Affairs of the Nation

Mary Lou McDonald

Affairs of the Nation

MARY LOU’S ELECTION BLUES

POST-ELECTION depression among Sinn Féin members will quickly turn to anger if the leadership does not show contrition and self-criticism over the presidential election fiasco. And some internal critics are... Read more »
Frank Fitzgibbon

Affairs of the Nation

CASEY’S CHORUS

PETER CASEY brought out the Tory beast in the Sunday Times and its Dublin-based champion, Frank Fitzgibbon, editor of the Aarish edition. Like some editorial Dr Strangelove, Frank’s right hand... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

LIBEL STAND-OFF

BARRISTER-turned-seminarian-turned-layman and now litigant, Conor Gannon, has taken out High Court writs against three newspapers following reports published in connection with his time at the Irish College in Rome. A... Read more »

Affairs of the Nation

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Affairs of the Nation

NOSTROVIA!

VODKA FANS be warned. Last month, one Francisco Xavier Fermin De Eizaguirre of La Maguna, Plum Bay Les Terre Basses, in the French territory of Saint Martin, petitioned the High... Read more »
Brendan Halligan

Affairs of the Nation

BRENDAN HALLIGAN’S ONE CHINA POLICY

THERE WAS much scratching of heads in Leinster House last month when ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghail circulated a letter to members warning them to back off from any links... Read more »
Patrick Collison

Affairs of the Nation

COLLISON BROTHERS’ BAD PRESS

JOHN AND Patrick Collison, the Limerick-born wunderkinds behind online payments company Stripe, are not used to negative press – particularly in Ireland. So it was very interesting to see the... Read more »
Mary Harney

Affairs of the Nation

MARY HARNEY’S INVESTMENT

GOOD TO see the busy former health minister Mary Harney putting her money where her mouth is. No doubt she has plenty of the folding stuff these days, given her... Read more »
Gavin Duffy

Affairs of the Nation

DUBLIN 7 TO MOROCCO

HOLDER of the presidential wooden spoon Gavin Duffy lost his deposit and he also got hit for a €20 spot when canvassing in Henry Street by a volunteer for the... Read more »
Crystal Li

Affairs of the Nation

CRYSTAL LI’S LIFELINE

HAVING APPEARED to have succeeded in getting a big public translation contract cancelled and restarted, Ruski lawyer Olga Shajaku got some frustrating news last week when the state got the... Read more »

Pillars of Society

Paddy Cosgrave

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: PADDY COSGRAVE

Is Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave a tech-sector profiteer or a civic-minded altruist with his finger on the pulse of current political debate? The... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Matt Carthy

The Young Bloods

MATT CARTHY

LIADH NÍ RIADA’S presidential implosion has placed a big question mark over Sinn Féin’s general election and coalition project. When Mary Lou Mcdonald took... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Enda O'Coineen

Fit to Print?

‘POST’ BOSS LOSES DRESSING ROOM

NEW Sunday Business Post owner Enda O’Coineen addressed his business-savvy – but worried – journalists recently in an effort to soothe concerns following his Stockholm digital TV interview. However, O’Coineen’s... Read more »
Kieran McDaid

Fit to Print?

HACKS AWARDS BEAR GARDEN

THE mega-egos of mainstream journalism will gather in the Mansion house this month for an event of far greater significance than the first Dáil, namely the NewsBrands Journalism Awards. Hopefully,... Read more »

Last Refuge

Peter Casey

Last Refuge

CASEY EYES UP DONEGAL DÁIL SEAT

DONEGAL’S triumphant and Trumpian Peter Casey told Donegal Daily four years ago that he wanted to stand for the Dáil in either Donegal or Dublin, with a preference for the... Read more »
Simon Coveney

Last Refuge

CORK DAUPHIN BOWS TO SAUDI PRINCE

THE most remarkable aspect of Tánaiste and foreign minister Simon Coveney’s feeble reaction to the Saudi murder of Jamal Khashoggi was not that it took him over a fortnight to... Read more »
Josepha Madigan Eoghan Harris Ukraine War Micheál Martin Middle East Philip Ryan Seán Clancy Simon Coveney Hugo MacNeill Mountbatten Neasa Hourigan Green Party Martin NPT Ivana Bacik Independents Limerick Hospital Overcrowding Barry Cowen

Last Refuge

TARGETING NATO

PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins and Seán Gallagher were the only two presidential candidates that responded to a letter from the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) about their position on neutrality... Read more »
John O'Donoghue

Last Refuge

‘TIGER’ O’DONOGHUE’S POLITICAL COMEBACK

WHAT on earth is former justice minister, arts minister and Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue doing in his bid to become a humble county councillor in Kerry? Most voters will recall,... Read more »

Hush Hush

Lucinda Creighton

Hush Hush

LUCINDA’S NEO-CON FRIENDS

LUCINDA CREIGHTON, former minister for Europe and Fine Gael enfant terrible, has returned to the continent and the EU lobbying gravy train with Vulcan Consulting, “Ireland’s fastest-growing government relations firm”,... Read more »

Student Life

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Student Life

LIMERICK STUDENTS TARGET ARAMARK

BOXING superstar Katie Taylor is currently making her Irish box-office debut in a new documentary, but a company for whom she did some work is being dragged into a scrap... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS

“Yes, I love Cork.” “Under Duress” was the signature provided by a 70-year-old man who previously insisted that he had no name, Cork District court was told. The man was... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Mark Ferguson

Fowl Emissions

LEO’S CLIMATE ADVISOR

Recent statements by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and many of his Cabinet colleagues regarding climate change have been so completely out of touch with reality that you might wonder if anyone... Read more »
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Fowl Emissions

MICHAEL D STANDS ALONE

The recent presidential campaign was remarkable for many reasons, not least of which was the extraordinary extent to which five of the six candidates had absolutely nothing to say on... Read more »

Bird's Eye View

Eamon O'Cuiv

Bird's Eye View

FIANNA FÁIL’S NORTHERN STAR

LAST Thursday night’s chaotic on-off ‘selection’ of Sorcha McAnespy as a Fianna Fáil candidate for next May’s council elections in the north did nevertheless produce some clarity in the interminable... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Sinead O'Connor

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian’s journey. Shuhada’ Davitt (formerly Sinéad O’Connor) on becoming a Muslim, as reported in the Irish Mirror, submitted by reader They move... Read more »

High Society

Rachel Allen

High Society

RACHEL’S ‘LESS FORMAL’ EXPERIENCE

FANS OF Goldhawk will not be surprised to hear that there have been big changes at Rachel’s, the Cork-based restaurant fronted by the one and only Rachel Allen. The whole... Read more »
Consuelo O’Connor

High Society

DAVID RAETHORNE’S WHISKEY STOCKS

THE OPERATION behind the ambitious Hazelwood House revamp being undertaken in Sligo by low-profile serial investor David Raethorne filed some figures last month showing the losses at Hazelwood Demesne have... Read more »
Abigail O'Brien

High Society

ABIGAIL O’BRIEN’S ELECTION

THE ELECTION of Denis O’Brien’s sister, Abigail O’Brien, as president of the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) represents quite a coup for the artist, who has become the first female president... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Graham McLaren

Behind the Scenes

NATIONAL THEATRE’S US IMPORT

FANS OF Irish theatre got a treat this week when RTÉ broadcast a show devoted to life inside the Abbey Theatre, where the director ‘team’ of Graham McLaren and Neil... Read more »
Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

Behind the Scenes

BOOK AWARDS BEANO

THERE WAS an exuberant gushing plug for the annual Irish Book Awards in the Sindo last weekend when the shortlist for the 2018 gongs was announced. The paper has long... Read more »
Siún Ní Raghallaigh

Behind the Scenes

SIÚN NÍ RAGHALLAIGH’S GOOD NEWS

FANS OF Goldhawk will not have been surprised by the inclusion in Pascal Donohoe’s Finance Bill of 10 pages of refinements to the operations of the Section 481 tax giveaway... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Ger Lyons

Sport of Kings

GER LYONS HITS OUT

THE DRY autumn is taking its toll on jumps tracks at the moment as they cannot risk watering the ground at this time of year because when the rain does... Read more »
Joseph O’Brien

Sport of Kings

O’BRIEN’S REDUNDANT REFERRAL

JOSEPH O’BRIEN found himself at the centre of one of the most pointless enquiries in the recent history of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) when he was summoned to... Read more »
Mick Bailey

Sport of Kings

DOWN A ROYAL MESS

WHAT TO make of the Down Royal fiasco? The clash of business and sport looks set to leave some casualties, but confusion reigns. What is unclear is why a clean... Read more »
Gordon Elliott

Sport of Kings

ELLIOTT IS WELL OFF THE PACE

IT SEEMS Gordon Elliott may already have accepted defeat in this season’s leading trainer title race. A slow start to the current season sees him around 40 winners and over... Read more »

Reviews

Milkman - Anna Burns (Faber & Faber)

Books

MILKMAN – ANNA BURNS (FABER & FABER)

THIS YEAR’S Man Booker winner (the first from Northern Ireland), Anna Burns, has published two previous novels and is well regarded in literary circles but is hardly a household name.... Read more »
Richard III

Reviews

RICHARD III – ABBEY THEATRE

GARRY HYNES must have realised that producing another Shakespearean history play demanded another angle. While Richard may be one of Western literature’s greatest villains, his story is much less complex,... Read more »
Amy Huberman

Reviews

FINDING JOY – RTÉ 1

AMY HUBERMAN turns her hand to ‘comedy’ in this six-part series set in an air-brushed version of modern-day Dublin. Inevitably, with Mrs Dricco being co-creator, writer, associate producer and star... Read more »

Moneybags

Stephen Vernon

Moneybags

BIG REWARDS BUT SMALL RESULTS AT GREEN REIT

ALTHOUGH IT would be some achievement, it looks like Stephen Vernon and Pat Gunne could well end up getting a bigger take out from Green Reit than the boys over... Read more »
Anne Heraty

Moneybags

UNEXPLAINED TRENDS AT CPL RESOURCES

WHILE CPL Resources has turned in impressive figures, it is nevertheless a pity that husband and wife team Paul Carroll and Anne Heraty have not used their skills to grow... Read more »

The Hot Water Brigade

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The Hot Water Brigade

GRAHAM CANNING’S PUB HANGOVER

THERE’S been another blow for former publican Graham Canning, who has just had a second judgment registered against him by the taxman in three years, this time for close to... Read more »
Oscars International

The Hot Water Brigade

POOR GRADES AT DUBLIN LANGUAGE SCHOOL

SPARE a thought for creditors of Dublin English language school Oscars International, which is petitioning the High Court to have an examiner appointed. The petition by an entity called Malvern... Read more »
Mailo Power

The Hot Water Brigade

CHECKING OUT AT THE ATHENAEUM

THE original company behind the swanky Athenaeum House Hotel on the Waterford-Kilkenny border has called in the liquidator, just a few weeks after the new owners of the property secured... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

WINDING UP CARRIGALINE CARPENTRY

HARD luck to Cork businessmen John and Brian O’Neill, whose company, Carrigaline Carpentry Services Ltd, has just been wound up by the taxman. The writing was on the wall for... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

ALBIE PURCELL’S GOOD LUCK

CONGRATULATIONS (of sorts) are in order to Albie Purcell Jnr, who managed to confound AIB in the High Court recently. Judge Max Barrett refused AIB’s application to enter summary judgment... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

CATHAL MALLON’S BUSINESS PARTNERS

A VULTURE fund has just swooped on D4 developer Cathal Mallon. The fund recently secured judgment against Mallon in the High Court for €2.1m in relation to an EBS loan... Read more »
Edmond O'Reilly

The Hot Water Brigade

JUDGMENT DAY FOR EDMOND O’REILLY

IT’S ALL gone wrong for Tipperary high-flier Edmond O’Reilly, who has just been whacked by the Revenue for over €1m. The Clonmel man made his millions when he sold his... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

TOM CONSIDINE’S WIND-UP

A PROPERTY vehicle called Western Alliance Property (WAP) Ltd is calling in the liquidator. The directors are listed as Gerry Prendergast, Tom Considine and Paddy Sweeney, who each owned a... Read more »
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The Hot Water Brigade

BASSAM NASER’S HARD MEDICINE

THERE are more maladies for jailbird Sutton doctor Bassem Naser, who has just been declared bankrupt in the High Court. The Irish-Palestinian received a 16-month sentence earlier this year for... Read more »