National Lottery plans to move its HQ to new location

The National Lottery has been based in the same building on Abbey Street in Dublin since the 1980s, with thousands of winners passing through its glass doors to collect their cheques. Now its number could be up. Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) is considering swapping its city centre HQ in the Irish Life Centre for a new base. After spinning the wheel, it came up with plans for a new HQ, although it was keeping its cards close to its chest last week when asked where it is moving.

This is the latest change for PLI, which was bought last year by French gaming company and lottery operator La Française des Jeux in a deal worth about €350 million. Chief executive Andrew Algeo is stepping down next month, while senior communications executive Fran Whearty is also heading for pastures new. The pair will finally be able to play the lottery themselves; staff are strictly prohibited from buying as much as a Quick Pick.

[ ‘I’m going to be with the HR gang, working with the loveliest boss ever’ ]

Humanist funeral for agent to the stars

A private humanist funeral was held last week for Teri Hayden, agent to some of the most successful actors Ireland has produced, including Gabriel Byrne, Brendan Gleeson and his son Domhnall Gleeson. Derry-born Hayden, who was 75 when she died last month, was particularly close to Gabriel Byrne, with the actor crediting her for helping him to get into rehab and sober in the late 1990s.

Last year Brendan Gleeson dedicated the IFTA award he won for The Banshees of Inisherin to her. Her son, Karl, now runs her agency, which includes many of the country’s best-known stars of stage and screen, including Owen Roe, Marie Mullen and Bryan Murray. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

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CRH chief runs into renovations trouble

CRH chief executive Albert Manifold was the highest-paid Irish executive last year, with his total remuneration topping €12 million. The 61-year-old, whose parents ran a hardware store in Kimmage in Dublin, is spending some of his fortune doing up a house on Carlisle Avenue in Donnybrook, Dublin 4, but it hasn’t been straightforward. Last year Dublin City Council wrote to Manifold warning that it had come to its attention that “unauthorised work” was being carried out on the Victorian pile he bought for €1.45 million in 2021.

A planning consultant for Manifold, who currently lives in Co Wicklow, responded that his client wasn’t aware planning was needed on “internal modifications”, which he begun after discovering that damp was undermining the integrity of the structure. Manifold has now applied for retention permission for a series of works including new roof slates and reconfiguring internal walls, while he has also applied for permission to replace some sliding sash windows and replace internal joinery.

[ CRH puts its hands up over shortcomings on investor dividends ]

Phil Hogan joins the lobbying register

Phil Hogan has also been raking it in since the former Fine Gael politician had to resign as EU trade commissioner in the fallout from Golfgate. Last year he declared annual income in the EU Transparency Register of about €1 million from consultancy work, listing clients such as Vodafone, the mobile phone group; Ardagh, the glass and metal products supplier; US banking giant JP Morgan; and global banking outfit DLA Piper. He also declared a meeting with John Berrigan, director general for financial services in the European Commission.

It looks like Hogan also has plans to use his contacts and political clout closer to home. Last month he registered Triton Advisory, his consultancy, with the lobbying register, listing energy and natural resources as his chief areas of activity. We may never know how much he makes from his Irish lobbying. Triton Advisory, with an address on Fitzwilliam Square, has been designated an unlimited company, meaning it doesn’t have to publish detailed accounts.

IRFU on the defensive

Also busy on the lobbying register recently has been the IRFU, which was blindsided by Minister for Media Catherine Martin’s plans to designate Six Nations matches as free-to-air, reducing the association’s bargaining power when carving out television deals.

At the moment only deferred coverage has to be available for free on terrestrial television. Martin has also signalled she intends to designate women’s Six Nations matches, women’s Rugby World Cup finals matches and the final of the European Rugby Champions Cup – if an Irish side is represented – as free-to-air.

[ Catherine Martin plans to designate 14 new sporting events ‘free to air’, including Six Nations rugby ]

The IRFU’s communications manager Aoife Clarke and Garrett Tubridy, its head of corporate affairs and coincidentally a brother of broadcaster Ryan, met officials recently to “discuss the process around the review of the free-to-air broadcast list and the potential inclusion of specific rugby events”, according to a filing. Expect a full counter ruck against the proposals in the coming months.

A tough job at RTÉ

RTÉ is looking for a new security contractor but it’s a bit more involved than just switching off the lights when everyone goes home and strolling around the campus every now and again to ward off ne’er-do-wells. The estimated value of the contract is listed at about €1.5 million but the winning tenderer is likely to have their work cut out. Because of the vitriol targeted at journalists, particularly those working for the national broadcaster, the tender notes that the successful company may have to manage protests, control visitor access to the campus and assist with audience control for some programmes.

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