A round up of today's other business stories in brief

Investment by VCs in Irish firms falls

Venture capital investment in Irish companies dropped in the first quarter while the number of completed deals increased, according to a report released yesterday by Ernst & Young and Dow Jones VentureOne.

The survey found that in the first quarter of 2006, €29.13 million in venture capital was invested compared to €31.38 in previous quarter and €44.51 million in first quarter of 2005.

The number of deals finished rose from five in the previous quarter to seven in the first part of 2006. But, compared to the first quarter of 2005, there was a drop. That quarter saw nine completed deals.

Outlook for Irish economy 'at risk'

The outlook for the Irish economy is increasingly at risk and strong action is needed to keep the economy competitive, Bloxham economist Alan McQuaid said yesterday.

He said vested interest groups were talking up house prices but that, despite this, house prices would moderate towards the end of the year. He predicted that growth would this year fall short of 5 per cent.

"Some economists seem to think that Ireland's boom will continue uninterrupted for at least another 10 years, but we can't see that happening ourselves ... We do feel that the mad spending binge, the riskier and irrational behaviour of consumers, and increasing levels of personal debt will all end in tears in the end" he said yesterday.

Quinlan wins deal of the year award

Derek Quinlan of Quinlan Private has won a prestigious "Deal of the Year" award for last year's £530 million (€778 million) purchase of a block of properties in London's Knightsbridge.

Mr Quinlan is the first Irish winner at the annual Variety Club charity property awards, which are in their 15th year. The awards, held in London, were sponsored by Anglo Irish Bank. Fellow winners yesterday included Amstrad founder, Sir Alan Sugar and Sir John Ritblat, chairman of British Land.

Growth in building jobs

The pace of job creation in the building sector has quickened, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) revealed yesterday. A weak start in January saw the number of jobs being created that month rise by only 0.6 per cent on January of 2005. Since then the rate has accelerated to 2 per cent in February and 2.2 per cent in March.

The index, which is taken from a representative sample of approximately 1,000 construction firms employing five or more persons, stood at 109.9, close to an all time high of 111 in September of last year.

Getmobile meets expectations

Getmobile, the mobile phone services group listed on the IEX, said performance in the first quarter was broadly in line with management's expectations in what was still a difficult market.

"Our management team remains focused on further developing our product offerings and the business," chairman Pierce Casey said told the group's annual meeting.

3 Ireland launches pre-pay service

3 Ireland yesterday launched a new pre-pay mobile service making it the fourth Irish mobile service to enter the pre-paid market. The mobile operator announced it's new 3Pay plan, a three-month introductory rate of 3 cents per minute for on-network voice and video calls and 3 cents per text.