Ireland Breaking News: March 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Setbacks in Portugal and Ireland Renew Worry on Debt Crisis

Allied Irish Bank is one of several prominent financial institutions in Ireland in need of a rescue. By LANDON THOMAS Jr. LONDON â€" A higher-than-expected budget deficit in Portugal and the need for more money to rescue Ireland's failing banks have ...

US stock markets mixed as Ireland bank tests loom

NEW YORK - US STOCK markets were mixed early on Thursday, as traders anxiously awaited the results of pending stress tests from Ireland's banking sector. 'The US equity markets are under some pressure in early action as European stocks are being bogged ...

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Ireland Faces 'Balancing Act' as Stress Tests to Trigger More Bank Rescues

By Dara Doyle - Wed Mar 30 23:01:00 GMT 2011 March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Jim Power, chief economist at Friends First in Dublin, talks about the outlook for Ireland's bank stress tests. The government, which already controls 36 percent of Bank of Ireland, ...

Ireland plans "credible" bank system after tests

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet (R) talks with Ireland's Finance Minister Michael Noonan (C) and Greece's Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou at the start of an Eurogroup finance ministers meeting at the European Union council ...

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Northern Ireland v Slovenia: Worthington draws some comfort

By Graham Luney Northern Ireland 0 Slovenia 0: No Maik Taylor, no Aaron Hughes, no Steven Davis, no Kyle Lafferty, no David Healy, very little hope. Or at least, that's what the critics thought as they prepared to pick over the wreckage of another hard ...

Portugal Bank CEO Slams S&P Rating Downgrade

Standard & Poor's downgrade of Portugal's five largest banks is wrong and mistakenly lumps Portugal with Greece, Ireland and Spain, the CEO of one of the banks told CNBC Tuesday. â€œOur economy is completely different. We cannot compare it with Greece or ...

Read more at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42319528

Monday, March 28, 2011

British apologize for '76 killing of Catholic girl

DUBLIN (AP) â€" The family of a 12-year-old Catholic girl fatally shot in the back by a British Army soldier 35 years ago received a face-to-face apology Monday from Britain's senior government official in Northern Ireland. ...

Kelly gets Ireland captaincy

DUBLIN â€" Fulham defender Stephen Kelly will captain the Republic of Ireland in Tuesday's friendly here against Uruguay, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) confirmed on Monday. The 27-year-old will take over the armband from Robbie Keane who has ...

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Ireland Seeking Longer-Term ECB Financing For Its Banks: FT

PARIS (MNI) - The new government of Ireland is hoping to secure special medium-term financing from the European Central Bank in order to overcome its banking crisis, the Financial Times reported over the weekend. Citing Irish radio, the FT reported ...

Ireland wants bank bondholders to share the pain

By Carmel Crimmins DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's government wants to impose losses on some senior bondholders in Irish lenders to reduce the burden on taxpayers from a prolonged banking crisis, a senior minister said on Sunday. ...

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Ireland striker Doyle could miss rest of league season

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Kevin Doyle may miss the rest of the Premier League season after injuring his knee in Ireland's 2-1 win over Macedonia in Euro 2012 qualifying on Saturday, said coach Giovanni Trapattoni. ...

Serbia's Marko Pantelic Praises Side's Spirit To Defeat Northern Ireland

Marko Pantelic was full of praise for his team-mates after Serbia came from a goal down to earn a crucial 2-1 victory over Northern Ireland... By Luke Matthews Experienced striker Marko Pantelic was full of praise for the spirit shown by Serbia, ...

Friday, March 25, 2011

ECB plans emergency â‚¬60bn scheme for Irish banks

THE EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) is working on an emergency plan to deepen its support for Ireland's ailing financial system with a new scheme to provide banks with more than â‚¬60 billion in medium-term â€œliquidityâ€ loans. The initiative, which is being ...

France raises pressure on Ireland to raise corporation tax

Christine Legarde, the French finance minister, has ratcheted up pressure on Ireland to give up its low corporate tax rate. Christine Lagarde said eurozone members 'closed ranks' to help Ireland and should not be undercut by its corporate tax rate. ...

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Some Weigh Restructuring Portugal's Debt

Those are the interest rates currently paid on 10-year government bonds for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. That they remain so high â€" compared with just 3.24 percent on German bonds â€" shows that investors remain unconvinced that Europe's haphazard ...

If Google is in Ireland for tax reasons, why are most of its profits in Bermuda?

Google's European headquarters in Dublin, where it moved three years after in an apparent bid to profit from Ireland's controversial low corporate tax rate. Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images Corporate tax â€" which is 12.5% in Ireland, ...

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Northern Ireland: Assembly Ends Term

By AP Protestant and Catholic leaders in Northern Ireland's unity government celebrated their first full four-year term in power on Wednesday and lauded Ian Paisley on his effective retirement day. Mr. Paisley, 84, left, who spent decades rallying ...

US Stocks Drop on Housing Data; Portugal, Ireland Bonds Fall

The yield on Ireland's two-year securities rose 60 basis points to 10.46 percent, while the 10-year yield exceeded 10 percent for the first time since the euro was introduced in 1999. Ten-year US Treasuries ended a four-day slide, with the yield five ...

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Portugal edges towards 'inevitable' bailout from EU partners

Photograph: Jose Manuel Ribeiro/Reuters Ireland's borrowing costs rose dramatically today in rumour-driven markets as speculation mounted that Portugal was also edging towards a bailout from its European partners. Troubled Allied Irish Banks was forced ...

Irish Banks Hope Stress Tests Restore Confidence

By EAMON QUINN DUBLINâ€"Looming stress tests on four troubled Irish lenders will attempt to reach a definite count of the losses lurking in their loan books but could still fail to restore confidence in Ireland's broken banking system. ...

Monday, March 21, 2011

Noonan battles to save 12.5% tax rate

By Ann Cahill, Europe Correspondent THE gloves have come off in Ireland's fight to keep its corporate tax rate and win a cut in the amount of interest the country is paying for its â‚¬67 billion bailout. Finance Minister Michael Noonan yesterday fired a ...

England slip in world rankings

England's failure to secure the Grand Slam has seen them slip below Ireland in the latest IRB World Rankings, despite their overall victory in the Six Nations. Martin Johnson's men were hammered 24-8 by their Irish counterparts in Dublin on Saturday, ...

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Lessons from the Six Nations

By JONATHAN CLEGG England's Tom Wood, right, is tackled by Rory Best of Ireland on Saturday. Ireland's victory meant England won the tournament but were denied a grand slam. By now, you know that England won the 2011 Six Nations Championship and that ...

Obama, on St. Pat's Day, announces trip to Ireland

President Barack Obama chose St. Patrick's Day to announce that he's adding Ireland to the itinerary for his trip to Europe in May. Obama made the announcement as he welcomed new Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny to the White House for an annual ceremony ...

Saturday, March 19, 2011

IRELAND 24 - ENGLAND 8: GRAND SHAM

Ireland almost scored a try in the right-hand corner, but the danger was averted. Youngs gathered the ball and threw it into the crowd to prevent a quick line-out. It was a deeply cynical manoeuvre from Youngs, the ball thrown behind his back, ...

President Obama and Queen Elizabeth to visit Ireland the same week

Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore has announced that United States President Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II will visit Ireland within the same week in May. Gilmore, who was meeting with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington ...

Friday, March 18, 2011

Warm Irish welcomes start to flow for Obamas

SCARCELY FIVE hours had passed since President Barack Obama announced he would visit Ireland, but already, in the reception line at the White House on Thursday night, the presidential couple were inundated with invitations. John Hegarty, the provost of ...

The English View: Ireland v England

by Brendan Cole Will Ireland continue hoofing the leather off the ball despite team selection changes? Can they beat England? Shaun Edwards, writing for the Guardian expects England to try to play with ball in hand, while Ireland are set to kick the ...

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Ireland's New Leader Wrestles With Lingering Debt Problems, EU Bailout

Margaret Warner reports on Ireland's debt woes and talks with new Prime Minister Enda Kenny about his country's struggle to revive a once-thriving economy. JEFFREY BROWN: Next tonight, Europe's debt problems pay a call on the White House. ...

Northern Ireland enjoys St Patrick's Day celebrations

Thousands of people have taken part in St Patrick's Day celebrations across NI, with one of the main events taking place in Belfast. A carnival with nearly 1000 participants left City Hall at midday heading for Custom House Square for an open air ...

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Tax Hike Ruled Out for Ireland

By GERALD F. SEIB WASHINGTONâ€"Ireland's new prime minister flatly ruled out raising his country's low corporate-tax rate, despite pressure from the European Union to do so as part of a bailout package. "I'm not willing to consider it," Enda Kenny said ...

Tax proposal could emerge as bargaining chip in negotiations over Ireland's ...

The initiative â€" which is full of technical issues usually reserved for tax accountants â€" has moved into the realm of high politics in recent weeks, as EU leaders struggle with Ireland's new government on the terms of its â‚¬67.5 billion ($93.72 ...

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The most Irish town in America?

THEY SAY that Butte, Montana, has the largest St Patrick's Day parade in the Rockies, but I didn't know whether it was going to be far removed from the reality of Ireland, a sort of disconnected theme parade. Was the Irishness of the participants ...

Ireland 'must compromise' on bailout

Ireland must "give" before it can receive better terms on its bailout package, Austrian finance minister Josef Proell has said. "If Ireland wants concessions, it has to do something for it," Mr Proell told reporters in Brussels today. ...

Monday, March 14, 2011

France's Lagarde Hopes For Progress On Ireland Tax Stand-Off End March

BRUSSELS -(Dow Jones)- French finance minister Christine Lagarde Monday said she is hopeful progress will be made on the stand-off between Ireland and other members of the euro zone over its corporate tax rate and the change of the conditions of its ...

17 Bizarre but True Facts About Ireland

The national symbol of Ireland isn't the shamrock. It's the Celtic harp. That makes Ireland only country in the world with a musical instrument for a national symbol. 2. The Irish flag was designed to reflect the country's political situation. ...

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Kenny tells Mayo crowd Ireland will fight its case

TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny has said the electorate's choice of government represented â€œa brilliant opportunity for us to get Ireland rightâ€. â€œWe've got . . . a mountain to climb,â€ Mr Kenny told an estimated 3000 people at his homecoming celebration in ...

FOCUS: Irish Govt Looks To Round Two For Interest Rate Deal

Both parties in Ireland's governing coalition pledged to renegotiate the interest rate during campaigning ahead of the Feb. 25 general election. But at a meeting with leaders from the 16 other nations that use the euro Friday, Prime Minister Enda Kenny ...

Saturday, March 12, 2011

EU Agrees on 'A Pact for the Euro'

Ireland, which sought better terms on the â‚¬67.5 billion ($93.8 billion) bailout it received last year, was rebuffed after refusing to contemplate raising its low corporate tax rate. Associated Press German Chancellor Angela Merkel with French President ...

More money, more reforms as euro states pledge credibility

The euro's credibility has been battered over the last 18 months as markets have questioned whether members such as Greece and Ireland would ever be capable of paying their debts. The summit, which began on Friday, was meant to agree a sweeping range ...

Friday, March 11, 2011

Euro-Zone Leaders In Heated Debate On Ireland Raising Corp Tax -Sources

BRUSSELS -(Dow Jones)- Euro-zone leaders are in a heated debate in the early hours of Saturday on whether Ireland should raise its corporate tax rate in exchange for a larger emergency lending facility and lower interest rates on its bailout loans, ...

Merkel Said to Back Lower Bailout Rates for Greece, Ireland

Becker, speaking from Frankfurt with Deirdre Bolton on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack," also talks about Portugal's borrowing of 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in a bond auction today, the prospects for a Greek default and Ireland's debt. ...

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Merkel Is Said to Support Lower Bailout Rates on Debt for Greece, Ireland

Pardew open to Ireland deal

By ESPNsoccernet staff Newcastle boss Alan Pardew insists he is still looking at a permanent deal for Stephen Ireland despite his injury problems. Ireland moved on loan from Aston Villa in January after failing to impress Gerard Houllier, ...

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Ireland: New Prime Minister Is Sworn In

Ireland has been traumatized the collapse of its economy and recently accepted a $93 billion loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Ms. Kenny pledged to enter into a â€œcovenant with the Irish peopleâ€ in which â€œhonesty is not ...

Pope's Ireland visit would bring multi-million boost to the Irish economy

If Pope Benedict's visit to Ireland in June 2012 goes ahead it will bring a multi-million dollar boost to the Irish economy. Irish church leaders are confident that the leader of the Catholic Church will preside over an open-air Mass at Croke Park as ...

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Serious issue settled as scientists reveal that Guinness in Ireland tastes ...

A SERIOUS science journal has dared to go where no science journal has gone before by tackling a question that has long vexed mankind (especially when sitting in a pub): does Guinness travel well outside Ireland? The answer, tentatively, is no. ...

Hook back at 10 and Halfpenny starts against Ireland

Wales have brought Blues wing Leigh Halfpenny and Scarlets centre Jonathan Davies into their back line for the visit of Ireland to the Millennium Stadium on Saturday (5.00pm) and said 'same again' to the pack which sealed a RBS 6 Nations Championship ...

Monday, March 7, 2011

Queen Elizabeth's visit to Ireland

Yours, etc, A chara, â€" Republican Sinn FÃ©in will actively oppose the visit of the Queen of England to the 26-county State in order to send out a clear message to the world that British rule in Ireland is neither normal nor acceptable. ...

Ireland govt wants to use extra revenues for growth

DUBLIN, March 7 (Reuters) - Ireland's new government wants to change conditions of its EU/IMF bailout to allow it to use any extra revenues it raises to stimulate the economy, a lawmaker from junior coalition partner Labour said on Monday. ...

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Irish `War Cabinet' May Seek Senior Bank Bond Restructuring as Debts Rise

By Colm Heatley - Mon Mar 07 00:01:18 GMT 2011 Ireland's incoming government said it may need to introduce laws allowing the restructuring of some senior bank bonds, as the country's debt level risks becoming â€œunsustainable. ...

Ireland's new government to stick to EU/IMF plan - source

Ireland's prime minister in-waiting Enda Kenny (R) attends an European People's Party (EPP) meeting in Helsinki March 4, 2011. By Carmel Crimmins and Padraic Halpin DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's new government will stick to the fiscal targets laid down ...

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Portugal hovers on the verge of crisis as eurozone argues over integration

Ireland's election winner, Enda Kenny, jetted off to Helsinki this weekend to lobby for a reduction to the swingeing interest payments on its â‚¬85bn bailout, and for a more hands-off approach from Brussels on spending cuts. Kenny, who is finalising a ...

India v Ireland, World Cup 2011: We have to start again - William Porterfield

"First of all, we have to put Wednesday behind us," the Ireland captain said, just over 24 hours from the time he will walk out with India captain MS Dhoni for the toss of the World Cup game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Porterfield's Wednesday was made ...

Friday, March 4, 2011

Britain: A Royal Visit to Ireland

By SARAH LYALL Queen Elizabeth is to make a state visit to the Irish Republic this year, the first by a British monarch in 100 years and the only one since Ireland broke from Britain to become an independent country. The visit, which will likely take ...

Ireland upset with reports

Newcastle United's on-loan midfielder Stephen Ireland has moved to put the record straight on quotes attributed to him in Friday's newspapers regarding his parent club, Aston Villa, and his hometown in Ireland. In an interview with French football ...

Thursday, March 3, 2011

IMF Rate on Ireland Loan to Fall as Quota Share at Fund Rises

By Sandrine Rastello - Fri Mar 04 00:43:26 GMT 2011 The interest rate Ireland will pay the International Monetary Fund as part of a 22.5 billion-euro loan ($31.4 billion) will decline as a 2008 agreement boosting its say at the institution and giving ...

Kenny to press Irish case on debt costs with Merkel

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's prime minister in-waiting Enda Kenny will again press for a cut in the cost of an EU rescue package when he meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week. Merkel on Wednesday cast doubt on the incoming Irish ...

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Rogoff Says Debt Restructuring 'Inevitable' in Greece, Ireland

By Rainer Buergin - Wed Mar 02 18:10:59 GMT 2011 Greece and Ireland will need to restructure their debts and Spain and Portugal may face doing so to survive Europe's sovereign debt crisis, Harvard University professor Kenneth Rogoff said. ...

Ireland Central Bank Releases Banks' Debt Liabilities

By Paul Hannon And Ainsley Thomson DUBLINâ€"Six Irish banks had â‚¬16.4 billion ($22.58 billion) outstanding of senior bonds that aren't guaranteed by the government or secured on mortgages, the Central Bank of Ireland said Wednesday, as it revealed the ...

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Waterford, Ireland: City Sparkles Like the Crystal

But Waterford, in Ireland's sunny southeast (sunny being a relative concept in Ireland), hasn't always had it easy. The city is often passed over by tourists in favor of Dublin's nightlife or the emerald-green seaside hills of Kerry. And two years ago, ...

Englad v Ireland: Ireland aim to take down the old enemy

By Travis Basevi and George Binoy With their boisterous, fun-loving demeanour both on and off the pitch, Ireland were always going to be one of the Associate teams that, as AB de Villiers said, make the World Cup "more colourful". ...