- NEWS
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 Abrahamson did nextLENNY Abrahamson has directed three feature films: Adam & Paul, Garage and What Richard Did.
Why do women love to dress up?Trying on clothes, said Ewart, produced "sensations which bring deep peace and perfect contentment" to the female mind.
15-18C
Breaking stories
Judge tells teen drug dealer: Plant flowers or risk jail
Celebrity's file accessed 80 times on Garda database 'out of curiosity'
Hogan: Revenue will pursue unpaid Household Charge fees
Charity blames Irish 'culture of humiliation' for high rate of male suicide
Shatter: I didn't use private information on Wallace driving incident
Foreign buyers return
John Daly of Sherry Fitzgerald Daly in Kenmare at the southern end of the county states that “People tend to choose the area first and then try to find the property that will fit in.”
It’s a small town on the Ring of Kerry but one which has a lively atmosphere without ever stretching itself to what you might call ‘hectic’. Its traditional property market is made up of a high proportion of overseas buyers.
“As regards enquiries and deals being done, the last six months have been probably been the best in the last three years,” says Daly. “Our buyers have been Dutch, Italian, and our usual sprinkling of American and British people – they’re always strong for our area. It’s all been relatively positive.”
Most of the foreign buyers in the Kenmare area, according to Daly, tend to be those looking for the sweet life – people looking for a holiday home with a view to occupying it full-time when retirement time comes.
Prices, he says, are in line with values going back to the early 2000s, but vendors have been accepting the new reality and buyers appear to be increasing as word spreads of how attractive prices have become in a place that the US Forbes magazine once listed as one of the best retirement locations in the world.
“Foreign buyers seemed to have been frightened off over the last few years with all the talk of doom and gloom,” he says, “but now they’re seeing the value that is there and they’re coming back and most of them would be buying with cash.”