In Short...

A round-up of today's other stories in brief...

ICAI appoints O'Reilly to chair regulator

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) has appointed Dr Liam O'Reilly as the first chairman of its "independent" regulator.

The institute said that Dr O'Reilly would chair the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board (CARB), the watchdog that it has established as an independent entity.

Dr O'Reilly was formerly chairman of the State's financial regulator. The ICAI council will appoint the CARB's board, which will thereafter fill its own vacancies. The institute says it is the first accountancy body to separate its regulatory operation from the rest of the organisation. Both the ICAI and the CARB will be answerable to the State's accounting and auditing supervisor, IAASA.

Thomas Cook put £95m in pensions

Thomas Cook said yesterday it had pumped £95 million (€141 million) into its pension fund as part of a five-year plan to clear the scheme's deficit. The lump-sum investment follows a company review and valuation that found a shortfall of more than £150 million in the UK and Ireland pension scheme.

In addition to the one-off payment, bosses at the travel firm have pledged further contributions of £17.4 million a year for the next five years. A spokeswoman for the German-owned company said no other changes to its employee scheme had been made. - (PA)

O'Leary likely to oppose terminal

Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary will this morning outline his company's views on the new proposed second terminal for Dublin Airport.

Mr O'Leary is expected to outline strong opposition to the 75,000sq m (807,293sq ft) facility. He may also signal the company's intention to lodge a planning objection against the facility, which will be used by Aer Lingus and other long-haul carriers.

Rig set for south coast exploration

Island Oil and Gas is to provide Providence Resources with a drilling rig for exploration work off the Republic's south coast next year. Providence also announced yesterday that the two companies had agreed to use a shared floating production facility to exploit their blocks in the Celtic Sea.

African Eagle to fund Mkushi study

African Eagle Resources' partner, Central Asia Gold Ltd (CAGL), will fund a feasibility study of its Mkushi copper prospect in Zambia, the company said yesterday. Under the terms of the deal, African Eagle will hold more than 50 per cent of the venture, which it estimates should be profitable at "a range of copper prices".