Christmas has come early for two Irish charities thanks to a €1 million donation from ESB Electric Ireland.
The beneficiaries are St Vincent de Paul and Alone, both of which deal with people suffering from the effects of poverty.
ESB Electric Ireland has made a cash donation to St Vincent de Paul and will support it next year with a special promotion to raise additional funds.
The State-owned company plans to carry out energy-efficiency retrofit work on Alone properties and to donate additional funds to the charity to support its fuel affordability programme.
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However bad the financial crisis might be in the euro zone, we still have a long way to go to match the madness in inflation-ravaged Zimbabwe. One Irish reader sent us in a 100 Trillion Dollar bank note from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, adding that it might just about buy someone a bag of sugar in the chaotic African state.
The notes are selling on eBay for around €3 for those who want one as a souvenir. Our reader wanted their bill back. Times are tough, after all.
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Court filings relating to embattled lawyer Brian O’Donnell and Vico Capital include details of various property investments. Among them is Gortdrishagh House, a lakeside country estate on 26 acres, which is described as “undoubtedly the best property on Lough Corrib”.
With rentals to high-end British and American visitors having tapered off in the recession, Vico hired out the estate as a film location, where it “doubled as the Kennedy household in Hyannis Port”.
