Compiled by Laura Slattery
The Numbers...
3Percentage of Generation X workers (born 1965-1981) who say that money is their main reason for doing the job they do, according to an www.IrishJobs.ie survey.
€125 million Amount spent by Shell drilling off Co Mayo in 2006 and 2007.
500,000Number of iPhones sold in the first weekend in the US as the Apple brand triumphed once again.
1.1Percentage by which the Iseq index fell in the first half of 2007. The Iseq is lagging behind its European counterparts due to its exposure to the slowing housing market, said Davy Stockbrokers.
Quote of the Week...
"This is a long-term personal investment."
- Financier Derek Quinlan redefines the meaning of buying a little something for yourself by spending €700 million on half a London office block in the UK's second-largest single property deal ever.
Good Week...
Peckish drivers- Dublin Port Company and Topaz Energy announced plans to open what they said would be Ireland's largest service station - occupying an area of 4.5 acres - near the entrance to the port tunnel.
Bookmakers- "High rollers" who place large five-figure bets from the comfort of their own home are on the increase, according to Ladbrokes, while Paddy Power reported a record result from the Royal Ascot race meeting.
Gaming companies- Microsoft is supporting a new master's degree in interactive entertainment technology at Trinity College Dublin, the first postgraduate course in Ireland to focus on the science and technology behind video games.
Bad Week...
European winemakers- Vineyard owners are not cheered by EU farm commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel's plan to drain the EU lake, pay producers of lower-quality grapes to leave the market and use the EU wine budget to encourage mass production of quality vintages in a bid to stave off competition from the New World.
The property market- UCD professor Morgan Kelly's warning that property booms can turn into property busts very quickly was followed by a 60 per cent year-on-year fall in new housing registrations in June.
Consumers- VHI Healthcare is to ask the Government for permission to increase its charges later this month, with speculation that premiums for its 1.55 million customers could go up by 15 per cent in September.
Quote of the Week II...
"I don't want to use the word recession."
- The ESRI's Alan Barrett is careful not to talk down the outlook for the economy.
