The two-year-old scheme, which has seen 1,135 loans to a combined value of €56.1 billion being drawn down to the end of March, is funded by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) through commercial banks. Joe Brennan has the details.

It is far too early to say whether peace will hold in the Middle East, writes Ian Curran in Agenda. It’s not even certain that the current US administration is competent enough to resolve a Middle East crisis of its own making, one that has cost thousands of lives in the region and caused immeasurable harm to the global economy through higher energy prices and damaged oil and gas infrastructure.