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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »