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Barry Egan’s salad days

Date: March 22, 2018 - Fit to Print?

WOW! What a wild boy Barry Egan was back in the 1980s when, as he explained recently to breathless Sindo readers, he cavorted with New Musical Express “hip, intelligent” and “brilliant writers” in those “mad, bad and crazy days at NME”. Barry’s career took an even zanier turn shortly after when he became editor of… Read more »

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Fionnan Sheahan

ABORTED INDO STORY

Date: March 22, 2018 - Fit to Print?

THE Irish and Sunday Independent have been running a campaign against their bitter rivals in The Sunday Times and its new title, The Times Ireland, for taking editorial positions on various issues from Brexit to abortion. But apart from the paradox of INM titles claiming ethical purity on such issues (see The Phoenix, 9/3/18), there… Read more »

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Donald Trump

LEO’S WINDY ‘JOKE’

Date: March 22, 2018 - Fowl Emissions

There was much to cringe over in Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s lame attempt to curry favour with US president Donald Trump during his Paddy’s Day visit to Washington by bragging about having personally lobbied to have planning permission for a windfarm near Doonbeg in Co Clare blocked. That Varadkar had to finally admit he was in… Read more »

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Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Date: March 22, 2018 - Bog Cuttings

chip shop row lands GAA star in the soup A GAA star attacked an elderly man with his own walking stick after a row at a chip shop. Letterkenny District Court heard how Tyrone player Dean McNally of 23 Cabhan Alvinn, Pomeroy, Dungannon, Co Tyrone, along with two of his friends had been in a… Read more »

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Clare McGrath

NEW LOOK HERITAGE TRUST

Date: March 22, 2018 - High Society

THE POSITION of chief executive of the Irish Heritage Trust (IHT) is about to be filled following an advertising process. It will be interesting to see what sort of response the post attracted, given the difficulties experienced by Kevin Baird during his 12 years in situ. Having started off with a lot of fanfare, the… Read more »

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Judy Woolworth’s “public confidence”

Date: March 22, 2018 - High Society

NO DOUBT Judy Woodworth and the board of the Alfred Beit Foundation were delighted with the big spread on Russborough House in The Irish Times last weekend. The article was lavish in its praise of the Blessington property highlighting the impact of a “much needed” E1m refurbishment spend carried out during the winter closure. The… Read more »

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Belinda Strudwick

BELINDA STRUDWICK’S BIG BILLS

Date: March 22, 2018 - High Society

THE RACING of thoroughbred horses is a notoriously expensive game that only the wealthy can afford to play. One such moneybags is English property developer Roy Strudwick, who made a mint here in the good old days (and, more importantly, avoided the crash). He has been backing his wife Belinda Strudwick’s Ballygallon Stud business for… Read more »

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Unmanageable Sisters

THE UNMANAGEABLE SISTERS – ABBEY THEATRE

Date: March 22, 2018 - ReviewsTheatre

WITH INTENSE public pressure to ensure that women are sufficiently represented on stage, what easier way for theatre managers (like the Abbey’s co-director Graham McLaren) to tick the box than to employ an all-female cast of thousands, and pad the numbers tallied up by gender-equality campaigners? In this case, the women on stage number no… Read more »

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The Lodgers

THE LODGERS – DIRECTED BY BRIAN O’MALLEY

Date: March 22, 2018 - MoviesReviews

CLEARLY, going to the cinema to see an Irish film is often a risk. Much as you hope for the best there is always the sneaking suspicion that a few too many stars may have been lavished on the film by reviewers who, let it be said, don’t pay for their tickets. And so it… Read more »

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The Hoarder

THE HOARDER – JESS KIDD (CANONGATE)

Date: March 22, 2018 - BooksReviews

THE LONDON-based Irish author Jess Kidd published her well-received first novel, Himself, in 2016. Her follow-up is narrated by Mayo-born Maud Drennan, who has the unenviable job of looking after octogenarian Cathal Flood, described in his case notes as a “retired artist, mechanical engineer and dealer in curiosities”. Since his wife’s death, he has led… Read more »

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Brian Maguire

ARTS COUNCIL RESIGNATIONS

Date: March 22, 2018 - Behind the Scenes

IT IS starting to look like being a member of the Arts Council is a hazardous affair. Artist Brian Maguire has just stepped down from the board although he has the best part of a year to run on his contract, having been appointed for a five-year stint back at the end of January 2014… Read more »

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Annie Doona

FILM BOARD’S FEMALES

Date: March 22, 2018 - Behind the Scenes

NOW THAT Annie Doona’s Irish Film Board (IFB) has a recruitment campaign under way for a production and development coordinator, maybe the agency will use the opportunity to bring some gender balance to the ranks of its employees. The IFB told Goldhawk it now employs “four males and 17 females” but had no comment to… Read more »

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Jill Cousins

HUNT MUSEUM’S HUNT is OVER

Date: March 22, 2018 - Behind the Scenes

THE LONG vacant position of director and chief executive of the Hunt Museum has gone to a woman – Jill Cousin – who joins the increasingly lengthy list of female heads of state-backed cultural institutions, including the National Museum of Ireland, National Library of Ireland, Chester Beatty Library, Crawford Art Gallery, Arts Council. (What are… Read more »

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Kerrie Radcliffe

KERRI RADCLIFFE’S SUDDEN EXIT

Date: March 22, 2018 - Sport of Kings

READERS WILL recall (see The Phoenix 9/3/18) that Goldhawk was impressed by the size of the wedge chucked about by bloodstock agent Kerri Radcliffe on behalf of the free spending bloodstock investment fund, Phoenix Thoroughbreds, but also noted “the results have been slow and small to date”. Just that week, Radcliffe found herself unsaddled by… Read more »

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Ger Lyons

GER LYONS LETS LOOSE

Date: March 22, 2018 - Sport of Kings

DUNDALK RACECOURSE hosted the most valuable race held at the track recently but the €75,000 Patton Stakes – part of a new European road to the Kentucky Derby series – didn’t meet approval from some quarters, most notably trainer Ger Lyons. The race, a listed contest for three-year-olds, had historically taken place a month later… Read more »

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Michael O'Leary

CHELTENHAM’S MELON FLAVOUR

Date: March 22, 2018 - Sport of Kings

WHILE TRAINER Gordon Elliott will always be the golden boy as far as Mick O’Leary is concerned, Davy Russell and Henry De Bromhead surely sealed their employment for the foreseeable future by finally providing the airline boss with a victory in his own race, the Ryanair Chase. O’Leary has been trying to win the race… Read more »

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Peter Brant

PETER BRANT JOINS THE COOLMORE BOYS

Date: March 22, 2018 - Sport of Kings

THE FALL from grace of South African tycoon Marcus Jooste left a gap in the market for an investor to join the Coolmore triumvirate of John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith and it turns out the boys have been joined by Peter Brant. Brant’s White Birch Farm shot to prominence at various breeding stock… Read more »

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Francesca McDonagh

McDonagh needs to close gap on AIB

Date: March 22, 2018 - Moneybags

IT IS still surprising that the most prudent of Irish banks – Bank of Ireland – went into overdrive during the frenzied lending boom at the top of the property market. It needed €7bn to prevent it going under whereas fellow pillar bank AIB needed €21bn. Yet today AIB is 20% more profitable with a… Read more »

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Michael Carvill

Kenmare now set for takeover approach

Date: March 22, 2018 - Moneybags

TWO YEARS ago, Mick Carvill was facing oblivion in Kenmare Resources having lost $200m over the preceding 24 months and leaving the company in breach of all the group’s banking covenants. Only a miracle could save Kenmare, it appeared, and something close to this arrived… Read more »

Ivor Callely

Tony Gannon’s Cerberus setback

Date: March 22, 2018 - Brief Cases

INTERESTING to see Goldhawk’s old pal low-key Lucan businessman Tony Gannon popping up again recently in the Four Goldmines. The developer – who will be familiar to fans of Goldhawk for his connections to Fianna Fáil in the pre-crash days – had a day to forget in the High Court when he consented to a… Read more »

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Frank Walsh

More turbulence for windfarm investors

Date: March 22, 2018 - Brief Cases

THERE’S trouble brewing for the directors of windfarm operators Sunflower Design, now that one group of disgruntled backers has lost patience with the Mayo operation and opted to head to the Four Goldmines. Fans of Goldhawk will recall that between 2008 and 2009, Sunflower – where members of music mogul Louis Walsh’s family are heavily… Read more »

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The holiday home in Kiltoom

Athlone solicitor Cormac Lohan’s secret recording

Date: March 22, 2018 - Brief Cases

MORE woe for solicitor Cormac Lohan who has had a stressful first quarter of 2018. Not only has the Athlone legal eagle been named on the Revenue’s latest list of tax defaulters, the taxman has also moved to wind up his legal consultancy. Fans of Goldhawk will recall that Lohan – who practises as Lohan… Read more »

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Cork carpenters’ bad luck

Date: March 22, 2018 - Brief Cases

AN UNLUCKY Cork carpentry outfit was slapped with a hefty judgment by the dreaded taxman recently. Carrigaline Carpentry Services Ltd, controlled by brothers John and Brian O’Neill, had the judgment for over €1/2m registered against it last month but the two boys have had their share of bad luck in the past. Their carpentry operation… Read more »

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Liam Mulvaney’s latest setback

Date: March 22, 2018 - Brief Cases

DUBLIN developer Liam Mulvaney’s annus horribilis continues. After being sent to the slammer for 10 days last month for contempt of court, Ulster Bank has now secured summary judgment in the High Court against Mulvaney for a stomach-churning u7.5m relating to property loans granted to him between 2004 and 2010. It was reported last month… Read more »

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Matt Carthy

MATT CARTHY: SF’S NEW CROWN PRINCE

Date: March 22, 2018 - Last Refuge

THE retirement at the next election of long serving Sinn Féin TD, Caoímhghin Ó Caoláin – as weighty and formidable as Mary Lou McDonald and Pearse Doherty but less promoted by the party – is part of the transitional leadership agenda. This will, SF hopes, see a younger generation in leading positions, but it also… Read more »

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Mairead McGuinness

Fine Gael MEPs DEMAND HUGE DEFENCE SPEND

Date: March 22, 2018 - Last Refuge

THE four Fine Gael MEPs demanding an end to Irish neutrality and massive defence spending have repeatedly protested – like the lady that doth too much – that their policy document on the issue is not an official party view. Thus proposals from the four MEPs are not from FG and they are about a… Read more »

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Chay Bowes

Chay Bowes misses the target

Date: March 22, 2018 - Brief Cases

HARD to luck to Dublin businessman Chay Bowes whose outdoor gear outlet and gun shop suddenly closed its doors earlier this year. Creditors of Range River Mountain Ltd (RRML), the company behind the Outdoor Depot at the South City Business Park in Tallaght, called in liquidator Diarmuid Lynam in late February after the outfit ran… Read more »

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Patrick Elliott’s mixed results

Date: March 22, 2018 - Brief Cases

CAVAN builders James Elliott Construction Ltd (JEC), one of the companies at the centre of a long-running scrap over pyrite-contaminated concrete, has just got around to filing its 2016 accounts. The books show the financial situation the building company was in before it registered a judgment against Irish Asphalt Ltd for u2.7m late last year…. Read more »

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3606 Cover

Vol. 36 No. 06

Date: March 22, 2018 -

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Michael D Higgins

Irish Times defies Michael Twee

Date: March 22, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

IS President Michael D Higgins losing his touch? Higgins failed recently to bring to heel his normally adoring courtiers at The Irish Times despite some heavy lobbying from the Áras. An indication of the high regard in which the IT holds the president came in a laudatory piece recently from the IT’s religious correspondent, Patsy… Read more »

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John Concannon

Profile: John ‘SCU’ Concannon

Date: March 22, 2018 - Pillars of Society

BECOMING the story rather than creating it is regarded as the kiss of death for any spin doctor, but John Concannon, head of the Orwellian sounding Strategic Communications Unit (SCU), is certainly the story right now. Concannon’s media profile has always been that of the man who masterminded several campaigns, including the 1916 Centenary programme…. Read more »

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Liz Carolan

Young Blood: Liz Carolan

Date: March 22, 2018 - The Young Bloods

DATA MANDARIN Liz Carolan (33) is mounting a most worthy campaign against dodgy money and its influence on Irish politics. With her new transparency project, the Dubliner hopes to keep tabs on the various groups paying for social media adverts in the run-up to the abortion referendum, but clever Carolan has a big problem on… Read more »

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Ger Gilroy

Grand Slam media battle kicks off

Date: March 22, 2018 - Fowl Play

THE RECENT spat between the IRFU and the rugby writers’ group (see The Phoenix 23/2/18) has focused attention on the battle for dominance of the rugby media scrum. The run-up to the Grand Slam provided ideal conditions for the various parties to put their tactics into play but it turns out the game has already… Read more »

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Fred Holroyd

Vindicating Fred Holroyd

Date: March 22, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

A SENIOR British Army surgeon has backed Fred Holroyd’s claim that he was falsely sectioned as mentally ill once he began to complain about secret state activities. This is one more stepping stone to vindicating Holroyd as an important witness to collusion between British security forces and loyalist death squads. Holroyd was a British Army… Read more »

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tania-banotti

Tania Banotti’s pay rise

Date: March 22, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

CONGRATULATIONS to Tania Banotti who has just landed the job of director of the Government’s Creative Ireland programme once helmed by John Concannon. She has got off to a very good start. Banotti is an experienced operator, having headed the film lobby group Screen Producers Ireland before hopping from the celluloid world to the boards… Read more »

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Josepha Madigan

JOSEPHA MADIGAN’S HANDLER

Date: March 22, 2018 - Affairs of the Nation

WITH Josepha Madigan settling in as Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, an experienced PR handler has popped up as one of her special advisers. Madigan was one of the big winners under Leo’s new regime and was parachuted into cabinet despite not even having had a stint at junior minister level. Indeed, her… Read more »

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