He is the grandson of Éamon De Valera – one of the founding fathers of the State and a former Taoiseach and President. So has his unique lineage had anything to do with the success of EAMON Ó CUÍV? These and other issues are teased out in a remarkable interview with Ireland’s Minister for Community Affairs.
His brother, John Bruton, was the leader of Fine Gael and served as Taoiseach. Now, Richard Bruton is a key member of the opposition front bench. Would he have anything different to offer if he was Minister for Finance?
Current affairs anchor – and Ireland's leading ‘yummy mummy’ according to the tabloids – MIRIAM O'CALLAGHAN talks about the challenges of raising eight children, her past marital woes and taking a pay cut at RTÉ.
It was in KIERON DUCIE’s house that the model Katy French had the seizure that preceded her tragic death. Since then, he has been the subject of a campaign in the press which reveals the skewed news values of too many newspapers.
He's been described as the 'intellectual powerhouse of Fianna Fail'. As the party goes into electoral meltdown special advisor to the Taoiseach turned Junior Minister Martin Mansergh talks about George Lee, the Government's unpopularity and the prejudices faced by a member of the Anglo-Irish community who dared go into politics.
They say that he was among the most powerful – and the most ruthless – Republican activists of them all. Here the legendary Bobby Storey, reputed to have been Director of Intelligence for the IRA, talks for the first time about his role in the struggle, and about some of the critical events that led to the IRA ceasefire and the Peace Process.
It was 1985 when Bruce Arnold first wrote about the child abuse scandal in Ireland. In a powerful new book on The Irish Gulag, he is hugely critical of the efforts of the State as well as the Church, accusing them of conspiracy.
New Xposé presenter GLENDA GILSON talks candidly about the malicious newspaper allegations printed about her late Uncle Liam Lawlor, recalls the feelings of pride she had for her ex Brian O’Driscoll captained the Irish squad to a Grand Slam victory and looks forward to Xposé Live at the RDS!.
She was a stalwart member of the Green Party, serving as an MEP for 10 years. Now, thoroughly disillusioned with the party’s performance in Government with Fianna Fail, PATRICIA McKENNA has decided to leave – and to run as an independent in the upcoming European elections.
In an exclusive interview, LARRY SANGER - widely credited as co-founder of Wikipedia - takes issue with a number of comments made by ex-colleague Jimmy Wales in Hot Press recently, and explains why his new online encyclopedia, Citizendium, will eventually conquer cyberspace.
IAN STRACHAN was jailed for blackmailing a member of the Royal Family over allegations of a sex and drugs ‘scandal’. But a media blackout ensured that little of the substance of the case was reported.
The world was united in condemnation over the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. In a rare print interview Israel ambassador to Dublin Zion Evrony says the campaign was justified and that his country was motivated by the desire to bring peace to the Middle East. And he tells us why comparisons between Northern Ireland the Middle East are fatuous
If, as The Bard had it, all the world’s a stage, then Green Paul Gogarty is a better actor than most. He’s been a New Romantic, a busker, a journalist and an editor before being elected to the Dáil. But even that is only half of it. In a remarkably open interview, he talks about the price of being in government with Fianna Fáil, his multiple identities on web fora, rumours that he was gay, the issue of depression – and the true story of his adoption.
Well, it’s served Mary O'Rourke well, at least. Now 71 years of age, she first entered the Dail in 1982 and has been a TD for well over 20 years – during which time she has held a number of key Ministerial positions. Here she talks with remarkable honesty and humour about her political career, the Lenihan dynasty, Charlie Haughey, losing her husband, treachery in Fianna Fáil – and, of course, orgasms.
In an unprecedented development, the prison service has slapped a ban on Ireland’s leading music and current affairs magazine – that’s HP, incidentally – a move that legal experts say is unconstitutional.
It is an old Republican principle. But it could also be applied to the attitude the authorities have taken to Ireland’s longest serving political prisoners, Paddy McCann and Colm O’Shea. Jailed for the killing of two Gardai during a bank raid in Roscommon in 1980, as the peace process reached its final stages they were asked to sign up to the Good Friday Agreement. They subsequently put their names on the dotted line. That was ten years ago. So why have they not been released in the meantime, like dozens of other former Paramilitary activists? In an extraordinary, confessional interview, PADDY MCCANN makes his case against the State.
Notorious criminal lawyer GIOVANNI DI STEFANO – whose high-profile clients include John Gilligan – wants the law changed so that male prisoners receive the same early release privileges as their female equivalent. And he’s planning to take his case all the way to Europe if necessary
Kenny Egan brought back a silver medal for Ireland from the Olympic Games – but almost everyone agrees it should have been gold. A national sporting hero, he tells Hot Press of his plans for the future...
In the final months of his battle with cancer, TONY GREGORY sat down with Hot Press to discuss his life and career. Knowing it would be his final interview he was in a reflective frame of mind.
As the turbo-charged economy he helped create teeters, Charlie McCreevy talks about medical cards for the aged, the Eircom shares debacle, explains why he wouldn't swap places with current Finance Minister Brian Lenihan.
He's familiar to Northern listeners as a super-smooth middle of the road DJ. But in his misspent youth as a guitarist, Gerry Anderson lived a life of rock and roll abandon.
The Libertas organisation's dinner honouring the Czech President's visit to Ireland caused a furore and may have paved the way for Prague's head of state for the next Czech presidency of the EU.
In the second part of the Hot Press interview, An Taoiseach Brain Cowen talks about his political influences, the fall out from the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty and more...
Kieron "Wolf" Ducie, describes what happened on the night Katy French passed away in compelling detail. He also recalls the build-up to the tragic events that unfolded.
Find out what Brian Cowen thinks is in store for Ireland in light of the global financial crisis and the government's unpopular decisions on medical cards and education cuts.
Two years after the cocaine scandal, Liam Kelly tells his side of the story and talks about attempted extortion, alcoholism and his decision to retire from politics.
In his first major interview, Aengus Fanning, editor of the Sunday Independent, discusses how he manages the most successful paper in Ireland and the death of Veronica Guerin.
In his most revealing interview yet, Dick Roche explains why he doesn't trust Libertas' Declan Ganley and shares his thoughts on the use of Shannon airport by US military.
So says the man the tabloids have dubbed Fat Puss, Alan Bradley. But he's due in court on charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, with figures between €950,000 and €2 million being bandied about in the media. In an exclusive interview, he asks how can he get a fair trial?
He became famous in the North as an affable chat show host. But behind the chipper persona Gerry Kelly's difficult upbringing left him permanently estranged from his alcoholic father.
In a remarkable interview, the legendary David Kelly looks back on a long and adventurous career including parts in box office smashes, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Waking Ned.
Seasick Steve is a former hobo who once called Kurt Cobain a neighbour and, in his 60s, now finds himself acclaimed as one of folk's hottest 'new' acts.
Journalist Susan McKay's new book, Bear In Mind These Dead, revisits the families of victims, for many of whom the emotional scars have been slow to heal.
Dutchy Holland, currently serving an eight-year sentence in Wandsworth Prison, gives a remarkably revealing interview where he discusses all aspects of his life as a career criminal.
Over a pint of lager, Amanda talks about her debut novel, kissing girls, losing her virginity and explains why it's hard to find a straight man in Dublin.
In his heyday, Larry Hagman was the biggest television star in the world, portraying the manipulative and ruthless oil baron JR Ewing in the kitschy Dallas soap.
How accurate is online encyclopedia Wikipedia? Controversial lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano says the website hasn't moved fast enough to deal with the gross lies and distortions that litter his Wikipedia entry. Now Di Stefano has launched a legal action that, if successful, could fatally damage the Wikipedia Foundation.
How accurate is online encyclopedia Wikipedia? Controversial lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano says the website hasn't moved fast enough to deal with the gross lies that litter his entry.
Having been in a car with a man who opened fire and killed two police officers Sunny Jacobs was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. She lived to tell the extraordinary tale.
Tales of high profile solicitor Gerald Kean's astonishing ability to make truckloads of money - and spend it - have become the stuff of tabloid wet dreams.
Dublin's Hyland Brothers are aiming to punch their way into the Guinness Book Of Records. How? They are all launching individual bids for European boxing titles.
Renowned for his elaborately-posed images of nude figures in public settings, artist Spencer Tunick is hoping Irish people will strip off for him when he visits these shores in June.
He was the shock winner of the Progressive Democrats leadership race. In his first major interview Ciaran Cannon sets out his vision for the beleaguered party, explains why Michael McDowell was really a sweetheart, decries the rise of the nanny state, calls for the legalisation of prostitution and lifts the lid on his misspent youth as a mod.
While half-hearted attempts are made to clamp down on prostitution, there is a thriving prostitution business in Ireland that is widely advertised on the internet
Formula One's plucky outsider Eddie Jordan talks about motor sport's party-hard reputation, jamming with Bryan Adams and winning to the British national anthem.
Republic Of Loose are one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Ireland during the last decade with one of the most charismatic lead singers ever to bestride a stage in the country.
She has become the public face in Ireland of Gender Identity Disorder. Now Sara-Jane Cromwell is campaigining to raise awareness of this serious, but widely misunderstood, medical condition.
For the average expat Irish criminal living in Spain, life is a blur of booze, prostitutes and drug deals with the threat of violence, and even death, never far away.
When the Government announced plans to set up its own Press Council, it sent a shiver of fear through the publishing industry. Now, with John Horgan in the role of Ombudsman, he aims to protect the freedom of the press.
The Sun broke new ground recently when Claire Tully appeared as the newspaper's first Irish topless model. As it turns out she's also planning to do a PhD at Oxford.
For over three decades, the political agitator and columnist Eoghan Harris has been the focus of abundant controversy, consistently raising hackles with views that are seldom less than heretical.
As the FAI's chief executive and the public face of Irish football, John Delaney has come in for savage public criticism over the last couple of years.
They've been steadily losing ground to a resurgent Sinn Féin - and now there are rumours of a merger with Fianna Fáil. So does the SDLP really have a future? Mark Durkan clears the air.
Ex-IRA man Gerry Kelly talks to Jason O'Toole about his run-ins with the British Army, his near death experiences, the part he played in inflicting civilian casualties and his time on hunger strike.
Having once chomped on a corgi and crawled on his knees across London, performance artist Mark McGowan is now planning to drag 300 kilos of potatoes through Dublin while dressed as Bertie Ahern.
She claims to wander about in the nude in her spare time. But British model-turned-TV presenter Jayne Middlemiss is fully clothed and respectable when Hot Press pays her a visit.
In an exclusive interview, DeLorean executive Brian Beharrell talks about the $24 million cocaine bust that hastened the demise of the sports car manufacturer's Belfast base.
Girls Aloud’s Nadine Coyle talks about her Derry childhood, drug use in the pop industry and explains why she gets irritated when the band are called “British”.
Unheard of a year ago, Carlow teen Saoirse Ronan is the actress of the hour in Hollywood. Here, she and her actor father Paul Ronan talk about her remarkable rise.
The young Carlow-based actress Saoirse Ronan is on the brink of Hollywood stardom, thanks to her Golden Globe-nominated performance in Atonement and her upcoming starring role in the next Peter Jackson movie, The Lovely Bones. In her first ever in-depth interview, she spoke exclusively to Hot Press about her sudden rise to fame.
Padraig Harrington talks about gay golfers, stalkers on the tour, the potential of Rory McIlroy and the death of his father. And, he says, his Open win was just the beginning.
In a remarkably honest interview, which directly preceded the death of his mother, Jonathan Rhys Meyers reflects on his spells in rehab and discusses life as one of Hollywood’s hottest young actors.
She’s the latest Big Brother celeb – a wannabe pop star with a huge crush on Victoria Beckham. And just to be clear, Chanelle isn’t the leggy blonde one who looked a bit like Paris Hilton.
When the revellers at a 21st birthday party in Waterford snorted a white powder, it had a dramatic and appalling effect. Ironically, it may be because the cocaine was of unusual purity.
In fiercely conservative Jerusalem, few crimes are more unforgivable than a homosexual relationship between a Palestinian and an Israeli – as Ezra Yitzhak discovered.
Thousands of adolescents go before under-age courts in this country every year. In this exclusive dispatch, we report from the frontline of the criminal justice system as it applies to teenagers.
Reporting from the frontline of the Palestine-Israel conflict has convinced RTÉ’s Richard Crowley that the spiral of violence is likely to continue. But it is wrong to believe that the blame is equal.
He predicts rocky times ahead for the economy and says the housing boom is unsustainable. But what’s really troubling David McWilliams is all the flak his latest book has attracted.
In truth, Into The Wild doesn’t sound like a first solo album. It radiates a confidence and maturity that Pearl Jam have lacked on their recent albums.
Senate leader Donie Cassidy, a reluctant interviewee, opens up about his rivalry with Fianna Fail colleague Mary O'Rourke and reminisces about his days in the show-band business.
A fresh voice has joined the chorus calling on the embattled Minister for Health to step down. But this time the cry is coming from within her own party – and from a doctor, to boot.
Karl MacDermott used to be the next-big thing in comedy until his stand-up career didn’t pan out as expected. Now he’s back in the public eye with a semi-autobiographical first novel.
Eddie Jordan is among the people behind the initiative that brings the money-spinning World Rally Championship to Ireland for the first time ever this year.
No problem! Eamon Gilmore has just taken over at the helm of the Labour Party. Here, in a wide-ranging interview, he talks about Bertie Ahern, the future of Labour, Gay marriage, God, abortion, bias in the media – and a whole lot more besides.
For Some Strange Reason is a mature and confident sounding album by a band who could show some of their younger rivals how to write decent rock tracks.
Mystery still surrounds the tragic death of a student whose body was found washed ashore on a Wexford beach exactly a year ago. Now, his mother has accused the Gardai of neglect.
He comes from a long line of priests – including his own father. But now, as Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. John Neill is one of the most influential people in the Anglican church.
As John Gormley's Green Party enters government with Fianna Fail, he talks about the Taoiseach’s financial affairs, recalls his youthful drug experiences and explains why he agreed to a ministerial car.
It isn’t just that the Seanad elections are fundamentally undemocratic. They also involve dead voters, disgruntled graduates and a colossal waste of public money.
Following the Green Party’s decision to go into coalition with Fianna Fáil, former MEP Patricia McKenna felt disillusioned and angry. Now those emotions have subsided, she has decided not to run away – but to fight…
Martin McGuinness was one of the key figures in the troubles in Northern Ireland . Many unionists believe that the one-time IRA man was at the heart of much that was wrong and divisive in Irish life. But ultimately the quiet Derryman has taken on the role of peacemaker – and he is now the Deputy First Minister in the new power-sharing administration at Stormont.
His father, the Rev. Ian Paisley, has been one of the dominant figures in Irish politics over the past 40 years. Now Ian Paisley Jnr is a Junior Minister in the new Northern Ireland administration. So how different is he from his father? And how does he feel about cross border co-operation, education, abortion and homosexuality?
With the opinion polls predicting a tight finish in the upcoming General Election, there is an increasing likelihood that the Greens will play a part in the next Government. So what is their leader Trevor Sargent really made of?
As the dust settles on the Northern Peace deal and Sinn Fein gears up for an election in the Republic, Gerry Adams talks about his journey from political outcast to statesman, Bono's knighthood and what’s on his iPod.
One of the government’s most vocal and effective critics, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte could well be the next Tánaiste. He talks about iPods, happiness, gay marriage, breaking the law - and Enda Kenny’s hairdo.
As the General Election looms, many polls suggest Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny is the next Taoiseach in waiting. So what is he really like? And where does he stand on the issues that matter to Hot Press readers?
As the body double for Saddam Hussein's son, Latif Yahia suffered several assassination attempts. Having escaped to Offaly, the controversial figure is now seriously at odds with his adopted country.
He has strong views on Republicanism, Israel, George Bush and Steve Staunton. But, as a TD for Dublin South Central, Michael Mulcahy also reveals how much he loves Fianna Fáil – and how he wouldn’t mind a coalition with the Greens.
Fr Shay Cullen, an Irish Columban Missionary priest, tells Jason O’Toole about falling in love, the battle against corruption in the Philipines, the scourge of western sex tourism – and why the Irish government isn’t doing enough to protect children from paedophiles.
Whether starring in popcorn blockbusters or thoughtful art-house movies, Gabriel Byrne is a reassuring presence on our screens. But he reserves his deepest passions for keeping alive the flame of Irish culture among the diaspora.
Lee Dunne is reputed to be the most banned author in Europe and, by his own reckoning, has slept with over 1,000 women. You could says he’s got a story or two to tell.
John Noonan, who played a pivotal role in the IRA’s military campaign against the British occupation of Northern Ireland, gives a revealing interview to Jason O'Toole.
Martin Sheen has starred in at least two of the greatest films ever made, survived a massive heart attack, found God, and campaigned tirelessly for social justice in the Third World. Now, he’s gone back to school, studying Philosophy and English at (of all places) the NUI in Galway. Jason O’Toole meets him for his only Irish print interview.
