON HOSPITAL PROFIT

Accounts have just been filed by a company called Barrelridge Ltd, revealing the scale of the killing made by investors in Denis O’Brien’s Beacon... Read more »

High Society

Ronan Ryan and Pamela Flood

High Society

RONAN RYAN’S NEW MENU

IT HAS been a while since the name of one-time ‘celebrity chef’ Ronan Ryan came to Goldhawk’s attention but it turns out the controversial character has started a new project.... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

John Boyne

Behind the Scenes

DIVERSITY DRAMA

THERE MUST have been a little discomfort at the Irish Times when hacks covered the latest adventures of scribbler John Boyne, whose presence on the longlist for the Polari prizes... Read more »
Tailored Films Screen Ireland Perspectives DCCI Crescine Tarka Russell Lara Hickey Reality Check Sarah McInerney Irish Movies Paul Murray Arts Council Dublin Theatre Festival TWU Macdara Kelleher Richard Boyd Barrett DADC Cillian Murphy Terry McMahon Media Commission Ireland Kerlin Gallery Creative Ireland Section 481 Christine O’Donovan RTÉ Storyland NMI Board Vacancies IASCA Ossie Kilkenny RTÉ Original Programmes

Behind the Scenes

SINEAD O’CONNOR BIOPIC

ANTICIPATION ABOUT an impending biopic of Sinéad O’Connor was boosted when Variety reported a line-up of producers in the UK joining with the BBC to back a script commissioned from... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Emmet Mullins

Sport of Kings

EMMET’S IMPROVERS

KILKENNY TRAINER Emmet Mullins appears to have unearthed another ‘improver’ from the Co Laois stable of trainer Shane Duffy. Duffy, who has not trained a winner since September 2023, trained... Read more »
Ed Dunlop David Dunsdon Sarah Lynam Rebecca May Wayne Hassett Eoin O'Brien Michael Burke Aine O’Connor Ashroe Diamond Thomand O’Mara Peter Keatley Timmy Hyde Coolmore All About Sunday Colin Keane Ronan Whelan JP McManus Jessica Harrington Dundalk Racecourse Paul Hensey Irish National Hunt Horse-racing Doping Paddy Walsh Tom Kelly Suspension

Sport of Kings

MCKENNA RIDES ON

GOLDHAWK NOTED the IHRB’s appeals body, chaired by Nick Wachman, has overturned a ban imposed on jockey Liam McKenna following a ride at Galway last month. In a handicap hurdle,... Read more »
Ed Dunlop David Dunsdon Sarah Lynam Rebecca May Wayne Hassett Eoin O'Brien Michael Burke Aine O’Connor Ashroe Diamond Thomand O’Mara Peter Keatley Timmy Hyde Coolmore All About Sunday Colin Keane Ronan Whelan JP McManus Jessica Harrington Dundalk Racecourse Paul Hensey Irish National Hunt Horse-racing Doping Paddy Walsh Tom Kelly Suspension

Sport of Kings

HEFFERNAN’S HORSE

IT WAS a very good day for the HOS Syndicate’s Ethical Diamond, which became the third Willie Mullins-trained winner of York’s Sky Bet Ebor Handicap, when powering clear under William... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Gary Morrison

Moneybags

HOSTELWORLD GETS SET FOR PEACE DIVIDEND

IN ITS ongoing recovery from the hugely impactful pandemic, Hostelworld Group’s operating profit more than doubled to €11.3m in 2024, so it came as... Read more »

Moneybags

Jonathan Rockett

Moneybags

TIMING OF DATALEX’S ROUTE CHANGE IS BAFFLING

DERMOT DESMOND has had to endure an awful lot of bad press as a result of his long involvement in Datalex and he is... Read more »

Brief Cases

Kia Joorabchian

Brief Cases

JOORABCHIAN’S PRIVATE EQUITY BACKERS

IRANIAN-BORN multi-millionaire ‘football agent’ Kia Joorabchian has been making headlines again. Last month he continued where he had left off last autumn, by smashing the auction price record at the... Read more »
Brian Acheson

Brief Cases

KIA JOORABCHIAN’S BACKERS

THE FRENCH thoroughbred racehorse breeding outfit that sold the record-breaking €3m filly to Kia Joorabchian at the Arqana sale last month turns out to now have an Irish link. Earlier... Read more »
Brendan McDowell

Brief Cases

BRENDAN MCDOWELL’S INFLUENCERS

GOLDHAWK WAS not too surprised that Brendan McDowell’s remarkably profitable BPerfect Cosmetics operation did not respond to communications from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The company has form in this... Read more »