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Martin wades into abortion debateAs the Dáil committee hearings continue on the abortion bill, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has waded into the debate saying it is important that Christian believers "be, and seen to be, on the side of life, especially when life is most vulnerable".
Payment cuts see families pay rent shortfallLimits on rent supplement payments set by the Government are forcing thousands of families to make undeclared top-up payments to landlords to secure places to live.
- WORLD
Anger as North Korea launches another missileNorth Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast, a day after launching three more of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said.
How Star Trek predicted the futureWHEN Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first dreamed up the concept of a television show based in the unexplored universe of Outer Space in 1964, the world was a very different place.
- BUSINESS
Warnings over future of eurozoneThe eurozone is heading towards a break up unless there are moves towards much closer political and fiscal union, according to chief economist with State Street Global Advisers, Chris Probyn.
Bruton defends corporate tax rateIreland will be able to maintain its current corporation tax code in the face of international pressure to prevent multinational corporations avoid paying their fare share of tax, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton said yesterday.
- SPORT
Mayo’s statement of intentGalway 0-11 Mayo 4-16 Five minutes to go in Salthill yesterday and James Horan was still cajoling his men to sew it into Galway.
Wilkinson inspires Toulon to gloryASM Clermont Auvergne 15 Toulon 16 Not for the first time this season, a matchday performance and the result have made a mockery of the statistics.
- LIFESTYLE
What Lenny did nextLENNY Abrahamson has directed three feature films: Adam & Paul, Garage and What Richard Did.
Clothes maketh you madTrying on clothes, said Ewart, produced "sensations which bring deep peace and perfect contentment" to the female mind.
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Today's stories
Ryanair profits up 25%
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary unveiled record profits for the airline today but admitted it is unlikely there will be a repeat performance this year.The Dublin-based carrier flew 75.8 million passengers in the year to March 31, an increase of 5% on a year earlier and helping it to lift net profits by 25% to €502.6m.
A 30% jump in fuel costs was offset by a 16% rise in average fares, partly due to the grounding of 80 aircraft over the winter, while ancillary revenues such as in-flight sales surged 11% to €886.2m.
Ryanair expects passenger numbers to rise by another 5% this year but with its fuel bill increasing by another €320m it has warned profits this year were likely to be in the range of €400m and €440m.
Mr O’Leary said the combination of rising oil prices and EU-wide recession would continue to hurt the sector following the failures over the last year of Malev in Hungary, Spanair and Cimber Sterling in Denmark.
He added: “We expect more European failures in 2012, as higher oil prices and recession continues to expose failed airline models as well as subscale or peripheral carriers.”
Mr O’Leary said that despite the rising number of airline failures, many of Europe’s governments continued to treat the sector and airline passengers as a “cash cow” to fund their taxation.
He said: “UK air passenger duty has caused traffic to decline by 6% since 2007, while the UK Government’s ’do nothing’ policy about runway capacity in the South East is encouraging traffic and tourism to bypass high-cost London airports in favour of expanding airports in Spain, France and Holland.”
"In Ireland, the new Government after one year in office has so far delivered no change or reform in the Dept of Transport’s failed policy of protecting the high cost DAA airport monopoly," he added.
"Traffic at the three DAA airports has declined 25% from 30m in 2007 to 22, in 2011.
"At a time when Irish unemployment exceeds 14%, and youth emigration is rising, it’s time the new Irish Government adopted a radical reform policy including breaking up the three DAA airports, and selling one or both of the two Dublin airport terminals to raise funds for Government and allow competition deliver lower costs, traffic growth and jobs."