Munster head coach Rob Penney has hit out at the IRFU’s stance over recruiting players from overseas as he bids to build his squad for next season while Ireland’s taxation levels have meant the province has already lost out on two key signings for 2013-’14.

Snow drifts and abandoned vehicles continue to hamper efforts to restore power to 800 homes and businesses cut off when blizzard conditions hit the North.

Met Éireann's snow-and-ice weather warning remains in place as more snow is forecast in some parts today.

Met Eireann is forecasting up to ten centimetres of snow in some parts of the country tonight.

More than 44,000 homes and businesses in Northern Ireland have been left without power after the region was battered by snow, sleet and storm force winds.

The North's Utility Regulator has intervened to protect electricity consumers from paying twice for some costs.

He is also a board member of Gemalto NV and sits on the audit committee and the strategy and M&A committee.

The Irish Rugby Football Union’s director of rugby Eddie Wigglesworth has defended the recent change in policy regarding foreign signings for Irish provincial sides amid disapproval from fans and coaches.

WE may be immersed in the Christmas break but for the players and management of the provincial sides, it represents one of the busiest periods of the year.

THE white smoke has emerged from the ESB chimney.

SMARTGRID technology firm FMC-Tech has been sold to General Electric, in a move expected to result in rapid growth of the business in overseas markets.

MERGER and acquisition (M&A) activity in Ireland in the last quarter was the best in six years, according to NCB corporate finance.

THE country’s highest paid semi-state worker is to retire.

THE ESB has completed its £1.2 billion (€1.4bn) takeover of Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) from the Viridian Group — a deal first agreed upon by the two parties in July.

The ESB has completed a €1.4bn deal to buy Northern Ireland Electricity.

THE ESB’s €1.25 billion takeover of Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) has been approved by the Competition Authority, three months after it was agreed between the two parties.

Electricity firms are to be called to account for the difference in household bills between the Republic and the North, it was disclosed today.

UNIONIST leaders in the North have formally objected to the ESB’s planned takeover of Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE); a deal which was initially announced back in July.

THE ESB has purchased Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) for more than £1 billion (€1.2bn).

ESB has entered into an agreement with the Arcapita Bank-owned Viridian Group for the acquisition, by a wholly-owned subsidiary of ESB, of Northern Ireland Electricity plc (NIE), the Northern Ireland transmission and distribution business of the Viridian Group.

ESB has agreend to purchase Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) in a deal worth more than €1.2bn, it was announced today.

THE ESB is in exclusive talks to buy the power network owned by the Viridian Group in Northern Ireland.

Work was under way today to repair a four-mile stretch of power lines brought down in blizzards in the North as 10,000 properties endured their third day without electricity.

Around 25,000 homes across the North are still without power this morning.

Heavy snow and winds caused overnight chaos in parts of the North with up to 300 people rescued from a mountain road after conditions overwhelmed vehicles.

Blizzards, gale force winds and torrential rain have hit power supplies and caused transport chaos in the North.

More people in the North lost electricity supply in the last year because of people using heavy machinery, it was revealed today.

Northern Ireland Electricity is pressing ahead with a planning application for an overhead cross-border electricity interconnector after being told an underground cable would cost seven times as much.

Up to 7,000 homes across Ireland were still without power today as storms caused widespread damage and claimed the life of a woman whose car was hit by a falling tree.

A woman in her 30s was killed when a falling tree struck her car as severe storms lashed the country, police in the North revealed tonight.

The North's hard-pressed householders were given an early Christmas present of reduced electricity and gas prices today.

International reductions in the price of electricity should be quickly passed to consumers in the North, the regulator said today.

An innovative tidal power turbine in the North has been damaged, its owner said today.

The Northern Executive should help defuse an energy crisis which has seen prices rise by 14%, an electricity boss said today.

Electricity bills in the North could go up by as much as 30% by the end of this year, it was revealed today.

US intelligence chiefs dramatically changed their assessment of Iran's nuclear programme today.

Veridian Group's Patrick Bourke, currently group finance director, is to become group chief executive, it was announced today.

The Federation of Small Businesses has today welcomed an announcement by Northern Ireland Electricity that electricity prices are to drop by 3% for small business owners from April 2007.

Northern Ireland households were today handed a 3% cut in their electricity bills.

Homeowners in Northern Ireland will not see the benefits of the substantial drop in the price of gas reflected in their electricity bills, it was confirmed today.

Viridian, one of the North's main electricity suppliers, today reported a drop in operating profits for the six months to the end of September.

Up to 4,000 people in the North are still without electricity because of Hurricane Gordon.

Northern Ireland’s electricity supplier is establishing a £1m (€1.47m) fund to support customers struggling to pay their bills.

Northern Ireland Electricity’s parent company, Veridian, today reported an 11% jump in profits and a major increase in business in the Irish Republic.