In Short

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

US to face 'significant' slowdown

The US economy is likely to face a "quite significant" slowdown this year because of the fallout in its subprime mortgage market, which warrants the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said yesterday.

The Paris-based think tank said prospects for the world economy were "clearly less buoyant and more uncertain" than in its May forecasts.

It pared back its expectation for growth in the world's seven largest economies by 0.1 percentage point to 2.2 per cent, but warned that its estimates erred on the optimistic side because they did not take into account the extent to which repricing of risk across financial markets was likely to reduce economic activity. - ( Financial Times service )

Sunway acquires O'Mara Travel

Travel group Sunway has acquired Dún Laoghaire-based O'Mara Travel (OMT) for an undisclosed sum.

Sunway said the acquisition would help it achieve turnover this year of more than €100 million, up from €75 million in 2006.

Founded in 1978, OMT has annual revenues of about €3.5 million, 90 per cent of which relates to the sale of Club Med holidays.

OMT is also involved in corporate travel. It merged with Abbey Tours in February and handles about 100,000 visitors to Ireland.

Sunway said it would retain the OMT brand and its management and staff would remain with the firm.

Awards scheme for business journalists

The UCD Michael Smurfit School of Business yesterday announced an awards scheme for business journalists with a prize fund of €12,000.

Awards will be offered in eight categories, with each winner receiving €1,500. They are open to print and broadcast journalists who cover business, economic and financial issues.

The panel of judges will be chaired by Lochlann Quinn, former chairman of AIB and a former Glen Dimplex shareholder.

Mr Quinn said reporting by journalists "can and does make a difference to the landscape of Irish business".

The closing date for entries is October 3rd and the winners will be announced in November.

Telecoms body names chairman

Alto, the representative body for alternative telecoms operators, has appointed Liam O'Halloran as its chairman.

Mr O'Halloran joins the group from Magnet Networks, where he was director of customer operations and regulatory affairs.

On his appointment, Mr O'Halloran called for Eircom to be separated into wholesale and retail arms to spur the uptake of broadband.

He also said Alto would oppose any deal which would see the break-up taking place in exchange for Eircom receiving a stake in the Government's metropolitan area networks.