Another powerful role has Julianne Moore playing a real-life policewoman who campaigned for the rights of same-sex partners, writes Helen Barlow

RSA Insurance chief executive Stephen Hester said that the company will attract bids from other suitors after Zurich Insurance Group abandoned its £5.6bn (€7.74bn) offer for the British insurer.

Abbey Theatre, Dublin

Peter Dowdall on a piece of sylvan magic on the eastern Cork fringes.

RSA Insurance Group agreed to sell the insurance businesses of its branches in Singapore and Hong Kong to Allied World Assurance Co for about £130m (€163m) in cash as it retreats from markets.

Net written premium income at UK insurer RSA’s Irish operations fell by 24% to £75m (€91m) in the first quarter of this year, with weather hitting its business here.

For Neil Finn, the various stages of his career are all part of a continuum, writes Ed Power.

Troubled British insurer RSA has detailed plans for a £773m share issue designed to boost its finances in the wake of costly weather-related claims and accounting irregularities in its Irish business.

RSA Insurance chief Stephen Hester, who said the firm “slipped on a rather ugly banana skin in Ireland”, has announced a stock sale and tapped Warren Buffett for £550m reinsurance.

Former RBS boss Stephen Hester launched a huge City fundraising today as part of his bid to revive More Than insurer RSA.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group CEO Ross McEwan moved to reassure staff that there will be “no big announcement” on job cuts when the lender publishes the results of its strategic review next week.

RSA Insurance has hired former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester to lead the UK insurer, as it seeks to restore its reputation after a scandal at its Irish unit.

State-backed Royal Bank of Scotland will begin a new chapter today as New Zealander Ross McEwan takes over the helm.

Royal Bank of Scotland could create an internal bad bank to house more of its problem loans, even if Britain decides not to enforce a breakup of the part-nationalised lender, banking industry and political sources say.

The costs and complexities of carving Royal Bank of Scotland into a good and bad bank would likely leave British taxpayers worse off and exceed any benefits, according to an influential ratings agency.

Royal Bank of Scotland ended uncertainty over its leadership today by confirming that retail boss Ross McEwan will take on one of the “most important and challenging” roles in global banking.

Royal Bank of Scotland has ruled out another shake-up of its investment bank and sources familiar with the matter said such strategic changes were unlikely until RBS appoints a new chief executive.

George Osborne insisted Stephen Hester made the decision to quit as head of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) following claims that he effectively forced him out.

Ousted boss Stephen Hester today warned it could take up to a decade for the British taxpayers to be repaid its £45bn (€52bn) stake in bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland.

European stock markets reacted badly to the resignation of the Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive, Stephen Hester, and the indication that central banks may end their support of economies.

Royal Bank of Scotland is today expected to announce 2,000 job losses in the wake of boss Stephen Hester’s plans to stand down after five years at the helm.

Royal Bank of Scotland CEO Stephen Hester will be in Dublin tomorrow to meet with Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan.

Little Clarissa McCarthy was laid to rest in a single coffin in the arms of her devoted father who had carried the 3-year-old into the pitch-black waters of West Cork earlier in the week.

Community in mourning as a father and daughter are laid to rest, says Eddie Cassidy in Schull

Bribery and rate-rigging took place at Royal Bank of Scotland even after it was bailed out by the taxpayer, regulators revealed yesterday, as they fined the banking giant £391m (€453m).

The boss of taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland today said it is nearing the point of becoming a recovered bank and should have largely completed its restructuring by next year.

Dressage rider Anna Merveldt says she will be “sweating” today as she waits to see if her performance yesterday proves good enough to see her through to the next round.

Ulster Bank is refusing to be drawn on whether its boss Jim Brown will forgo his bonus in light of the massive computer meltdown at the bank, which has affected up to 150,000 people here.

Scandal-hit Ulster Bank’s chief executive Jim Brown could still pick up a lucrative bonus this year, despite the head of the wider RBS Group foregoing the “inappropriate” payment.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive Stephen Hester has announced that he will forgo his bonus this year because of the problems caused to thousands of customers by a failure in the company’s computers.

Bank customers were facing more frustration today after the IT fiasco affecting Ulster Bank, NatWest and RBS dragged into a sixth day.

Stephen Hester, the chief executive of Ulster Bank and NatWest owner RBS, tonight apologised for technical hitches which left customers unable to pay bills or access their money.

Royal Bank of Scotland saw its pay report overwhelmingly backed today as the taxpayer-backed bank reassured its investors it wanted to become “a bank that is built to last”.

Barclays was accused of ignoring anger over bonuses and running “business as usual” as it revealed a £1.5bn (€1.8bn) pot for investment bankers yesterday.

Royal Bank of Scotland boss Stephen Hester admitted today he had “underestimated” the furore his £1m bonus would cause.

Royal Bank of Scotland boss Stephen Hester has broken his silence after waiving a near-£1m bonus, saying that recent media coverage about the bank had been personalised and discomforting.

Worker representatives at Ulster Bank say they have noted the decision by the head of the bank’s parent company, RBS, to waive his £1 million (€1.2m) bonus — but say they remain concerned about the “reward structure” for top management there.

The chief executive of bailed-out lender Ulster Bank’s owners, Royal Bank of Scotland, already under political pressure to give back a £1 million (€1.2m) bonus for 2011, could get eight times as much in future under his current contract.

Worker representatives at Ulster Bank have condemned the payment of a £1 million (€1.2m) bonus to the head of the bank’s parent company, Royal Bank of Scotland, a fortnight after it announced thousands of job cuts.

A £963,000 bonus for the boss of a UK taxpayer-funded bank has been attacked as “out of touch” by Labour, as a British government minister claimed he had a public “duty” to refuse it.

As Ulster Bank sheds 900 staff, question marks hang over the commitment of RBS and its boss Stephen Hester to Ireland, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

HOLLYWOOD’S ongoing love affair with the sport of baseball continues with Moneyball (PG), although Bennett Miller’s film is unusual in two respects.

ULSTER Bank saw its operating losses increase by 80% to £566 million (€650m) in the first half of this year, driven by a significant jump in impairment charges to cover bad loans.

Clare 3-10 Fermanagh 1-12