IS PIPPA ON THE UP? OR OUT?
Affairs, High Society, 24 November 2020
Model-turned entrepreneur Pippa O’Connor was breathless with excitement announcing the launch of her new cosmetics brand this week, but it has elicited a surprisingly muted response on social media. O’Connor has managed to build a very nice empire for herself since jacking in the St Stephen’s Green photocalls life. Her Poco jeans were a huge… Read more »
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HACKED OFF AT THE JOURNALISM AWARDS
Affairs, Media, 23 November 2020
THE NEWSBRANDS Journalism Awards were conducted virtually this year, which allowed hacks who failed to bring home a gong the opportunity to present their best loser face via Zoom. While the annual back-slapping event has become famous for its post-ceremony tiffs over the origin of stories – and newly-departed Mirror editor Jumbo Kierans will be… Read more »
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GOVERNMENT’S DOCTOR DEFLECTION
Affairs, 20 November 2020
THE RESUMPTION of attacks on public health advice indicate that certain figures in government and business understand the weakness of their own position. Those who complained bitterly about ‘yo-yo lockdowns’ just weeks ago now seek a return to the lowest level possible, whatever the consequences. Still nursing the wounds from an embarrassing u-turn on Level… Read more »
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FINN MCREDMOND’S ‘NUANCE’
Affairs, 20 November 2020
IRISH TIMES readers are fortunate that the paper’s resident young Tory is on hand to keep the nation’s passions in check. In the latest dispatch from her Westminster townhouse, Finn McRedmond calls for greater nuance against an alleged tide of “anti-Englishness”. The columnist points to what she says is one “extreme example”, a 2017 piece… Read more »
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CÉAD MÍLE FAILURES
Affairs, 18 November 2020
CHRISTMAS SEASON can only be around the corner when Government Buildings roll out a tokenistic nod to the diaspora. This week, An Taoiseach welcomed a new strategy for the Irish abroad, “central to which”, he says, “is a deep appreciation of the profound importance of connection.” Throughout the last recession, Governments leaned heavily on the… Read more »
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SIMON’S SUBSCRIPTIONS
Affairs, 18 November 2020
THAT EMINENTLY relatable social media influencer Simon Harris turned the wrong page this week while sharing some of his reading habits. Irish libraries will have been flummoxed to see the Minister for Further and Higher Education cheerily promoting the competition. On Tuesday night, Harris announced to his audience of nearly two hundred thousand on social… Read more »
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PANTO WARS: OH YES THEY DID
Affairs, Behind the Scenes, 17 November 2020
PANTO MAY be for the kids, but there were lots of grown up people throwing their toys out of the pram over it in recent days. First up were Alan Hughes and Karl Broderick, who took umbrage at their company, Anthem Productions, being left off the Government’s €5m Live Performance Scheme. Broderick went on social… Read more »
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DANISH SECRETS
Affairs, Hush Hush, 17 November 2020
IRISH READERS are by now used to a steady diet of cyber security coverage. Business, technology and military interests have all found an open door at most newspapers, whose audience can on any given day expect to be told either that Ireland is a cyber security powerhouse or a reckless laggard where failure to beef… Read more »
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TV REVIEW: THE DEN (RTE ONE)
Affairs, Behind the Scenes, 17 November 2020
RTE HAS spent considerable time recently hyping a turkey – and for once, it isn’t a new sitcom. Rather, they have built anticipation for the return of Dustin and Zig & Zag on The Den, the staple of Gen X childhoods now given a fresh run until Christmas on Sunday evenings. For most TV channels,… Read more »
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RTÉ DIGITAL FUTURE?
Affairs, Behind the Scenes, 17 November 2020
FRUSTRATED VIEWERS of the beloved RTÉ Player will not have found much comfort at recent Oireachtas hearings. Adrian Lynch, Director of Audience, Channels and Marketing at RTÉ, was among contributors at the Communications Committee on Wednesday. The executive was ebullient about the national broadcaster’s response to the pandemic this year but funding challenges at Montrose… Read more »
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MORE REVOLVING DOORS
Affairs, 13 November 2020
PLANS TO amend the Lobbying Act will be watched with interest by a number of former politicians. The outrage at Golfgate and early retirements of Brian Hayes, Michael D’Arcy and Dara Murphy have brought renewed attention on the appropriateness of some post-Leinster House careers. In the Dáil last week, Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath signalled… Read more »
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TOP STORY?
Affairs, 12 November 2020
VIEWERS of RTÉ’s main evening news on Wednesday were treated to a curious take on events in Belfast. The North continues to record some the world’s highest infection rates and occupies an unfamiliar place at the top of RTE bulletins. Anchor Sharon Ní Bheoláin introduced the segment telling her audience of a “stalemate as the… Read more »
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VLAD’S VIDEO NASTIES
Affairs, 12 November 2020
A CHASTENED Leo Varadkar was almost contrite following the no confidence motion on Tuesday night when Dáil business returned to the plight of online moderators. During priority questions, Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly outlined for the Tánaiste and Enterprise Minister the “serious psychological damage and injury” encountered by workers exposed to explicit content on websites like… Read more »
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WOULFE’S FIGHT BACK
Affairs, 11 November 2020
WHILE JUSTICE Woulfe struggles to comprehend the place he finds himself at least someone is providing belated image management on his behalf. The former Attorney General has been short on allies in recent months but Woulfe was fortunate to receive some well timed positive coverage this week. Woulfe’s professional achievements and contribution to law were… Read more »
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VLAD’S ‘FAKE NEWS’
Affairs, 11 November 2020
DONALD TRUMP’S influence is set to endure if Leo Varadkar’s defence is any indication. More curious is an apparent reluctance to question his recent attacks on the media. The former Taoiseach famously stunned fellow dinner guests at an event in New York when he was seen to disparage the work of media organisations and political… Read more »
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STEFANIE PREISSNER’S NEWS
Affairs, 11 November 2020
THE UBIQUITOUS Stefanie Preissner is among the most prominent of those who have shrewdly made the jump from entertainment to current affairs in 2020. With publishing deals, broadcasting slots, theatre shows and a Sunday Independent column to her name, the world of news has become the ambitious Corkwoman’s next frontier. Preissner’s already established media presence… Read more »
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FF CONFIDENCE
Affairs, 10 November 2020
IT SEEMS that there is never a good time for a no confidence motion as far as Fianna Fail is concerned. The party, which was once upon a time capable of unrivalled truculence, has become very adverse to the rough and tumble of politics. As Leo Varadkar faces further scrutiny in the Dáil this evening,… Read more »
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KNOTTY BATTLE OF THE HAIR QUEENS
Affairs, 10 November 2020
POPULAR Instagrammer-turned-hair-queen Claire Fullam, aka Claire Balding, has gotten herself into a tangle with her new hair products site, Trua. Eagle-eyed fans spotted some of the products she’s selling on Ali Express at a fraction of the price, and when called out on it, Fullam took a little break from social media until the fuss… Read more »
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SINDO REBRANDING NEEDS A RETHINK
Affairs, 10 November 2020
THERE’S MORE upheaval at the Sindo, with the axe falling on several columnists as part of the imminent rebranding of Living section to People & Culture. Those culled under new features editor Fran Power’s scythe include Eleanor Goggin, best mate of Living’s former editor, Mary O’Sullivan. The nation will be relieved that Brendan O’Connor looks… Read more »
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BIDEN’S BREXIT
Affairs, 9 November 2020
NEWSPAPERS in Brexit Britain received the US election results with characteristic restraint. The old phrase “special relationship” took on a different and decidedly green hue over fears the balance of power is tilting toward Ireland. The Daily Telegraph warned that “Biden will now wage war on Brexit as the British outpost of Trumpism.” Coverage across… Read more »
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COVENEY’S COMFORT
Affairs, 9 November 2020
THE RETURN of more “moderate” figures to power in Washington will buy some breathing room for EU foreign policymakers, and not least for minister Simon Coveney in Dublin. When in search of a seat on the UN Security Council seat, Dublin was prepared to talk a big game on Palestinian rights but behind all the… Read more »
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POLLING PROBLEMS
Affairs, Media, 6 November 2020
IRISH TIMES Washington hack Suzanne Lynch had something of an epiphany as the votes were counted this week. America’s Election 2020 is the latest political event to confound predictions. Not long after the first results arrived on Tuesday night, Lynch on social media suggested that “serious questions should be asked about polls and the role… Read more »
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BOOK REVIEW: LOVE (RODDY DOYLE)
Affairs, Behind the Scenes, 6 November 2020
LIKE MUCH of Roddy Doyle’s fiction, his 13th novel for adults is made up largely of dialogue. Since the success of The Commitments (published 33 years ago), the author has honed his pared-down prose style to tell stories primarily of working-class people from the northside of Dublin. Using sometimes witty, minimalist and repetitive language, the… Read more »
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DR ZERO TRANSPARENCY
Affairs, 5 November 2020
FINE GAEL minister Simon Harris was quick to his feet in the Dáil on Tuesday to account for his own interactions with Dr Maitiú Ó Tuathail. Further messages released by Chay Bowes show the former president of the National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP) contacting the former health minister privately on Twitter. Before the Oireachtas… Read more »
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TV REVIEW: DEAD STILL
Affairs, Behind the Scenes, 5 November 2020
The premiere of Dead Still on Halloween weekend proved appropriate, given that there are few scarier prospects than a new RTE drama series. The brainchild of Kilkenny writer John Morton, the show proved reasonably diverting and had some nice comedic flourishes, though it will take a lot more to breathe new life into RTE’s entertainment… Read more »
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JIM’S FF VALUES
Affairs, 4 November 2020
AFTER A STALLED bid for the party leadership, the Leo Varadkar controversy has handed an enormous gift to Jim O’Callagan. The ambitious barrister declined a junior ministry in July, pledging instead to focus on Fianna Fáil’s need for “strong voices outside Government who can ensure that our party’s identity can be protected during the term… Read more »
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VLAD’S FRINGE MEDIA
Affairs, 4 November 2020
VILLAGE PUBLISHER Michael Smith will have been pleased to hear Leo Varadkar describe the magazine as “fringe” on Tuesday. The fact that such a lowly entity had caused the Tánaiste to account for himself on the floor of Dáil Éireann would suggest differently but this is not the first time Vlad has tangled with the… Read more »
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FITZGERALD’S FEARS
Affairs, Fowl Emissions, 4 November 2020
WHAT AN INTRIGUING contest is forming around the final shape of the Climate Action Bill. Goldhawk watched with interest the Committee on Climate Action last week where Prof John Fitzgerald expressed some of his own concerns. The Chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAG) warned that a proposed revamp of the body risks undermining… Read more »
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RTE’S FAKE NEWS
Affairs, Media, 4 November 2020
Did RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes wince on hearing Steve Bannon interviewed on Radio One Tuesday evening? The former Trump strategist appeared on Drivetime this week to offer an, erm, alternative view, of events in America. “Its great to have you on”, announced Cormac Ó hEadhra, as the host introduced the myth of Bannon as… Read more »
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UNDERCOVER POLICE TARGETED LONDON IRISH GROUPS
Affairs, Hush Hush, 3 November 2020
THE LONG awaited Undercover Policing Inquiry commenced in London this week and is set to shed further light on the activities and influence of British spies in Ireland. Proceedings finally began on Monday after several years of delay and obstruction. A Metropolitan Police Branch Unit known as the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) was established in… Read more »
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MURPHY’S LAW
Affairs, 30 October 2020
VERONA MURPHY bagged a few easy headlines this week announcing her decision to live off a weekly €350 for the duration of lockdown. Ensuring no good deed goes unpublicised, the Wexford TD pre-emptively promised the media that “populism” played no part in her motivations. Rather, the move was in “solidarity” with workers out of a… Read more »
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HELEN DIXON’S COSTS
Affairs, 30 October 2020
TODAY’S RULING at the Commercial Court will turn out to be a very expensive one for the Data Protection Commissioner and raises awkward questions about some past decisions. Justice Costello has ruled that Helen Dixon’s office must pay the legal costs of Max Schrems following this summer’s decision on EU-US data transfers at the Court… Read more »
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BLUESHIRT BLUES
Affairs, 29 October 2020
THE NATION’s wellbeing received a welcome boost on Thursday with the sight of Stephen Donnelly launching yet another miserly mental health campaign. The Government’s new ‘Keep Well’ initiative follows the same ‘low cost high bluster’ formula as the #inthistogether wheeze launched and quickly forgotten by the previous Government in April. A weary public are again… Read more »
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CORBYN’S CRITICS
Affairs, 29 October 2020
JEREMY CORBYN’S belief that some of his troubles can be attributed to a hostile media were given further credence on RTÉ. The former British Labour leader was suspended from the party on Thursday during the fallout from the publication of the Equality and Human Rights Commission report on anti-Semitism. In a statement, Corbyn said that… Read more »
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WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RECORDS LEGAL BLUNDER?
Affairs, 28 October 2020
QUESTIONS WILL be asked about Attorney General Paul Gallagher following the sustained controversy over the Mother and Baby Homes legislation. The public response in recent weeks took all in Leinster House by surprise and is set to echo long after the Commission delivers its final report this week. In different times, the scenes of public… Read more »
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VARADKAR’S BELGIAN WAFFLE
Affairs, 28 October 2020
IT IS becoming difficult to tell if even Leo Varadkar knows which way the wind is blowing. The Enterprise Minister sees it as within his brief to indulge the crankier theories of industry lobbyists on one day, before retreating behind the cover that his Government is calling it right on the next. On Monday, the… Read more »
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