Affairs of the Nation

Regina Doherty

Affairs of the Nation

REGINA’S BAD PANDEMIC

OUTGOING MINISTER for Social Protection Regina Doherty looked like the first political victim of the Covid-19 virus last weekend, while colleagues Simon Coveney, Simon Harris and Leo Varadkar basked in... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

FRANK CALLANAN’S ADVICE

AS LEO Varadkar continues to take the political opportunity presented by the current crisis, he may be getting used to some of the nice things being said about him. There... Read more »
Fred Barry

Affairs of the Nation

SIMON HARRIS’S OTHER HEALTH SCARE

THE 24/7 CORONAVIRUS coverage means all eyes are focused on the unfolding calamity and, as a result, some other health scares are getting overlooked. One group probably glad of the... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

KATHRYN THOMAS’S LOCKDOWN

GIVEN THAT viewers of RTÉ are increasingly accustomed to seeing various Montrose personalities popping up on each other’s shows, often shamelessly plugging their latest offering, the video appearance of self-isolating... Read more »
Jude Thaddeus Okolo

Affairs of the Nation

VATICAN PLAYS THE LONG GAME

SITE PREPARATION work at St Vincent’s Hospital in south County Dublin has largely been completed, but the main construction work for the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) continues to be... Read more »
John McGuirk

Affairs of the Nation

JOHN MCGUIRK’S TACTICS

GRIPT.IE EDITOR John McGuirk’s recent hit job on former Fine Gael TD Kate O’Connell was the latest in his long-running effort to beat the biased left-wing media at what he... Read more »
Leo Varadkar

Affairs of the Nation

LEO AND MICKEY’S CENTENARY CHALLENGE

THE ON-OFF ‘mots-doux’ engagement talks between the Blueshirts and Soldiers of Destiny have yet to address one of the thorniest aspects of their approaching, embryonic merger coalition. That is the... Read more »
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Affairs of the Nation

DONNCHA O’CALLAGHAN’S TACTICS

THERE WERE different tactics used this month when examining the digital marketing company controlled by former Irish rugby international and RTÉ presenter Donncha O’Callaghan. O’Callaghan and partner Pat O’Flynn invested... Read more »
Emma Balmaine

Affairs of the Nation

ST JOHN OF GOD’S PRAYERS

THE CAMPAIGN by St John of God (SJOG) to extract more money from the HSE has gained little traction given the rather regrettable timing, just as the coronavirus was gathering... Read more »
Siún Ní Raghallaigh

Affairs of the Nation

JOE DEVINE’S FILM SCRIPT

IRISH FILM industry reports are two a penny (or rather more expensive than that actually), but they seldom arrive in the manner of PwC’s recent ‘Section 481 & The Film/TV... Read more »
Escape to The Lake Hotel

Pillars of Society

Kieran Corrigan

Pillars of Society

PROFILE: KIERAN CORRIGAN

FILMMAKER AND number cruncher Kieran Corrigan’s latest adventure – a film studio in a scrubby field at the back of Ashbourne Business Park, right... Read more »

The Young Bloods

Neale Richmond

The Young Bloods

YOUNG BLOOD: NEALE RICHMOND

WHILE THE Blueshirts had a dismal election, losing 15 seats on top of the 26 they lost in 2016, one consoling light was the... Read more »

Fit to Print?

Dermot Desmond

Fit to Print?

MARK PAUL BITES BACK

GOLDHAWK WAS more than a little surprised to see a blistering attack on one Dermot Desmond over his use of the Irish Times to “preach” to the Irish people. The... Read more »
Diageo Dana An Garda Síochána IT Trust No Stone Unturned Irish Times Black Friday Vicky Conway

Fit to Print?

NEWSBRAND’S BAIL-OUT

THE CEO of the lobby group for the newspaper sector, Newsbrands Ireland – Ann Marie Lenihan – has asked “that government commits to investing advertising spend in national and local... Read more »
Eilish O'Regan

Fit to Print?

‘INDO’ CORPSE COUNT

WE ARE facing one hell of a lot of corpses in the next few weeks if the part-time virologists, pneumonologists and epidemiologists in the Irish Indo’s newsroom are on the... Read more »

Last Refuge

Catherine Martin

Last Refuge

WHERE NOW FOR EAMON RYAN?

GREEN PARTY leader Eamon Ryan has always believed enthusiastically that being in politics means being in government. But this time, it seems, his enthusiasm to do the government thing for... Read more »
Micheál Martin

Last Refuge

CIRCLING MICHEÁL MARTIN

MICHEÁL MARTIN continues to come under pressure within Fianna Fáil because of his proposal that the party go into full coalition with Fine Gael. Coronavirus may have bought him some... 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

LUCINDA VS THE INDEPENDENTS

LOBBYIST, columnist and former Fine Gael politician Lucinda Creighton was blowing sunshine up Leo’s rear end last weekend, which is perhaps no surprise. Her anti-independents rant was a little less... Read more »
John Concannon

Last Refuge

JOHN CONCANNON’S RETURN

LEO VARADKAR is certainly persistent. He has called John Concannon back from NUI Galway to lead the latest government information campaign on the Covid-19 crisis, less than two years after... Read more »
Kevin Rafter

Last Refuge

LUVVIES TO LOSE MINISTER?

THE ARTS sector must be fearing what’s in store for it in the government formation talks. It looks like the creative types are facing a particularly bleak post-coronavirus landscape, with... Read more »

Hush Hush

Willie Frazer

Hush Hush

SPOOKS AT THE SHELBOURNE

DOUBLE AGENT – the new book by British agent in the IRA Peter Keeley – is remarkably similar to his 2006 publication, Unsung Hero. Keeley is usually better known by... Read more »
HushHush-def

Hush Hush

BARBARA CONDON’S CAMPAIGN

With advertising decimated by Covid-19, one of the few campaigns getting plenty of airtime recently was the ‘We Don’t Buy It’ initiative, which is focused on the sex trade and... Read more »

Bog Cuttings

Bog-Cuttings-Defaul

Bog Cuttings

BOG CUTTINGS 3806

Chip On The Shoulder A 28-year-old farmer appeared at Letterkenny District Court after being arrested under the Public Order Act. Judge Paul Kelly heard that the defendant had been walking... Read more »

Fowl Emissions

Tara Shine

Fowl Emissions

THAT’S JUST GAS

IT WAS probably unremarkable that this year’s Green Awards judges gave out two gongs to a fossil fuel network provider, Gas Networks Ireland (GNI). Since these awards are largely about... Read more »
Climate Action EU Livestock NDC Claude Etchelamendy Ed Brophy Richard Boyd-Barrett Kish Dale Crammond Frank Mitloehner Shell Greenwashing Meta Data Centres Ireland

Fowl Emissions

MICHAEL CREED’S SECURE LINE

WATCHING POLITICAL leaders respond to the coronavirus, it’s impossible not to contrast it to the foot-dragging that passes for climate, er, action. After Leo Varadkar’s Churchillian address on St Patrick’s... Read more »

The Hot Air Brigade

Vogue Williams

The Hot Air Brigade

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE 3806

I don’t watch Love Island. I’m one of the only people in Britain that hasn’t watched it. Vogue Williams blows the lid on her TV viewing habits, Irish Mail on... Read more »

High Society

Kate Verling

High Society

KATE VERLING’S BAD TIMING

THE TIMING of beauty business entrepreneur Kate Verling’s recent announcement that her Mink salon is investing a whopping €½m “in an expansion programme” turned out to be pretty unfortunate. Few... Read more »
Consuelo O’Connor

High Society

TOM HIGGINS ROCKETS HOME

WELCOME HOME former Irish Psychics Live phone-line operator Tom Higgins and his wife, Theresa Dunne, who are back in Co Wicklow following a rather extended holiday abroad. Meanwhile, would-be space... Read more »
Patrick Doran

High Society

PATRICK DORAN’S FOXROCK VILLA

WHILE SELLING substantial properties at the moment looks like a pretty tall ask, there are a few prime properties that have recently come on the market, notably Woodberry off Foxrock’s... Read more »

Behind the Scenes

Sharon Alston

Behind the Scenes

SHARON ALSTON’S CHARITY GIG

AS WE keep being reminded, the coronavirus does not recognise borders. Nor, indeed, does it recognise pop stars. Along with sporting events and the hospitality sector, the concert business turns... Read more »
Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

Behind the Scenes

MAUREEN KENNELLY’S SUCCESSOR

GIVEN THE solid financial standing of Poetry Ireland (PI) and its high place in the pecking order as far as the Arts Council is concerned, there should be significant interest... Read more »

Sport of Kings

Mick Bailey

Sport of Kings

COOLMORE’S US SETBACKS

WHILE 2020 is still in its infancy, American racing has been rocked by another scandal after a two-year long FBI investigation. This revealed that last year’s US champion three-year-old colt,... Read more »
Mick Bailey

Sport of Kings

CHELTENHAM DID HAVE RACING

GIVEN THE mainstream media uproar over Cheltenham taking place, it is no surprise that the actual racing action took second place. As usual, there were some notable performances from Irish... Read more »

Moneybags

Willie Walsh

Moneybags

WALSH’S ‘KICKING AND THUMPING’ AT IAG

AFTER TRANSFORMING British Airways (BA) into the hugely successful International Airlines Group (IAG) over the last 15 years, Willie Walsh announced his premature departure from the company just as the... Read more »
Francesca McDonagh

Moneybags

BANK OF IRELAND MISSING ITS OWN TARGETS

WHEN FRANCESCA McDonagh was appointed CEO of the Bank of Ireland in October 2017, there were high expectations that, as an outsider, she would bring a new level of innovation... Read more »

The Hot Water Brigade

Paul Smithwick

The Hot Water Brigade

WHAT’S ALE-ING PAUL SMITHWICK?

GOLDHAWK WAS surprised to spot that legal eagle Paul Smithwick OBE has resigned from the board of Sullivan Craft Brewery, the company behind Sullivan’s  Red Ale that is currently looking... Read more »
Brody Sweeney

The Hot Water Brigade

BRODY SWEENEY’S SETBACK

BRODY SWEENEY has described in recent interviews how revenues at his popular Camile Thai restaurants have been walloped, forcing him to lay off staff and start a home-delivery service, so... Read more »
Martin Keane

The Hot Water Brigade

MARTIN KEANE’S CONCERNS

MARTIN KEANE, the owner of such well-known Dublin venues as Oliver St John Gogarty and Blooms Hotel, struck a miserable-looking figure in his interview with Tom Lyons in The Currency... Read more »
Enda O’Coineen

The Hot Water Brigade

ENDA O’COINEEN’S DIRECTORS

WITH NEWSPAPER advertising shrivelling as businesses pull in their horns over the coronavirus, Enda O’Coineen’s team might be wishing that previous owner Conor Killeen had kept a lid on remuneration... Read more »
Ali Ryan

The Hot Water Brigade

ALI RYAN STAYS CALM

GOLDHAWK’S FAVOURITE showbiz spotter, Alexandra ‘Ali’ Ryan, is a busy woman, between running her media business Goss and tending to her full-time social media channels. The 30 year old’s enforced... Read more »
Alan Hynes

The Hot Water Brigade

WINDING UP TUSKAR PROPERTY

A LEGAL notice was published last week in relation to the winding up of a company called Tuskar Property Holdings Ltd. This name may ring a bell with fans of... Read more »