Affairs, 30 May 2019

MICHAEL MCDOWELL was subject to an “ambush” on the radio yesterday as he welcomed a Supreme Court declaration that the Public Accounts Committee acted unlawfully in its interrogation of Angela Kerins, following February’s ruling that the committee had stepped outside its jurisdiction. The Kerins tale has developed into quite the legal saga since details of… Read more »

Affairs, 30 May 2019

THE WIDESPREAD, public atmosphere of blood lust in France against Ian Bailey, the alleged murderer of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, ratcheted up in the period before Bailey’s Paris trial in absentia with various articles proclaiming his guilt. Read more on this story here.  And you can read further about Bailey’s ‘Trial by Error’ here.

Affairs, 30 May 2019

THE FURORE created by Michael McDowell’s attack on Dún Laoghaire TD Maria Bailey and her compo case over that fall from a hotel swing may have masked just who McDowell’s real target is. Find out more in the latest issue out now.  And you can read more about ‘Swing Gate’ TD Bailey here. 

Affairs, 29 May 2019

FORMER Fianna Fáil councillor Jonathan Graham suffered a knockout blow in the fight for a seat on South Dublin County Council. Graham is a former member of Sinn Féin, he defected to FF in 2018 saying that his experience with the Shinners had been “mostly negative” and criticised what he described as “the amount of… Read more »

Affairs, 29 May 2019

THE EXPOSURE of practices at swanky Dublin eatery, The Ivy, has made the issue of staff tips a hot topic in recent months. Questions over how money is handled led to a protest outside the restaurant and spawned a wave similar stories on the plight of service industry workers. However, Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty… Read more »

Affairs, 29 May 2019

IT LOOKS as if Peter Casey will miss out on a trip to Europe in Midlands North West, but he ran an entertaining campaign nonetheless. Goldhawk did rather enjoy watching him argue with a six-year-old Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan parody Twitter account. Apparently, the former presidential hopeful didn’t think that statements such as this… “F**k sake… Read more »

Affairs, 29 May 2019

WHILE Labour can’t claim to have had a particularly successful local election campaign, the party did have some successes, notably in the form of electoral debutants Kevin Donoghue and Annie Hoey. The party has been grooming the pair for success since their arrival on the scene. You can read more about ‘Labour’s Student Hacks’ here.

Affairs, 29 May 2019

LAST NIGHT, Fianna Fáil Td Anne Rabbitte was knocked out of the race for a Euro seat in the Midlands North West constituency in what can only be described as a disastrous showing by the Soldiers of Destiny in the region. With Brendan Smith unlikely to make the cut, FF have now failed to gain… Read more »

Affairs, 28 May 2019

THE PROSPECT of gold has Dalradian Resources on the offensive. The Canadian company plans to develop a mine at Curraghinalt in Northern Ireland and has been busy schmoozing TDs in the Republic for support, but it has been more of a crawl than a rush. The company claims that there are up to £3bn worth… Read more »

Affairs, 28 May 2019

EMBATTLED TD Maria Bailey is short of friends in her own party this week as the swing controversy led to a now legendary interview on RTÉ radio. The performance was described as “unfortunate” by Simon Harris and “ill judged” by Charlie Flanagan, while Regina Doherty lamented the latest in a “series of judgement errors”. This… Read more »

Affairs, 28 May 2019

NO LESS than four days into the ‘green wave’ and the tide has started to ebb at Richard Bruton’s Climate Action department. Leo Varadkar’s commitment to “do better” got off to a flying start on Monday as Minister of State, Sean Canney, granted permission to the China National Offshore Oil Corporation to drill off the… Read more »

Affairs, 28 May 2019

COMMISERATIONS are in order for Fianna Fáil’s Hannah Lemass whose pedigree was not enough to get her over the line in Cabra-Glasnevin. The scion of party royalty picked up less than half of Mary Fitzpatrick’s sizeable surplus and went out on the 10th count. Dynasties aside, Lemass is emblematic of Fianna Fáil’s effort to put… Read more »

Affairs, 28 May 2019

IT WOULD be unfair to describe Leo Varadkar’s general election running mate, Emer Currie, as a blow-in to Dublin West but Emer, who just secured a seat in the locals in Castleknock, seems to be unfamiliar with the party’s main personalities in her new constituency. Introducing herself on the party’s website as “proud to live,… Read more »

Affairs, 28 May 2019

A LEGAL ROW has erupted between Euro election hopefuls Clare Daly and Barry Andrews. The kerfuffle centers around the redistribution of votes for outgoing MEP Lynn Boylan. The pair are battling it out for the last ‘certain’ seat in Dublin. There are technically four seats up for grabs in the capital. However, the final fourth… Read more »

Affairs, 28 May 2019

THE TRUMP election, Cambridge Analytica scandal and accusations of Russian collusion have rocked American politics since 2012. Brexit, meanwhile, has alerted people to the influence online advertising and the ‘dark money’ that so often funds it. Obama 2008 was the first time politicians became aware of the Internet’s potential and the aftermath spawned a boom… Read more »

Affairs, 27 May 2019

FINE GAEL MEP Mairead McGuiness has retained her seat in Midlands North West. Just two weeks ago she was forced to deny reports that she has plans for greater influence of the religious right in EU decision making.  Documents leaked to the website openDemocracy reveal that the MEP authored a report on Article 17 of… Read more »

Affairs, 27 May 2019

GREEN PARTY leader Eamon Ryan must be the like cat that got the cream today as the party capitalised on the climate change issue to ride a so-called ‘green wave’ all the way to Europe. In Dublin, Ciaran Cuffe looks certain to top the poll, while in Midlands North West the party are in the… Read more »

Affairs, 27 May 2019

AFTER A relentless social media campaign in which Fine Gael rose, Maria Walsh, tried her best to remind everyone that she, like you, remembers the nineties. The Blueshirt is expected to duke it out with the Greens’ own budding flower, Saoirse McHugh, for a Euro seat in Midlands North West. Walsh congratulated Casey-slayer McHugh on… Read more »

Affairs, 27 May 2019

THE LATEST candidate from the Haughey clan to run for election has failed to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors and claim a seat on Dublin City Council in the local elections. However, 22-year-old Cathal may feel slightly emboldened by his performance having received 8.3% of first preference votes in the Clontarf ward. You… Read more »

Affairs, 27 May 2019

WHILE THE Soc Dem’s rare ould Dub Gary Gannon is unlikely to make the cut in the Dublin Euro elections, he did manage to poll higher than Labour Party candidate Alex White, scoring 5.6% of first preference votes to White’s 5%. However, the flame-haired Dubliner has retained his seat on Dublin City Council coming in… Read more »

Affairs, 27 May 2019

THE TRIAL in absentia of Ian bailey for the murder of Sophie Toscan-du-Plantier opens today in Paris. The 61-year-old has always denied any involvement in the killing and has refused to attend the proceedings and has recently said that he will be “sacrificed” by Ireland to placate French authorities. With the DPP satisfied that there… Read more »

Affairs, 27 May 2019

AS THE BATTLE battle for the Dublin Euro election seats rumbles on, Clare Daly TD is odds-on to unseat Sinn Fein’s Lynn Boylan. Goldhawk profiled Daly at the start of the month. Read it here to get more info on the Euro hopeful.

Affairs, 26 May 2019

When Brendan Howlin said recently that his moribund Labour Party needed “a new beginning” on Cork City Council (CCC), he wasn’t exaggerating. After a calamitous showing in 2014, in which all seven sitting Labour councillors lost their seats, the party put forward a slate of fresh-faced debutantes like Peter Horgan (30) to attempt resuscitation. He… Read more »

Affairs, 24 May 2019

THE Patrick Quirke murder trial was noteworthy in that the wealthy farmer – who established a company called Breansha Farms Ltd that only paid out €25,000 in wages in 2017 – ended up with three barristers defending him under the free Criminal Legal Aid scheme. Indeed, Quirke had two senior counsel (Bernard Condon SC and… Read more »

Affairs, 24 May 2019

THE DUP’S Jeffrey Donaldson has come over as the essence of sweet reason in comments about the Irish language and also about the responsibility of “both sides” in dealing with past and present troubles. While Donaldson’s role in the north will soon be put under the spotlight, his support for the repressive Bahrain autocracy has… Read more »

Affairs, 24 May 2019

LEO VARADKAR delivered a speech at the Law Society’s annual bash last Friday week, but a slight frisson went through the room following an awkward remark from An Taoiseach about the elevation of solicitors to the bench. Much attention was paid to his remarks about the burning issue of insurance awards and premiums (not to… Read more »

Affairs, 23 May 2019

ANOTHER MANUFACTURED row – similar to the spat between amazons Mairead McGuinness and Maria ‘Rose’ Walsh – broke out last week in the South constituency between Fine Gael EU candidates Deirdre Clune MEP and junior minister Andrew Doyle. That’s how competing party handlers saw the last-minute injunction from FG’s director of elections for South, Charlie… Read more »

Affairs, 23 May 2019

FIANNA FÁIL’S Midlands North West (MNW) EU candidate, Anne Rabbitte TD, continues to blunder in her election campaign, with the most recent boo-boo coming when Roscommon Town was plastered with her election posters. This issue has become the latest anti-political phobia for respectable citizenry everywhere, even in places far away from south Dublin. Read more… Read more »

Affairs, 23 May 2019

That two former Union of Students in Ireland (USI) presidents are making their electoral debuts for the Labour Party in this month’s local elections is hardly a surprise. The party has been grooming Kevin Donoghue and Annie Hoey for success since their arrival on the scene. Read more about the pair in the latest issue. … Read more »

Affairs, 23 May 2019

THAT Irish Times poll, which showed Labour EU Dublin candidate Alex White (8%) within spitting distance of Green candidate Ciarán Cuffe (9%) and left Independent Clare Daly (10%), sent a shiver of excitement through Labour HQ. So, too, did the poll showing the Labour Party at the dizzy heights of 7% nationally (and higher still… Read more »

Affairs, 23 May 2019

RIVALS OF Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy have harped on his intention to run for a Cavan-Monaghan seat in the Dáil, regardless of whether he retains his European Parliament seat in Midlands North West (MNW). But what of Independent candidate Peter Casey, who looks as though he is using his EU campaign in MNW as… Read more »

Affairs, 23 May 2019

The struggling Labour Party will have been encouraged with talk of “green shoots” in Irish Times recently. Harry McGee bases this claim on fluctuations within a single opinion poll and anecdotal evidence that canvassers are no long being ran from the doorsteps. Long term trends, however, are much more dismal with the party’s rating as… Read more »