LAURA SLATTERY rounds up the week in business
Good week
Virgin Galactic
“Isnt this the sexiest spaceship ever? asked Galactic founder Richard Branson as he unveiled SpaceShipTwo from its secret development hangar in Californias Mojave Desert. So far, so Bond film. Described as “winged, minivan-sized” by Reuters and sleek, bullet-shaped by Associated Press, the spaceship will take six passengers at a time on commercial suborbital flights launching from New Mexico. Singer Sarah Brightman, physicist Stephen Hawking and X-Men director Brian Singer are among the 300 customers to have already signed up for a voyage.
Bad week
Dubai World
Still have two brass farthings left to rub together after this weeks Budget? Why not hang on to them – you might be able to snap up a bargain or two in the event debt-encumbered conglomerate Dubai World is forced by its creditors to hold a fire sale of its rather snazzy, glitzy assets. If only Anglo Irish Bank was still around, they could have paid for us all to buy a few beachfront villas on the Palm Jumeirah for good measure.
Quote of the Week
“The inauguration of John F Kennedy as president of the United States in 1961 gave a powerful sense of hope, possibility and self-belief to Irish people all over the world”
– Brian Lenihan takes time out in his Budget speech to recall a time when Irish people had a sense of hope, possibility and self-belief.
The numbers
1,300- number of An Post jobs to go out of its 10,000-strong workforce between now and 2012
1,065- number of Aer Lingus jobs set to be shed if the airline fails to reach a cost-cutting agreement with trade unions
