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

New Spanish loan option from B of I

Bank of Ireland has linked up with Spanish bank la Caixa to offer mortgages to Irish people buying property in Spain.

The bank said it would lend customers up to 90 per cent of the equity built up in their property in Ireland, subject to repayment capacity, at new business rates. Customers also have the option of borrowing directly from la Caixa, with the mortgage secured on a Spanish property.

Loans of up to 75 per cent of the value of a property worth less than €500,000 and up to 60 per cent of the value of properties priced above €500,000 are available from la Caixa, and the balance plus purchase costs can be borrowed from Bank of Ireland.

Ryanair passenger numbers up 24%

Ryanair said it carried 2.5 million passengers in January, a 24 per cent increase on the same month last year. The airline has increased the number of flights and new destinations in the past year.

It said that 26 per cent of its seats were flown empty, due to seasonal trends and greater capacity. Some 98 per cent of its seats were sold over the internet.

Exporters urge competitiveness

The Irish Exporters Association (IEA) has called for any new partnership agreement to protect manufacturing exporters from vulnerability.

"The emphasis in these negotiations on a new national partnership agreement must be in restoring competitiveness to our manufacturing export sector," said IEA president Don Moore.

Circle Oil to issue results in May

The Limerick-based and AIM-listed oil and gas exploration company Circle Oil has said it expects to issue its preliminary results for 2005 in May.

The company yesterday issued an operating update covering activities in Namibia, Oman and Panama.

The net cash position at the end of 2005 was approximately $17.2 million (€14.3 million), the company said.

2006 IT security spend to hit €97m

Spending on IT security in Ireland is expected to reach €97 million this year, 8 per cent up on 2005, according to market research group iReach.

In the first three weeks of this year alone, more than 40 Windows viruses were created, many of which have now mutated into hundreds of different variants.

Ed O'Malley, research analyst at iReach, said that local businesses were potentially at greatest risk from attack, as they tend to have a smaller security budget and less technical support.

Celtic to sell 20% of Russian venture

Exploration group Celtic Resources said it has agreed to sell 20 per cent of South Verkhoyansk Mining for $80 million (€67 million) in cash to KM Technologies, a unit of Interros, one of Russia's largest private investment companies that has a controlling stake in Norilsk Nickel and Polyus.

Dublin-focused investment slated

Roger Flack, president of the Cork Chamber of Commerce, yesterday appealed to the Government to spread its investments around to prevent Ireland becoming a one-city State focused entirely around Dublin.

Speaking at the chamber's annual dinner, Mr Flack said it was essential that the Government invest in Cork Airport to avoid it being saddled with large amounts of debt.