VARADKAR’S SENATE CHOICES
July 2, 2020
WHAT IS it about former taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s general election running mates in Dublin West that sees them a) bombing in elections and b)... Read more »
VARADKAR’S SENATE CHOICES
Last Refuge
Article Category: Last Refuge
WHAT WILL O’CALLAGHAN DO?
July 2, 2020
THE EXCLUSION of Jim O’Callaghan from cabinet was hardly unexpected – at least not to Phoenix readers (see edition 22/5/20) – and, by the... Read more »
MAYO MOTIONS
July 2, 2020
MAYO Fine Gael voted against the government formation deal and so did Kerry Blueshirts, but what has provoked widespread anger in the party is... Read more »
BALANCING CLIFFORD-LEE
July 2, 2020
AN TAOISEACH Micheál Martin gave expression to his modern, inclusive new world last weekend with the appointment of Traveller activist Eileen Flynn to the... Read more »
GURRIER GREENS VS GENTLE GREENS
June 18, 2020
THE MEDIA mantra about the Greens has changed from one condemning the party for not simply capitulating to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to... Read more »
MARTIN SWEATS IT OUT
June 18, 2020
THE NEUROTIC behaviour of Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin as he closes in on the long-cherished, moist dream of becoming taoiseach – at the... Read more »
UN SECURITY COUNCIL FODDER
June 18, 2020
FOREIGN MINISTER Simon Coveney’s repetitive explanation to the Irish public of the government’s refusal to enact the Occupied Territories Bill (OTB) – passed by... Read more »
BLUESHIRT BOSSY BOOTS
June 4, 2020
A QUEUE has formed to replace long-serving Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran, who is expected to bow out at the end of August,... Read more »
HELEN OF NAVAN
June 4, 2020
LEO VARADKAR has a serious gender issue on his hands when it comes to selecting ministers for any new cabinet in the near future.... Read more »
MARIAN HARKIN VS MICHAEL LOWRY
June 4, 2020
FORMER MEP Marian Harkin strolled back into the Dáil in February – after an absence of 15 years spent in Euroland – but found... Read more »
GREENS LEFT-RIGHT LEADERSHIP CONTEST
May 21, 2020
GOLDHAWK CAN put an end to speculation about whether or not Green deputy leader Catherine Martin TD will stand for the party leadership. Martin... Read more »
SEAN KELLY’S HOT AIR
May 21, 2020
THE GREENS’ response to the provocative demand from Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly – a member of FG’s government formation reference group – to... Read more »
BARRISTERS VIE FOR CABINET
May 21, 2020
MANOEUVRING AND speculation about who will get what cabinet postings is considered to be in poor taste in current pandemic circumstances, but that doesn’t... Read more »
ARMY VICTIMS AND VILLAINS
May 21, 2020
MICHAEL HENEY, author of the explosive book The Arms Crisis of 1970, gave unstinting praise to the Army’s director of intelligence at the time,... Read more »
40 SHADES OF GREEN
May 7, 2020
THE GREENS’ deputy leader, Catherine Martin, had no problem confirming to the media that she voted against the party holding government formation talks with... Read more »
WILLIAM PRASIFKA’S POLITICAL PREFERENCES
May 7, 2020
BABY BARRISTER William Prasifka was busy last month when his private social media message was reported on by the Sunday Times, “I have been... Read more »
SOCIAL DEMOCRAT FEUD
May 7, 2020
THE NUMBERS in the new Dáil indicate that Sinn Féin will dominate the opposition benches – 37 seats to six each for Labour and... Read more »
MURPHY’S CO-LIVING WITH VIRUS
May 7, 2020
THE PANDEMIC is beginning to show up the folly of housing minister Eoghan Murphy’s planning ‘reforms’. Two years ago, he lowered apartment minimum standards... Read more »
BLUESHIRTS LOVE-BOMB ‘NUTTERS’
April 23, 2020
IT’S HARD to believe that the Blueshirts are blowing kisses at the Greens after bad-mouthing them as ‘nutters’ to the Irish Farmers’ Association, whose... Read more »
ISRAEL NOT LOSING ANY SLEEP
April 23, 2020
GOLDHAWK WAS heartened to see in the proposed programme for government advanced by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that there was a firm commitment... Read more »
SIMON HARRIS’S BRIT BASHING
April 23, 2020
YOU KNOW something’s not quite right when a Fine Gael minister defensively reaches out for a bit of Brit bashing. Such was the case... Read more »
MICHEÁL MARTIN’S HEADACHE
April 23, 2020
WHILE THE media are concentrating on the chances of one of the smaller parties rowing in behind a Programme for Government put forward by... Read more »
EOGHAN MURPHY’S WAITING GAME
April 23, 2020
HOUSING MINISTER Eoghan Murphy has been enjoying some Covid-19 cover over his delays in releasing the social housing completions by local councils in 2019.... Read more »
MARTIN’S SEANAD OUTCOME
April 9, 2020
FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin gave a tentative sigh of relief when the election results for the Seanad were completed. Mickey is under growing... Read more »
NUI’S INSPIRING GRADUATES
April 9, 2020
THOSE PATHETIC, second-rate graduates of Limerick and Dublin City universities, who are still deprived of a Seanad vote, can take solace that they didn’t... Read more »
MURPHY’S RENTAL FLIP-FLOP
April 9, 2020
HOUSING MINISTER Eoghan Murphy returned from his post-election vacation abroad in fine fettle, but still went into self-quarantine. Thankfully, the minister for more tents... Read more »
FF’S SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP
April 9, 2020
THERE HAS been a quiet reappearance of the term “social partnership” in recent weeks and, for the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), Covid-19... Read more »
JOHN CONCANNON’S RETURN
March 26, 2020
LEO VARADKAR is certainly persistent. He has called John Concannon back from NUI Galway to lead the latest government information campaign on the Covid-19... Read more »
WHERE NOW FOR EAMON RYAN?
March 26, 2020
GREEN PARTY leader Eamon Ryan has always believed enthusiastically that being in politics means being in government. But this time, it seems, his enthusiasm... Read more »
CIRCLING MICHEÁL MARTIN
March 26, 2020
MICHEÁL MARTIN continues to come under pressure within Fianna Fáil because of his proposal that the party go into full coalition with Fine Gael.... Read more »
LUVVIES TO LOSE MINISTER?
March 26, 2020
THE ARTS sector must be fearing what’s in store for it in the government formation talks. It looks like the creative types are facing... Read more »
LUCINDA VS THE INDEPENDENTS
March 26, 2020
LOBBYIST, columnist and former Fine Gael politician Lucinda Creighton was blowing sunshine up Leo’s rear end last weekend, which is perhaps no surprise. Her... Read more »
LABOUR CONTEST: AK47 VS PC 2020
March 12, 2020
LABOUR’S LEADERSHIP election – Guns vs Roses – is already over bar the counting; Alan Kelly is home and dry and the only question... Read more »
GREEN POWER PLAY
March 12, 2020
TWO PUTATIVE Green Party dynasties had their wings clipped during and after the general election and party leader Eamon Ryan showed that he learned... Read more »
COVENEY RETREATS
March 12, 2020
DESPITE SIMMERING anger at grassroots level following Fine Gael’s electoral panning, the parliamentary party is unlikely to see a leadership challenge from Simon Coveney... Read more »
EOGHAN MURPHY’S NEW PARTNER
March 12, 2020
HOUSING MINISTER Eoghan Murphy TD’s replacement of Kate O’Connell as his new Fine Gael ‘partner’ in Dublin Bay South (DBS) is likely to be... Read more »