A glance at the week that was
The numbers
50Percentage of women in French president François Hollande's cabinet.
46.6Percentage of the Irish population with private health insurance, a fall of 4 per cent in the past year.
$2bnThe money lost by JPMorgan Chase trader Bruno Iksil.
€3bnDeposits withdrawn from Greek banks in the 10 days after the country's general election, amid rumours of a euro exit.
215Number of days the Occupy Galway camp survived in Eyre Square before being evicted during the week.
$50mAmount Robert Downey jnr stands to make from playing Iron Man, in Avengers Assemble, after its record opening.
We now know
Lady Gaga is too provocative for Indonesia, according to the country’s police force, which refused permission for her sold-out June date in Jakarta after pressure from Islamic protesters.
The Politecnico di Milano, one of Italy’s leading universities, is going to switch to the English language from 2014.
Drinking four or more cups of coffee a day can help you live longer, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Monaghan takes a punt
The collapse of the euro has gone from nigh-on impossible to frighteningly imminent in the space of a few weeks, if numerous headlines are to be believed, but perhaps the currency is beginning to unwind faster than we anticipated: more than 40 businesses in Clones, Co Monaghan, have joined a campaign to accept the venerable punt in place of the decade-old euro. The Embrace the Punt initiative was designed to encourage spending within the community, and shops, bars, bookies and bakeries are all accepting old notes and coins at an exchange rate of £1 to €1.20.
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9 How war in the Pacific brought madness to these shores
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* Rankings calculated from May 11th to 18th
Next week you need to know about . . . Chelsea Flower Show
Chelsea Flower Show is to the world of horticulture what Cannes is to the world of cinema: a colourful display of well-groomed eye-catching creations surrounded by snapping photographers, a media army and hordes of fascinated onlookers. On Tuesday it starts again, with Queen Elizabeth II making her traditional opening-day visit.
Founded in 1862 by the Royal Horticultural Society, and held in the grounds of Chelsea Hospital in London since 1913, Chelsea Flower Show is widely considered the most prestigious garden festival in the world. It takes 25 days to assemble, and features 550 exhibitors this year.
Although it’s not exactly Cheltenham in the Irish-invasion stakes, it usually has a healthy Irish contingent, both exhibiting and visiting. Last year’s overall gold-medal winner was Diarmuid Gavin; his winning design, the Irish Sky Garden, was suspended by a crane and continued to earn headlines after a dispute about its display in Cork. Having achieved success with an airborne garden, Gavin is again reaching for the skies with the Magical Tower Garden, an ambitious seven-storey pyramid that will reach 24m into the sky, the remains of an old Fiat 500 resting on the top floor.
Other gardeners sure to generate some attention include Tom Hoblyn, Arne Maynard and Andy Sturgeon, all of whom have ambitious designs ready to be unveiled.
DAVIN O'DWYER
