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Sharon Osbourne

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: May 15, 2025 - The Hot Air Brigade

They should follow the masters, who are U2. Bono goes on, he talks about Palestine. He does it in peace. He’s pro-Palestine, that’s his opinion, Bono, God bless him, but he does it in such a way that it doesn’t incite violence from a crowd. Sharon Osbourne’s advice for Kneecap, Piers Morgan Uncensored Kneecap have… Read more »

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John O'Dowd

GOLD MINE PROJECT FOYLED AGAIN

Date: May 15, 2025 - Fowl Emissions

In a saga of government department hypocrisy that Strabane man Brian O’Nolan (aka Myles na gCopaleen) may have considered perfect fodder for his Cruiskeen Lawn column, the Sinn Féin-led Northern Ireland Department of Infrastructure (DfI) has reluctantly admitted that environmental issues must indeed be viewed on an all-Ireland basis. This has always been the case… Read more »

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Duncan Smith

‘INSECURE’ OIREACHTAS COMMITTEE

Date: May 15, 2025 - Last Refuge

THERE WAS consternation among certain members of the Dáil reform committee when it met to ratify the draft Orders of Reference and Establishment of Committees Report. A one-line footnote in the report nearly derailed the whole long-awaited process of creating Oireachtas committees, provoking a fraught and nervous debate. The only footnote in the report said: “National… Read more »

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Ivana Bacik

HAS BACIK BACKED OFF LEFT UNITY?

Date: May 15, 2025 - Last Refuge

THE GROWING movement pushing for broad left unity among the opposition received two signals last week at a large rally to retain the triple lock that involved most, but not all, the left political parties and like-minded individuals. Firstly and positively was the attendance of Sinn Féin and a considered speech from its leader, Mary… Read more »

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Ronan O'Domhnaill

LOW-COST MEDIA FREEDOM

Date: May 15, 2025 - Fit to Print?

UNSURPRISINGLY, THERE has been little or no media coverage of the pay-outs to media organisations recently from the Government or, rather, the taxpayers’ largely unknowing munificence so generously enabled by the Government. Sums amounting to €5.7m have been dished out to a struggling media across… 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

CLARE DALY V ‘SUNDAY TIMES’

Date: May 15, 2025 - Fit to Print?

GOLDHAWK PREDICTED as far back as 2022 that then MEP Clare Daly would come for those sections of the media that had, as she saw it, set out to politically target herself and partner Mick Wallace, also an MEP at the time. This was because Daly in particular had been an especially powerful advocate of… Read more »

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Andrew Neil

FUNDING GREAT BRITISH NEWS

Date: May 15, 2025 - Fit to Print?

IRISH TAXPAYERS will be equally happy – in the spirit of our shared island and its history – to learn that the Government’s media largesse has spread to the north. DUP communications minister Gordon Lyons last month “unlocked” extra funding for the Ulster-Scots Agency, an entity that claims parity for Ulster-Scots with Irish as a… Read more »

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Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

BOG CUTTINGS

Date: May 15, 2025 - Bog Cuttings

THIRSTY WORK The actions of a Roscommon man charged with theft and leaving a restaurant without paying were described as “the lowest of the low” when the case came before Judge James Faughnan at Castlerea District Court. Thomas Lawrence of Macdara Frawleys, Galway Road, was before the court for stealing 16 cans of Budweiser from… Read more »

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Sylvester Stallone

PATRICK O’DONOVAN’S HEADACHE

Date: May 15, 2025 - Behind the Scenes

ANYONE SURPRISED at Donald Trump’s threat of a 100% tariff on films produced in “foreign lands” must not have been paying attention. But there are some players who have more to lose than others. The reaction of Susan Kirby’s Screen Producers Ireland has been largely mute, noting “the potential scope and impact” but “awaiting the… Read more »

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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

PIANO BLUES

Date: May 15, 2025 - Behind the Scenes

THE 13TH Dublin International Piano Competition (DIPC) takes place this week in the Royal Irish Academy of Music, with the final showdown at the National Concert Hall on Friday May 16. Apart from musical notes, those of a financial kind will also be on the minds of the directors. The board is chaired by Clonskeagh… Read more »

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Jody McGarvey

McGARVEY’S MOVE

Date: May 15, 2025 - Sport of Kings

JODY McGARVEY signed off on his riding career with a third place aboard the well-supported Willie Mullins-trained beaten favourite Mirazur West in Punchestown’s Frontline Security Handicap Chase. Predictably, his final ride was for his main patron, JP McManus, for whom he had three Grade 1 successes. The record books will show McGarvey’s last winner to… Read more »

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Brendan McDowell

McDOWELL’S TIKTOK TRIUMPH

Date: May 15, 2025 - High Society

BELFAST-BASED cosmetics czar Brendan McDowell (who landed the Entrepreneur of the Year award at Ali Ryan’s Gossies bash in the RDS last year) continues to make millions in the competitive cosmetics sector. It turns out that TikTok is one of his secret weapons. Bren managed… Read more »

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

TOM KENNEDY’S YOGA STUDIO

Date: May 15, 2025 - High Society

AN IMPRESSIVE six-bedroom pile in D14 that has gone on the market with a chunky €4m price tag turns out to be owned by one Tom Kennedy – co-founder of Hostelworld many moons ago – who generated headlines last month courtesy of an ambitious €190m winter sports arena proposed for south County Dublin. His sprawling… Read more »

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Laura Magee

LAURA MAGEE’S ‘THOROUGHBRED EXPERIENCES’

Date: May 15, 2025 - High Society

WHILE MINISTERS Peter Burke (enterprise and trade) and Martin Heydon (agriculture and food) were no doubt entertained on Punchestown’s Gold Cup day, they also took the time to officially launch Horse Country (see The Phoenix 9/8/24) – a racehorse tourism initiative that offers common-or-garden racing fans the chance to experience the big time by purchasing… Read more »

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Hugh McGuire

WHY IT’S TIME TO CHOP UP GLANBIA

Date: May 15, 2025 - Moneybags

ACTIVIST INVESTOR Clearway Capital is correct in its view that Glanbia should be broken up into its three component parts. Tirlán Co-Op, which is still the dominant shareholder, should be dictating the direction of the group but doesn’t see itself having that role, leaving the running to Clearway boss Gianluca Ferrari, who believes the shares… Read more »

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Kevin Arundel

CHOPHOUSE CHOPPED

Date: May 15, 2025 - Brief Cases

EIGHT MONTHS after Kevin and Jillian Arundel (née Mulcahy) pulled down the shutters on their high-profile gastropub in Ballsbridge, The Chophouse, they have wound up the company behind their second operation, The Chophouse Sandymount. The original operation on Shelbourne Road, D4, generated quite the media buzz a few years back when celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain… Read more »

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Eoin Massey

BRIAN MOONEY’S GOLF SWING

Date: May 15, 2025 - Brief Cases

THIS MONTH is the deadline for creditors to submit any claims concerning an interesting company called Golphysics Ltd, which was set up by engineering whizz Brian Mooney to exploit some significant patents he had filed for gizmos that help improve your golf swing. Alas, the expensive-looking project has been bunkered. Dún Laoghaire-based Mooney’s various patents… Read more »

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Bronagh Conlon

BRONAGH CONLON’S HANGOVER

Date: May 15, 2025 - Brief Cases

THE DREADED taxman has registered a judgment in the High Court for €124,000 against Bronagh Conlon’s Listoke Distillery operation in Co Louth, which had been operating until recently as both an award-winning distillery and a “gin school”. Listoke Distillery Ltd has been the subject of previous outings to the Four Goldmines and in 2020 there… Read more »

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Bernard McNamara

BERNIE’S BAD NEWS

Date: May 15, 2025 - Brief Cases

SINCE GOLDHAWK revealed (see The Phoenix 9/1/25) that a number of companies established by boom-time builder Bernard McNamara were to be wound up, things have continued to go downhill fast for the one-time high-flyer, who appears to be running out of companies. Bernie was one of the biggest casualties of the property crash, having been… Read more »

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Ruadhán Mac Cormaic

‘IRISH TIMES’ LOSES SECTARIAN DEBATE

Date: May 1, 2025 - Affairs of the Nation

Last week the Irish Times lost a Press Council appeal against a Press Ombudsman’s decision. It is, for the paper, a disastrous outcome and vindicates The Phoenix’s criticism of the Irish Times’s failure to detail sexual abuse of Protestant children. The successful complainant, Dr Niall… Read more »

Liz Kearney

PROFILE: LIZ KEARNEY

Date: May 1, 2025 - Pillars of Society

THERE WAS a time when the incoming editor of the biggest-selling newspaper in the country would already be known to many in the public via print or broadcasting media but the newly appointed Sunday Independent editor, Liz Kearney, is unknown to even many working journalists. Outgoing editor Alan English is a hard act to follow… Read more »

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Eoin Hayes

YOUNG BLOOD: EOIN HAYES

Date: May 1, 2025 - The Young Bloods

ALAS, ALL political careers end in failure but minister Eoin Hayes has turned Enoch Powell’s old adage on its head and begins his political career with failure. In a state of suspense, however, Hayes is hanging in there with hopes of becoming a Social Democrats TD again. Before the series of events that resulted in… Read more »

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Virginia Giuffre

BUCK HOUSE COVER-UP

Date: May 1, 2025 - Affairs of the Nation

PRINCE ANDREW became a severe embarrassment to Buckingham Palace after sordid details of his sexual exploitation of Virginia Giuffre (neé Roberts) emerged in 2018. Giuffre has just taken her own life in Australia, aged 41. She was trafficked to the duke by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell when she was 17. Giuffre was commanded to… Read more »

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Conor McGregor

CONOR McGREGOR’S PALS

Date: May 1, 2025 - Hush Hush

DESPITE THE rallying effect that Conor McGregor is having on the new-right scene and his close association with Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson, he is not admired by everyone on the right. Gript editor John McGuirk has not only resisted the gravitational forces of wealth and celebrity that keep the rabble gathered around McGregor in… Read more »

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BRENDAN McDONAGH’S RECORD

Date: May 1, 2025 - Affairs of the Nation

THERE WAS no explanation forthcoming from the housing department to Goldhawk’s query about any plan to advertise – or rather not advertise – the lucrative role of head of the new Housing Activation Office, currently earmarked for the boss of Nama, Brendan McDonagh. Maybe he is simply the best man for the job but the… Read more »

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Tom McFeely

TOM McFEELY’S RECEIVER

Date: May 1, 2025 - Affairs of the Nation

IN RECENT times, not an awful lot has been heard here about former IRA hunger striker turned boom-time property developer turned bankrupt Tom McFeely but that could be about to change. The erstwhile Ailesbury Road denizen has spent much of his time across the Irish Sea in the last couple of years but a defunct… Read more »

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Noel Kelly

NOEL KELLY’S PET PROJECT

Date: May 1, 2025 - Affairs of the Nation

WHATEVER HAPPENED to Petfix Club, the expensive website set up by some familiar faces to give “affordable trustworthy and high quality online veterinary and wellness advice” to pet owners. The name most closely associated with the venture was celebrity vet and ISPCA chairman Peter ‘Pete the Vet’ Wedderburn, although another big player turns out to… Read more »

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VOL 43 NO 09

Date: May 1, 2025 -

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BRENDAN MULLIN’S JUDGMENT

Date: May 1, 2025 - Affairs of the Nation

A JUDGMENT has just been registered against Dublin builders John G Burns Ltd (trading as Burns Construction) for €35,000. The plaintiff here is one Brendan Mullin, with an address in Donnybrook, D4, but these days he is more likely to be found in Shelton Abbey open prison in Co Wicklow. Mullin, a former Irish and… Read more »

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ROCKET SCIENCE

Date: May 1, 2025 - Affairs of the Nation

THE MEDIA’S alarmingly war-like recruitment officers for Irish military involvement in western armies often resort to sarcasm at what they describe as the paranoid fantasies of Ireland’s pacifist and pro-neutrality activists. These are routinely dismissed as examples of ‘the boy who cried wolf’ and their exaggerated claims about Irish neutrality being undermined with every foreign… Read more »

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Justin Barrett

NOT SINCE THE BLUESHIRTS…

Date: May 1, 2025 - Affairs of the Nation

As anti-immigration protesters gathered at the Garden of Remembrance on Saturday April 26, it was clear from early on that this was going to be the biggest march that Ireland’s new right-wing networks have organised to date, with the hype around Conor McGregor a large factor. Close to 10,000 marched. But the fact that many… Read more »

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John Lennon

GET BACK

Date: May 1, 2025 - Affairs of the Nation

GIVEN KNEECAP’S recent troubles with British police and media, along with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tory party leader Kemi Badenoch, it will be interesting to see how film maker Sam Mendes, currently preparing to make films about each of The Beatles, handles the radical politics… Read more »

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RACING UNCERTAINTY

Date: May 1, 2025 - Affairs of the Nation

NOT SURPRISINGLY, there has been plenty of comment on the €300,000 winning bet placed with Ladbrokes by stable lad Dylan Phelan, for which he has yet to be paid a cent. Interestingly though, whatever the final outcome may be (the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board is carrying out its own inquiry) it is hard to see… Read more »

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Pat O'Connor

VIRTUAL WAR BUT REAL MONEY

Date: May 1, 2025 - Affairs of the Nation

When VRAI Simulation recently launched its new office in Orlando, Florida, it hyped up the significance of the move with copious references to its clients and partners in the western military world. VRAI has developed a niche for itself in Ireland’s technology sector, specialising in producing virtual reality content that is used in training simulators… Read more »

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Colum McCann

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: May 1, 2025 - The Hot Air Brigade

What was most extraordinary about him was how the words seemed to enter him. Viscerally. Quietly. It struck me that I had never seen words being accepted in the same way. Colum McCann on Pope Francis, Irish Independent You should be a cardinal, if not the Pope…We’re still rooting for you. Miriam O’Callaghan to Sr… Read more »

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Hannah Daly

CLIMATE NEUTRALITY ‘WISHFUL THINKING’

Date: May 1, 2025 - Fowl Emissions

When it comes to Ireland’s energy transition, “wishful thinking needs to be replaced by the realities of engineering, finance and project delivery”. So said the Irish Academy of Engineering (IAE) in a recent report on Ireland’s efforts to be climate neutral by 2050. In short, it can’t be done, says the IAE so, instead, they… Read more »

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