ISEQ soars on news of major Carlow development

The Dublin stock exchange has seen its index make a major leap on foot of news that a major development in Co Carlow promises to boost construction by creating a new town centre.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares finished the day with a 84.2 point jump to 8890.07.

Greencore has applied for planning permission to convert the site of its former sugar factory in to a new €1bn town centre in Carlow, in a project that it claims will create as many as 2,000 jobs.

The application was made in response to invitations from Carlow County Council.

The Greencore proposal is understood to include 3,000 houses, as well as commercial and leisure facilities.

The construction sector reacted positively to the news with building materials group CRH soaring 38c to €29.18. Rivals Kingspan and Grafton Group had increases of 22c and 13c to stand at €13.10 and €11.38 respectively.

The financials also reported a successful day as Bank of Ireland claimed the top spot as the market's best performer today with a 42c increase to €16.47, putting AIB's 18c rise to €21.86 in the shade. IL&P saw their stocj go up 30c to €19.85 while Anglo Irish Bank had a modest 5c increase to €14.40.

This contrasts with budget airline Ryanair's progress today who fell 13c to €9.72 after Chief Executive Michael O'Leary predicted that Aer Lingus's stock price will plummet if shareholders do not accept his offer of €2.80 per share. Aer Lingus' share price did go down today by four cents to €2.70 today. In a letter sent to shareholders, the Ryanair head urges them to accept his offer and warns that it will not be increased.

Elsewhere, the pharmaceutical gian Elan continues to recover as it recorded a 34c rise to €11.74, while Insurance group FBD Holdings climbed 24c to €40.84.

Food firm Kerry Group saw its stock go up 17c to €19.52 and oil company Tullow had a 16c rise to €6.15.