Affairs of the Nation

John McGuinness

Affairs of the Nation

MOTORMOUTH McGUINNESS

THE normally astute media manipulator, John McGuinness, may have miscalculated with his latest outburst, in which he makes serious allegations against ex-commissioner Martin Callinan. But the real political hand grenade... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

DEIRDRE FOLEY’S CHALLENGE

THE DECISION of Deirdre Foley and her D2 Private company to challenge the powers of the inspectors looking into the shutdown of Clerys (who seized documents in a raid on... Read more »
Bono

Affairs of the Nation

WHO WILL GET THE STUDIO DOSH?

THE ‘ANNOUNCEMENT’ by former Windmill Lane boss James Morris and producer Alan Moloney of a plan to build a huge film studio complex on the Nama-controlled Irish Glass Bottle site... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Prince Charles

Affairs of the Nation

Local FG split

THAT diplomatic kerfuffle involving Canadian Ambassador Kevin Vickers at the ceremony to remember British soldiers in 1916 could have been more dramatic had the suspicions about a royal presence been... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

PÁDRAIGH Ó CÉIDIGH’S APPOINTMENTS

ONE OF the Fianna Fáil nominees to the Seanad is the very busy founder of Aer Arann, Pádraig Ó Céidigh. He is no stranger to political patronage from the Soldiers... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

Royals not invited

KILDARE SOUTH general election candidate, Fine Gael’s Cllr Fiona McLoughlin Healy, got whacked in the Kildare County Council chamber and in the Irish Independent this week for demanding accountability about... Read more »
Punchestown 2

Pillars of Society

Peter Boylan

Pillars of Society

Dr Peter Boylan

DR PETER Boylan, former Master of the National Maternity Hospital (NMH), recently ramped up the row between the NMH and St Vincent’s Hospital over... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Charlie McConalogue TD

The Young Bloods

Charlie McConalogue TD

IT’S a long way from the relative obscurity of north Donegal to the corridors of power in Leinster House, but that is the journey... Read more »

Fit to Print?

denis-obrien

Fit to Print?

IRISH TIMES Vs DENIS O’BRIEN

LOOKS as though The Irish Times has summoned up previously untapped reserves of courage and is engaged in a serious confrontation with the most powerful man in Ireland, Denis O’Brien.... Read more »
Maurice-McCabe

Fit to Print?

GARDAÍ AND MEDIA LEAKS

A THOROUGH breakdown of Judge Kevin O’Higgins’ findings on whistleblower Garda Maurice McCabe’s eight central allegations against the force were published in The Irish Times last weekend. The article showed... Read more »

Last Refuge

enda-kenny

Last Refuge

ENDA KENNY’S FAVOURITES

SURPRISE, surprise, the FG internal inquiry has found those most responsible for the election disaster were the HQ officials (mainly general secretary Tom Curran) and consultants (PR guru Mark Mortell)... Read more »
Brendan Howlin

Last Refuge

RÓISÍN TO REJECT BRENDAN

WHO does Brendan Howlin think he’s kidding? Howlin may have assumed leadership of Labour via a clause in the party’s constitution that confers divine right on the former minister, but... Read more »
Lucinda Creighton

Last Refuge

RENUA ‘CONFIDENTIAL’

LAST weekend’s media leaks about Renua’s name change carried nothing like the full flavour of the party post mortem that has gone on at various meetings of members around the... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

bog cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings (03 June 2016)

WESTPORT CHIPPER ROW STARTED OVER ’96 ALL IRELAND FINAL MEATH man Sean Fitzsimmons with an address of Addinstown, Delvin, Co Westmeath appeared before Judge Mary Devins, after he was arrested... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Sammy Wilson

Fowl Emissions

FRACKING BY ANOTHER NAME

“LIKE having a pissing section in a swimming pool,” is how Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan TD described the notion of allowing fracking on only one side of the border, a reminder... Read more »

Bird's Eye View

Claire Sugden

Bird's Eye View

THE BOYS IN THE ASSEMBLY BACKROOM

AT Stormont it’s all sweetness and light between the DUP and Sinn Féin. Too much so for some unionists incensed at Arlene Foster’s instant about face from holding up Martin... Read more »
Charlie Flanagan

Bird's Eye View

FLANAGAN TURNED PEACENIK?

HAVE those vipers in foreign affairs finally house-trained their minister, Charlie Flanagan, who has come over all liberal, sophisticated even, with policy pronouncements about human rights and values? Some months... Read more »

Wigs on the Green

Wigs on the Green

“REPREHENSIBLE BEHAVIOUR” IN THE HIGH COURT

WHAT A coincidence that Judge Max Barrett should choose the example of Digicel when citing case law in an intriguing High Court legal battle featuring an Irish company with connections... Read more »

Foreign Frolics

Mathias Feki

Foreign Frolics

THE END OF GLOBALISATION?

by MURRAY DOBBIN AT the height of the battle over the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 1988, the biggest pushers of the deal, the Business Council on National Issues... Read more »
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin

Foreign Frolics

PAPAL POLITICS AND IRISH VISIT

A SUCCESSFUL visit to Dublin by Pope Francis in August 2018 will depend on Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s ability to persuade his fellow bishops to make peace with the majority of... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Rosanna Davison

The Hot Air Brigade

The Hot Air Brigade

It was when her first book, Eat Yourself Beautiful came out last year, that Rosanna felt really naked and felt that she was really revealing herself. Sarah Caden, Sunday Independent... Read more »

High Society

Barry O’Callaghan

High Society

BARRY’S BARGAIN AT LYONS

MEDIA SHY Barry O’Callaghan has swooped on the Village at Lyons, the restored Famine Village on the edge of the Lyons Demesne in Co Kildare. The previous owner, Declan Ryan,... Read more »
olivia-gaynor-long

High Society

IN THE RED AT RESIDENCE

THE OWNER of private members club, Residence, on Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green – Olivia Gaynor-Long – continues to pump money into the struggling business but the good news is that... Read more »
Dery Desmond

High Society

DERY DESMOND’S REVIEWS

WHILE Dermot Desmond has fingers in many pies, the food and drink business is not one associated with the moustachioed one. However, his youngest son, Dery Desmond, has gone down... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Michael Maughan

Behind the Scenes

ARTS COUNCIL ON THE MOVE?

COULD the Arts Council be moving out of Merrion Square? This may depend on the outcome of the appeal by its landlord – moneybags Michael Maughan – against a refusal... Read more »
Ciarán Lennon

Behind the Scenes

CIARÁN LENNON’S STUDIO

SPARE A thought for artist and Aosdána member, Ciarán Lennon, who has been embroiled in a legal spat over access to his Dublin studio. The property at Foley Street, D7,... Read more »
Lenny Abrahamson

Behind the Scenes

LENNY’S ARTS SALVO

HARDLY HAD the ink dried on Heather Humphreys’s appointment as Minister for Farms and Arts, than Oscar-nominated film director Lenny Abrahamson launched a salvo of tweets in the Government’s direction,... Read more »

Sport of Kings

article default

Sport of Kings

MONTROSE CALLING

WILL THE lure of Montrose be too strong for Racing Post editor Jonathan Mullin? The Mayoman is a former Gaelic Games correspondent for RTÉ and a little bird tells Goldhawk... Read more »
Gerry Callanan

Sport of Kings

CALLANAN VS KAVANAGH

THOROUGHBRED breeder Gerry Callanan has been a thorn in the side of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) chief executive, Brian Kavanagh, for quite a while and it seems that thorn has... Read more »
Sandra Hughes

Sport of Kings

O’LEARY WIELDS HIS AXE

MICHAEL O’LEARY isn’t known for applying sentiment to his business decisions and this is also true of his approach to horse trainers. The Squire of Gigginstown House has recently dumped... Read more »

Reviews

quin-fergal

Books

QUINNT-ESSENTIAL FEARGAL

FEARGAL QUINN – (O’BRIEN) PERHAPS the biggest revelation in Superquinn tycoon Feargal Quinn’s memoir, Quintessential Feargal, is that he once lost his temper. He was let down by a speaker at... Read more »
the-guards

Reviews

THE GUARDS

RTÉ2 DIRECTED BY Barry O’Kelly and filmed over two years, this short series shadowing the work of gardaí in Dublin got off to a predictably dramatic start. Hand-held cameras recorded... Read more »
spill-simmer-falter

Books

SPILL SIMMER FALTER WITHER

SARA BAUME (WINDMILL) THIS UNLIKELY story traces an eventful year in the life of a 57-year-old recluse who adopts an abandoned one-eyed dog. The book’s title (referring to the four... Read more »

Moneybags

Moneybags

Aminex shares now good for a gamble

WITH THE much larger and better resourced Petroceltic going down the tubes two months ago, the much smaller Irish exploration company, Aminex, now looks undervalued. Petroceltic’s shareholders were totally wiped... Read more »

Moneybags

Pricey Grafton shares have potential

OVER THE last 40 years, Mike Chadwick built up one of the most successful builders’ merchants businesses in Europe. Grafton Group is now the largest in Ireland and the third... Read more »

The Hot Water Brigade

The Hot Water Brigade

Donegal bookies running out of luck

THE odds aren’t looking good for Donegal bookies Wizzy Browns Ltd, after being struck off the companies register. The chain of bookies, which operates mainly in Letterkenny and east Donegal,... Read more »
dorian-debraam

The Hot Water Brigade

Profits dry up for De Braam

DE BRAAM Trading Company (DTC) Ltd is listed for striking off again, just a year after it successfully filed for restoration to the company’s register. The Rathmolyon, Co Meath-based food... Read more »
Francesca-Black

The Hot Water Brigade

Woodville goes out of style

SPARE a thought for Woodville Fashions Ltd, which was placed in liquidation last month after a torrid few years. The fashion importers saw their accumulated losses increase from €370,000 at... Read more »
EOG Fergal Naughton hot-water-brigade def

The Hot Water Brigade

Galway construction empire crumbles

THE outlook isn’t very good for Galway construction giants the Fitzgerald Group, which held creditors’ meetings to appoint liquidators to several of its subsidiary businesses in the last month. The... Read more »
footoak

The Hot Water Brigade

Construction firm set to foot tax bill

GOLDHAWK spotted a judgment registered last month against Footoak Project Managers (FPM) Ltd, which will make a few stomachs queasy at the Dublin business. The Blackrock construction company, which specialises... Read more »
Louis Fitzgerald

The Hot Water Brigade

Mortgage Woes for Louis Fitz

TWO companies were placed in receivership in April on foot of mortgages with EBS Building Society dating back to 2006. The mortgages held by Holsten Property Company Ltd and Shireen... Read more »
ECT

The Hot Water Brigade

ECT isn’t firing on all cylinders

RECENT accounts filed by Galway manufacturers Éircomposites Teoranta (ECT) suggest that the business might be in a spot of bother. The company, which makes composite materials used by the aerospace,... Read more »
Alan Toal

The Hot Water Brigade

Bad day in court for bolshie barrister

COLOURFUL barrister Alan Toal features in an interesting judgment by the Court of Appeal. To access this content, you must be a Phoenix subscriber. Get access to The Phoenix online... Read more »