Shares in FBD rose almost 5% as the insurer signalled it was on course to boost profitability as claims conditions had improved and premium prices had increased in recent months.

Cairn Homes — the Ireland-focused homebuilder which floated on the stock market last year — could benefit from mortgage rate cuts as it brings more development sites on stream.

A group representing Irish cyclists has criticised the number of fines issued by gardaí to motorists who parked in cycle lanes — despite a more than twofold increase in the amount of tickets handed down.

The four-star boutique hotel in Dublin co-owned by U2 recorded profits of €400,000 last year.

A judge will rule later on an application by property investor Paddy McKillen aimed at securing full access to 12 documents he believes will show the Department of Finance engaged in “inappropriate” contacts with others about his loans with State-owned IBRC and Nama.

Moves may be made against developers Paddy McKillen and Gerry Maguire to recover loans given to them as part of the Maple Ten investors in Anglo Irish Bank, the High Court heard.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has confirmed that the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) last year paid bonuses to staff for the first time since 2012.

Just three fines a week were imposed on motorists who parked in cycle lanes last year, Garda figures have revealed.

Earnings at Paddy McKillen’s Irish restaurant, pub and nightclub entertainment group last year increased by 28% to €2m.

U2’s four-star boutique hotel, the Clarence, has had “a great year” in 2014 after recording the fourth successive year of profits last year.

The luxury Maybourne London hotel group — which is the source of a bitter dispute between Irish developer Paddy McKillen and the billionaire Barclay brothers — last year returned to pre-tax profit.

RTÉ star Kathryn Thomas wants to see a celebrity version of health show Operation Transformation to drive home the message that weight issues can affect anyone at any stage in their lives.

Developer Paddy McKillen received an apology in the High Court yesterday from the Spectator magazine over an article it published last March relating to Claridge’s Hotel in London.

All the parties involved in developer Paddy McKillen’s action aimed at preventing the sale of his IBRC loans to the Barclay brothers will pay their own legal costs after a High Court ruling.

IBRC has argued that the taxpayer should not have to pay the costs of Paddy McKillen’s legal action aimed at preventing his loans being sold by the IBRC special liquidators to the Barclay brothers.

The multi-million-euro battle for control of three of London’s most prestigious hotels pitting Irish businessman Patrick McKillen against billionaire brothers David and Frederick Barclay has finally been resolved.

Property investor Paddy McKillen claims communications between certain officials of Department of Finance, Nama, and representatives of the Barclay brothers, relating to the sale of his loans by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation were unlawful and improper.

The High Court has ordered there should be limited disclosure of documents to property investor Paddy McKillen by the billionaire Barclay brothers in advance of next month’s hearing of a challenge to the sale of hundreds of millions worth of Mr McKillen’s loans by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).

It’s been a bruising few years for the agency and it’s not over yet, writes Business Correspondent John Walsh.

Investor Paddy McKillen is being “coy” as to whether he has bid for some of his own loans, which he is seeking to prevent being sold to the billionaire Barclay brothers, the High Court heard yesterday.

Nama is not interested in the personalities behind loans and the decision to sell Patrick McKillen’s loans to the Barclay brothers was taken on a purely commercial basis, the agency’s CEO has claimed.

One of the UK’s best-known business families claimed a “resounding victory” yesterday in a long-running legal battle over control of a £1bn (€1.18bn) company which owns three of London’s most famous hotels.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has expressed confidence in the secretary general of his department following controversy over correspondence he had with two British billionaires.

Fianna Fáil has waded into the email exchange controversy between the secretary general of the Department of Finance, John Moran, and representatives of billionaire investors David and Frederick Barclay.

A property developer is waiting to hear whether he has won the latest stage of a legal battle with two of the UK’s best-known businessmen over control of a £1bn (€1.16bn) company which owns three of London’s most famous hotels.

ONE of the main criticisms of Nama when it was set up was that the Government had created a monster that lacked transparency and accountability. As of Wednesday night, it got a whole lot bigger. However, the circumstances of the merger with IBRC means there is unlikely to be the same backlash.

A British judge wants lawyers to write less in a case involving Irish property developer Patrick McKillen’s battle for a control of a £1bn (€1.16bn) firm that owns three of London’s top hotels.

Elizabeth Dunne

The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation will only know what the implications of a restructuring of the €29bn in promissory notes will have on the bank when the deal is finalised, chief executive Mike Aynsley told the Oireachtas Finance Committee yesterday.

Dublin-based property developer Patrick McKillen who lost a British High Court battle with two of the UK’s best-known businessmen — the Barclay twins — is facing a legal bill of about £20 million (€25m), a judge was told yesterday.

An Irish property developer has lost a High Court battle with two of Britain’s best -known businessmen.

The property developer Paddy McKillen has lost his High Court action in London against the billionaire Barclay brothers.

The National Asset Management Agency is free to transfer loans without restriction, according to the English Court of Appeal ruling on the transfer of the Maybourne Hotel Group to the Barclay Brothers.

The English Court of Appeal has found in favour of NAMA in relation to a high-profile claim brought against it by Irish developer Paddy McKillen.

Property developer Patrick McKillen has told a judge that former British prime minister Tony Blair acted as an “honest broker” who he felt could “smooth over issues” for him in his court battle for control of three of London’s leading hotels.

Property developer Patrick McKillen has told a High Court judge in London about the hundreds of millions he had borrowed from banks.

Bono joined two businessmen and a billionaire Saudi prince on a yacht in the south of France as a multimillion-pound deal to sell one of the world’s most famous hotels was finalised, a British High Court judge was told yesterday.