A couple who, according to a judge, once owned six houses and blew more than €500,000 on themselves in a spending spree, lost their upmarket family home yesterday.

MOST of the key banks operating in the Irish market have now reported first half results for 2010, all of them depressingly poor.

THE bid by Royal Bank of Scotland of €6.20 per share for First Active has sparked one of the biggest bonanzas for investors in this country in a long time.

Two of the nation's lending institutions have surprisingly cut the cost of borrowing.