Ryanair slips on ISEQ

Ryanair slipped 5c to €7.85 after it has denied reports that one of its aircraft narrowly avoided crashing into the ground at an airport in Rome last year.

A story in the latest edition of Village magazine says the pilot, who had recently lost one of his children, suffered a temporary breakdown as the plane was approaching Fiumicino Airport during a thunderstorm.

The article claims a number of automatic warnings sounded in the cockpit to alert the crew that the aircraft was descending too fast and would crash if averting action was not taken.

The co-pilot eventually intervened and pulled the plane out of its descent before landing the craft at another airport outside Rome.

That didn't deter the Dublin Stock Exchange this morning with the ISEQ index of Irish shares up 24.93 points to 7519.3 by 11am.

The financial sector enjoyed mixed fortunes. Irish Life and Permanent made the most gains, up 22c to €17.25. AIB rose 5c to €18.18.

However, Bank of Ireland fell 6c to €13.59 while Anglo Irish Bank remained unchanged at €13.20.

Pharmaceutical company Elan were one of the morning's biggest winners, rising 40c to €13.10.