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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
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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
UK conducts probe into interest rate swaps sale
Britain’s banks are facing a formal investigation over the sale of complex interest rate swaps to small and medium-sized businesses, it was reported today.The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is set to reveal this week that it has found evidence of mis-selling as part of a review into the way lenders pushed the controversial derivatives, the Sunday Telegraph said.
Banks have denied any wrong-doing, saying they followed the rules on providing the swaps, which were a hedge against interest rates rising. When interest rates collapsed in the wake of the financial crisis, firms were left with high costs that some have claimed forced them out of business.
A full investigation by the FSA would take at least a year and raise the prospect of banks being hit with large fines as well as bans for any staff found to have broken rules. It is likely that banks will be under pressure to agree to a voluntary compensation scheme for victims.
The mis-selling claims follow the controversy over the sale of unnecessary payment protection insurance to millions of bank customers.
A debate in the British House of Commons last week saw MPs from across the country offer examples of mis-selling for the interest rate swap products.
Aberconwy MP Guto Bebb claimed thousands of businesses lost large amounts of money after being mis-sold the complex products by their banks, and many were told that without signing up they risked being refused credit.
He said many business people did not understand the deals but trusted their bank manager. In other cases, he said, businesses were only offered one product and the bank made no effort to provide a choice.
A survey by Bully Banks, which has been set up by victims of swap mis-selling, found nearly three-quarters of its members claim to have been forced to buy a swap by their lending bank as a condition of their loan.