Up to 170 people attended a meeting in an East Cork village as opposition mounts in the south of the country to Eirgrid’s proposed €500m overhead powerline.

GREATER competition among banks would save the economy €1.2 billion annually, according to a new report.

The report by the National Competitiveness Council which underlined Ireland’s rip-off culture and pointed to the country being the most expensive and least competitive in Europe was a damning indictment of commercial practices here.

THE Competition Authority was criticised yesterday by its former enforcement director Patrick Massey, who said the watchdog was failing to adequately protect consumers from being ripped off by cartels.