THE collapse of Setanta Sports in Britain probably means little to most people in this country, other than it is an Irish company that has taken a big blow.

THE threat of administration at Setanta Sports looks to have been averted after an emergency two-hour board meeting last night.

SETANTA Sports, the Irish-founded sports broad-caster, could go into administration within the next couple of days.

SETANTA Sports founder Michael O’Rourke believes the company will survive its current difficulties but said there are no guarantees.

Irish entrepreneurs will share the secrets of their success at the NovaUCD Entrepreneurs Live seminar series which commences on 3 April and runs until 24 April.

BUSINESSMAN Denis O’Brien yesterday told the High Court that he never bribed former Communications Minister Michael Lowry or any politician.

ELECTRONIC payments group Alphyra is on course to refloat on the stock exchange after profits grew by almost 80% last year.

OPENET Telecom, which is backed by former Esat boss Barry Maloney, made its first profits last year.

VENTURE capital company Benchmark Capital said yesterday that it had created a new European fund worth $375m (€310 million) that would be invested in emerging technology companies across the continent.

ATTEMPTS by Alphyra, the electronic payments firm taken private by management last year, to acquire British company PayPoint have run into trouble.

NEWBAY Software, a company set up by a former senior executive at Baltimore Technologies, has raised €3.2 million in new funding.

OPENET Telecom has snapped up Dublin-based software firm Sepro for an undisclosed sum, it was announced yesterday.

BUSINESSMAN Denis O’Brien pledged that Esat Digifone would remain Irish-controlled and there would be a three-to-one voting ratio in favour of the Irish investors, the Moriarty Tribunal heard yesterday.

BUSINESSMAN Denis O’Brien sent six bottles of rare whiskey by taxi to civil servants after his consortium was selected for the country’s second GSM phone licence, the Moriarty Tribunal heard yesterday.

The Moriarty Tribunal resumes in Dublin Castle at 11am today.

The Chairman of Esat Digifone, Barry Maloney has finished giving evidence to the Moriarty Tribunal.

Former Esat chief executive Barry Maloney has been accused at the Moriarty Tribunal of delaying the floatation of the company in order to maximise his own shareholding.

The Moriarty Tribunal has heard that ex-Esat boss Denis O'Brien felt he was being blackmailed by his former friend, Barry Maloney.

The Moriarty Tribunal has been told that Denis O'Brien was going to make a payment to Michael Lowry, but that it got stuck with an intermediary.

Denis O'Brien assured former Esat chief executive Barry Maloney that no payments were ever made to former Communications Minister Michael Lowry, the Moriarty Tribunal has heard.

Former Esat boss Denis O'Brien has told the Moriarty Tribunal he considered helping former Communications Minister Michael Lowry when the latter's business was in trouble, but decided against it.

Former Esat boss Denis O'Brien has been questioned today at the Moriarty Tribunal about an offshore account in the Isle of Man used for the purchase of a Spanish townhouse in 1996.

Former Esat boss Denis O'Brien has taken the stand at the Moriarty Tribunal without any reference being made to his absence in previous weeks.

Former Esat boss Denis O'Brien is expected back at the Moriarty Tribunal today to answer questions about an alleged donation to former Communications Minister Michael Lowry.