DUP TO HOLD BALANCE AGAIN?
Affairs, 18 November 2019
No sooner had Mary Lou McDonald endorsed Lady Sylvia Hermon as the ‘remain’ candidate in North Down in the UK election than Lady Sylvia announced her retirement; the two announcements were not connected. Hermon had had enough as the sole remain MP from the north in Westminster, hectored and barracked by the 10 DUP MPs… Read more »
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Affairs, 18 November 2019
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SOLIDARITY WITH RTÉ
Affairs, Media, 18 November 2019
IVAN YATES and Matt Cooper thundered recently about the inept, spendthrift, tax-funded RTÉ on their Virgin One The Tonight Show as the private TV station piled the pressure on its crisis-ridden broadcasting rival. The two presenters made much of RTÉ’s cost base and double funding via the licence fee and advertising, with Cooper dismissing the… Read more »
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WHO IS DISHING THE DIRT IN DUBLIN FINGAL?
Affairs, 15 November 2019
The past returning to haunt election candidates is certainly nothing new, however, is it not curious to see not one but two candidates in Dublin Fingal having to answer for old comments on Twitter? It takes certain level of commitment to trawl the internet history of politicians that the vast majority of people have not… Read more »
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RTÉ SPLIT: DEE VS MOYA
Affairs, Media, 15 November 2019
YOU HAVE to feel sorry for RTÉ director general Dee Forbes, who is faced with the wrath not only of her staff but also the RTÉ board, which has serious doubts about her and the other executives responsible for the plan to save RTÉ. The scoop about the plan, secured by Irish Times hack Fiach… Read more »
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NOEL ROCK WALKS ALONE
Affairs, 15 November 2019
The only thing red about Ballymun Blueshirt TD Noel Rock is his soccer jersey. The Fine Gael Tory boy and chair of the Oireachtas housing committee is a dyed-in-the-wool Liverpool supporter, well known for his copious tweets about Jürgen Klopp’s side and chatting publicly about the club with other fans, like Irish Independent journalist Hugh… Read more »
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QUINN DIRECTOR TO STAND FOR FG?
Affairs, 14 November 2019
FINE GAEL handlers are still mobbing mountains to persuade former Independent MEP Marian Harkin to stand at the general election in Sligo-Leitrim. They do not have confidence in Senator Frank Feighan to retain the seat and seem to have given up hope of getting TD Tony McLoughlin to return and save FG’s only seat in… Read more »
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Affairs, 14 November 2019
Read The Phoenix Craic and Codology
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THAT BIG MIRROR SCOOP
Affairs, Media, 14 November 2019
As anticipation builds ahead of tonight’s Newsbrands Journalism Awards, it is worth recalling Conor McGregor’s alleged ‘love child’ and the internal wrangling over whether the story should be shortlisted for ‘scoop of the year’. Goldhawk has previously detailed the fractious debate among showbiz judges regarding the story’s eligibility and a dispute which eventually led to… Read more »
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RACISM OR FILTHY LUCRE?
Affairs, 14 November 2019
THE RECENT debate between Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny and Ballinamore Community Group spokesman Gordon Hughes on RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live was respectful and calm, but decidedly cool. Kenny and his family were in their Ballinamore home when his car, which was parked outside, was torched, with the common assumption being that the attack was… Read more »
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MARTIN IN LAST-CHANCE SALOON
Affairs, 14 November 2019
The year of our Lord 2020 will be make or break for the man his chief rival calls the Priest. But if Micheál Martin is to avoid what once seemed his pre-ordained place as the first Fianna Fáil leader never to be taoiseach, he may need divine intervention. His almost nine-year tenure at the helm… Read more »
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DOOLEY: TO PURGATORY OR HELL?
Affairs, 14 November 2019
THE REAL fall out for Fianna Fáil frontbenchers Timmy ‘Dolittle’ Dooley and Niall Collins must await the result of Fine Gael TD Noel Rock’s complaint to the Committee on Members’ Interests. Relegation from the frontbench or even a downgrading in a reshuffle is not in itself that serious, but it would indicate who is likely… Read more »
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TENEO AND TRUMP
Affairs, 8 November 2019
MOVE OVER GELDOF, the poor have found a new messiah. Declan Kelly, Teneo boss and consultant to the super rich, has come up with the novel idea of a benefit concert. In a head spinning campaign of corporate hot air, next September will see a “10-hour global media event […] in a historic effort to… Read more »
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JOHN ARKINS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Affairs, Behind the Scenes, 7 November 2019
HALLOWEEN MAY not be the most auspicious date on which to close submissions for the audit by the Work Relations Commission (WRC) of the “Independent Film & Television Drama Production Sector” – the latest chapter in the glamorous industry’s decade of fraught industrial relations first reported by Goldhawk (see The Phoenix, 4/10/19). Some of the… Read more »
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Affairs, 7 November 2019
FORMER Goodbody solicitor John Given has parachuted into Philip Lee law firm as a senior partner. He is one of the more interesting legal eagles on the circuit and one of the better off. Given made a killing as founding chairman of the controversial Malin Corp life sciences investment vehicle, having immediately before that been… Read more »
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Affairs, 7 November 2019
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COOLMORE’S CONTRASTING FORTUNES
Affairs, Racing, 7 November 2019
AIDAN O’BRIEN’S quest to win Australia’s richest race will have to wait another year after his crack sprinter, Ten Sovereigns, trailed in last of the 12 runners in The Everest – the €8.5m race recently run at Randwick in Sydney. It was far from doom and gloom for John Magnier’s Coolmore operation, however. With Ryan… Read more »
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IRISH WATER FEAR EXCUSES DRYING UP
Affairs, Craic & Codology, 7 November 2019
by Our Environmental Staff – Phil Bucket Irish Water issued a renewed warning last night that the company is facing “a major shortage of excuses” over the coming months. A spokesperson for the waterless utility said: “We are currently experiencing an exceptional drought of credible reasons to explain why we have simply not been able… Read more »
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VLAD’S RECKLESS SCIENCE
Affairs, Fowl Emissions, 6 November 2019
Joan Burton was not wrong on Tuesday when likening Leo Varadkar’s remarks about “the benefits” of climate change to something you would expect in “tweets from Donald Trump”. An Taisce, too, said that for a Taoiseach to talk “in terms of a “ledger” where there are more or less equal benefits and downsides to climate… Read more »
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MURPHY’S LAW
Affairs, 6 November 2019
THE URGENCY with which Eoghan Murphy moves at the Department of Housing raises serious questions this week. The issue of short term letting has been the subject of official attention since at least 2016 following publication of his department’s Strategy for the Rental Sector. Murphy eventually announced plans to legislate last August 2018 while the… Read more »
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SEALING THE PAST
Affairs, 6 November 2019
DÁIL ÉIREANN JOINED the mourning on Tuesday with time set aside for statements on the death of Gay Byrne. It was in itself a mark of time that tributes were led by a Taoiseach too young to have experienced the impact of Byrne’s broadcasting at its peak. The former Transport Minister could at least speak… Read more »
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INM’S BELGIAN BEER INTERVIEWS
Affairs, Media, 6 November 2019
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT editor Cormac Bourke’s “new role” as editor of the Irish Independent was announced in the Sindo recently, with Cormac quoted as looking forward to the “new challenge”. The Sindo published a (nearly) exhaustive list of Bourke’s editorial roles, which include various editorial roles at the Indo and other non-INM titles. All of which… Read more »
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Affairs, 6 November 2019
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BOYD BARRETT AND CO FACING WIPE-OUT
Affairs, 6 November 2019
IF SINN FÉIN is worried about dropping six or more of its 23 Dáil seats at the general election, the Trotskyist Solidarity/People Before Profit (PBP) should be worried about a possible wipe-out of their combined six seats total. The Shinners lost half their councillors in the local elections (158 down to 77) but Sol-PBP went… Read more »
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VLAD’S PROPAGANDA WARS
Affairs, 5 November 2019
THE ANNOUNCEMENT that Twitter Inc intends to ban political advertising was widely if cautiously welcomed last week as elections resume in the UK. It is, at the very least, a shrewd PR move from CEO Jack Dorsey as rival platform Facebook staggers from one reputational crisis to the next. Not everyone is happy, however. Leo… Read more »
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IRELAND AND THE BALTICS
Affairs, Hush Hush, 5 November 2019
THE IRELAND and Nordic Baltic 8 Conference last week could hardly have come a more sensitive moment. Jointly hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), the gathering saw Irish policymakers, diplomats and security academics meet with counterparts from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and… Read more »
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GRAYBO COVERS
Affairs, 5 November 2019
Gay Byrne was a regular in The Phoenix down the years. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam – Goldhawk
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REVIEWING GALWAY’S €10M CINEMA HORROR
Affairs, Behind the Scenes, 5 November 2019
FANS OF Goldhawk are well acquainted with the historical horror-show behind Galway’s bijou Pálás cinema, originally promoted by Lelia Doolan’s Solas Galway Picture Palace group and very heavily backed by the taxpayer through assorted agencies (See The Phoenix, 6/10/17). A spending review has now been quietly published by the Department of Culture and while many… Read more »
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PROFILE – RICHIE OAKLEY
Affairs, 5 November 2019
THE LATEST in a long line of Sunday Business Post editors is Richie Oakley, late of the now-defunct Times Ireland, which crashed and burned in May. Previous Post editors were invariably journalists with a strong business record and a catalogue of news reports and investigations of their own before taking the top job. Oakley, however,… Read more »
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LAW SOCIETY ROW: LIBEL THREATS
Affairs, 5 November 2019
THE NORMALLY sedate AGM of the Mayo Solicitors’ Bar Association (the Mayo branch of the Law Society) was enlivened this year when a row about donations to a charity for legal eagles provoked loud recrimination and even threats to sue society president Patrick Dorgan. Dorgan and director general Ken Murphy attended the meeting of their… Read more »
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JOURNO AWARDS EGO FEST
Affairs, Media, 4 November 2019
DIGITAL-SAVVY hacks got into the Newsbrands Journalism Awards website some weeks ago (the gong circus is to be held in the Mansion House in a fortnight) and accessed the articles submitted – intended for shortlist judges’ eyes only. The security breach enabled some journalists to scrutinise competitors’ articles, however the really creative work was contained… Read more »
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YOUNG BLOOD – CIARÁN O’CARROLL
Affairs, 4 November 2019
With the arrival from the UK and Europe of Extinction Rebellion (XR) protests on Irish shores, 32-year-old scientist and marketing executive Dr Ciarán O’Carroll is becoming one of the more familiar faces of the publicity-hungry movement. From where has the group come and what, if any, impact will O’Carroll and his comrades have on Irish… Read more »
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Affairs, Cartoons, 4 November 2019
Read The Phoenix Craic & Codology
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WHO FEARS TO SPEAK OF BORDER POLL?
Affairs, 4 November 2019
CONCERNED NOISES are emanating from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), the only entity in the southern establishment that has clocked the political dynamics pushing the north towards a possible border poll and a united Ireland (see p3). The ESRI has admonished not only the government in recent days, it has also effectively set… Read more »
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CARROLL MacNEILL’S POLITICAL PEDIGREE
Affairs, 4 November 2019
With Maria Bailey set to be dropped from the Fine Gael election ticket in Dún Laoghaire, councillor Jennifer Carroll MacNeill will swing into action. Goldhawk already had a keen eye with this profile in 2017. BARRISTER and author Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has been popping up a lot recently as a media commentator, with her latest… Read more »
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MARK WRIGHT STEPS DOWN
Affairs, High Society, 1 November 2019
THERE HAVE been some predictable developments following on from the lodging of legal proceedings featuring members of the Wright family in Howth (see The Phoenix, 9/8/19). The case was lodged in the Four Goldmines in September by assorted companies associated with the Wright fish dynasty, where the matriarch is former Aer Lingus air hostess Bernie… Read more »
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