MICHAEL D’S CRITIC
Affairs, 4 August 2021
WHETHER BY excessive use of the guillotine on Dáil debate, blocking legislation via the so-called money message or slashing the speaking time afforded to opposition deputies, governments have rarely given a second thought about their entitlement to have their way on the trifling matter of law-making. Protestations from rival parties, civil society, the media or… Read more »
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TAX PR OFFENSIVE
Affairs, 4 August 2021
A RECENT splurge by the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) sheds some light on the mood as the Government prepares to fend off jealous interference on corporation tax. The begrudgers, now numbering some 130 OECD member nations, the White House, United States Treasury, European Commission, etc, will surely have been humbled to find several articles in… Read more »
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RORY COWAN’S COMPANIES
Affairs, 4 August 2021
MRS BROWN’S BOYS star Rory Cowan has a remarkable penchant for garnering headlines over skirmishes with friend-turned-foe Twink and Twitter spats, but underneath the drama lies a savvy operator. While he was keen to talk to the Sindo, Oirish Sun and RTE’s Ray D’Arcy over the past week about his eating habits, social media trolls… Read more »
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ZAPPER’S NEW JOB
Affairs, 30 July 2021
THE STRUGGLE for civil and human rights is a lonely one with selfless figures taking a stand on unpopular causes, often, but not always, at great personal cost. This should be some comfort for Katherine Zappone as it turns out that few inside or out of Leinster House are impressed with the manner in which… Read more »
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THE IRISH TIMES AND MICHELLE SMITH DE BRUIN
Affairs, 30 July 2021
AS OLYMPIC fever grips the nation once again, the Irish Times today notes that while former swimmer Michelle Smith de Bruin still holds her medals for the games in Atlanta, the paper says that her “victories were questioned”. Long time fans of Goldhawk will recall that the Irish Times itself embraced the 1996 euphoria, in… Read more »
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TV REVIEW:THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT (RTE ONE)
Affairs, 30 July 2021
News of another Saturday night entertainment show will have been enough to cause an outbreak of cold sweats in long-suffering RTE viewers, who have borne witness to a series of spectacular car-crashes over the years, including doomed vehicles for everyone from Brendan O’Connor to Miriam O’Callaghan. The most recent addition to this run of grisly… Read more »
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TAKE IT DOWN FROM THE MAST
Affairs, 29 July 2021
Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel according to popular wisdom and flag politics is perhaps the most base if persistent terrain on which the shadow boxing of symbols occurs. In the Republic, at least, outbreaks remain in the realm of tedium compared to the hot blooded contests in the north, Britain, America and… Read more »
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ALAN KELLY’S CORBYNISTAS
Affairs, 29 July 2021
JEREMY CORBYN’S commitment to hopeless causes remains undiminished as he shared some time with the Irish Labour Party. The gatekeepers of respectability and sometimes even electability at party HQ will surely be alarmed to see how fondly the honourable member for Islington was received at an online event organised by the youth membership. The controversial… Read more »
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BAILEY ON THE ROCKS
Affairs, 29 July 2021
ONLINE SPATS are not hard to come by, but rarely can we enjoy two members of the same political party trading jibes on their timelines. Erstwhile TDs Noel Rock and Maria Bailey were up late on Wednesday night with some scores of a Blueshirt nature to settle. Leader of Aontú, Peadar Tóibín, got the ball… Read more »
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TAX CLOCK TICKING
Affairs, 29 July 2021
WITH THE walls closing in globally on the state’s corporate tax regime, it will be interesting to see at which point a remarkably united front begins to break down. On no other issue do all the major political parties, state agencies, the private sector and much of the media operate in such concert. Official discussion… Read more »
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ADRIAN CUMMINS’ VACANCIES
Affairs, 29 July 2021
SPARE A THOUGHT for Adrian Cummins as the hospitality trade faces its latest headline consuming catastrophe in the shape of acute labour woes. The ubiquitous lobbyist laments this week that “there was a staff shortage before Covid. Now there is an absolute crisis in our industry”. Concerns over recruitment and retention in the restaurant sector… Read more »
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CHATTY CHUPI’S STRATEGY
Affairs, 29 July 2021
LOQUACIOUS JEWELLERY designer, Chupi Sweetman, has made the telling of customers’ schmaltzy love stories part of her sales schtick – a strategy that helped her to shift 13,000 pieces of jewellery in Ireland last year. Her latest direction sees her encouraging women to practise self-love – by buying jewellery for themselves. The Business Post devoted… Read more »
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BLUESHIRTS ZAPP MARTIN
Affairs, 28 July 2021
ONLY HARDENED cynics could argue that there is anything unsavoury about ministers approving the appointment of a recent colleague during the final frantic cabinet meeting before holidays. After all, Katherine Zappone’s elevation to no less than Special Envoy for Freedom of Expression at the United Nations takes place in one of two traditional windows, July… Read more »
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ZAPPONE’S FORWARD THINKING
Affairs, 28 July 2021
FORMER MINISTER, Katherine Zappone, has always been a forward thinking politician with a strategic sense of the main chance and future openings. Almost two years ago Goldhawk spotted Zapper’s career trajectory and predicted that she was angling for a United Nations position in the event of failing to retain her Dáil seat. ZAPPER FOR UN?… Read more »
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CRAIG LOVETT’S RUFF DAY
Affairs, 28 July 2021
WITH FIANNA FÁIL still smarting from the result of the Dublin Bay South by-election, it could do without the bad press generated by a Cavan councillor being embroiled in an animal welfare controversy. The Sunday Worst reported that gardaí removed four dogs from a metal container on property it alleged belongs to deputy chairman of… Read more »
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JON WILLIAMS GOES GREEN
Affairs, 27 July 2021
IT IS difficult to be encouraged by the sudden realisation that the national broadcaster has a “responsibility to lead the conversation about the climate crisis”. In a rare instance of the country’s most conservative newsroom responding to criticism, Managing Director Jon Williams has pledged this week to “create a team, working across RTÉ News &… Read more »
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BRENT POPE’S FASHIONABLE FINANCES
Affairs, 27 July 2021
SPEAKING TO the Sunday Times, rugby pundit Brent Pope revealed that “all” of his income sources were lost during Covid-19, as there was “no rugby, no retail, no hospitality industry.” This bleak scenario may have surprised customers of his fashion brand Pope, which was still selling and being promoted online throughout the pandemic. Brent launched… Read more »
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PANTI BLISS’S STAGE
Affairs, 23 July 2021
WHILE HE could never be described as a shrinking violet, Rory O’Neill, aka drag queen Panti Bliss, has been especially vocal this week. From taking a pop at journalist Ruth Dudley Edwards to declaring that he won’t reopen indoor facilities at Pantibar and Pennylane until all of his staff are vaccinated, O’Neill is certainly adept… Read more »
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FORMER FG SPIN DOCTOR ROLLS UP
Affairs, 23 July 2021
WITH LEINSTER HOUSE tentatively resuming normal activity in September, the annual budget too is set to return to its traditional position as the centrepiece of the political calendar. Covid lingo will give way to the more familiar clichés of “old reliables” – tobacco, petrol and alcohol. With minimum unit pricing on off-sales already in the… Read more »
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MULVANEY’S AMNESTY PLEA
Affairs, 23 July 2021
HOW UNUSUAL to find a member of Donald Trump’s government taking a dim view of resisting politically sensitive prosecutions. Writing in the Irish Times on Friday, former White House Chief of Staff, John ‘Mick’ Mulvaney, warns that Downing Street’s decision to enforce an effective amnesty on conflict-era crimes risks prolonging divisions in Northern Ireland. To… Read more »
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JIMMY MACCARTHY’S NEW FRONTIERS
Affairs, 23 July 2021
WITH THE release of his latest video, singer-songwriter Jimmy McCarthy’s new Sinophilic direction has raised some eyebrows on the music scene. The Cork composer recently made a video offering his congratulations on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and praising the speech given by the party’s general secretary, the… Read more »
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NO SAFE HOUSE FOR LIVELINE LISTENERS
Affairs, 22 July 2021
WITH THE annual Summer exodus imminent at Montrose, it is slim pickings at Joe Duffy’s outrage factory. Liveline on Thursday zoned in on the Doagh Famine Village museum in Donegal, a topic familiar to thousands who will already have seen a viral review circulated on Twitter six days earlier. UCD historian, Dr Emily Mark-FitzGerald, posted… Read more »
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PIETA’S PUSH
Affairs, 22 July 2021
DONORS AND Darkness into Light walkers will be heartened hearing the latest media campaign by Pieta House. Regular radio broadcasts inform us that thanks to public generosity the charity will be hiring “extra”, and in another advert “additional”, counselling staff across the country. Looking at the careers on offer one finds just five vacancies: one… Read more »
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SPY BUSINESS
Affairs, Hush Hush, 22 July 2021
THE IRISH Times is most optimistic in an editorial this week stating that “Israel must do more to police” military-grade spyware, which has become big business and a trophy industry for the country., An investigation by Amnesty International, the Washington Post, Guardian, Le Monde and others has revealed the extent that Pegasus software developed by… Read more »
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O’KEEFFE SAGA “UNPAUSED”
Affairs, 21 July 2021
NORMA FOLEY was the very model of benevolence on RTÉ Radio this afternoon as she announced the reopening of a revised ex gratia scheme which has arisen from the O’Keeffe case. Listening to the Education Minister one was given little impression that this troubling saga has been ongoing for two decades, and it would be… Read more »
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MARC’S COLEMAN’S LOBBYING
Affairs, 21 July 2021
INTERESTING TO see Marc Coleman pop up in the Lobbying Register. The former broadcaster and economist produced what he claimed was “probably the world’s first comprehensive strategy to combat the economic challenge of Coivid-19”, just ten days into lockdown last year (see The Phoenix 23/4/20), but it seems he was slower off the mark in… Read more »
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LISA MCGOWAN’S TROLL THREAT
Affairs, 20 July 2021
HAVING SECURED High Court orders last August requiring Facebook to provide her with information to identify anonymous people she claims are trolling her online, Lisa McGowan is leaving the alleged culprits in suspense. The Offaly influencer revealed in a Sindo interview that she hasn’t taken further action against the account-holders to date, although she did… Read more »
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SINÉAÐ O’CONNOR’S STIRRING
Affairs, Media, 19 July 2021
THE SINDO must be delighted that Sinéad O’Connor’s interview with Ian Bailey has finally generated a watercooler moment for the paper, even if the ethics surrounding the piece have been hotly debated. It would also be interesting to know what the paper feels about O’Connor speaking to Joe O’Shea of CorkBeo and the Irish Mirror… Read more »
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IT OBSESSION
Affairs, 16 July 2021
IRISH TIMES editor Paul O’Neill must be beside himself as the paper continues to captivate a most valuable audience. For over a year now the IT has found itself to be the main forum for and itself a key player in public debate, at least in the eyes of thin-skinned ministers. A column published by… Read more »
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DAILY MAIL’S MARKET
Affairs, 16 July 2021
THE DAILY Mail in London this week claims “victory” as Downing Street announces that no British Army soldiers will face trial for the conflict in Northern Ireland. “Justice at last” proclaims the front page headline, while also noting the “bitter blow” that the statute of limitations will “give an effective amnesty to IRA terrorists.” Nothing… Read more »
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CLIMATE MINISTER NOBBLED AT THE LAST
Affairs, 16 July 2021
REMAINING OPTIMISTS in the Green Party took heart in last weekend’s byelection that, while support in the leader’s constituency ultimately dropped from 22 to 8%, the campaign proper at least provided a rallying point for uneasy members after a fraught 12 months. As voters went to the polls last Friday, Éamon Ryan, true to form,… Read more »
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GILLIAN FITZPATRICK BOLTS AGAIN
Affairs, Media, 15 July 2021
THE LATEST twist in Gillian Fitzpatrick’s colourful career trajectory has been revealed with the establishment of her new advertising strategy company, Bolter Media. The development comes mere months after she began working as the new commercial director of Communicorp in February prior to it being acquired by Bauer Media Audio – a position she has… Read more »
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LABOUR CATCHES UP WITH IVANA BACIK?
Affairs, 14 July 2021
THE ELECTION of Ivana Bacik after so many years embodies the determined incrementalist principles at the very core of the Labour Party. Or such is the sort of self-serving platitude that has flowed since the long-time senator cruised to victory in Dublin Bay South (DBS) over the weekend. The reality is not so clear cut…. Read more »
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MARISSA CARTER’S TANNING DISASTER
Affairs, Behind the Scenes, 14 July 2021
TAN QUEEN Marissa Carter appears seriously browned off with her business partners, having taken to Instagram to announce that she plans to take legal action against them. These partners in the tan company are also behind the mega-successful pharmacy wholesale distributor, Sundrelle, which made a profit of €3.76m in 2019, bringing accumulated profits to over… Read more »
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VINCENT BROWNE’S BRITISH BANTER
Affairs, 13 July 2021
FORMER BROADCASTER Vincent Browne only tweets a couple of times per month these days on average, but his latest pronouncement to his 138,000 social media followers probably won’t win him any plaudits on the Anglo-Irish relations front. “Marcus Rashford must be the most admired person in England,” he tweeted. “That distinction must not be devalued… Read more »
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SALLY ROONEY’S NEW ROLE
Affairs, 12 July 2021
IT CAME as no surprise that the TV adaptation of Normal People took home nine gongs at the IFTAs, but cleaning up at Goldhawk’s favourite luvvies’ back-slapping event is not the only reason Sally Rooney has come to his attention. The author du jour has had an extract of her third novel published in the… Read more »
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