Affairs, 25 April 2022

A “WATERSHED” was how Mary Butler hailed a Dáil debate in February, concluding that “fifty-one deputies, which is a lot, came to speak about the important issue of youth mental health.” An impressive turn out in Leinster House for sure, only that Fianna Fáil’s Minister of State for Mental Health was putting a neat gloss… Read more »

Affairs, 22 April 2022

AN IRISH Times opinion poll revealing that an overwhelming majority of voters still stand by neutrality has been greeted with dismay if not contempt among the political media. Wherever it is the public have received their commitment to a path that rejects militarisation, it has certainly not come from either the press or leading politicians…. Read more »

Affairs, 22 April 2022

BEYOND DEALING with the catastrophic fallout from Ukraine, influential elements here and abroad have been greatly emboldened by the opportunity to mould public minds toward a new era of militarism. It is with great regret then that, according to at least one opinion poll, a major shift in thinking remains elusive. That war in Europe… Read more »

Affairs, 20 April 2022

MNÁ NA hÉireann will no doubt be thrilled to finally receive the attention of Fianna Fáil. Late last month what was once the “natural party of government” during most of the state’s existence proclaimed that “historically, women’s health has not been a priority and we feel strongly that this has to change.” Fancy that. Lisa… Read more »

Affairs, 19 April 2022

DAVID MCCOURT’S National Broadband Ireland is under pressure to get a move on after serious criticism from the Public Accounts Committee last week. With less than 10,000 of over half a million target premises connected so far, the Dáil’s spending watchdog is the latest to question if the state is getting value for money from… Read more »

Affairs, 19 April 2022

JACK KENNEDY has certainly had a colourful tenure as editor of Trinity News, and shows no let up as the conclusion of his stint at the helm of the student rag approaches. Among those he publicly accused of having “blood on their hands” in the wake of the recent double murder in Sligo were the… Read more »

Affairs, 14 April 2022

THE FORCES of revisionism are nothing if not vigilant, maintaining watch even as the headlines are dominated by war, inflation and climate crisis. The Irish Times resumed its campaign against Republicanism on Wednesday with a column from historian Liam Kennedy, who argues that the Ukrainian famine of the early 1930s should not be conflated with… Read more »

Affairs, 13 April 2022

WHAT AN intriguing battle royale permeates the highest levels of Ireland’s health service. It seems forgotten now that it was Simon Harris and his failure to get on top of this portfolio that effectively sank the executive led by Leo Varadkar. Micheál Martin today has his own issues and personalities to face down. With the… Read more »

Affairs, 13 April 2022

MICK O’TOOLE, the Irish Daily Star’s hard charging crime corr and Manchester City fan in residence, took two notable stands this week. The first was on the question of a garda press conference about the US government’s decision to impose sanctions on the three most senior members of the Kinahan gang in conjunction with the… Read more »

Affairs, 12 April 2022

MUCH OF the commentary surrounding Clare Daly and Mick Wallace betrays a lack of understanding about the European Union apparatus. It certainly underlines the sorry state of how EU affairs have long been covered. Perhaps it’s because Ireland has, erm, only ever sent its highest calibre of politician to early retirement in Brussels that people… Read more »

Affairs, 8 April 2022

THERE WAS no sign of the usual ornamentation as Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Oireachtas on Wednesday morning. The Ukrainian president dispensed with quotes from Yeats or Heaney and got straight down to outlining the damage which he said had been done by Russian forces the night before. To have a foreign head of state speak… Read more »

Affairs, 8 April 2022

MANY OBSERVERS were flabbergasted this week when Richard Boyd Barrett received the endorsement of top model, Bella Hadid. The VOGUE cover star could be considered among the pinnacle of global celebrity, and shared two People Before Profit posts with her 50.8 million Instagram followers. By contrast, the socialist TD for Dún Laoghaire is now one… Read more »

Affairs, 5 April 2022

IT LOOKS like the BBQ-ing equipment business venture he founded with fellow South African rugby players Leon Jordaan and Darin Claasen didn’t quite ignite a passion in CJ Stander. Although the FireBoks business was launched in a blaze of publicity in January 2021, former Ireland and Munster player Stander resigned as director and sold his… Read more »

Affairs, 4 April 2022

DUBLIN CHAMBER of Commerce is most optimistic in suggesting that a new role of Minister for Dublin be created. The organisation’s President, Vincent Harrison, opines that a cabinet place should be reserved for the interests of the capital city in the event that plans for a directly elected mayor continue to stall. Aside from likely… Read more »

Affairs, 4 April 2022

THAT UNIONISM has made a rod for its own back has been a staple of commentary now for some time, but Goldhawk was still interested to read Susan McKay in the Guardian suggest that the power-sharing model is “probably dead”. In a withering account of where the DUP in particular finds itself, the author says… Read more »

Affairs, 2 April 2022

WHILE HER initial venture into business went pear-shaped and she “stepped away” from the first brand she launched, Rosie Connolly’s unisex clothing line has generated a healthy profit for her in its first year. In a landscape saturated with beauty and fashion bloggers, Connolly has managed to parlay her large online following into a lucrative… Read more »

Affairs, 1 April 2022

THE GOVERNMENT’S efforts to soothe concerns around the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) hardly inspire confidence. Remarks from Stephen Donnelly in the Dáil this week in fact raise more curiosities. In response to questions from Gino Kenny, the Health Minister continues to insist that he is satisfied with “absolute guarantees of full independence”, and waves… Read more »

Affairs, 31 March 2022

DESPAIR HAS given way to euphoria in the Labour Party, but the results are no more encouraging. Ivana Bacik’s ascension to the leadership has not exactly generated a clamour of enthusiasm among either the public or press pack. Journalists were denied the cycle of intrigue and internal rivalry that traditionally accompanies a political beheading, while… Read more »

Affairs, 30 March 2022

PERHAPS ONE revealing moment, in an otherwise lacklustre and hagiographical TV treatment on RTÉ of Desmond O’Malley’s career, came from his longtime admirer and friend, former tánaiste, Mary Harney. Noting how he had been agitated in his last years by recent ‘publications’ on the 1970 arms crisis that he felt were ‘untruthful’, Harney allowed that… Read more »

Affairs, 29 March 2022

BROTHERS JOHN and James Kavanagh are not averse to making good use of their family relationships to boost their respective businesses. John, aka Coach Kavanagh, is the mixed martial arts trainer whose most famous pupil is Conor McGregor. His younger brother, James Kavanagh, is a social media influencer who has made inroads into media work…. Read more »

Affairs, 29 March 2022

GOLDHAWK NOTES that many commentators who have suddenly taken it upon themselves to become security experts, those especially making grave warnings about misinformation in recent weeks, appear to have fallen into a propaganda trap of their own. Newly acquired jargon is published with great authority, and top of the list is “hybrid warfare”, a phrase… Read more »

Affairs, 29 March 2022

THE APPOINTMENT of David O’Sullivan will make a most appropriate addition to the distinguished ranks of the Government’s favourite quango, the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA). The former EU mandarin is set to take over as Director General in April, replacing ex-diplomat, Michael Collins. This role has previously been held by Barry Andrews,… Read more »

Affairs, 28 March 2022

HOW QUICKLY the mood has changed with the most responsible voices in politics and media all baying for massive increases in government spending. When it comes military matters, it seems that the guardians of fiscal prudence can conjure up a magic money tree of their own. When the Commission on the Future of the Defence… Read more »

Affairs, 28 March 2022

ACRES OF media space has now been dedicated to calls for a “mature debate on Irish neutrality,” but this occupation of the opinion pages and airwaves has not been matched in reporting the actual developments. Last November, The Phoenix flagged EU plans to endorse a new defence strategy, a white paper dubbed Strategic Compass. At the time,… Read more »

Affairs, 28 March 2022

LIKE SO many corporate twitter accounts, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has cottoned on to the fact that the people who live on Twitter want companies not merely to be purveyors of goods and services at a reasonable price, but also to display their ethical and moral credentials – and the more woke the better…. Read more »

Affairs, 24 March 2022

GOLDHAWK WAS alarmed on examining Verona Murphy’s library during an episode of The Week in Politics. While Paschal Donohoe is reviewing books and Eoin Ó Broin is busy writing them, the adoption of Zoom has given public figures a further opportunity to show off their reading habits as they beam in from the office. On… Read more »

Affairs, 16 March 2022

THE REHABILITATION of Nóirín O’Sullivan shows no sign of abating with another round of generous coverage in the Irish Times. In her first interview since resigning in 2017, the former Garda Commissioner was the subject of extensive and sympathetic human interest reporting in November, with O’Sullivan recast as a civilian; posing for new photographs and… Read more »

Affairs, 15 March 2022

IT IS a dark time for press freedom with paranoid central government starving the national broadcaster of revenue, opening its chequebook only in furtherance of the state’s own agenda. No, not the megalomaniacal impulses of autocratic bogeymen, but an extraordinary development that the Irish government is planning to bankroll foreign affairs journalism on RTÉ and… Read more »

Affairs, 15 March 2022

NEWS GATHERING presents its own obvious challenges in wartime, especially when budgets are already squeezed and reporting is conducted far from the action. It is still difficult, however, to account for some of the coverage recently received by elements of the coalition resisting Russian invasion. RTÉ News, which is once again running adverts promoting itself… Read more »

Affairs, 15 March 2022

SIGNS ARE that the decommissioning of AK-47 is just the latest example of questionable judgment inside the Labour Party. In ditching Alan Kelly as leader not only has the parliamentary party responded to a clamour that did not exist anywhere outside of perhaps the plotters’ own egos, but the removal of the Tipperary TD has… Read more »

Affairs, 15 March 2022

THOSE DASTARDLY Shinners are up to their old tricks again, deleting years’ worth of old press releases from the party website. This scoop from Hugh O’Connell is by all accounts the latest instance of the Independent’s singular focus missing the wider target. Colleague Philip Ryan had a most impressive run last year, breaking lurid exposés… Read more »

Affairs, 14 March 2022

GOLDHAWK can only marvel at the manipulation encountered in what is otherwise presented as a “mature debate on neutrality.” Across the press and broadcast media the public are implored to abandon the principle on grounds of morality, maturity, security, humanity, Christianity, and, failing that, there is always recourse to invective toward anyone not on board… Read more »

Affairs, 14 March 2022

HAVING ONE over on the English response to a refugee crisis may not be the most difficult thing in the world these days but Micheál Martin has been praised for striking the right pose during a television interview on Sunday. Faced with some loaded questions from BBC host Sophie Raworth, An Taoiseach emphasised humanitarianism over… Read more »