DUBLIN, March 22 (Reuters) – Former Irish Primer Minister
Bertie Ahern lied about the source of money paid into bank
accounts connected to him, an inquiry concluded on Thursday in a
long-awaited report into the dealings of one of the architects
of Ireland’s ill-fated economic boom.

The verdict comes four years after the economy collapsed
under the strain of a decade-long housing and banking boom,
cultivated by Ahern and his Fianna Fail party, and a year after
the party was thrown from power by an angry electorate.

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland unexpectedly followed most of its fellow euro zone strugglers back into recession in the last quarter of 2011 as exports dipped, overshadowing the economy’s first year of growth since 2007.

Irish gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.7 percent in 2011 as a whole, data on Thursday showed, ending three years of declines since the country’s financial crisis began that saw the economy shrink by a cumulative 10.4 percent.

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland overcame Scotland 32-14 in a pulsating Six Nations encounter on Saturday after scoring four tries against one for the visitors to claim their second victory of the tournament.

First half tries by Rory Best, Eoin Reddan and Andrew Trimble left the Scots with too much to do although a 30-metre run to the line by Richie Gray was the try of the game.

DUBLIN, March 10 (Reuters) – Ireland overcame Scotland
32-14 in a pulsating Six Nations encounter on Saturday after
scoring four tries against one for the visitors to claim their
second victory of the tournament.

First half tries by Rory Best, Eoin Reddan and Andrew
Trimble left the Scots with too much to do although a 30-metre
run to the line by Richie Gray was the try of the game.

DUBLIN, March 8 (Reuters) – Moves by banks to sell
large portfolios of real estate assets in Ireland are unlikely
to have a material impact on property values, the chairman of
the National Asset Management Agency, the country’s largest
property owner, said on Thursday.

Ulster Bank, the troubled Irish business unit of Royal Bank
of Scotland, will sell assets of 1 billion euros ($1.3
billion), a source told Reuters this week, raising fears values
could be hit by a flood of real estate sales.

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Economists are increasingly confident that Ireland will avoid falling back into recession when quarterly growth figures are released later this month, but the economy faces growing pressure from weak domestic demand, a poll showed on Tuesday.

Irish Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 1.9 percent in the three months to September last year compared with the previous quarter, far worse than expected, raising fears that chronically weak consumer demand would plunge the economy back into recession.

DUBLIN (Reuters)- It is still uncertain whether Ireland will be able to make a full return to raising funds on the debt market in 2013, although downside risks to the modest economic growth expected this year have eased, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday.

Dublin, which signed up to an 85 billion euro ($113 billion) EU/IMF bailout in late 2010, aims to return to long term debt markets later this year to help it prepare for the ending of official funding next year and meet borrowing needs of about 20 billion euros in 2014.

MAYNOOTH, Ireland (Reuters) – An Irish referendum on the European Union’s new fiscal compact is likely to fail unless Brussels offers the country a financial sweetener, one of the leading forces behind Ireland’s 2008 rejection of the Lisbon Treaty said on Thursday.

Businessman Declan Ganley’s campaign against Lisbon stopped all other EU states adopting it before EU concessions helped convince the Irish to vote ‘yes’ a year later. Ganley said he might support the latest, German-led, treaty, but only if Brussels offered Dublin better terms in bailing out its banks.

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland will hold a referendum on Europe’s new fiscal treaty, Prime Minister Enda Kenny said on Tuesday, setting the stage for the first popular vote on the German-led plan for stricter budget discipline across the region.

Support for the European Union has cooled in Ireland after its financial crisis, meaning there is no guarantee a vote will succeed. A rejection would damage Dublin’s long-term funding prospects and cast doubt on the country’s commitment to the single currency.

DUBLIN, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Irish airline Aer Lingus
warned profit would fall this year due to higher fuel
costs and said a growing pension deficit had the potential to
spark industrial action that would hurt the company.

The airline beat analyst expectations by posting an
operating profit of 49.1 million euros ($65.77 million) in the
year to December, compared to an average forecast of 40.7
million by five analysts polled by Reuters I/B/E/S.