MARTIN’S STRATEGY FLOP
Affairs, 10 February 2020
FIANNA FÁIL’S election plans have come up short in more ways than one. Micheál Martin’s miracle comeback has not materialised with the party trailing well behind its target of 55 seats. On top of this, two key planks of Martin’s recovery strategy have failed. In 2011, FF were cut down to just 20 TDs. Later… Read more »
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THE NEXT HOUSING MINISTER?
Affairs, 10 February 2020
AFTER JUST ONE Dáil term, Eoin Ó Broin has emerged as a key figure in Sinn Féin’s popular appeal. As housing spokesperson he has been instrumental in the party’s rebranding as socialists and his command of policy detail has won admirers among even SF sceptics. It would represent a major coup for the party should… Read more »
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MICHEÁL MARTIN’S U-TURN
Affairs, 10 February 2020
FIANNA FÁIL TDs believe that Micheál Martin will be forced to do the U-turn of the millennium and form a coalition government with Sinn Féin after the arithmetic reality in the next Dáil kicks in. Others believe Martin will stand and fight against ‘the Provisionals’, as Eoghan Harris calls them, in which case Martin will… Read more »
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ZAPPER’S ABSENCE
Affairs, 7 February 2020
MANY WERE LEFT horrified and confused this week following an Irish Times report that new Tusla guidelines may see victims of child and sexual assault questioned by alleged perpetrators. The policy is prompted by a number of court decisions finding that an accused party has the right to challenge the complainant’s evidence. The special rapporteur… Read more »
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KNOWN TO THE GARDAÍ
Affairs, 7 February 2020
GOLDHAWK IS INTERESTED to see that the sun may be setting on one of the most insidious practices in Irish journalism. The full weight of the media has been brought to bear on Sinn Féin over remarks made by Conor Murphy following the death of Paul Quinn in 2007. Murphy’s suggestion that Quinn had been… Read more »
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GARDA’S GREEN WITHDRAWAL
Affairs, 7 February 2020
Protests, if they are in any way effective, are routinely condemned, belittled and vilified. The exception has been school strikes for climate action which have swept the globe and been received warmly by the media here in Ireland. Politicians have went out of their way to accommodate protesters and in a gratuitous stunt, some were… Read more »
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CREED’S CLIMATE CRIMINALS
Affairs, Fowl Emissions, 7 February 2020
AGRICULTURE MINISTER Michael Creed has approved the appointment of Brian Rushe to the Teagasc Authority. The Kildare man was elected Deputy President of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) in December and was subsequently nominated for its seat on the board. 2019 was a fractious year in Irish agriculture and there were a number of tight… Read more »
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NORMAL POLITICAL PARTIES
Affairs, 7 February 2020
GOLDHAWK WAS ALMOST DIZZY watching some of the contortions on display during the election campaign. Politicians and commentators are at once aghast over internal democracy within Sinn Féin and flabbergasted that, for example, Saoirse McHugh could be at odds with the Green Party line. The Achill candidate’s forthright and off script remarks have been held… Read more »
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MEDIA FRENZY OR COMPASSION?
Affairs, 7 February 2020
MEDIA MONSTERING of Sinn Féin over the 2007 Paul Quinn murder and the contradictions between Mary Lou McDonald and SF’s northern finance minister, Conor Murphy reached hysterical proportions this week. The Sunday and Irish Independent, the Irish Times and RTE lost the run of themselves, descending from their usual anti-SF electoral combat mode to McCarthyite… Read more »
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ELECTION HOPES FOR NIGHTLIFE REFORM?
Affairs, 6 February 2020
FIANNA FÁIL STANDS out in this election as the only the party not to include reference to the night time economy in its manifesto. The party, which has struggled with voters under 35 since the crash, has overlooked that liberalisation of licensing laws, appointment of night mayors and other continental ideas are now in fashion…. Read more »
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THE NEXT FINANCE MINISTER?
Affairs, 6 February 2020
AFTER ALMOST a decade in the wilderness, Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath is, at last, Finance Minister in waiting. Having completed his apprenticeship in the dark days of fiscal rectitude, how will his orthodox approach fit in with a new coalition, one likely to stake its reputation on big spending in housing, health and the environment…. Read more »
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ROSS AND HIS CRITICS
Affairs, 4 February 2020
SURELY NO FIGURE in recent years has attracted negativity from so many quarters as Shane Ross. As a cabinet minister he has received as much opprobrium from government partners as they directed at the opposition and drove a successful media campaign against him. Why? Because Ross and his Independent Alliance had the gall to insist… Read more »
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MORE BREXIT BLUSTER
Affairs, 4 February 2020
RECENT OPINION POLLING has thrown up some surprises and the reaction has been stranger still. The BBC’s Andrew Neill was pick of the bunch on Saturday when he opined that “Varadkar [is] learning the hard way you can’t anti-Brit SF” and that “Varadkar’s FG, campaigning on anti-British ‘small Country’ ticket [is] down 7 points”. Irish… Read more »
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MURPHY’S CLERICAL ERROR
Affairs, 4 February 2020
Further to Goldhawk pointing out that RTÉ were over enthusiastic in reporting a “record breaking” drop in homeless figures last week, it seems that Eoghan Murphy’s department made a significant oversight. In the midst of an election campaign, Fine Gael was given a boost on the stubborn issue of housing when the national broadcaster announced… Read more »
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EAMONN MCCANN’S SAD SONG
Affairs, 4 February 2020
ACCORDING TO a legal notice published last week, property vehicle Lugano Properties Company Ltd has been wound up by the High Court. There seems to be some confusion, however, over the actual status of the company, which is owned by concert promoter Eamonn McCann – former business partner of Denis ‘MCD’ Desmond. The intriguing story… Read more »
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SINN FÉIN IN GOVERNMENT?
Affairs, 4 February 2020
IS THE unthinkable — Sinn Féin in government — about to become the inevitable with SF’s rise and rise? Or is the real question that which faces Fianna Fail leader, Micheál Martin; namely, how to become Taoiseach via a coalition involving SF without also effecting the most embarrassing U-turn in modern Irish politics? See the… Read more »
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SHANE ROSS’S SINDO COLUMN
Affairs, 3 February 2020
A STORY of triumph over adversity; of sporting heroism against financial doom; and Corinthian players against entrenched bureaucrats in the FAI was relayed in the Sunday Independent yesterday (02/02/20). The article described how the government and in particular, sports minister, Shane Ross faced down those who resisted a solution to the financial crisis and reform of… Read more »
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BAD NEWS BOOSTS RYANAIR PROFITS
Affairs, 3 February 2020
FANS OF The Phoenix will not have been surprised that Mick O’Leary’s Ryanair delivered profits of almost €90m for the last quarter of 2019, pushing up the share price by around 4% as investors hurried on board. Moneybags explained (see The Phoenix 29/11/19) exactly why events outside the control of O’Leary have resulted in a… Read more »
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MARTIN’S REAL POWER BASE
Affairs, 31 January 2020
THERE IS quiet, almost embarrassed amusement in the Fianna Fail parliamentary party at their leader Micheál Martin’s accusation that Sinn Féin is under the control of unelected individuals in a back room in Belfast. FF Dáil deputies need look no further than a small room in Dublin to locate (if not exactly access) the… Read more »
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ROSS LEWIS’S RETENTION
Affairs, 31 January 2020
MICHELIN-STAR chef Ross Lewis (pictured above) of Chapter One fame could stand the planning heat, so he’ll be allowed to stay in the kitchen – or in this case, retain the aluminum outdoor seating structure at his Italian eatery in Grand Canal Quay D4, Osteria Lucio. Grappas all around, no doubt. An Bord Pleanála has… Read more »
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OCTAGON PLOT TWIST
Affairs, 31 January 2020
THE POSSIBILITY that the €50m High Court claim by German film producer Winifred ‘Winni’ Hammacher against the two boys behind Love/Hate and Vikings – Morgan O’Sullivan and James Flynn (pictured above) of Octagon Films – could go to mediation is surely good news for all concerned, apart from the legal eagles that is. The fees… Read more »
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BILLY’S BLUNDER
Affairs, 30 January 2020
NO SOONER had Richard Bruton got backs up at the Irish Times when Billy Kelleher started taking lumps out of RTÉ. Late on Wednesday night, the Fianna Fáil MEP recounted his decision to buttonhole “Tommy Connelly” in Strasbourg over the national broadcaster’s “pitiful” coverage of EU affairs. While Kelleher has been away since June, he… Read more »
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RTÉ RECORD BREAKERS
Affairs, Media, 30 January 2020
FEARS THAT the RTÉ newsroom is dominated by subversives were put at ease on Wednesday following a positively glowing report on government’s housing efforts. In breathless tones, the story variously alerts readers to the “biggest drop ever recorded in the homeless statistics” and “the largest recorded monthly drop”. Behind it all, the number of people… Read more »
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HOGAN’S INTERVENTION
Affairs, 30 January 2020
WITH POLLING DAY edging near Phil Hogan has made his customary intervention on behalf of Fine Gael. Big Phil’s previous role as European Commissioner for Agriculture saw him well placed to opportunistically shore up the party’s rural support. Ahead of the 2016 general election, Hogan descended from Olympus to make soothing noises about the need… Read more »
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THE PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD CONUNDRUM
Affairs, 30 January 2020
For over a year, foreign minister Simon Coveney has threatened to take the gloves off and recognise Palestinian statehood if Israel continued to resist real peace moves in the Middle East. How is it possible for the government to continue stalling on Palestinian statehood following Donald Trump and Israel’s latest ‘plan’? See The Phoenix article… Read more »
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HOWLIN’S SHANNON BLUSTER
Affairs, 30 January 2020
BRENDAN HOWLIN’S ELECTION pledge for Shannon Airport could hardly be more meaningless. The party manifesto promises that “Labour will end the use of Shannon and Irish airspace by the US military while the US is involved in any warfare that does not have UN approval”. American foreign policy for decades has involved perpetual war across… Read more »
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BRUTON’S CONFUSION
Affairs, Media, 30 January 2020
CONFUSION SET IN last night when Minister Richard Bruton claimed that an Irish Times story about the fate of Catherine Noone was a “fabrication”. Around half seven on Wednesday evening the IT published a report by Fiach Kelly detailing Fine Gael’s difficultly in dealing with their embattled candidate. The article said that Fine Gael had… Read more »
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SARAH DURCAN’S DRAMATIC EXIT
Affairs, 30 January 2020
FANS OF The Phoenix will not have been surprised to see that Social Democrat candidate for Dublin Bay South, Sarah ‘Waking the Feminists’ Durcan, has exited stage left from the board to the Abbey Theatre. As Goldhawk reported (see The Phoenix 17/5/19), the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Abbey require a board seat… Read more »
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NAIRAC WHITEWASH
Affairs, 29 January 2020
WHAT TO MAKE of the silence surrounding new evidence in the Miami Showband massacre? Ministry of Defence (MOD) documents made public during a court hearing in Belfast last week, indicate that British Army Capitan Robert Niarac not only provided assistance to the so called Glenanne gang but planned and directed the botched conspiracy. This is… Read more »
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FEMINIST LEADERS?
Affairs, 29 January 2020
MNÁ NA hÉIREANN were surely thrilled to see party leaders flex their feminist credentials in an Irish Independent questionnaire. New men like Varadkar, Martin and Howlin lined up to retrospectively claim credit for polices their parties had been dragged into implementing. Among all the fine-tuned responses, Varadkar’s decision to congratulate himself on ratifying the Istanbul… Read more »
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FINE GAEL OUT OF STEP ON CLIMATE
Affairs, 29 January 2020
FINE GAEL’S EFFORTS to bolster its green credentials have routinely included reference to work of Galway West TD, Hildegard Nauoghghton as Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action. It will come as a sting then that the same committee has delivered a frank rebuke of government’s efforts. In recommendations submitted to the Draft National… Read more »
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PROFILE: FINE GAEL’S CATHERINE NOONE
Affairs, 28 January 2020
FINE GAEL’s Catherine Noone is back in the news for all the wrong reasons. The senator’s campaign in Dublin Bay North had already gone quiet following a bust up over bus parking and she faces another storm of her own making following an ill-judged diagnosis of her own party leader. Goldhawk has had his eye… Read more »
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FARMING FICTION
Affairs, Fowl Emissions, 24 January 2020
NO LESS than “one of the foremost experts in the world on the important role of farming in the climate debate” was in Dublin this week as the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) seek to “rebalance the debate around climate action”. Dr Frank Mitloehner has gained notoriety for challenging policies seeking to limit to emissions from… Read more »
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ROBERT NAIRAC EXPOSED
Affairs, 24 January 2020
‘Breaking news’ about the involvement of SAS officer, the late Captain Robert Nairac, in the Miami Showband massacre will not have surprised readers of The Phoenix who would have read details of the atrocity in the recent edition (16/01/20). MIAMI SHOWBAND: NEW EVIDENCE SEISMIC NEW evidence regarding the 1975 Miami Showband massacre will be revealed… Read more »
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JOHN MCGUIRK AND GRIPT
Affairs, 24 January 2020
THE JOHN MCGUIRK-edited gript.ie conservative website is in the news for all the wrong reasons, with cybersecurity outfit Upstart drawing attention to links to AggregateIQ (AIQ) that are currently being examined by Facebook. AIQ – which was suspended from Facebook’s platform in 2018 over in relation to receipt of Facebook user data – is helping… Read more »
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CPL RESOURCES PROFIT BOOM
Affairs, 24 January 2020
FANS OF Moneybags will not be surprised to see that profits are up for Anne Heraty’s undervalued recruitment group CPL Resources, where the very well paid CEO referred to increased demand for, er, “solution oriented and flexible work models”. What is most significant about CPL, however, is the combined 35% stake still held by Heraty… Read more »
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