Pat McArdle, chief economist at Ulster Bank, has emerged as the winner of the Business Christmas Quiz. The south Dubliner, originally from Dundalk, will receive a Berry Brothers & Rudd mixed case of claret.
Mr McArdle, who in his past has worked as chief economist at NCB Stockbrokers and the Department of Finance, said he found some of the questions easy to answer because of his background in economics. However, he did admit to struggling with several of the picture questions, in particular the one featuring C&C chairman Tony O'Brien's hand.
"Having had a fairly extensive career in the financial sector in Ireland I have come across a lot of the people mentioned," he said, adding that reading lots of newspapers probably helped his performance.
The participant's prize was won by Vanessa Pearse. She will receive a bottle of William Pickering 20-year-old Tawny port.
The answers are as follows:
(1) Sean FitzPatrick said "RTÉ chose to give a TV soap box to Eddie Hobbs, someone who - completely unchecked - was allowed to go on a rant about our economy that targeted almost every stakeholder in that economic success".
(2) The four executive directors of Eircom received salaries, bonuses and benefits of € 3.39 million in 2004/05.
(3) The legal case by Fyffes against DCC ran for 87 days.
(4) Brian Cowen said "special tax incentives do have their place".
(5) It is true to say that Independent News & Media agreed to sell iTouch, false to say Peter Cameroon is the new chief executive of Waterford Wedgwood (it was Cameron) and true to say that Ardagh Glass bought the UK glass business of Rexam.
(6) Charlie McCreevy is pictured talking to John Hurley (out of shot).
(7) Bertie Ahern said "jobs will be filled from God knows where".
(8) Malcolm Glazer acquired Manchester United.
(9) It is false to say that Dairygold's new R&D centre will be in Loop Head, Co Clare; false to say the IMF urged the US to keep its budget deficit; and true to say that An Taisce appealed Intel's €2 billion expansion.
(10) The hand voting at an annual general meeting belongs to C&C chairman Tony O'Brien.
(11) Michael Smurfit and Gerry Cannon paid €115 million for the K Club.
(12) A shareholder at Waterford Wedgwood's agm said shareholders were being "bamboozled" by the board.
(13) The investors in Merrion Capital come from Iceland.
(14) Bertie Ahern said "I think, looking at IBM, it's almost a bigger story in that they are abandoning Europe".
(15) There were 1,989,800 people employed in August.
(16) The eyes in the picture belong to Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary.
(17) Peter Sutherland received the 2005 award for outstanding achievement from the Ireland-US Council for Commerce and Industry.
(18) Bewley's decided to buy ethically produced coffee from a Nicaraguan grower.
(19) It is true to say the following:
DCC won a € 14 million judgment against Pihsiang Manufacturing;
Sean Dunne said "I'm in a position to stay for the long-term";
House prices rose by 7.2 per cent in the year to end-October.
(20) Mary O'Dea said "remember it is your money, so try not to be rushed into making a commitment because of tempting offers of advertising".
(21) The August hurricane which destroyed much of New Orleans and was estimated to cost insurance companies as much as 2004's hurricanes in the Gulf was called Katrina.
(22) Talking about mutualisation it was at the agm of the EBS that a member, aged over 80, declared "I want it before I go".
(23) Dermot Gleeson, AIB's chairman, was referring to Michael Buckley when he said "he has dealt superbly with some major changes".
(24) Ray Grehan's Glenkerrin Homes won the tender for the former UCD veterinary college in Ballsbridge, beating off competition from Sean Dunne with a record bid of € 171.5 million.
(25) It was a spokesman for the Swiss finance ministry who described a suggested takeover of a major phone company as a "political illusion".
(26 picture) Environment minister Dick Roche was singing in the rain.
(26) None of the number of ESB shops bought by Bank of Scotland (Ireland) used in the quiz are correct.
The quiz incorrectly included 74 instead of 54. Congratulations to those who spotted the error, but to be fair to the other participants, this question has been excluded.
(27) Michael O'Leary raised €39 million from the sale of some of his holding in Ryanair in June.
(28) The silhouette is of Danuta Grey.
(29) Waterford Stanley was acquired by Aga Foodservice Group.
(30) Stephen Pearson, a former partner at W&R Morrogh, a Cork stockbroking firm, who was jailed after defrauding his clients, was a former monk.
(31) China was the largest exporter of laptop computers, mobile phones and other IT devices in 2004.
(32) Talking about US regulators, it was Hank Greenberg who said: "it takes great discipline to deal with regulatory investigations while at the same time run your business".
(33) It is true to say Hewlett-Packard fired Carla Florina; false to say Dermot Desmond invested €55 million in a new casino; and true to say the Terenure printing operation of the Sunday World was closed.
(34) AIB increased its pretax profit by 40 per cent in 2004.
(35) Directors and connected persons paid back € 100 million borrowings they had with their companies in 2004.
(36) Fyffes set up a company which will give its shareholders an allocation of properties.
