The week that was at a glance
Money for spending
The Irish people have a combined worth of €1 trillion, according to a report by National Irish Bank. It calculates that the average household in Ireland had wealth of €352,000 but was servicing average debt of €127,000. Most of our wealth, of course, is wrapped up in bricks and mortar, meaning that we're not getting as rich as quickly as we had been. Nevertheless, if we are so wealthy, maybe we could have stumped up the cash to get Jose Mourinho as Irish soccer manager instead.
We Now Know...
An engineer has developed a car which he claims runs only on compressed air.
A man settled a case against an Irish circus for injuries sustained after being headbutted by an elephant.
Despite recent financial losses, Playboy remains the world's bestselling monthly magazine
Hollywood ending
The Hollywood writers' strike is over, and the industry's gears are back in motion. Having ruined this year's Golden Globes, the writers are back in time for the Oscars. More importantly, new episodes of TV series such as Lost and Desperate Housewives can finally be made. And movie scriptwriters can now get back to doing what they do best - churning out sequels and remakes.
"Decency, human decency, universal human decency, demands that the nation now step forward to right an historical wrong"
Australian prime minister Paul Rudd apologises to the 'stolen generations' of Aborigines
The Numbers
1,411India's tiger population - half the previous estimate
€2.8mAmount a compulsive gambler says William Hill owes him. He claims the bookmaker didn't block his account when asked
€113mWorth of paintings, by Degas, Cezanne, Van Gogh and Monet, stolen from a Zurich gallery