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KATE O’CONNELL’S CHOICES

Date: June 13, 2024 -

KATE O’CONNELL is currently weighing up her prospects as a Dáil candidate in at least two constituencies after local and European campaigns in which she soldiered mightily in an effort to reingratiate herself with Fine Gael members. Readers will recall that the advent of new leader and Taoiseach Simon Harris was not necessarily adequate to… Read more »

PLOT THICKENS IN LISTOWEL

Date: June 13, 2024 -

THERE CONTINUES to be more twists and turns on the Listowel Writers’ Week (LWW) board than can be found in any thriller that was discussed at the annual shindig earlier this month. The latest plot development features the sudden ousting of the chairman in what looks like a coup by members of the ancien regime…. Read more »

THE PIT BULL LOBBY

Date: June 13, 2024 -

AFTER THE recent fatal dog attack in Limerick, there will be increased focus on the activities of Heather Humphreys’ new Dog Control Stakeholder Group, chaired by ex-Garda deputy commissioner John Twomey. Of interest to Goldhawk is the approach adopted by some of the players here. For example, Dogs Trust, a UK-founded charity with assets of… Read more »

PAT MCDONAGH’S APPEAL

Date: June 13, 2024 -

THIS WAS a memorable month for Supermac’s co-founder Pat McDonagh, whose fast-food operation scored a notable win in its long-running trademark dispute with global burger giant McDonald’s. The European Court of Justice sided with Supermac’s in its case to force McDonald’s to relinquish its Big Mac trademark in Europe. A less covered court ruling concerned… Read more »

DECLAN RYAN SELLS UP

Date: June 13, 2024 -

THERE WAS a glowing write-up at the weekend in the Business Post for an impressive-looking house on Harcourt Street in Dublin 2, now on the market for €3m. The owner here turns out to be one Declan Ryan, son of the late Tony Ryan. According to the Biz Post, 9 Harcourt Terrace is an example… Read more »

SAVING MIKE ORMONDE’S HYDE

Date: June 13, 2024 -

THE RESCUE process being undertaken by Secret Seasonings Ltd, the insolvent company behind the Hyde bar and nightclub off Dublin’s Grafton Street, is entering the closing strait and process adviser Dessie Morrow of Azets is targeting new investment to keep the show on the road. According to figures seen by Goldhawk, the scale of losses… Read more »

NOT ALL RIGHT ON THE NIGHT

Date: June 13, 2024 -

DESPITE THE hype, the results of the local government and European Parliament elections were underwhelming for a number of Ireland’s new right-wing parties. A small number of ‘Independent’ new-right councillors were elected and Independent Ireland (II) EU candidates Niall Boylan and Ciaran Mulloolly were still battling for seats as we went to press. But the… Read more »

VOL 42 NO 12

Date: June 13, 2024 -

TOO MUCH DATA, MARIE

Date: June 13, 2024 -

LAST OCTOBER the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) received an email from PR and lobbying firm FleishmanHillard to say that its client, Peter Lantry, was “very keen to arrange a very discrete [sic] but urgent discussion with Marie”. Lantry is MD of the Irish arm of data centres operator Equinix, and the Marie he was… Read more »

PADDY CURRAN’S HEAVY GOING

Date: June 13, 2024 -

AMONG THE various interesting local election results thrown up this week, Goldhawk noted the surprise defeat by a short head of Kildare Blueshirt councillor Paddy Curran. Having entered the election on the back of a stint as mayor of Kildare-Newbridge, Curran was fancied to take a second seat for Fine Gael but came up just… Read more »

JIM O’CALLAGHAN’S INTENTIONS

Date: June 13, 2024 -

MICHEÁL MARTIN was not so much elated as tremendously relieved at the local and EU election results, which basically mean he does not have to face down a revolt from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, councillors and members. These, of course, would have been looking chiefly to TD Jim O’Callaghan to ride in on a… Read more »

PASCHAL DONOHOE’S PATIENT ‘ALLY’

Date: June 13, 2024 -

SCENES OF jubilation among Fine Gael candidates and other senior party figures at the Dublin local election count centre in the RDS were captured by the Sunday Times last weekend, with one particular focus being the on public expenditure minister, Paschal Donohoe, and his “ally”, Dublin City councillor Ray McAdam. ST political editor Hugh O’Connell… Read more »

COMER BROTHERS’ PR COUP

Date: June 13, 2024 -

CONGRATULATIONS TO the minted Comer brothers, Luke and Brian, who earned a quick return from their decision to splash out on some public relations handlers from London. It turns out that there is a strong Irish connection in play here, courtesy of Clodagh Higginson, better known in Co Waterford as Clodagh Hartley. The rise of… Read more »

DARRAGH O’LOUGHLIN’S HANDICAP

Date: June 13, 2024 -

A DRAFT copy of the long-awaited Mazars report into financial matters that were described by Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) boss Darragh O’Loughlin as being of “grave concern” has been delivered to the boards of the IHRB and the state agency, Horse Racing Ireland (HRI). Goldhawk is aware that it confirms that accounting transactions show… Read more »

NEUTRALITY ANNOYS EU, FG AND BRITS

Date: June 13, 2024 -

After a European Parliament election campaign dominated by the issue of immigration, which was put centre stage by a cohort of ideologically committed hard-right parties and then amplified by more opportunistic politicians, the possibility that Irish neutrality and not immigration will be the key issue for the newly elected parliamentarians, as well as Nato cheerleaders… Read more »

DUBLIN-MONAGHAN BOMBING FILES

Date: June 13, 2024 -

Last month President Michael D Higgins told the survivors and victims’ relatives of the 1974 Dublin-Monaghan bomb atrocities that it was “not morally acceptable, nor is it politically feasible, to request that those affected by such tragedy should forget about the past, draw a line or move on…” The Dublin-Monaghan victims want to see the… Read more »

THE HOT AIR BRIGADE

Date: June 13, 2024 -

It’s a great investment for a child to have a pony because they won’t be down the local shopping mall or be hanging around. Gavin Duffy, Sunday Independent Life Magazine Four years ago there was this Mary Lou wave. If you had put up a Bichon Frisé pup for election with a picture of Mary… Read more »

DAIRY PR PRODUCE

Date: June 13, 2024 -

On being installed as Taoiseach, one of the first actions by the canny Simon Harris was to reassure the agri lobby that his Government had no intention of rolling back the rapid expansion of the emissions-intensive livestock herd. While acknowledging that “the planet is on fire and we have to make significant changes”, Harris then… Read more »

NIALL BOYLAN’S HOT AIR

Date: June 13, 2024 -

While the local and European elections have thrown up some real surprises, perhaps the least surprising aspect has been the sheer cluelessness of climate-denier candidates and the fact that this in no way hurt their electoral prospects. Dublin shock jock Niall Boylan provided many of the lowlights of the campaign. In a TV debate, his… Read more »

UK ELECTION TO DAMAGE DUP

Date: June 13, 2024 -

In all the brouhaha swirling around the elections in the south, not much attention was paid to developments in the north’s British general election to be held on July 4. The big development is the intervention of the extremist Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), fronted by Jim Allister. The party is usually referred to as ‘Jim… Read more »

FAMILY FORTUNES

Date: June 13, 2024 -

THAT EMBARRASSING tale of Louth Fine Gael candidate Marian Dwyer-Agrios withdrawing from the local elections because she had received €30,000 go-away money-cum-works-on-her-house from a local developer (she initially sought €40,000) has interesting political and family antecedents. Marian hails from a strong FG family in Killorglin, Co Kerry, and after being selected at convention to run… Read more »

MEDIA AND CHURCH RED FACES

Date: June 13, 2024 -

THERE WERE red faces for the north’s justice minister, Alliance leader Naomi Long, and her officials, who can add non-competence to the party’s much-touted non-sectarian halo. Media organisations recently convinced the High Court in Belfast to strike down parts of Long’s 2022 Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act as it was incompatible with Article… Read more »

PAUL TWEED’S MATCHMAKER

Date: June 13, 2024 -

An intriguing mention in the Irish Times recently reported that dating agency Intro Matchmaking is seeking an injunction against one of its former clients, clothes designer Fionnuala Bourke. The story also mentioned that Intro’s legal firm is celeb lawyer Paul Tweed’s WP Tweed & Co. The background to this story involves an investigation last October… Read more »

‘MORNING IRELAND’ REPLACEMENT

Date: June 13, 2024 -

NOW THAT the venerable Dobbo’s replacement on RTÉ’s News at One has been appointed – Morning Ireland’s Rachel English – speculation about who will replace English on the morning news programme is swirling around Montrose. Top of the table of potential presenters is Justin McCarthy, whose interview of Web Summit chief executive Paddy Cosgrave last… Read more »

DOMINO EFFECT

Date: June 13, 2024 -

NEW GUIDELINES issued by Revenue – following its successful Supreme Court appeal last October regarding the employment status of Domino’s pizza delivery drivers – look set to have a domino effect across the ‘independent’ film and television business. The guidelines, published last month, have caused such a scramble that Susan Kirby’s Screen Producers Ireland (SPI)… Read more »

TARKA RUSSELL’S EXIT

Date: June 13, 2024 -

SO FAREWELL then to Tarka Russell, who has stepped down from the board of the Glucksman art gallery in UCC after five years. The 30-something London/New York-based gallery director added a touch of glamour to the Lawrence O’Hara-chaired board. Certainly, not too many directors have appeared in the Daily Mail under a headline like: “Sean… Read more »

DENIS HOGAN HITS OUT

Date: June 13, 2024 -

AS FANS of Goldhawk are aware, trainer Denis Hogan is no stranger to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) stewards and he made his feelings pretty clear earlier this month following their enquiry into the recent Club Lemon Handicap Hurdle at Down Royal. Hogan’s runner, Benji’s Benefit, was sent off favourite for the two-mile bank… Read more »

EOIN O’BRIEN’S DOUBLE TROUBLE

Date: June 13, 2024 -

ANOTHER POOR reflection on the regulatory standards in Irish racing was evident when the same appeals body subsequently sat to consider the case of Eoin O’Brien, the winning rider of Hunt Away at the Dawstown point to point on May 6. The matter had been referred to the appeals panel by the acting stewards on… Read more »

EVANS BEVAN’S ESTATE

Date: June 13, 2024 -

HAVING ACQUIRED the impressive Fortwilliam Estate on 400 acres outside Lismore, Co Waterford, just over a decade ago for almost €8m, the wonderfully named David Gawain Evans Bevan and his wife, Phillippa, are upping sticks. They are seeking a rather chunky looking €12m for the sprawling demesne. Fortwilliam – which was quietly offered for sale… Read more »

JOHN BYRNE SADDLES UP

Date: June 13, 2024 -

CONGRATULATIONS TO moneybags horse owner John Byrne, who has ended up in the saddle at the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board as senior steward and chairman, having succeeded Martin O’Donnell. Ballsbridge-based Byrne runs the show at the hugely valuable property empire built up by his father, John Byrne Sr (who was rather well known to Squire… Read more »

KEYWORDS STUDIOS PLAYING THE RIGHT GAME

Date: June 13, 2024 -

KEYWORDS STUDIOS plc was established in Dublin in 1997 before eventually floating on the AIM market in 2013, driven by then CEO Andrew Day. The IPO saw Keystrokes raise £28m, valuing the company at £50m. Now the video games services firm has been targeted for acquisition by a player that has put an eye-watering €2.6bn… Read more »

PROFITABLE RYANAIR’S PROBLEM IN THE COCKPIT

Date: June 13, 2024 -

THE RYANAIR results for the full year to March 2024 show a modest 9% increase in passenger numbers to 184 million but a stonking 34% jump in net profits to €1.92bn, driven not by operational expansion but rather price hikes, with average fares up 21%. Nevertheless, the market reaction to what look like excellent results was… Read more »

MAGNIER & CO DIG DEEP

Date: June 13, 2024 -

A COMPANIES Office filing reveals that another €20m has just been pumped into the Curragh racecourse by its assorted shareholders that includes a who’s who in Irish racing. The €82m (and growing) cost of the redevelopment of the famous track – home of the Irish Derby and other classics – has attracted plenty of attention… Read more »

SUSAN BERGIN BOWS OUT

Date: June 13, 2024 -

Given arts and media minister Catherine Martin’s promise to bring forward a proposed new funding framework for RTÉ before the Dáil recess on July 11, it may be a while before she gets around to appointing a new chair for the film funding agency, Screen Ireland (SI). The vacancy has arisen following the resignation of… Read more »

NORMAN CROWLEY’S DEPLETED ENERGY

Date: June 13, 2024 -

JOINT LIQUIDATORS Ken Fennell and Brendan O’Reilly of Interpath Advisory have been installed at Crowley Carbon, owned by the media-friendly Norman Crowley. The move must have come as quite the shock to the companies fans in the Irish business media. The writing, however, was on the wall for some time. In recent years, Stormin’ Norman… Read more »

LEFT SOLIDARITY WITH CLARE DALY

Date: May 30, 2024 -

PEOPLE BEFORE Profit TD Bríd Smith has become a lightning rod for those on the left – Clare Daly supporters in particular – who will be looking for a scapegoat should the under-pressure Daly lose her seat in the European Parliament. They have in fact already identified the guilty party and candidate, with ‘comrade’ Smith… Read more »