Affairs of the Nation

Ivan Yates

Affairs of the Nation

IVAN’S SHY COLLEAGUES

IVAN YATES – pundit, broadcaster, spin doctor, political tutor, after-dinner speaker, former minister and ex-bookie, among other things – has received plaudits from members of the Oireachtas media committee. This... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

SHARON MCCABE’S MOVE

NOT SURPRISINGLY, the judicial review proceedings lodged by 20 denizens of D6 against the €10bn MetroLink plan garnered plenty of headlines this week. Of most interest to Goldhawk is a... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

BONO’S EXPENSIVE BOOZE

IT’S FULL speed ahead for the proposed Church of Oak whiskey distillery backed by Bono and Paddy McKillen Sr. A new chief executive is now in place but the millions... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

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Affairs of the Nation

MICHEÁL V BERTIE

AN INTERESTING take on why Micheál Martin was so anxious to block Bertie Ahern from becoming Fianna Fáil’s presidential candidate was published, not in the southern media, but the north,... Read more »
Justin Barrett

Affairs of the Nation

REPUBLICANS ATTACK NEW RIGHT

Over recent years there has been a rapid decline in punishment beatings and kneecappings north of the border. But a recent statement by a group calling itself the Socialist Republican... Read more »
Luke Comer

Affairs of the Nation

ALLEGATIONS AND SECRET RECORDINGS

THE SETTLEMENT announced last week of the explosive High Court proceedings lodged by racehorse trainer Jim Gorman will have come as a relief for the hapless Monaco-based billionaire horse owner... Read more »
Catherine Heaney

Affairs of the Nation

CATHERINE HEANEY’S HEROES

FORMER BLUESHIRT big wig Simon Coveney recently popped up in the Irish Examiner, where he was waxing lyrical about life after politics. He has certainly been keeping busy and the... Read more »
Donald Trump

Affairs of the Nation

BBC LIBERALS V TRUMP

THE BBC recently apologised to Donald Trump for its editing of footage of him on the day of the January 6 riots in 2021. This development might persuade gullible viewers... Read more »
Sean Clancy

Affairs of the Nation

GENERAL CLANCY’S FRONT LINE

FORMER Chief of staff of the Irish Defence Forces, General Seán Clancy, now chair of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC), recently declared that Ukraine “represents the front line for... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: CIARÁN MAC GIOLLA BHÉIN

There’s a radical wind beginning to rage through the Irish-language movement, with younger and more assertive activists coming to the fore demanding rights rather... Read more »

The Young Bloods

James O'Connor

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: JAMES O’CONNOR

IF MICHEÁL Martin thought that a carefully scripted display of contrition would fend off his critics in Fianna Fáil, he underestimated the degree of... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Hayley Cochrane

Fit to Print?

JOURNALIST AWARDS: LESS IS MORE

THERE WERE issues galore for the organisers of the 2025 NewsBrands Irish Journalism Awards to chew over following the annual €2,000-a-table Mansion House bash, hosted earlier this month by Matt... Read more »
Keir Starmer

Fit to Print?

WHITE FEATHERS TO STARMER

THE ADULTS in the room (Irish Times/RTÉ hacks) are worried about the elephant also in the room (Russians) preparing to invade western Europe after they take Kharkov – 10 miles... Read more »

Last Refuge

Grainne Seoige

Last Refuge

GRÁINNE SEOIGE AND JIM GAVIN

THAT TAOISEACH Micheál Martin should choose to speak about last year’s disappointing general election campaign by Galway West Fianna Fáil candidate Gráinne Seoige from the G20 summit in South Africa... Read more »
James Lawless

Last Refuge

LAWLESS’S LOYAL LEADERSHIP LAMENT

A SUB-PLOT in the political sitcom into which the Fianna Fáil leadership turmoil has degenerated is the fall-back position that Micheál Martin and his GHQ staff officers had hoped to... Read more »
Lorraine Clifford Lee

Last Refuge

MICHEÁL MARTIN LOSES ‘MAIL’

COMPARE AND CONTRAST, as teachers demand, the different lines on Micheál Martin and his designated successor as Fianna Fáil leader, Jack Chambers, by Mail on Sunday political editor John Lee... Read more »

Northwind

Boris Johnson

Northwind

COVID IGNORED THE BORDER

Former Appeals court judge Baroness Hallett’s first major report on government performance during Covid castigated the UK’s cabinet and all the devolved administrations. Unsurprisingly, she excoriated Stormont and laid bare... Read more »

Hush Hush

Keith Woods

Hush Hush

‘MODERATE’ NATIONAL PARTY

WHEN PROMINENT National Party (NP) member Keith Woods (pseudonym of Keith O’Brien from Roscommon) hosted Ryan Williams on his podcast, he demonstrated just how extreme NP politics remain, despite Justin... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

‘HANDS OFF’ John Paul Hand (42), of Leighsbrook Lodge, Navan, Meath, appeared before a recent sitting of Portlaoise District Court charged with a number of public order offences. Judge Andrew... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Pat Kenny

Fowl Emissions

PAT KENNY ON CLIMATE CHANGE

It’s not that long ago that Pat Kenny’s radio show was a bastion of climate scepticism. As recently as 15 years ago on RTÉ, the broadcaster was still platforming climate... Read more »
Climate Disinformation Coillte Climate Action EU Livestock NDC Claude Etchelamendy Ed Brophy Richard Boyd-Barrett Kish Dale Crammond Frank Mitloehner Shell Greenwashing Meta Data Centres Ireland

Fowl Emissions

MICK O’LEARY’S MOANING

For a man of enormous wealth, Michael O’Leary does an impressive line in poor-mouth whinging about how his airline is being screwed by mean-spirited governments and “eco-lunacy”. Listeners to the... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Hildegarde Naughton

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Ireland’s loss is the world’s gain. Hildegard Naughton on Paschal Donohoe’s departure, Morning Ireland, RTÉ Radio One We will certainly miss him [Donohoe], but there’s always strong intellectual vigour in... Read more »

High Society

High Society

Tony Smurfit

High Society

TONY SMURFIT’S FORM

EARLIER THIS month, Tony Smurfit was out front at the giant Smurfit Westrock’s announcement of the group’s “first-of-its-kind” €40m dedicated clinical packaging facility near... 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

LOBSTER SPLOT

THE VENERABLE Lobster Pot restaurant in Ballsbridge has been celebrating a full 40 years in business but there were no congratulations from the Sunday... Read more »

High Society

Helen Kilroy

High Society

MANOEUVRES AT MILLTOWN GOLF CLUB

THERE ARE changes afoot in the exclusive Milltown Golf Club in south Co Dublin and it is not just the clubhouse that is being completely revamped – at a cost... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Mel Gibson

Behind the Scenes

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

A RECENT investigation by the Guardian in the UK looked into the finer details of the workings of the tax credit scheme for film production across the Irish Sea. The conclusion... 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

PÁLÁS SEQUEL

SO FAREWELL then Solas-Galway Picture Palace, the company that was incorporated in 2007 to develop the ‘Solas’ arthouse cinema for Galway, with Lelia Doolan in the chair. Last week, this... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Dan Skelton

Sport of Kings

SKELTON’S SQUAD DEPTH

THE PURSUIT by Willie Mullins of a third straight UK National Hunt Trainers Championship is being met with stern opposition from Dan Skelton, whom he narrowly beat in the last... Read more »
Charles Byrnes

Sport of Kings

BYRNES’S ‘PORSCHE’ GAMBLE

CHARLES BYRNES is no stranger to making racing headlines and did so again when landing another sizeable gamble at Dundalk earlier this month. The David Fowler-owned Porsche Lad arrived late... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Philip O’Quigley

Moneybags

FALCON OIL SHAREHOLDERS TO BENEFIT FROM STAYING IN THE GAME

PHILIP O’QUIGLEY has been struggling for the last 13 years, since he was appointed CEO of Falcon Oil & Gas in May 2012, to... Read more »

Moneybags

Eoin Tonge

Moneybags

PRIMARK SPIN-OFF PLAN OFFERS INVESTORS AN OPPORTUNITY

TODAY THE Primark/Penneys operation dominates its parent company, Associated British Foods (ABF), with sales of £9.5bn and operating profits of £1.1bn in the 12... Read more »

Brief Cases

John Brennan

Brief Cases

JOHN BRENNAN’S BLUES

JOHN AND Francis Brennan made one of their habitual appearances in the Indo earlier this month, taking the opportunity over four pages in the Weekend Magazine to wax lyrical about... Read more »
Garrett Simons

Brief Cases

GARRETT SIMONS’ PLOT TWIST

ONE OF the longest-running and most intriguing film and TV plots Goldhawk has followed featured the (mostly unsuccessful) efforts of John Arkins’s Irish Film Workers Association (IFWA) to establish the... Read more »
Piotr Skoczylas

Brief Cases

PIOTR’S ‘GRAVE CHARGES’

PITY POOR old Piotr Skoczylas of Scotchstone Capital, who has been fighting a valiant multi-front legal battle against the state, seeking compensation on foot of its expensive bail-out of Permanent... Read more »
WAVF Castleknock Hospitality BAL Susan Bergin Tixserve EOG Fergal Naughton hot-water-brigade def

Brief Cases

DALTON PHILIPS’S PAYDAY

CONGRATULATIONS TO Dalton Philips, the CEO of food giant Greencore, who trousered a handsome €6.5m last year on foot of a good performance by the company. The scale of his... Read more »
Ruairi Kelleher

Brief Cases

RUAIRI KELLEHER’S IMPACT

IT’S BEEN a rough few years for the once-lauded tech entrepreneur Ruairi Kelleher, who this month had yet another judgment piled on top of his growing mountain of problems. Creditors... Read more »