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ANNUAL 2025

Date: November 12, 2025 -

TWO FINGERS TO PRESIDENT CONNOLLY

Date: November 12, 2025 -

THE STAND-OUT political stance of president-elect Catherine Connolly during the election campaign was neutrality and peaceful opposition to the militarisation of Europe. Conversely, the implicit position of Irish war mongers – at home and abroad – was that the views of the overwhelming majority of Irish voters in these matters should be ignored. With Sinn… Read more »

ANTON SAVAGE ON IVAN YATES

Date: November 12, 2025 -

YOU HAVE to hand it to PR consultant and Newstalk broadcaster Anton Savage, who maintained a poker player’s even tone while presenting his Newstalk show last Sunday week, opening with the burning topic of Ivan Yates and his conflict of interests during the presidential election. Turning to his guest – Ivan’s podcast partner, Matt Cooper… Read more »

JIM GORMAN V LUKE COMER

Date: November 12, 2025 -

NEEDLESS TO say there is a huge degree of interest in horseracing circles regarding the legal proceedings issued by trainer Jim Gorman against Monaco-based billionaire property developer and racehorse trainer Luke Comer. At issue are claims Gorman says were made about him by an unnamed “senior executive” associated with John Magnier’s Coolmore Stud operation –… Read more »

O’CALLAGHAN PASSES THE BUCK

Date: November 12, 2025 -

FAR FROM being tightly controlled and operating secretively, as reported, the right-wing scene in Ireland is growing but is probably most dangerous because of how chaotic it is. There is a fluidity on the right in Ireland that allows for electorally focused political parties and campaign groups to freely mix online on podcasts and livestreams,… Read more »

DUFFY’S NEW GIG

Date: November 12, 2025 -

Paschal Donohoe’s 2020 Dublin Central Fine Gael running mate, Deirdre Duffy, has been appointed director of Friends of the Earth (FoE), following former director Oisín Coughlan’s move to national charity association The Wheel. The appointment indicates a continuation of FoE’s government lobbying strategy of being a safety valve for those expecting environmental and social justice… Read more »

RTÉ’S EMPTY SEATS

Date: November 12, 2025 -

THERE IS an awful lot going on at RTÉ these days, from the high-profile radio schedule shake-up to dumping the documentary department and communications minister Patrick O’Donovan has made it clear he is less than happy with certain aspects of the public broadcaster’s performance. This makes it a little hard to understand why he hasn’t… Read more »

MICHEÁL MARTIN’S BOX TICKING

Date: November 12, 2025 -

Ever wonder what makes a Taoiseach tick? Back in 2014, Enda Kenny told a UN summit in New York that the “clock is ticking” on climate and we have no time to waste. Eleven years later, Micheál Martin told the Cop30 meeting in Brazil that yes, you’ve guessed it, “the clock is ticking”. Yet barely… Read more »

METHANE, WHAT METHANE?

Date: November 12, 2025 -

Ireland is among the EU’s very worst carbon polluters per capita due almost exclusively to our oversized and hugely polluting livestock herd, which produces the great bulk of agriculture emissions. As the climate crisis deepens, the key role of methane – an ultra-powerful greenhouse gas – in driving the climate crisis is becoming ever more… Read more »

THE ‘RIGHT’ WAY FORWARD

Date: November 12, 2025 -

Appearances SINCE the presidential election by supports of the Spoil the Vote campaign on long-winded and often rambling online broadcasts have highlighted how this loose coalition has radically different visions of how to harness the discontent that the 213,738 spoilt ballots represents. On the Ireland Reports YouTube channel, councillor Malachy Steenson asserted: “We have a… Read more »

UNIONIST RANCOUR

Date: November 12, 2025 -

The campaign for the early 2027 assembly election in the north is well and truly under way already. The main contest, however, is within unionism – although it’s played out as who can be toughest with Sinn Féin. The rancour overflowed in the Stormont assembly on November 3 when SF, the SDLP and Alliance supported… Read more »

FF CATCH 22

Date: November 12, 2025 -

AS WE go to print, the noose around Micheál Martin’s leadership is tightening and, as Goldhawk predicted (see edition 31/10/25), it is the process of the post mortem committee itself, rather than its conclusions (although these could be deadly too) that is now inflicting the most damage on him. The Taoiseach is now in a… Read more »

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: November 12, 2025 -

Ivan Yates has said client confidentiality was the reason he did not disclose the fact that he gave media training to Fianna Fáil presidential candidate Jim Gavin. “I’ve done nothing wrong,” [he said], adding that he had received even more publicity than DJ Carey in recent days. “I had a golden rule and that was… Read more »

HOLLY CAIRNS GETS NERVOUS

Date: November 12, 2025 -

HOLLY CAIRNS was given much media coverage for her remarks distancing herself from Sinn Féin, with criticisms that its policies were not left-wing enough for her and the Social Democrats. But the real significance of the Soc Dems leader’s attack is what it might mean for the left alliance that swept Catherine Connolly into the… Read more »

TERRY PRONE V PJ MARA

Date: November 12, 2025 -

WHAT INTRIGUING insights into the behaviour of spin doctors and politicians are included, some inadvertently, in Terry Prone’s latest book – I’m Glad You Asked Me That – about her life as a very talented PR handler. One of these is the absolute omerta that Terry and her late husband, Tom Savage, guaranteed their clients… Read more »

CHESTER BEATTY BACKLOG

Date: November 12, 2025 -

THE WHEELS are moving slowly in the culture department these days and there is still no sign of minister Patrick O’Donovan getting around to filling the vacancies at the Chester Beatty Library (CBL), which he advertised back in May this year. O’Donovan is responsible for appointing three of the 12 trustees of the fabulous CBL… Read more »

CONCERT HALL’S NEW TUNE

Date: November 12, 2025 -

PRESUMABLY, THERE will be a greater sense of urgency when it comes to filling the various vacancies in the National Concert Hall (NCH), where Maura McGrath has finally stepped down as chairwoman. The good news is that the advert for expressions of interest has now been published, with a closing date for applications of November… Read more »

ENNISKILLEN REVISITED

Date: November 12, 2025 -

Strange and unusual things are happening at the Times and Sunday Times, normally a news outlet whose coverage of military and spooky matters – and certainly those that pertain to the Troubles – are heavily influenced by MI5. However, Mario Ledwith, a Times journalist from Enniskillen, has produced a six-part podcast, The Poppy Day Bomb,… Read more »

BILL EMMOTT’S CV

Date: November 12, 2025 -

OF THE LATEST two recruits to the Irish Times board, Adele Cooper has a stellar business cv – Pinterest, Google and Premier Lotteries – while Bill Emmott is more a man of letters – editor of the Economist, and trustee of the Chester Beatty Library and other titles. But Emmott’s work as an author is… Read more »

IRISH TIMES ‘REALLY GOOD’ RIP.IE DEAL

Date: November 12, 2025 -

Michael ‘Mikie’ Sheehan, the chief money man at the Irish Times Group, last month told his paper that the controversial May 2024 acquisition of death notices website RIP.ie was proving “a really good fit commercially” for the news outfit. Sheehan only became interim boss in recent weeks when Deirdre Veldon unexpectedly announced she was stepping… Read more »

CASHEL PALACE CASHES IN

Date: November 12, 2025 -

THE LATEST Association of Irish Racehorse Owners (AIRO) awards bash was held last month – once again – in John Magnier’s fabulously expensive Cashel Palace hotel in Co Tipperary. No doubt the off-season event was appreciated by the plush venue, which is owned by a company called Trevester Unlimited. This entity was originally controlled by… Read more »

ALL CLEAR FOR OLD BELVO

Date: November 12, 2025 -

NO DOUBT, Dermot Desmond is chuffed that the official green light has now been given for a development on the grounds of Old Belvedere Rugby Club, which the back garden of his gigantic 19,000 sq ft Shrewsbury Road mansion backs onto. Certainly, not a lot happens in Belvo that DD is not informed of, given… Read more »

LISA McGOWAN’S GAL PALS

Date: November 12, 2025 -

IT WAS reported earlier in the year that 50-something fashion blogger and influencer Lisa McGowan had paid herself an eyebrow-raising €3m in 2024 via her Lisa’s Lust List company, with €348,000 of this represented by a chunky pension top-up. In more recent times Lisa has been expanding her empire and now sells clothes, accessories and… Read more »

ROGER COURTNEY’S FAMILY TIES

Date: November 12, 2025 -

The increasingly hyperactive Business Post group ran one of its many, many awards ceremonies last week, The Leadership Awards, which honour “visionary executives, rising leaders, and changemakers who exemplify innovation, integrity, and influence”. Having scoured the corporate landscape for leaders in a variety of categories, it turned up one interesting name: Roger Courtney of Sunstone… Read more »

FRANK DINEEN’S TAX BILL

Date: November 12, 2025 -

THE DREADED taxman has come calling, yet again, at a small defunct entity called Reliant Resources, which appears to have been set up as some form of consultancy outfit. The main player here is one-time casino operator Frank Dineen (aka Christopher Francis Dineen), with an address in Little Island, Cork. The good news is that… Read more »

KIA KEEPS SPENDING

Date: November 12, 2025 -

KIA JOORABCHIAN’S Amo Racing failed to hit the headlines with its runners at the various big end-of-season meetings this year but it has continued to make its presence felt in the sales rings. In addition to the well-funded outfit’s sizeable yearling purchases, Amo secured Streak of Luck, the dam of undefeated Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner… Read more »

BYRNES FRIGHT

Date: November 12, 2025 -

Limerick trainer Charles Byrnes and his son, Philip, are to face an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) referrals committee hearing next month over a controversial incident at Wexford in July. The father-and-son trainer-jockey combination ran Redwood Queen, owned by the trainer’s son, Cathal Byrnes, in the Wexford Claiming Hurdle, only for her to unseat Philip… Read more »

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’

Date: November 12, 2025 -

THE IRISH headline maker at the recent Breeders’ Cup Meeting was the Willie Mullins-trained Ethical Diamond at 28/1, which marked another red-letter day for Dunnes Stores matriarch Margaret Heffernan’s family syndicate. Not surprisingly, the horse has turned out to be very good value indeed. Ethical Diamond had already won this year’s York Ebor Stakes and… Read more »

‘LIKE A BIG SISSY’

Date: November 12, 2025 -

NEWLY CROWNED UK champion jockey Oisin Murphy recently found himself on the receiving end of criticism from Newmarket trainer Willie Haggas, who acknowledged the Irish rider was “the best around” and “an outstanding rider” but alleged he employs riding tactics that amount to a “professional foul”. The trainer’s missus, Maureen Haggas, is also known for… Read more »

ANNUAL 2025: GOLDHAWK’S AWARDS FOR THE PASSING PARADE – 2025

Date: November 12, 2025 -

CONOR MCGREGOR Under Tánaiste and foreign minister Simon Harris, the Government recently opened five new overseas missions through the Global Ireland programme as part of its strengthening of Ireland’s global presence. But this is puny compared to the worldwide diplomatic initiative of Conor McGregor, whose considered, sophisticated forays at home and abroad have raised Ireland’s… Read more »

ANNUAL 2025: GOVERNMENT – HUBRIS OVERWHELMS GOVERNMENT

Date: November 12, 2025 -

AS 2024 culminated with a general election, the abiding impression exuded by party leaders Micheál Martin and Simon Harris was one of entitlement and presumption, with a dash of contempt stirred in. What was probably the worst period Sinn Féin had endured for many years, coupled with successful local and EU summer elections for Fianna… Read more »

ANNUAL 2025: OPPOSITION – SINN FÉIN’S NEW ROUTE TO POWER

Date: November 12, 2025 -

Sinn Féin is looking forward to 2026 in a far more optimistic mood than was the case last year. Then the party had looked on in bewildered horror as its commanding lead in the opinion polls – with 34% in October 2023 – shrank to less than 12% in the local elections of summer 2024…. Read more »

ANNUAL 2025: POLITICS – PARALYSIS SEIZES NORTH

Date: November 12, 2025 -

At least one item was missing in the north in 2025. There was no election. People might have expected that, in the absence of the usual annual rancourous campaigns, there would be less confrontation between the two main parties, Sinn Féin and the DUP. It was not to be. One of the reasons the two… Read more »

ANNUAL 2025: PROFILE – MICHEÁL MARTIN

Date: November 12, 2025 -

Micheál Martin began 2025 with a bang, elected Taoiseach in January, albeit a day late. He returned from the November 2024 general election with 48 TDs – 10 more than before. It was also 10 more than identikit coalition partner Fine Gael and nine more than the main Sinn Féin opposition. He strengthened Fianna Fáil’s… Read more »

ANNUAL 2025: FIT TO PRINT? – ROCKY ROAD FOR DUBLIN’S BIG TWO

Date: November 12, 2025 -

The departures of rival business bosses Deirdre Veldon from the Irish Times and Peter Vandermeersch from Indo-owner Mediahuis Ireland were major events in their own right. But weighed alongside the exits of senior editors – Alan English leaving the Sunday Independent and Tom Fitzpatrick’s definitive departure in late September from the IT-owned Irish Examiner –… Read more »

ANNUAL 2025: AIR WAVES – HOLLYWOOD DAYS ARE OVER

Date: November 12, 2025 -

AND SO it came to pass, in the year 2025, that the long age of that most greedy of dinosaurs – the highly paid RTÉ star – came to an end and the last survivors of the species became extinct. Just over two years after the Ryan Tubridy scandal and the mismanagement of RTÉ finances… Read more »