John Mulqueen

Expert Opinion Canary Wharf chief reviews a year when values stabilised and occupier and capital markets optimism returned Canary Wharf has had a strong letting year for office lettings. (Getty Images) By John Mulqueen Canary Wharf Group December 22, 2025 | 12:11 P.M. This year was an inflexion point for the UK real estate market, with both occupier and capital markets showing renewed positive momentum.

Targeted as a ‘Red’ by Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, John Huston did not enjoy the Los Angeles premiere of his latest film, Moulin Rouge, in 1952. Supporters of Senator Joseph McCarthy – the chief anti-communist witch-hunter in Cold War America – paraded outside the theatre with placards decrying him a ‘communist’. Huston was no friend of the Soviet Union, but he hated bullies such as McCarthy, who had hijacked the House Un-American Activities Committee two years earlier.

A relaxed St. Patrick’s Day celebration in 1981, featuring an Irish American President who knew little about Ireland, proved to be a milestone in Anglo-Irish relations. 40 years before Joe Biden moved into the White House, Ronald Reagan received an invitation on the telephone to visit Ireland from the Taoiseach, Charles Haughey. The phone call from Haughey was the first item on the agenda as soon as President Reagan arrived at the Irish embassy in Washington.