I was reading the article in Truck and Driver this month about the journalist returning to Britain to see what the atmosphere for truckers is like at present. He mentions the “Dundalk mafia” at one point. Being from Ireland and all that I’m wondering what he’s reffering to?
I Was just thinking the same when I read it 
from what i can gather it is something to do with the irish beef barons
When I searched Google that’s all I could find, but I don’t see the connection. Maybe it’s letter writing time??
Well if you look at one of the pic in that article you will make out a Keenan truck .It just might be Keenans he is referring to.I dont think Tommy Kennan is or was in the mafia.
Its a beef war
Got this from unison.ie
Just substitute beef barons for oil barons, switch from dusty Texas plains to lush Irish pasture, and in place of JR Ewing’s cartel, introduce an exotic touch with “The Dundalk Mafia.”
And there you have it. Malice! A racy saga of intrigue and feuds, money and glamour, fiddles and frauds, lawyers and offal, conspiracy and cows. Set in a variety of colourful locations around the globe, from Saudi Arabia to Bagenalstown, Milan to Clonmel and Brussels to Ardee, it’s sure to run for years and years in the High Court.
Or 12 months at the very least.
Malice! Chronicling the life, times and business capers of the meat magnates, with particular references to the exciting goings-on at Pitchfork Ranch in Ardee.
The opening episode aired yesterday on the small screen that is compact Court number seven. A full cast list has not yet been disclosed, but it is already known that Jock Ewing will have a walk-on role as Albert Reynolds while Clayton Farlow will play a cameo part as Des O’Malley.
In court, a connection remains with Uncle Sam in lawyer James Salafia, whose pleasingly languid American accent informs us that he is probably not one of the Sallynoggin Salafias. Mr Salafia of the dulcet drawl is one of three senior counsels representing Pascal Phelan, who is suing Louth businessman Larry Hagman, sorry, Larry Goodman, for massive damages, alleging he was part of a conspiracy to put him out of business.
This production boasts a cast of thousands, and seven senior counsel who will be collectively worth many more millions by the time the case finishes.
Malice! is already being compared to its wheezily flabby predecessor “The Beef Tribunal.” Even PR man Pat Heneghan was back in his usual spot in the back row, taking copious notes for boss man Larry.
But this is The Baby Beef, a leaner, bloodier and much more toothsome version of the overcooked tribunal, with many characters from that last muddle featuring again. Top of the list, of course, is Larry the Lamb. He too has three stratospheric seniors to plead his case.
Listening to James Salafia yesterday afternoon as he began to tell his client’s story, it was clear that he wants to place Mr Goodman in dastardly JR Ewing’s shoes, while his client is portrayed as a virtuous Bobby Ewing type.
It was a rip-roaring and riveting start, as Salafia, in touching Little House on the Prairie mode, told us of Pascal’s humble beginnings as one of 17 children on a small farm in Laois.
How he studied briefly to be a Franciscan monk when he left school, then took up a poorly paid job in Dublin before availing of an “assisted passage” to Australia in the early seventies.
But the young Phelan was homesick, said Salafia. He returned home and got a job with CBF, the meat board, and thus began his upward journey in the beef business.
James Salafia also informed the court that his client was once an altar boy. Such information could prove crucial.
Soon, Pascal was being sent to places like Milan and the Middle East, gaining exposure “to the wider world of meat.” In due course, he became an authority on the beef trade. In his view, exporting on the hoof was going out of fashion and vacuum packing beef off the bone was in.
His views were noticed by Larry Goodman, who wooed the baby baron, putting him in charge of his boning operation. While he did very well for the business, things went bad when a friend called Nobby Quinn was employed over his head in the division. With Nobby at the helm, profits rocketed so much that Pascal feared they could not have been earned legitimately. He investigated and found the “miracle” had been achieved through “gross and serious irregularities”.
He alerted his boss, told him what he had found, and Larry allegedly said: “Pascal, are you telling me that you want to leave?”
After the inevitable parting, Pascal set up on his own, went into business with Zacharia Teher from Jordan, and was so successful that his company was “a precursor of the sort of Ireland we have today.”
That was before the opposition allegedly “engineered” the collapse of the younger man’s meat empire. The two men vehemently disagree
Having just read the article, while suffering a P&O ferry crossing to Calais, I think it is quite simply a reference to a well know Dundalk based haulier - with red and white trailers - who spend most of their time in lane 2 “keepin’ her lit.” In the article he seems to say three of them came barreling past and he tucked in behind in forth place.
Coffeeholic:
Having just read the article, while suffering a P&O ferry crossing to Calais, I think it is quite simply a reference to a well know Dundalk based haulier - with red and white trailers - who spend most of their time in lane 2 “keepin’ her lit.” In the article he seems to say three of them came barreling past and he tucked in behind in forth place.
That was my interpretation too. mcardles… There! i said it 
Thank you, my curiousity is now quelled 