A Dublin-based PR firm has received over €800,000 (including Vat) in fees in little over three years from the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

Nama may be viewed by international investors as a good idea. Whether its efforts to generate revenue from risky assets can be a template for other countries remains to be seen, writes Dara Doyle

Irish Life Group Ltd chief Kevin Murphy postponed his plans to retire at the end of 2012 as the Government revived talks to sell the state-owned insurer to Canada’s Great-West Lifeco Inc.

The National Pensions Reserve Fund is developing a range of support funds in partnership with third-party investors — ranging in size from €100m to €400m — for the SME sector.

Irish Life and Permanent is on the verge of availing of a “bad bank” in which it could transfer Permanent TSB’s loss-making home loans, it emerged last night.

The Central Bank has agreed to pay about €8m for a half-completed Dublin office block that’s synonymous with the real-estate crash, according to a source.

THE owner of Battersea Power Station, the London landmark slated for a £5.5 billion (€6.5bn) redevelopment, was put into administration by a judge in Britain after it failed to repay senior creditors.

GREAT-West Lifeco, Canada’s second-largest insurer, is the leading candidate to acquire Irish Life & Permanent’s life assurance unit, according to two people familiar with the matter.

THE bursting of the property bubble may benefit some of the poorer members of society, as apartments built in anticipation of the boom years continuing are sold to social housing projects to cover debts.

IRISH Life & Permanent, the country’s biggest life assurer and mortgage lender, is in talks to hire four banks, including Citigroup and Deutsche Bank, to underwrite a rights offering, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

THE Minister for Foreign Affairs has asked the winner of this year’s Young Scientist of the Year competition to meet with Irish Aid officials to discuss how his project can be used to save lives.

IRISH Life & Permanent has been hit by a €600,000 fine by the Financial Regulator for submitting a series of inaccurate figures on the size of its asset base.

People are being urged not to buy alcohol for those who are underage this St Patrick's Day.

The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) has urged its members to be especially vigilant over the St. Patrick’s Day festival this weekend to prevent underage people getting access to alcohol.

BRIAN Geoghegan has resurfaced - after recently retiring as director of economic affairs at IBEC and chairman of FÁS - as the chairman of Dublin-based public relations firm MRPA Kinman Communications.

TWO leading Dublin-based PR firms have announced a merger that will catapult the enlarged business into the top three in the Irish market.