... but will the realities match expectations?

Apart from the economy, the big business story of the early part of next year is likely to be the ongoing court case between Fyffes and DCC which is set to rumble on until March.

The case has already afforded a fascinating glimpse into the workings of large plcs and also the Dublin investment market. Fyffes has suffered considerable embarrassment over the non-disclosure of information to the market in 1999. However, Jim Flavin, the chief executive of DCC - who along with the company is accused of insider dealing in Fyffes shares - has yet to take the stand.

Next year is also likely to see Irish personalities involved in more large international deals. Leading the charge is expected to be Derek Quinlan who bought the Savoy Group during the year on behalf of a group of Irish investors. Not surprisingly, he figures prominently in our list of winners - and a few losers - on page 10. Another winner was undoubtedly Seán Quinn and the Quinn Group, which hit the €1 billion turnover mark. It is a dizzying performance for a privately owned company that started with a £100 loan in 1973, as Una McCaffrey points out on page 2.

Next year may also see a firm decision made on the future of Aer Lingus. But, as Emmet Oliver writes on page 2, the airline enters the new year without a permanent chairman - and a management team waiting in the departure lounge. The decision of chief executive Willy Walsh and his two closest lieutenants to leave the airline next summer is a damning indictment of the Government's failure to grasp the nettle of how best to inject fresh capital into the airline. But it will be interesting to see where the trio - who oversaw profits of over €100 million at the airline this year - end up in 2005.

Another story to watch in 2005 will be the changes brought about at National Irish Bank and Northern Bank by its new owners, Danske Bank. The Danish bank has made much of its strong consumer focus and is clearly hoping to win business from the big players, who both saw their reputations in this and other areas tarnished during the year. AIB in particular must be hoping not to attract so many negative headlines in 2005, writes finance correspondent Siobhán Creaton on page 2.

The success story of the year must have been Elan, which finished the year with FDA approval for its blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Antegren - now renamed Tysabri - and plenty of puff left in its shares which rose 300 per cent in the year. Chief executive Kelly Martin and chairman Garo Armen turned the company around in two years. As Dominic Coyle writes on page 3: "selling $2.6 billion (€1.9 billion) in assets without resorting to fire sales restored confidence amongst both staff and the investment community".

In technology, 2004 was the year of iPod which defined the gadget market, according to Mike Butcher who reviews some of his favourite gizmos of 2004 on page 6. Our Silicon Valley-based columnist Danny O'Brien argues that the only thing that can be said with certainty about the technologies that will emerge in 2005 is that they will be unpredictable. Who would have predicted last year that the internet would play the role that it did in the US presidential election and that internet-savvy candidate Howard Dean "would both lead the polls, define, then vanish utterly from the US election"?

Domestically, the biggest development was the emergence of affordable broadband with Eircom signing up 100,000 customers. But, as Jamie Smyth points out on page 6, the Republic still has a long way to go if it is to match its European and international peers in terms of broadband penetration.

The technology to watch is WiMAX which offers new entrants a way to bypass Eircom's network when offering broadband. "But as with all new technologies, it may take longer than expected before the reality meets expectations," he cautions.

Much the same can be said about the outlook for 2005 as a whole.