The Phoenix is an Irish political and current affairs magazine, established in 1983 by John Mulcahy. Inspired by the British magazine Private Eye,[citation needed] the magazine has been edited by Paddy Prendeville since 1984. The publication is generally fortnightly, with a larger annual issue each December. The Phoenix "produces a fortnightly diet, humour, financial analysis, and news with an insider slant from the worlds of security, politics, media, arts, and law."[1]
History and operations
The magazine was launched in January 1983. It was established by journalist and publisher John Mulcahy,[2] who oversaw its operations until 2007.[3][4] The name Phoenix is a reference to its "emergence from the ashes" of two of Mulcahy's previous publications. These were the republican political magazine Hibernia, which ceased publishing in 1980 after a libel action, and the Sunday Tribune newspaper, which first collapsed financially in 1982.[2]
Published by a company named Penfield Enterprises Ltd., and based on Baggot Street, the magazine had an ABC-audited circulation of 19,014 for 2004 and 18,268 in 2007.[5]
The primary editor of the magazine is Paddy Prendiville, who took the role about a year after the magazine was started[6]
The magazine secures much of its material from "insider"[vague] sources, and promotes contact with its Goldhawk phone line.[7][8][failed verification]
Layout and style
Features in the magazine include a news column; detailed profiles ("Pillars of Society" and "The Young Bloods"); "Affairs of the Nation", which looks at political scandals; "Bog Cuttings" which consists of humorous and unusual events outside Dublin (often bizarre court cases), "Hush Hush" and "On the beat", which deals with security and intelligence matters; and a satirical section, "Craic and Codology". It also has an extensive financial column, "Moneybags".
Like Private Eye, the cover features a photo montage with a speech bubble, putting ironic or humorous comments into the mouths of the famous in response to topical events. Other features include an "Apology" section (where the magazine offers an ersatz apology for the failings or success of some person or event), "That Menu in Full", the use of ("That's enough of this. -Ed" type interjections) and their derivatives, and the Christmas Gift lists, where implausible gifts with ridiculous features are offered for sale.
In contrast to Private Eye, the Phoenix is printed on magazine stock rather than newsprint, and uses colour, including photography, quite extensively.
Positions
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: This section doesn't reflect any positions held since 2011. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2022)
In the 1980s, the Workers' Party was a frequent target of satire and investigation over its funding methods, which resulted in Phoenix founder John Mulcahy receiving threats from the Official IRA.[9]
^ abDublin, Ireland: The Irish Times, 7 Jan 2006, p. 14, "Publisher who became monarch of the magazine sector."
^Editorial (22 September 2018). "John Mulcahy obituary: Fearless journalist and publisher". Irish Times. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2019. John Denis Mulcahy, who has died aged 86, was one of the most significant journalists and publishers of the last half-century in this country
