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VARADKAR OUT TO EMBARRASS MARTIN

Date: October 3, 2024 -

FORMER TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar’s call for all political parties to declare during the general election that a united Ireland is an “objective, not an aspiration”, and for them to back the creation of a New Ireland forum to plan for Irish unity was assumed by some to be an indirect effort by Fine Gael to… Read more »

MARY LOU’S BACK YARD

Date: October 3, 2024 -

IF MARY Lou McDonald’s presidential speech sounded a bit flat, it is because she had to search hard-to-find, dramatic attack points against the Government given the daily stream of ‘good news’ budget leaks before, during and after the Sinn Féin ard fheis. Now it’s back to basics of a different sort as she squares up… Read more »

ENRIGHT QUELLS KERRY REVOLT

Date: October 3, 2024 -

GOLDHAWK WROTE last August how Fine Gael members in Kerry and in Dublin HQ were in disarray over how to replace former minister Brendan Griffin at the general election given the absence of a convincing candidate. At one point Griffin came up with the whizz idea of running his cousin, councillor Tommy Griffin, for the… Read more »

HERITAGE COUNCIL’S CHEAP SEATS

Date: October 3, 2024 -

HOUSING AND heritage minister Darragh O’Brien has sought expressions of interest in two vacancies on the Kilkenny-headquartered Heritage Council as a result of the early exit of the chatelaine of Castle Leslie, Sammy Leslie, and John Patrick Greene, the recently retired director of the EPIC Irish emigration museum. Chaired by former Louth and Galway county… Read more »

PAY DAY!

Date: October 3, 2024 -

THOSE UNFAMILIAR with Ruth Treacy and Julianne Forde’s Tailored Films will be interested to know that “the company’s vision is to be renowned for creating edgy film and TV content, which is underpinned by a strong societal message and engages audiences worldwide”. Presumably, the decision-makers at Coimisiún na Meán were impressed with the global ambitions… Read more »

POOR FORM FOR RICH RACES

Date: October 3, 2024 -

ONLY 14 went to post last weekend for Europe’s most lucrative race for two-year-olds – the Goffs Million – which saw the Joseph O’Brien-trained Apples and Bananas narrowly defeat Antelope Canyon, trained by his dad, Aidan. The winner had to survive a stewards’ enquiry, when the Laurence McFerran-chaired panel enquired into possible interference inside the… Read more »

WATSON’S WOES

Date: October 3, 2024 -

ARMAGH TRAINER Keith Watson and his son and assistant, Marshall, have questioned the reasoning behind the decision of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) to prevent their Springfield stable in Killylea running horses in class five and six handicaps in Britain. Although based in the north, the Keith Watson stable is licensed through Horse Racing Ireland… Read more »

DEREK ICETON’S DISMOUNT

Date: October 3, 2024 -

MINTED RACEHORSE owner/breeder Steve Parkin has effectively ended his interest in Ireland, following his break up with former adviser Joe Foley. A local player also exiting the market here is Derek Iceton of the venerable Tara Stud in Co Meath, which is currently for sale. Yorkshire moneybags Parkin recently dropped the asking price for his… Read more »

HERITAGE TRUST SEATS

Date: October 3, 2024 -

THE ESB announced a significant plan to develop a museum at 12 Fitzwilliam Street, adjacent to its expensive HQ, where it will partner with the Irish Heritage Trust (IHT) on the project. Throwing in their tuppenceworth will be any new directors that the IHT appoints on foot of it recent advert. The trust has a… Read more »

MINCON’S MYSTERIOUS REVERSAL OF FORTUNES

Date: October 3, 2024 -

IT WAS quite the setback last year for the now 86-year-old founder of Mincon, Paddy Purcell, who saw his company suffer a serious reversal, one that has continued into 2024. In the first six months of this year, Mincon just broke even at the operating profit level but suffered a near €1m loss at the… Read more »

POST-GRENFELL KINGSPAN’S PERFORMANCE LOOKING OMINOUS

Date: October 3, 2024 -

IN THE immediate aftermath of last month’s Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase two report, Kingspan’s PR spinners were quick out of the blocks to advise: “The principal reason for the fire spread was PE ACM cladding, which was not made by Kingspan.” The Murray Consultants-drafted statement added: “Kingspan has long acknowledged the wholly unacceptable historic failings that… Read more »

CORMAC LOHAN’S VAT BILLS

Date: October 3, 2024 -

GOLDHAWK’S OLD friend, Athlone legal eagle Cormac Lohan, has suffered yet another setback, this time in the Court of Appeal courtesy of a ruling by Judge Senan Allen. Lohan, who practises as Lohan & Co Solicitors, had appealed a High Court ruling by Judge Garret Simons delivered a year ago that granted summary judgment for… Read more »

FRANK CARROLL’S FURNITURE

Date: October 3, 2024 -

THE APPOINTMENT last month of Joe Walsh of JW Accountants as interim examiner at swanky furniture manufacturer Alfrank Designs follows AIB’s taking over of the company’s debts from Ulster Bank after the latter exited the Irish market. The sole shareholder here is co-founder Frank Carroll but many moons ago the company boasted quite the colourful… Read more »

BUDGET PLOT

Date: October 3, 2024 -

THE LOBBYING by film and TV interest groups in the run-up to this week’s budget has been escalating since June, when Susan Kirby’s Screen Producers Ireland lobby group launched the first salvo. This was followed by the likes of Sarah Glenane’s Screen Composers Guild, Torlach Denihan of Ibec’s Audiovisual Ireland, Ronan McCabe’s Animation Ireland and… Read more »

WAREHOUSING AT THE ‘BIZ POST’

Date: October 3, 2024 -

AS BEFITS the parish newsletter of the SME community in Ireland, the Business Post has been blasting out articles for much of this year warning about the looming deadline for the Revenue’s pandemic debt warehousing scheme. The paper clearly knows what it was talking about. On January 24, for example, it warned about new figures… Read more »

STEPHEN DONNELLY’S SAVINGS

Date: October 3, 2024 -

IT WILL be recalled (see The Phoenix 12/7/24) that Goldhawk was curious about a restaurant company called Castleknock Hospitality Ltd (CHL) that had quietly ceased trading and, although employees had been told the firm was to be wound up, there was no sign of any activity. The ‘good news’ is that insolvency specialist extraordinaire PJ… Read more »

APPLE TAX LAWYERS’ PRIVATE FEES

Date: September 19, 2024 -

IT IS hard to think of a story whose publication could be more in the public interest than the multi-billion-euro Apple tax charade, involving as it does enormous sums of taxpayers’ money. Ministers and other ‘responsible’ titans of industry are already sermonising against profligate demands to actually spend the dosh on trivial matters such as… Read more »

PROFILE: BRIAN POLLY

Date: September 19, 2024 -

MOST OBSERVERS were shocked at the revelations to the Committee for Public Accounts (PAC) by Darragh O’Loughlin, CEO of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), regarding questionable financial practices in the agency that oversees the regulation of the sport of horse racing. You would, however, get pretty long odds that former IHRB steward Brian Polly… Read more »

YOUNG BLOOD: JOHN CUMMINS

Date: September 19, 2024 -

CAN 36-YEAR-OLD senator John Cummins win back a seat for Fine Gael in Waterford, after the party’s wipe-out there in 2020. Heavy transfers from a phenomenal performance from Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane saw the Green Party’s Marc Ó Cathasaigh and Independent Matt Shanahan leapfrog two FG candidates and edge the party out. FG is leading… Read more »

DREW HARRIS AND MI5

Date: September 19, 2024 -

DREW HARRIS became Garda commissioner in 2018, having served as deputy chief constable of the PSNI, 2014-18. His RUC/PSNI duties once involved liaison with MI5. The selection committee for his appointment included the interim chief constable of the Scottish police, Iain Livingstone. In 2011, a report by the Historical Enquiries Team raised concerns about the… Read more »

GRÁINNE SEOIGHE’S RIVALS

Date: September 19, 2024 -

WHILE THE media fawn over broadcaster Gráinne Seoighe, who is the new Fianna Fáil Dáil candidate in Galway West, rumblings of discontent abound in the party organisation, from Connemara hopefuls who were ignored and activists in the east of Galway city who see the whole eastern part of the constituency being left without a party… Read more »

JOHN MCGUIRK V THE BROGANS

Date: September 19, 2024 -

THE HEATED reaction to the housing of ‘unvetted military-aged men’ has reached fever pitch in recent months, spearheaded by a few key personalities on social media. One such maven of the new right is John McGuirk, whose Gript news website got its knickers in a twist last month when reporting on Dundrum House in Tipperary,… Read more »

SUE GRAY: IRELAND’S FRIEND

Date: September 19, 2024 -

THE RENEWAL of “friendship” between Britain and Ireland, the Aawrish edition of the Sunday Times recently reported, has much to do with the Irish influence on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as personified by his chief of staff, Sue Gray. Is this what the newspaper’s security and intelligence sources – the ST is MI5’s favourite… Read more »

BIG PHIL’S GENDER-BENDER LAW

Date: September 19, 2024 -

BIG PHIL HOGAN’S return to the centre of Fine Gael, via its internal election committee, is not without irony as well as a ruthless logic given his formidable back-stage machinations that played out in the party’s leadership fluctuations in recent years. Just one of the problems facing FG’s election team is the gender quota, as… Read more »

MATT’S MIGHTY MOOLAH

Date: September 19, 2024 -

FILLING IN for Pat Kenny recently on his Newstalk morning show, Ivan Yates titillated listeners with the exciting news that his long-time colleague, Matt Cooper, would shortly be on air to discuss the upcoming general election. Even more thrilling for listeners was the promise that Cooper would be discussing the “fabulous live podcast show” that… Read more »

NORAH ORBITING ONCE MORE

Date: September 19, 2024 -

ONE OF the ventures of Norah Casey is about to enter a new dimension as she gears up for the launch of Planet Woman Travel. Edited by her good self, this new quarterly magazine – aimed at “intrepid women travellers” – will “curate the best of female-focused travel and destinations for solo adventure, wellness retreats… Read more »

VOL 42 NO 19

Date: September 19, 2024 -

TICKET FOR TAT

Date: September 19, 2024 -

TO DESCRIBE the Nicki Minaj ‘concert’ at Malahide Castle as a debacle would be something of an understatement. The Trinidadian-born rapper left fans waiting in pouring rain for nearly two hours and then performed for 40 minutes, causing fury among many ticket holders. The interesting aspect of the disastrous evening was the media reaction, or… Read more »

ISRAELI ABUSES IGNORED?

Date: September 19, 2024 -

RECENT REPORTS of Palestinian detainees being brutalised by Israeli guards, in abuse ranging from beating to sexual torture, have recently been chronicled by the Israeli rights organisation, B’Tselem. Based on interviews with 55 Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, “the testimonies clearly indicate a systematic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and… Read more »

REGRESSIVE IRELAND

Date: September 19, 2024 -

Things can only get better for Ivana Bacik. With New Labour back in power in London, the Irish Labour leader had to attend a football match at the Aviva Stadium to obtain an audience with her British counterpart, Sir Keir Starmer. Earlier in the week, perhaps out of a sense of reminiscence for all things… Read more »

NEW RIGHT VIEW ON CHILD ABUSE

Date: September 19, 2024 -

THE INVECTIVE of new-right agitators in Ireland, both on the streets and online, is often centred on depicting opponents as “paedos”, “groomers”, “child abusers” etc. The strategy is designed to shut down political debate and vilify their critics. Strange then that when the scoping inquiry report into abuse in schools run by religious orders was… Read more »

MEAT AND THE CITY

Date: September 19, 2024 -

A year ago this month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a light-hearted tweet featuring a photo of Kim Cattrall of Sex and the City with the tagline: “Ready to be healthier, wealthier and more fabulous? Cut down your red meat intake.” This was the proverbial red rag to the oh-so-touchy agri lobby, with “horrified”… Read more »

RTÉ: FIRST CASUALTY

Date: September 19, 2024 -

Missing in action, presumed dead, the fate of Dubliner Alex Ryzhuk, a member of the Ukrainian Army’s 3rd Assault Brigade, hit the headlines in late August. Much of the coverage was based on an RTÉ Prime Time interview with Ryzhuk, with other media reports following his disappearance quoting extensively from that programme. These reports detailed… Read more »

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: September 19, 2024 -

In Lozère, Sophie felt oxygenated, freed from the claustrophobic city. This untamed place, and the wild creatures that inhabited it, spoke to her soul. She painted rocks, hills and sky, the stone farmhouses and spilling streams, wondering at the openness of the idyll that is the least populated department in France. Senan Molony in his… Read more »

LOUGH NEAGH OWNER

Date: September 19, 2024 -

The Earl of Shaftesbury, a Dorset aristocrat and former DJ who somehow owns the bed of Lough Neagh, has been enjoying considerable kudos from his big announcement in June that he would “hand back” ownership of Ireland’s biggest lake. Among coverage of the toxic blue-green algae that has turned the lake into an ecological dead… Read more »

MARIE’S UNUSUAL OUTINGS

Date: September 19, 2024 -

Marie Donnelly has had some baffling media outings since taking over as Climate Change Advisory Council chair in 2021 but a recent comment on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland was her most baffling yet. On the subject of what consumers can do to help reduce agricultural emissions, she said we should eat less sugar and more fruit… Read more »