GARRINGREEN HOTSPOT -- Over 1m Irish watched Coronation Street for the conclusion of the Richard Hillman murder saga. ESB reported a power surge in the half-hour interval between the screening of two instalments. Given that Ireland has the highest consumption of tea per capita of any nation on the planet, it was assumed that everyone fired up their electric kettles at the ad break. x: 17 12:43:06 PM

GARRINGREEN HOTSPOT -- Think seriously about your choice of bank when setting up accounts in Ireland. By and large, banking customers get squeezed by Irish bankers. During the period of transition to the euro, when huge exchange risks had been eliminated, Irish banks applied transaction charges of up to 4% on intra-euro deals and only reduced the charges when threatened with EU action. Deprived of this super-rent now, they soak up profits by fleecing customers through huge charges for credit transfers. This affects me on payments received for teleworking with an Indian company. Credit card margins in Ireland are seven percentage points above the EU norm. The margin on personal loans in Ireland in 2000 was 6.8%. This compares with a margin of 3.5% in France and 5.5% in Italy and Portugal. x: 350 12:38:39 PM