The first in the movie series of The Hobbit was called An Unexpected Journey — an apt description of how a rare edition of Tolkien’s classic tale went under the hammer for €29,000 yesterday.

A FOG of suspicion has long enveloped the creator of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, so much so that James Joyce once prudishly referred to him as ‘Lewd’s Carroll.’

Ireland has reached its most competitive levels in nearly 10 years, but the outlook is still for more stagnation amongst the country’s chief export markets, according to a new study.

Ireland has lost its export growth momentum following nine consecutive quarters of growth, according to the second Investec Export Analysis Report.