Affairs of the Nation Archives

AFFAIRS OF THE NATION

BASHING BLACKROCK BOYS

December 1, 2022
RUADHÁN MAC CORMAIC has handled his first crisis as Irish Times editor by ignoring it and Róisín ‘Bungle’ Ingle’s loud, long sneer at Blackrock... Read more »

NEW CHAIRPERSON AT RTÉ

December 1, 2022
THE APPOINTMENT by Catherine Martin’s of Siún Ní Raghallaigh as chairwoman of RTÉ will not be too big a surprise to those who have... Read more »

Abbey Theatre Patricia Madden Irish Banking Culture Board Randox Aoife Gallagher Book Dalai Lama Trinity Trevor White RTÉ Chairperson Shane Houlihan Noel Smyth IKC Bob Geldof Landlord Ireland Neutrality Ukraine

BALLS.IE SCORES

December 1, 2022
WITH THE World Cup in Qatar driving footie fans even to the outer reaches of the internet in search of more and more coverage,... Read more »

EAMON RYAN’S RED FACE

December 1, 2022
THERE MAY be a few red faces at Green Party headquarters this week as a result of the Energy Action board deciding to call... Read more »

ZERO VAT FOR WEALTHY MEDIA

December 1, 2022
PAUPERISED NEWSPAPERS and their websites recently reflected the windfall tax relief donated to them by the Government’s budgetary measures after a lengthy campaign that... Read more »

‘IRISH TIMES’ MUSICAL CHAIRS

December 1, 2022
THE RECENT reshuffle of top editorial and commercial positions at the Irish Times solved what looked at one stage to be a chaotic situation.... Read more »

BIODIVERSITY WAKE UP CALLS

December 1, 2022
DESPITE REPEATED attempts by vested interests trading on Ireland’s “green” reputation, Ireland’s biodiversity is in fact in freefall. Water pollution, largely as a result... Read more »

SUNDAY TIMES’ TRUMP CARD

December 1, 2022
ANOTHER EXCLUSIVE by the Aawrish edition of the Sunday Times on those dastardly Sinn Féin operators reported that the party has “taken a page... Read more »

SHEIKH FAHAD’S THOROUGHBREDS

December 1, 2022
THERE HAS, not surprisingly, been oodles of coverage over the last month of the Qatar’s sports-washing agenda, which is playing itself out for a... Read more »

GREENS DIVIDE ON CETA

November 17, 2022
GREEN TD Patrick Costello has gone from naive radical to triumphant litigant fighting the EU-Canada trade deal, Ceta, with his successful Supreme Court victory... Read more »

VARADKAR’S BLACK AND BLUE SHIRTS

November 17, 2022
RECENT ATTACKS by Leo Varadkar on Sinn Féin have tried to link the party to far-right movements in Europe. At the launch of the... Read more »

EAMON MARRAY’S MASK PROTEST

November 17, 2022
THERE WERE fun and games in the Dublin County Registrar’s court last week when experienced commercial law barrister Eamon Marray made it pretty damn... Read more »

PAUL HOURICAN’S RETURN

November 17, 2022
GOLDHAWK’S favourite landlord Paul Hourican is living proof that you can’t keep a good man down. Having been burned by his adventure with Period... Read more »

DRINKAWARE’S BUSY YEAR

November 17, 2022
THE PRICE of alcohol was back in the news this month as giant brewer Heineken upped the cost of a pint by around 10%,... Read more »

COP27: MARTIN ON CYNICISM

November 17, 2022
IT’S NOT unusual to hear politicians being called out by NGOs and activists for their empty words and hollow rhetoric on the climate emergency.... Read more »

ANNUAL 2022: GOLDHAWK’S AWARDS FOR THE PASSING PARADE

November 17, 2022
MOYA DOHERTY WITH RTÉ on the hunt for a new board chair, outgoing chairwoman Moya Doherty will prove a hard act to follow for... Read more »

VAT’S THE PROBLEM?

November 15, 2022
FINANCE MINISTER Paschal Donohoe’s spokesperson told Goldhawk recently that although a newspaper is a periodical it can have a zero VAT rate applied to... Read more »

VAT RELIEF ONLY FOR ‘GOOD’ MEDIA?

November 2, 2022
FINANCE MINISTER Paschal Donohoe told the Dáil in his Budget 2023 speech that he was reducing VAT on newspapers from 9% to zero. The... Read more »

PATRICIA MADDEN’S EXIT

November 2, 2022
BARRISTER AND long-time member and officer of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association (ICA) Patricia Madden has exited her position on the board. It remains to... Read more »

DEIRDRE CONROY’S DAY IN COURT

November 2, 2022
NEXT WEEK will see Fianna Fáil councillor, barrister and failed by-election candidate Deirdre Conroy finally get into the High Court, where she is looking... Read more »

MUTINOUS JUDGES

November 2, 2022
THE WHIFF of mutinous protest pervades the courts and even the judiciary at present, with elders among them trying hard to restrain the resentment... Read more »

THE ABBEY’S WHISTLEBLOWER

November 2, 2022
THERE IS little sign of the drama waning at the Frances Ruane-chaired Abbey Theatre, with Goldhawk hearing that a dreaded ‘whistleblower’ has been looking... Read more »

TRESPASS IN CHURCH CHARGE

November 2, 2022
THE SOCIETY of the Apostles of Jesus and Mary (SAJM) has been busy eschewing the links a number of its flock once had with... Read more »

ESCORT IRELAND’S FOREIGN FROLICS

November 2, 2022
IN TRUE tabloid style, the Sunday World last week ran the grim story of Bruno Binda De Souza, a transexual prostitute who was recently... Read more »

FRENCH PERFIDY IN MALI?

November 2, 2022
IN 2018, with champagne corks popping in the background, the Department of Foreign Affairs issued a press release announcing Ireland’s election to the UN... Read more »

MOUNTBATTEN QUERY

November 2, 2022
RESEARCHERS INTO the squalid Kincora scandal – authors Andrew Lownie and David Burke – have asked gardaí to release the logs made by the... Read more »

MARY LOU CHILLS OUT MARTIN

October 19, 2022
MICHEÁL MARTIN, Shane Ross and other journalists have accused Sinn Féin, and Mary Lou McDonald in particular, of having a “chilling… spooked” effect on... Read more »

‘IRISH TIMES’ EDITORIAL WINS OUT

October 19, 2022
FOR MANY years the commercial side of the house in Tara Street tended to win out over the lofty editorial staff with their crusading... Read more »

FRANCES RUANE’S NEW DRAMA

October 19, 2022
GOLDHAWK WAS interested to see a tender notice has been published by the Abbey Theatre, seeking applications from consultants to carry out what should... Read more »

OUT OF AFRICA

October 19, 2022
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... Read more »

AOIFE GALLAGHER’S INSTITUTE

October 19, 2022
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... Read more »

BERTIE MOVING BACK CENTRE STAGE?

October 19, 2022
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... Read more »

RANDOX’S RAP ON THE KNUCKLES

October 19, 2022
THE Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) has issued its latest findings into alleged breaches of its code, including complaints about the seriously profitable... Read more »

CULTURE CLUB

October 19, 2022
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),... Read more »

TEVIAN’S TRAVAILS

October 19, 2022
A JUDGMENT has just been registered by PR queen Caroline Kennedy against the fabulously named Tevian Mirrelson, who previously came to the attention of... Read more »

LAW SOCIETY ABSTENTIONISTS

October 19, 2022
HOW EMBARRASSING. With elections pending to the Law Society Council, members have been informed there will be no such election as not enough solicitors... Read more »