When Leo Varadkar got to his feet in the Dáil taking Leaders Questions in April, filling in for Enda Kenny, some of his closest allies realised this very well could be the next Taoiseach, writes Juno McEnroe.

"Frankly, I had enjoyed the war," he said after biting off his own fingers

HOURS after Bank of Ireland said it was not vulnerable to a takeover, Barclays bank's Kerry-born chief executive Matthew Barrett said his bank is open to partnerships or mergers to keep pace with US competitors.

Lloyds TSB chief executive Eric Daniels took home £1.06m (€1.6m) during 2003 - 16% less than he earned the previous year, the bank said today.

MATTHEW BARRETT the Irishman who heads Britain’s Barclays bank is to see his annual pay package double to stg£3.9 million, it emerged yesterday.

British bank Barclays announced an unexpected 12% rise in first half pre-tax profits, to £1.9bn (€2.6bn) today, and said it had cut provisions against bad debts by 9%.

Barclays Bank today reported pre-tax profits of £3.2bn (€4.8bn) for the last year - a 6% decline from 2001, due to bad loans and flat revenues.

Banking giant Barclays today reported a 6% fall in profits, after figures were knocked by a steep rise in the amount it set aside to cover bad debts.