This week

Compiled by CAROLINE MADDEN

Gallagher to tell all about Twittergate

SOME SAY IT changed the course of the 2011 presidential election; it certainly made for riveting TV, but the full truth about Twittergate – when RTÉ’s Frontline presenter Pat Kenny read out a fake tweet about Sean “don’t-call-me-a-bagman” Gallagher – has never come out ... until now. For the first time, entrepreneur, TV star and independent Fianna Fáil foot soldier Gallagher is to spill the beans on how it felt to go from Dragons’ Den to the Frontline lions’ den where he was annihilated by an eerily ruthless Martin McGuinness.

Tomorrow at the Media Future conference in Dún Laoghaire, Gallagher returns to the harsh glare of the public eye to address his experiences in the election and the dramatic role that social media and that infamous Frontline debate played in the final result.

Ironically the event is sponsored by RTÉ Digital – we hope the Cavan man sees the funny side of this.

Perhaps not surprisingly Gallagher has all but abandoned his own Twitter account (@seangallagher1), with his last tweet written on the night of the election results last October.

But the Twitterati will be out in force at Media Future, an event which purports to bring the “world’s leading media people, innovations and technologies” together, so perhaps they’ll persuade him not to be put off by one little bogus tweet and to rejoin the fold.

Cautious C&C hopes that Euros will give cider sales a good kick

C&C WILL report full-year results on Wednesday, and brokers expect a cautious tone from the drinks manufacturer.

Davy analyst Barry Gallagher expects Bulmers sales in Ireland to be down about 8 per cent for the year, in line with the trend evident in the first half.

“Despite the challenging top line in Irish cider, we expect earnings in Ireland to be only marginally down with good momentum in the Irish beer business offsetting much of the decline in cider,” he said.

In the British cider market, revenue for Magners is predicted to be broadly flat. However a 20 per cent revenue decline is forecast for Gaymers cider, but this is mainly due to the removal of loss-making activity. Perhaps of most interest will be any commentary provided on recent trading.

Weather conditions in the fiscal first quarter (March to May) have been dismal. However quarter two is expected to be comparatively stronger, with sales likely to be boosted by the Euro 2012 soccer championships, the London Olympics and the Queen’s diamond jubilee.

Another long-term resident moves out of Anglesea St

THE IRISH Stock Exchange looks set to lose yet another long-standing constituent this week as building materials stock Readymix gears up for a second attempt to delist.

Its plan to bow out from the exchange last Wednesday was scuppered, temporarily at least, by two minority shareholders Seamus Maye and Tom Goode.

Shareholders voted in favour of selling the 38 per cent of Readymix not already owned by Cemex to the Mexican construction giant for 25 cent a share.

Maye and Goode, however, took themselves off to the High Court in a bid to block the sale.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly reserved judgment until May 15th, and, as a result, the company could not go ahead with its planned delisting.

However, Readymix has already made tentative plans to proceed with the cancellation of its shares this week.

In a statement the company said the court will make its order on Wednesday afternoon, and that, if this order is favourable, Readymix – which listed in 1972 – will leave the Dublin exchange on Friday.

The good folks on Anglesea Street must be getting really twitchy at this stage, having already lost Greencore, Boundary Capital, Fyffes and McInerney Homes to name but a few in recent years.

To lose one company may be regarded as a misfortune, but to lose half a dozen or more looks like carelessness.