Search the Archives

EU ELECTION STAKES

Date: May 2, 2024 -

WITH JUST weeks to go, campaigns for the Euro seats are hotting up – if that’s the right word to use for the tepid indifference of the Irish electorate so far. Last time out Sinn Féin did badly, losing two seats that it had previously won. But that was 2019. Since then the party has… Read more »

AONTÚ: A ONE-TRICK PONY?

Date: May 2, 2024 -

PREVIOUSLY A splinter from Sinn Féin, Peadar Tóibín’s Aontú may yet establish itself as a serious political player, with recent opinion polls putting the party above the Greens and Labour, raising the prospect of it making it into government. The drawback, from Aontú’s point of view, is that getting into government would depend on doing… Read more »

FIANNA FÁIL’S TWO FINGERS TO SDLP

Date: May 2, 2024 -

REMARKABLY, EVEN for the Government-compliant Dublin media, there was no coverage of the snub delivered to the SDLP by Micheál Martin’s Fianna Fáil at the party’s recent ard fheis. FF denied a request for an exhibitor’s stand at the ard fheis for the SDLP’s New Ireland Commission, citing “short notice” as the reason. A diplomatic… Read more »

‘BALANCED’ DEBATE ON GAZA GENOCIDE

Date: May 2, 2024 -

THE DOGMATIC radicals among Irish supporters of the Palestinians are outraged at the aesthetes on the editorial team at RTÉ’s arts programme, Arena, who bravely held the line against Palestinian propaganda posturing as poetry recently. The innocent souls at Arena had invited Palestinian poet Rafeef… Read more »

MEDIAHUIS’S MEDALS

Date: May 2, 2024 -

MEDIAHUIS’S EDITORIAL supremo, Cormac Bourke, told staff last year that the media awards organised by NewsBrands – now franchised out by NewsBrands – were not modern and that other awards competitions would be utilised to “have the outstanding work of journalists in Mediahuis Ireland recognised”. This followed a series of spats with NewsBrands including the… Read more »

CATHERINE MARTIN’S LATEST VACANCY

Date: May 2, 2024 -

THE RETICENCE of arts and culture minister Catherine Martin when it comes to filling vacancies on the boards of the national cultural institutions has attained joke status at this stage. For the most part, the Green Party deputy leader gets away with it, due to a predictable apathy in the media when it comes to… Read more »

DANIEL O’RAHILLY’S BIG CHEQUE

Date: May 2, 2024 -

THIS YEAR’S Aintree Grand National winner, I Am Maximus (trained by newly crowned British champion jumps trainer Willie Mullins), and the 2021 winner, Minella Times, were paraded before huge crowds at the finals of the Con and Annie Kirby Memorial Stakes in Limerick Greyhound Stadium last week. The prestigious €160,000 race, sponsored by Geneva tax… Read more »

JOHNNY RONAN’S PARK

Date: May 2, 2024 -

FITZWILLIAM SQUARE was in the news again last month when the Irish Times wondered if the proposed sale by receivers of Johnny Ronan’s four-storey over basement No 65 could push the peeved property developer to “stand in the way of a new owner taking a walk” in the private Fitzwilliam Square park. This seems highly… Read more »

DES McGAHAN’S BOLTHOLE BLUES

Date: May 2, 2024 -

GOLDHAWK SPIED yet another glowing report in the Business Post on the impressive Ballinacurra House outside Kinsale, which is on the market for €4m. The same property had a price tag of €6.35m only a couple of years ago but there has been a lot of water under the bridge (and through the courts) since… Read more »

CRH SHARES PLATEAU AFTER US ROCKET RIDE

Date: May 2, 2024 -

THE SWEDES in Cevian Capital will have been popping the champagne corks as a result of the explosion in the CRH share price since the company began its US adventure, including a move of its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange. When Moneybags examined the strategy in March last year (see The Phoenix… Read more »

LISA MULCAHY’S IFTA

Date: May 2, 2024 -

IN TERMS of viewers, the most successful ‘Irish’ film in recent times has to be the Lindsay Lohan vehicle An Irish Wish. No matter than it’s on Netflix rather than in cinemas, the ‘rom-com’ has topped the streamer’s viewing figures in unexpected places such as Sweden. Of more interest to the luvvies at Áine Moriarty’s… Read more »

CORRE ENERGY’S CORE PROBLEM IS MONEY

Date: May 2, 2024 -

WITH THE 2023 figures for Corre Energy due to be released at the end of this month, investors will be looking to see if the losses have been stemmed or if there is any prospect of much-needed new investment flowing into the business. The Irish… Read more »

MICHAEL LYNCH’S LIMERICK GIG

Date: May 2, 2024 -

REPORTS OF colossal double bets being struck and landed were rife at the Limerick races last month, when the well-punted Declan Queally pair, Rocky’s Diamond and Diamond Nora, won their opening maiden hurdles at Limerick and Ballinrobe respectively. The Queally family are no strangers to well-orchestrated coups and Declan’s sons, Tom and Declan, both rode… Read more »

HARISH BANSAL’S BIG TAX BILL

Date: May 2, 2024 -

ONE OF the bigger judgments that Goldhawk has come across in recent times popped up in Stubbs Gazette last month, where one Harish Bansal, with an address in The Gallops, Leopardstown, Co Dublin, was hit for an eye-watering €3.3m by the dreaded taxman. The judgment follows a €1.35m fine levied against Bansal by the Revenue… Read more »

SEAN MULRYAN’S INVESTMENT

Date: May 2, 2024 -

GOLDHAWK SPIES a familiar face among the backers of Patrick Kirby’s digital ticketing business, Tixserve. Tixserve has been attracting a fair deal of attention in recent times and, more importantly, a fair few bob from investors, most notably the Smurfit family. Among those reported to have put their hands in their deep pockets are Monaco-based… Read more »

LIGHTS, CAMERA…

Date: May 2, 2024 -

WITH PLANS having been drawn up for new mega film studio developments in west Dublin and Wicklow, and other local authorities anxious to get in on the act, a studio bubble is emerging, with developments even being announced just a stone’s throw from each other. Troy Studios in Limerick currently boasts the biggest soundstage in… Read more »

BRITISH SPECIAL FORCES IN GAZA?

Date: April 18, 2024 -

THAT BRITISH Tory politicians should call for a halt to British arms supplies to Israel is most unusual, coming as it does from those who normally support Israel regardless of whatever military atrocities they commit. Britain’s support for Israel depends on it abiding by international… Read more »

PROFILE: JOHN MORAN

Date: April 18, 2024 -

THE BRIGHTEST as well as the most self-confident Limerick luminary since Richard Harris has to be the former secretary general of the Department of Finance, John Moran – a close friend and colleague of the finance minister at the time, Michael Noonan. Following his spell… Read more »

YOUNG BLOOD: CATHERINE ARNOLD

Date: April 18, 2024 -

Amidst rising political tensions within Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), Catherine ‘Cat’ Arnold, the (former) education officer, has announced their shock resignation. A union member for almost their entire college life, Arnold’s decision to quit with immediate effect was due to issues with a toxic workplace environment and alleged bullying. Why did Arnold feel… Read more »

IAN O’DOHERTY’S BAD YEAR

Date: April 18, 2024 -

LAST DECEMBER the Independent’s lovable columnist, Ian O’Doherty, wrote about what he described as “maybe the worst year of my life” but it doesn’t appear that things are getting much better, with the dreaded taxman registering a judgment against the media company co-owned by O’Doherty… Read more »

CATHERINE MARTIN’S €7M HEADACHE

Date: April 18, 2024 -

ARTS AND culture minister Catherine Martin came in for (yet more) criticism this week as a result of her ongoing failure to appoint a chair to the Arts Council, which has a budget this year of no less than €134m. Fans of Goldhawk will be… Read more »

LYRA V BEYONCÉ

Date: April 18, 2024 -

IT HAS been hard to avoid Irish singer Laura McNamara (aka Lyra) in recent weeks as the hype machine cranks up around her eponymous debut album. Given that she is a protegé of Caroline Downey’s, the media profile she has attained, despite her limited chart success, should not come as a surprise. Certainly, the campaign… Read more »

OLIVER TATTAN’S NEW VENTURE

Date: April 18, 2024 -

THE multi-hatted Oliver Tattan is getting back into the health insurance game, in tandem with Aviva, although the name of the new venture remains under wraps. Enniskerry-based moneybags Ollie has been around the block as far as health insurance is concerned, stretching back to his stint as chief executive of VHI, before he jumped ship… Read more »

JOYLESS JUNIOR JENN

Date: April 18, 2024 -

IT’S A long way down from pre-breakfast delusions of becoming taoiseach to not even making it into Cabinet but that has been the career curve travelled by Jennifer Carroll MacNeill recently. Jennifer, however, must have known when she made the first of several early morning phone calls soliciting leadership support within hours of Leo Varadkar… Read more »

FAR RIGHT SPOILING FOR A FIGHT

Date: April 18, 2024 -

DESPITE THE attention the far right in Ireland has received in recent years, it has had little or no success in elections. However, far-right politicians believe fervently that, in the upcoming local and European elections, their fortunes are about to change. The problem from their perspective is that there are several political parties vying for… Read more »

VOL 42 NO 08

Date: April 18, 2024 -

BEN GILROY’S PORTUGUESE POSTCODE

Date: April 18, 2024 -

SURPRISING TO see that, according to filings in the Companies Office for Morrigan Private Settlement Trust Operations (MPST), the colourful Ben Gilroy has changed address from dreary Navan to sunny Albufeira in Portugal, as has fellow director Charlie McGuinness, previously of Tully in Monaghan, albeit to a different address on the Algarve. Many moons ago… Read more »

GLENCREE’S NEW FACES

Date: April 18, 2024 -

THREE MONTHS on from the appointment by the Department of Foreign Affairs of consultants to carry out a review of corporate governance at The Glencree Centre for Reconciliation, a final report is awaited. What has arrived is a new-look board, as a result of assorted exits and entrances. It will be recalled (see The Phoenix… Read more »

JOHN FITZGERALD’S DISMAL FORECAST

Date: April 18, 2024 -

DESPITE ITS headline-grabbing effect, the report by John FitzGerald and Edgar Morgenroth, entitled Northern Ireland Subvention – Possible Unification Effects and predicting that a united Ireland would cost southern taxpayers tens of billions, got a cool response from some of the more discerning critics in this field. This would not be the first time that… Read more »

ROBERT NAIRAC RE-VISITED

Date: April 18, 2024 -

Robin ‘The Jackal’ Jackson, of the Portadown UVF, was the most notorious assassin of the Troubles. Virtually all commentators on those turbulent times believe he was a British agent, run by the RUC special branch. He was a key member of the so-called Glenanne gang…. Read more »

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: April 18, 2024 -

Join the Harris juggernaut. Enda Kenny speech at Fine Gael’s ard fheis I’d read a lot about the ancient Celtic warriors going into battle. There were always rituals beforehand. I remember getting ready for the opening night of Lord of the Dance. I started putting on my face paint. Then a guy showed up with… Read more »

FARMERS’ PR CAMPAIGN

Date: April 18, 2024 -

For decades scientists have warned of the extreme vulnerability of global food production systems to disruption as climate change accelerates. This is now coming to pass in real time, with farmers across Ireland and Europe feeling the brunt of ever more extreme weather. Last year, torrential rainfall hampered cereal crop production from France to Poland,… Read more »

DUP ELECTION NIGHTMARE

Date: April 18, 2024 -

It’s changed times in the north. There’s a reversal of the natural order of politics. Turmoil and confusion in unionism threatens the stability of the Stormont institutions, while Sinn Féin works to steady the ship. With Dáil elections looming, it is in SF’s interest to maintain a working assembly and executive to show the party… Read more »

WHITHER KATE O’CONNELL?

Date: April 18, 2024 -

THE RE-ENTRY of Kate O’Connell to national politics via a place on Fine Gael’s general election ticket in Dublin Bay South (DBS) is not a given, despite new Taoiseach Simon Harris’s effusive welcome home for the former TD. The storyline surrounding the period in which La Kate was consigned to a political nunnery since she… Read more »

HELEN OF NAVAN SURVIVES

Date: April 18, 2024 -

MUCH MYSTERY and knowing punditry surrounded the survival of Helen McEntee as justice minister given all the indications that persuaded most people to believe she was a goner. However, it was not so much the political permutations, geography, gender, ideology and so on that proved… Read more »

MAL O’HARA’S SEANAD SEAT

Date: April 18, 2024 -

THE COALITION parties have continued the sharing (among themselves) policy of divvying up Seanad seats if and when they become available – a policy that also includes telling northern unionists to feck off. When senators Michael D’Arcy (Fine Gael) and Elisha McCallion (Sinn Féin) resigned in 2020, the two by-elections in 2021 saw FG and… Read more »