It is comedic, bordering on farcical, that this country will agonise over the disposal of the 25% stake in Aer Lingus – worth about a lousy €175m – whilst at the same time largely ignore sales of assets worth many multiples of this. Today, the British commercial property portal, CoStar.co.uk reports that AIB has sold €600m of assets in Poland. The Irish state owns 99.8% of AIB, so these disposals are of OUR assets.

The buyer appears to be a joint venture between two non-Irish companies, Peakside Capital and Partners Group. The purchase price appears to be €600m. What was the sales and marketing process, and was it adequate to maximise the sales price? What were the assets worth in AIB’s books at 30th June 2012? Did we make a profit or loss on the deal?

 

Today Ireland sold €600m of state assets…(NamaWineLake)


Ryan Ulrich’s award-winning 2007 animation combines the Creationist take on the world (told in scientific terms) with the Big bang and evolution explained in Bible-speak.

The holy/unholy spawn of this union is wonderfully satisfying, horribly offensive or some combination of both those things, depending on your outlook.

dailywh.at/schooloffail

Yay.

The gang’s back.

A colourful, Flathan-free cast of TV3 regulars at the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield, Dublin, earlier for the launch of the station’s shows for Autumn/Winter.

From top: Glenda Gilson, Kirsteen O’Sullivan, Karen Koster and Lisa Cannon; Rosanna Davison and Celia Holman-Lee, Alan Hughes and Karen Koster, the cast of Dublin Housewives; Roz Flanagan and Virginia Macari; Head girl and boy Collette Fitzpatrick and Alan Cantwell, and the cast of Celebrity Salon with UTV’s Julian Simmons.

Meanwhile, round the back of the bike shed:

On the mitch with Gilson again…

(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)

California-born Kate Fitzgerald, former head of Democrats Abroad and PR manager with The Communications Clinic, who was discovered dead at her rented cottage in Harty Place, Dublin, on this day 12 months ago.

There is an ongoing Garda investigation into matters arising from the initial investigation into her death.

Kate’s final acts included sending the article (below) anonymously to the Irish Times to mark World Suicide Prevention Day.

It was later redacted and removed from the Irish Times digital archive on the insistence of her employers, including directors Terry Prone and Anton Savage. The paper’s editor acquiesced claiming “further details of her [Kate’s] last months” had emerged.

To date, neither Kate’s parents Tom and Sally nor her brother William have been told what those details are.


Pics via

Broadsheet.ie