WAXPERTS’ BAD HAIR DAY
Affairs, 8 September 2021
WHERE THE glitterati will go to become, er, less hirsute is the big question now that Waxperts has closed its salon in Dun Laoghaire. Social media stars and Z-listers will have to go elsewhere for their Brazilians now that the 13-year-old salon has shut up shop. Waxperts opened in 2008 and is owned by Ellen… Read more »
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DEIRDRE CONROY’S CHUTZPAH
Affairs, 4 September 2021
AS SHE licks the wounds from her mauling in the recent Dublin Bay South by-election, Deirdre Conroy can console herself with the knowledge that her disgruntled tweet to the government of Andorra saw her trending on Twitter this week. Whether Fianna Fáil sympathises with the councillor’s beef with the tiny principality is anyone’s guess, especially… Read more »
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DERVAL’S HEALTHY FIGURES
Affairs, 3 September 2021
HAVING MADE a loss of €15,000 in its first year of trading, the good news for Derval O’Rourke and Greg O’Gorman is that their health and fitness company has moved into the black. While the three-time Olympian originally owned 60% of Digital Health Resource Ltd, she has now transferred 10% of the shares to O’Gorman,… Read more »
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FOI BLUNDERS
Affairs, 3 September 2021
THE GOVERNMENT’S ability to create chaos for itself remains resilient after the summer break with Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney subject to several lines of inquiry. How poetic that an affair triggered by a leak from the confidential cabinet table now brings focus on transparency and the Freedom of Information Act. The ever increasing fallout… Read more »
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CATHERINE MARTIN’S ROAD TO REOPENING
Affairs, 2 September 2021
CATHERINE MARTIN’S Return to Live Entertainment Working Group was announced to much fanfare in March of this year, so it will have surprised many to arrive at a point almost six months on with the latest “roadmap” so light on detail. The Culture Minister was in need of a win after last month, having been… Read more »
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DRIVETIME’S POT OF GOLD
Affairs, 2 September 2021
THE OUTRAGE industry takes no rest for the silly season, and so even the leprechauns are summoned to the front line of the culture war. RTÉ brings, from the world of American college football, the startling news that the “fighting Irish” mascot of Notre Dame University has been judged as the “fourth most offensive” of… Read more »
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DENIS DESMOND’S LAOIS HEADACHE
Affairs, 2 September 2021
IT WAS a nice angle while it lasted, but the simplistic tale of the GAA behemoth having it all their own way while a plucky live events industry is left adrift had come undone by the week’s end on Friday. Performers of all stripes were less than impressed by the scenes at the All Ireland… Read more »
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YATES’ MEDIA MASTERY
Affairs, 31 August 2021
IF IVAN Yates’ media wrangling masterclasses take off the way he hopes, they’ll generate €15,000 per day, in addition to the €450 he’s charging participants opting for a 15-minute virtual interview – or as he put it on Ireland AM, a “punishment beating.” Although he said in 2020 that his plan for retirement was to… Read more »
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JOHN MCGUIRE’S ESCAPE FROM HELL
Affairs, 31 August 2021
WITH VARIOUS presenters, shows and producers being culled from Virgin Media Television and media reports claiming that the bloodbath is far from over, former Xposé presenter Karen Koster is safe as she moves from hosting Ireland AM to The Six O’Clock Show. Her husband John McGuire’s dulcet tones have been heard on the station almost… Read more »
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LISA JORDAN’S JUMP
Affairs, 26 August 2021
WITH HER range of Luna by Lisa Jordan hair and beauty products landing in Dunnes Stores this week, Cork influencer Lisa Jordan is giving Suzanne Jackson and Pippa O’Connor a run for their money. Having established her company, PBH Media Ltd, at the end of November 2019, Jordan made a profit of €99,000 in the… Read more »
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LUCINDA TAKES ON BIDEN
Affairs, 25 August 2021
THE OVAL Office will have felt a distinct chill on Sunday having received a strong rebuke from Lucinda Creighton. Avid Business Post readers among the West Wing’s foreign policy elite will have been disappointed to find Joe Biden and his administration branded as no less than “the face of the chaos and terror that reigns… Read more »
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BLUESHIRT BIG BRAINS
Affairs, 25 August 2021
WITH SUCH energy, dynamism and intellectual heft in the Fine Gael ranks it is surprising to see the party turn to the public for direction. The latest wheeze has the Blueshirts asking the plain people of Ireland to “submit their ideas for how we can help make Ireland better for all.” The party must indeed… Read more »
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OH JAYSUS!
Affairs, 25 August 2021
PLEASED TO see Joe Duffy catch up with The Phoenix. This magazine had warned in April that the apocalyptic premonitions of Christina Gallagher may influence some attitudes in the fight against Covid; however, not even Goldhawk could have foreseen an instalment of Liveline in which it was debated whether or not Jesus would have taken… Read more »
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PATRICK BERGIN’S BONUS
Affairs, 25 August 2021
HOLLYWOOD STARS and landed gentry whose posh piles are in need of repair could do worse than live in Ireland. Offaly County Council allocated €50,000 in April 2021 to film star Patrick Bergin under the Historic Structures Fund, which provides financial assistance to assist with the conservation and restoration of heritage properties. The Sleeping with… Read more »
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VIRGIN TV’S EXODUS
Affairs, Media, 23 August 2021
A FEW empty seats have come up in Virgin Media Television, with Anna Daly announcing her imminent departure from Ireland AM after 12 years, hot on the heels of Matt Cooper jacking in host duties on The Tonight Show and Pat Kenny confirming that he won’t be appearing in the autumn/winter schedule. With the station… Read more »
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LINDA HAYDEN’S EXIT
Affairs, 23 August 2021
SO LONG to The Victims Alliance which will not be seen at the centre of another social media storm. The advocacy organisation burned very bright for some months before a spectacular end in March this year. The Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) now records that the alliance has officially and “permanently ceased lobbying”. Organisation… Read more »
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ERIN MCGREGOR’S MANIFESTING
Affairs, 19 August 2021
ERIN MCGREGOR has launched a new brand and podcast to help people “manifest fabulous things” into their lives, and she is undoubtedly hoping they will do it while dressed in the €79 dressing gowns and €69 pyjamas she is flogging. She is getting plenty of media coverage for her Imperfection by Erin McGregor brand, with… Read more »
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RTE SOLDIERS
Affairs, 19 August 2021
FINDING THE Irish angle on events in Afghanistan can be difficult and might be even more so if not taking the lead from the jingoist press in Britain and the United States. RTÉ News on Monday asked, as it was put on the broadcaster’s website, if “the West’s 20-year mission and the sacrifices incurred were… Read more »
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RYAN’S RETURN
Affairs, 19 August 2021
WHAT WAS it that prompted Ryan Tubridy to open up about his personal life on the day before the launch of a new season on RTÉ? The country’s highest paid broadcaster took a moment during his Radio One show on Tuesday to tell listeners of an occurrence on the mean streets of Dún Laoghaire. Tubridy… Read more »
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DÁIL VIDEO NASTIES
Affairs, 19 August 2021
SOME OIREACHTAS members have reacted with bemusement to a letter from Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl this week which warns of the rules regarding video footage from Leinster House debate. The appropriateness of these restrictions deserves some scrutiny. Time was when news of parliamentary activity was filtered almost exclusively through the press gallery for the… Read more »
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TRINITY COLLEGE AND THE WEAPONS TRADE
Affairs, 18 August 2021
TRINITY COLLEGE students delivered a most interesting letter to provost Dr Linda Doyle this month, shining a light on the university’s involvement in the arms trade. Records obtained by campaign group, Students4Peace, show that TCD has at least €2.6 million euro invested in companies like Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The Trinity College Endowment… Read more »
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UP THE WRONG TREE
Affairs, 18 August 2021
CAN YOU hug a robotic tree? The eco-warriors on Cork City Council (CCC) seem to think so, but reaction to the appearance of five four-metre-high contraptions on the main streets has been less than enthusiastic. Regular readers will recall that thousands of perfectly healthy trees have been destroyed across the country in recent years thanks… Read more »
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MATT SHANAHAN’S FIT RELATIVE
Affairs, 18 August 2021
TD MATT SHANAHAN deleted his controversial tweet in relation to a woman harassed in a public park, and in doing so, deprived followers of a source of Internet merriment that he, perhaps unwittingly, created. The independent TD’s reference to his “15 stone ripped nephew” spawned a slew of witty memes, parody twitter accounts and gags… Read more »
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DCU’S INDO ALUMNI
Affairs, Media, 16 August 2021
A NEW career pathway appears to have opened up between Talbot Street and Glasnevin, with several former Indo hacks and snappers joining the communications team at Dublin City University. The latest to make the move is photographer Kyran O’Brien, who spent almost 30 years at the Indo. He has joined former head of news, Jane… Read more »
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TRINITY NEWS V IRISH TIMES
Affairs, 13 August 2021
EDITOR Paul O’Neill and his team of hacks at the Irish Times may have been expecting blowback at some stage over coverage in the paper of the bubbling transgender debate – in particular the publication in its letters page of some strongly expressed opinions from gender critical feminists and also an opinion piece on a… Read more »
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FINLAY’S FALLOUT
Affairs, 13 August 2021
SPARE A thought for Fergus Finlay, another victim of the fallout from Zapperfest. The former Labour Party spin doctor had treated Ivana Bacik’s election as a return of the Messiah, so it will have been a bitter blow to see the new TD among those mingling at the Merrion Hotel. The veneration began two days… Read more »
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MATT COOPER’S MOVE
Affairs, 12 August 2021
WHILE MATT COOPER’S announcement that he won’t be returning to present The Tonight Show on Virgin Media One came as a surprise to viewers, could the broadcaster have been mulling a different direction for some time? The Corkman incorporated a new company called Munster Square Productions Ltd in December 2020, with its stated activities being… Read more »
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SHORT TERM VISION
Affairs, 11 August 2021
SIX YEARS ago, Enda Kenny arrived on day one of the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) and promptly set about dismissing the targets that would ultimately be enshrined in the Paris Agreement. Delivering a formal address before some 146 heads of state and global media, the former Taoiseach put any tree-hugger to shame. “Let’s… Read more »
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WOKE BANKERS
Affairs, 11 August 2021
FLEXING ONE’S eco credentials is set to become the dominant theme in advertising. Already the media is festooned with mawkish monologues and soaring music that seek to reassure customers about the efforts of business to “play its part”. State Street, the global investment managers, scored plenty of publicity in 2017 after it commissioned the “Fearless… Read more »
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TOMMY BOWE’S BEDSIDE STORIES
Affairs, 11 August 2021
HE RISES very early to present Ireland AM, but the payoff is that a company owned by former Irish rugby international Tommy Bowe and his wife Lucy has seen a 40% rise in profits over the past year. Monaghan’s finest set up Blue Bridge Management Limited in February 2019, and recently-filed accounts show that accumulated… Read more »
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RTÉ PRESENTERS’ LOSSES
Affairs, 6 August 2021
WITH RTÉ reporting a surplus of €7.9m for 2020, maybe it will consider restoring the earnings of its highest presenters, whose accounts appear to suggest they may be in need of a boost. Despite their impressive incomes, companies owned by several presenters have somehow managed to report a loss in 2020, according to annual reports… Read more »
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BLUESHIRT JAB RACE
Affairs, 5 August 2021
AN TAOISEACH’S hailing of an “Olympian” national effort on vaccination quickly went to the heads of his coalition partners, who promptly engaged in a bit of cheap posturing. Social media users were miffed at the weekend as Fine Gael trumpeted that “Ireland has OVERTAKEN the UK in fully vaccinating our adult population”. The green jersey… Read more »
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ZAPPED OUT
Affairs, 5 August 2021
Katherine Zappone was in combative form as the day began on Wednesday, but not for long. News that the former minister organised a bash at the five star Merrion Hotel was enough to see her finally break her silence, but only just. A short statement to Morning Ireland, essentially directing critics to take it up… Read more »
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DUNDALK FC’S SOPRANOS FAN
Affairs, 5 August 2021
MANY COLUMN inches and headlines were garnered when Sopranos’ actor Joseph R. Gannascoli sent Dundalk FC a good luck message prior to its match against Shamrock Rovers recently. Had the hacks behind the puff pieces describing “Vito Spatafore” as a fan of the club looked closer, they might have noticed that a Dundalk marketing and… Read more »
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ELECTRIC PICNIC’S POWER CUT
Affairs, 5 August 2021
NOW THAT Laois County Council has refused to grant Electric Picnic organisers a licence to hold this year’s festival, what will become of the dosh its organisers received to put on the dad-rock festival? EP Republic Limited received €423,135 to stage “live music and theatre shows, comedy acts and arts in Stradbally Hall and Olympia… Read more »
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FRANKIE MCNAMARA’S MEDITATIONS
Affairs, 4 August 2021
INTERESTING TO see young Frank McNamara follow the family footsteps into the world of entertainment. The Belvedere College boy behind popular Instagram page, Meditations for the Anxious Mind, is beginning to see a return on his play for viral success. Promising an insight into the “deranged mind of a self-obsessed spirit guide as he walks… Read more »
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