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Quinn's millionaire brother 'silent' on giving up €78,000

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

THE multi-millionaire brother of a government minister is among a number of highly paid chairmen of state boards who won't say if they will give up their lucrative fees.

Hollywood actor Sheen proud of uncle's IRA past

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

HOLLYWOOD star Martin Sheen has declared himself proud of his uncle's IRA past.

Sky's the limit for costly fees with Ryanair 'cash passport'

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

CHARGED if you do and charged if you don't. Ryanair yesterday launched a new prepaid cash card and, not surprisingly, it comes with a litany of fees involved in its use.

Office blaze closes down city street

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

It took six fire brigade units to bring a blaze at a city-centre Dublin office under control yesterday.

ESB offers €189 discount to lure back former customers

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

STATE-OWNED electricity and gas supplier ESB is to introduce a range of discounts in an attempt to win back some of the thousands of customers who have switched from it.

Traveller loses his appeal over school's preference for past pupils' children

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

EDUCATION Minister Ruairi Quinn's plans to reform enrolment policies for schools suffered a blow last night after a judge upheld the right of schools to prioritise the children of past pupils.

Visitors pour into capital for GAA and rugby

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

DUBLIN was alive alive-oh with the sound of sports fans last night.

Man shoots himself dead in front of woman at hair salon

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

A MAN last night shot himself dead in front of a woman in a hairdressing salon.

Bee Gees star Gibb in 'spectacular' recovery

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Bee Gees star Robin Gibb (pictured) has spoken about his "spectacular" cancer recovery and said: "I feel fantastic."

Accountant deceived three brothers over site, judge rules

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

AN accountant deliberately deceived three brothers over a deal to sell a housing development site to a firm which former EU commissioner Ray MacSharry was chairman of, the High Court has found.

Hearts of gold . . . Lotto couple help save playschool

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

A GOLDEN-HEARTED couple, who scooped a €7m fortune on the Lotto, have donated some of their windfall to save a community playschool from closure.

Gilmore backs TDs who failed to attend special Dail session

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

TANAISTE Eamon Gilmore yesterday defended the failure of many government TDs to turn up for the special 'Friday' Dail sitting yesterday.

Gunman left suicide note before attack

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

THE gunman who took his own life after he opened fire on two garda officers with a shotgun and a rifle left a suicide note in his home beforehand.

Online love comes with hefty price tag

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

IRISH singletons are spending up to €50 a month in the hope of finding love online.

Struck-off solicitor to be tried on charges of stealing €52m

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

STRUCK-OFF solicitor Thomas Byrne is to stand trial accused of stealing approximately €52m in connection with mortgages taken out on more than 20 properties.

'Fix it Friday' needs fixing itself if bills are to succeed

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

THE Dail's 'Fix it Friday' was supposed to make it more of a parliament where even the most humble backbencher could bring forward a bill of their own.

5,000 HSE staff still call in sick daily at cost of €284m a year

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

MORE than 5,000 health service staff call in sick each day at a cost of €284m a year, new figures obtained by the Irish Independent reveal.

Tony Ward: Kidney must cast off shackles and make the most of backline talent

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:32:26 +0000

WITH the hype surrounding selection under control, it's time for the chosen few to deliver. We all have our take on who Declan Kidney should have picked, but there’s a general acceptance that the side named is close to the best available.

Kevin McGourty: 'I know of someone who's on £35k a year'

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

ANTRIM player Kevin McGourty has revealed that he is aware of a member of a senior inter-county football management team in Ulster who will receive a whopping £35,000 (approximately €42,000) for his services this year.

'Ireland to thrive like team that Jack built'

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

RONNIE Whelan, Irish and Liverpool football legend. Aged 50, with a wonderful playing career behind him... and he knows it could all have been so different.

Terry set to quit as Capello fumes at English FA

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

ENGLAND manager Fabio Capello is "furious" that he was not consulted over the decision to strip John Terry of the team's captaincy yesterday.

50 things we want to see

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

1: That Division 1 remains close all the way to the final series of games. However, with four of eight teams qualifying for the semi-finals, there's a real risk that the competitive edge could be diluted over the last few rounds. Six points would have been enough for a semi-final place two years ago, while seven was adequate last year.

Daly hits front without hitting a shot

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

JOHN DALY swept back to the top of the leader board without striking a shot as 35mph winds blew golfers off the course at the Qatar Masters yesterday.

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:58:03 +0100

BoI shares soar by 15pc in investor rush

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

SHARES in Bank of Ireland soared another 15pc yesterday -- putting them up more than 80pc for the year to date -- as institutional investors piled into the PLC.

EU intrusion on national budgets 'won't solve' the euro debt crisis

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Former Taoiseach John Bruton yesterday warned that new European budget rules that allow the EU to intrude into national budget-making will not solve the debt crisis.

Troika paper will extend to the wider restructuring of Irish banks

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

THE "technical paper" being worked on by officials from the EC/ECB/IMF bailout team extends to the wider restructuring of the Irish banking system and not just ways to lower the cost of Anglo Irish Bank's €30bn bailout.

Quinn family argues Anglo should be deprived of loan security

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

They allege transactions were for illegally propping up share price

NAMA takes over control of 'landbank' site with €90m debt

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has moved against developer David Agar, taking control of a "land-bank" development site with debts of €90m.

Corporate enforcer quits

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

This week's announcement that Paul Appleby is to retire as head of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement has once again thrust the low-key bureaucrat into the limelight.

Beyoncé Knowles ‘offered 500m X Factor deal’

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:06:57 +0000

Beyoncé Knowles has reportedly been offered $500 million to become a judge on the US X Factor.

The top ten most iconic dresses of the past fifty years

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:55:06 +0000

The Spice Girl's Union Jack dress has topped a new poll announcing the top ten most iconic dresses of the past fifty years.

Christina Ricci dating new man?

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:19:41 +0000

Christina Ricci is reportedly dating a member of her Pan Am crew.

Bruce Willis ‘worried sick about Demi’

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:32:26 +0000

Bruce Willis has been "worried sick" about his former wife Demi Moore, according to a source.

Jennifer Connelly is the new face of Shiseido

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:55:21 +0000

Jennifer Connelly is the new Global Face of Shiseido.

Olivia Wilde opens up about divorce

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:39:15 +0000

Olivia Wilde has revealed getting divorced at a young age helped her to "be honest" with herself.

Minister resigns and faces trial on charge of perverting justice

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

CHRIS Huhne became the first British cabinet minister in living memory to be charged with a serious criminal offence yesterday after the fallout from his acrimonious divorce left him facing court, a potential jail sentence and the end of his career.

Beauty queen denies false benefit claims

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

A FORMER Miss Great Britain competitor has denied claiming more than £22,000 (€26,000) in benefits as a single parent while living with her partner.

New 'fluid biopsy' can spotlight cancer cells

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Cancer treatment could be transformed by a new "fluid biopsy" technique that spotlights tumour cells carried in the bloodstream, say scientists.

UK citizenship for 104-year-old Iraqi

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

A 104-year-old Iraqi has proved that you're never too old to become a new man.

Four Egyptians die in fresh riots with police

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

THERE was more bloodshed on the streets of Egypt last night as four people were killed in violent clashes with police in the aftermath of the soccer massacre this week.

Berlusconi rules out fourth PM bid

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Silvio Berlusconi has definitively ruled out trying to become prime minister of Italy for a fourth time, while claiming that he remains so popular among Italians that he "stops traffic" in the streets.

Defeat could end Six Nations hopes and Kidney's Lions aspirations

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

THE phrase 'win or bust' is over-used in sport and should only properly be applied to contests where everything is on the line.

Billy Keane: Ireland must learn from old testaments to begin next epic

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Life is a journey and we are all related. Most of us, it seems, are descended from just a few hardy souls who travelled from Africa to Europe over a period of thousands of years.

Kidney's crew to call Welsh bluff and lay old ghosts to rest

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Once it was Newport to the east, Llanelli and Swansea to the west and then those awesome citadels of the Valleys -- Ebbw Vale, Maesteg, Pontypool and Pontypridd -- whose appearance would bring on the collywobbles in our younger days.

Pragmatic Saint-Andre going back to basics

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Is Philippe Saint-Andre the man? Can the new France coach make the best use of the undoubted talent at his disposal?

Tony Ward: Kidney must cast off shackles and make the most of backline talent

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:32:26 +0000

George Hook: Sexton not best foil for unbalanced back-row

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:37:42 +0000

TOMORROW in the Aviva Stadium there will be a Six Nations international between Ireland and Wales, but there will also be a plot line of Shakespearian proportions bubbling beneath the green grass of the oldest rugby international ground in the world.

David Beckham reveals he got shown a red card at son’s football game

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:31:28 +0000

DAVID Beckham saw red when he was sent off by a referee as he stood on the sidelines waiting to watch his son play football.

Grant still on for Bridget Jones 3

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:13:01 +0000

Hugh Grant has not left Bridget Jones' Baby, the film's producers have confirmed.

Tulisa set to release autobiography

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:39:11 +0000

X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos has promised fans there is "lots to tell" after it was revealed she is releasing her autobiography later this year.

Marcus: Barlow a man of his word

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:19:05 +0000

Marcus Collins has revealed that his X Factor mentor Gary Barlow has kept his promise to support him in his music career.

Jolie: Kids helped lighten war film

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:13:02 +0000

Angelina Jolie has revealed she "smothered" her children with love when they came on the set of her directorial debut In The Land of Blood And Honey.

Sacha Baron Cohen beds Megan Fox

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:14:15 +0000

Megan Fox appears in bed with Sacha Baron Cohen in the first trailer of The Dictator, which has been released online.

Gwyneth Paltrow tells women to stay at home if you want to have children

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:30:21 +0000

WOMEN who want children should be stay at home mothers, Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow has said.

Smacking never right, say doctors

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:48:07 +0000

PARENTS should be banned from smacking their children because of the risk that "today’s smack will become tomorrow’s punch", the Royal College of Paediatrics has warned.

Heart risk for obese women's babies

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:58:50 +0000

UNBORN babies' hearts can be damaged if their mothers are overweight and smoke, a study has shown.

Hospital sorry after new mum denied tea

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

A HOSPITAL was forced to apologise after failing to provide tea and toast to a mother who had just given birth.

Phones exposing children to smut

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:15:35 +0000

Around 1.2 million children have looked at violent or pornographic websites on their mobile telephones, according to a study that reveals the extent to which parents struggle to monitor their offspring’s activity online.

It's time to shake things up a little

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

I've decided to energise my family life this year. Life isn't exactly in a rut but I do feel that I always opt for what is known and what is comfortable. I am often slow to challenge myself, probably because I fear failure, and that is not always a good thing.

Demand for college places up as more mature students join race

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

DEMAND for a place in college next September is up on last year.

Boy expelled for having sex in a store room has expulsion overturned

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:44:50 +0000

A BRITISH school boy expelled over claims of sex in a store room has had the decision overturned after the allegations were blamed on a Facebook smear campaign.

UK university applicants down 8.7pc

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:22:45 +0000

The number of UK students applying to start university this autumn has slumped by nearly 9pc, official figures show.

Do we really need four more Irish universities?

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Institutes of technology may soon be upgraded. But is it just pointless rebranding? Kim Bielenberg reports

Too many activities can damage school performance, says report

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

WELL-INTENTIONED parents can keep their children so busy on organised activities it damages their school performance.

Electric shock treatment 'improves academic performance'

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:38:24 +0000

STIMULATING the brain with tiny electric shocks can boost people’s learning and memory ability, research has found.

VHI hikes prices again as 6,000 ditch health cover every month

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

FAMILIES will end up paying out an extra €600 a year for health insurance after the VHI announced another hike.

Banks tighten loan terms amid property-price fears

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

BANKS are making it harder for people to get mortgages because they believe house prices will keep falling and fear the economy will continue to slow down.

Families hit on double with hikes in VHI and college fees

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

MIDDLE-income families are to be hit on the double - with college fee hikes to come on top of increases in the cost of VHI cover.

VHI hikes health insurance by up to 12.5pc, blames rising claims costs

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:31:55 +0000

VHI HEALTHCARE is the latest provider to hike its prices.

Householders now less gloomy about finances

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

CONSUMERS started the year by being less gloomy about their finances.

Cash buyers snap up bargain properties in key spots nationwide

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

CASH buyers are snapping up bargain properties that would not have been affordable during the boom.

EU regulators: Google should ‘pause’ privacy changes

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:40:43 +0000

EUROPEAN regulators have requested Google ‘pause’ planned changes to simplify its privacy policy.

Microsoft Windows Phone 8 details leak

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:42:29 +0000

Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 will support NFC and content sharing with computers and tablets, according to a leaked video.

The nine golden rules of Twitter

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:08:58 +0000

American researchers have released that the majority of Tweets go unread or irritate people. Here are their tips to make sure your message gets noticed:

Video: Facebook graffiti artist stands to earn $200m from company’s flotation on stock market

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:09:48 +0000

A GRAFFITI artist who decorated the walls of Facebook's headquarters seven years ago is set for a $200m (€152m) windfall when the social network makes its initial public offering (IPO).

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom: I will not run away from bail

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:53:47 +0000

A NEW Zealand court has refused an appeal by the founder of online file-sharing site Megaupload.com to be freed on bail, agreeing with prosecutors that there was a risk he would attempt to flee before an extradition hearing.

Six-figure windfall for Irish-based staff as Facebook plans to float

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

MORE than one-third of Facebook's employees in Dublin stand to earn six-figure windfalls when the social networking site goes ahead with plans to sell shares later this year.

Jeremy Warner: Will the great interest rate gamble pay off?

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

In practice, he's proved anything but. Since arriving at the ECB, Mr Draghi has engineered a sort of Club Med putsch, sidelining the German hawks and embarking on the kind of unconventional monetary activism that for several years now has been the hallmark of the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England. He's been bold, and he's been decisive.

Alison O’Connor: How did we get to a place where spending up to €300 on a communion dress became an 'exceptional need'?

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

WHAT do First Holy Communion dresses and the tens of thousands earned by a Taoiseach's special adviser have in common? Well, in their own ways, both point to the extraordinary levels of financial entitlement that still exist in this bankrupt little nation of ours.

James Downey: Find 'plan B' on this pact or we'll live in debt forever

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

AMID all the fuss about Enda Kenny's "mad spending" remarks in Davos, something more relevant was almost entirely ignored. It can't be ignored any longer.

Martina Devlin: Think we're angry, Enda? You've seen nothing yet

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

LOOK around. Many of the people in your immediate vicinity are in a state of barely suppressed rage. One spark and up it flares -- disproportionate to the offence, perhaps, but that's how fury operates.

Jemima Lewis: The alpha females who play at being little women

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:59:59 +0000

BEING annoyed by Gwyneth Paltrow is the very definition of pointlessness – like railing against the existence of death, or buying anti-cellulite cream. Yet at times it’s impossible to resist.

Kevin Myers: What a glorious, wonderful, perfect mind Jon had; humane and patient. He was demanding of his students, and they gave richly in reply

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:39:46 +0000

THE chalk-streams and rivers of southern England are a paradise for anglers, that most patient and cerebral of all sportsmen.

Daniel Radcliffe admits drinking problem led him to black out

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:58:47 +0000

THE 22-year-old actor, has admitted that his excessive drinking was "unhealthy" and was "damaging" to his health.

A chicken wrap can save time on the treadmill -- and calorie counts show it

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

CHOOSING a cappuccino instead of a latte could save you 65 calories while a chicken wrap instead of a quarter pounder would spare you 200 unnecessary calories.

Cancer 'slowed by cooked tomatoes' – scientists

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:06:06 +0000

A NUTRIENT in cooked tomatoes has been shown in laboratory studies to slow the growth of - and even kill - prostate cancer cells, scientists said today.

Trusts may not have acted quickly enough to prevent deadly pseudomonas outbreak in Northern Ireland

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:14:35 +0000

HEALTH trusts may not have acted quickly enough to prevent hospital outbreaks of a deadly infection that killed four babies in Northern Ireland, the Stormont health minister has said.

Brazil's expanding waistlines

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:37:44 +0000

IT’S the country that gave us The Girl From Ipanema and supermodel Gisele, but it seems that Brazilian women are developing increasingly bigger waistlines with over 48pc of women in Brazil are now over weight.

Testicle zapping ultrasound could be used as male contraceptive

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:19:48 +0000

AS BIRTH control methods go, it sounds like one of the more extreme examples. But a study suggests blasting a man's most vulnerable area with high frequency sound waves may be the ideal form of male contraception.

Around the world in 1,000 destinations

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:19:25 +0000

Patricia Schultz, author of the bestselling title 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, talks about life on the road, her new book – and the three locations that are the cream of the globe-trotting crop

Hoteliers welcome TripAdvisor rebuke

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:20:03 +0000

Hoteliers have welcomed a ruling that stops TripAdvisor from saying its reviews are posted by "real travellers".

Valentine's Day: Romantic Retreats

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Pól Ó Conghaile picks his top love nests

Peru with a view

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Thomas Breathnach stepped off the beaten Inca Trail and found himself in the real Peru

Cape Town: Just like home but a bit better

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

After four days exploring mountains, caves and the region's great food and wine Pat Fitzpatrick had little trouble seeing why once here, so many fail to leave

Don't let travel risks trip you up

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Luckily I don't play much netball. This week I was looking at the website of sportscover.com, a specialist in travel insurance for sporting and adventure holidays.