The shakes:Just after midnight on Tuesday night, much of England was woken by the unusual sensation of having its homes shaken by an earthquake.
At 5.2 on the Richter scale, it wasn't even the biggest tremor this week (that honour goes to the 6.7 quake in the south Atlantic) but it is estimated to have caused more than €13 million of damage. It also left one teenager with a broken pelvis and was the biggest such event since 1984. The 5.4 magnitude trembler off the Welsh coast that year also caused a few Irish people to stir in their beds.
The brakes
Problems in Dublin this week proved just how fragile the roads are. First, a bit of roof flew off the Naughton Institute at Trinity College, causing Pearse Street to close and traffic chaos to ensue. Then, on Wednesday, the Port Tunnel was closed for nine hours, leading to severe congestion in the north of the city. Due to recurring problems, the National Roads Authority and Dublin City Council have initiated legal proceedings against its builders. Fixing it will reportedly cost millions. It may mean extra work for the traffic cone placers whose work currently adorns the M50 .
We now know:
BBC1 apologised to viewers for the 12 hours of sport- most of it rugby - shown last Saturday.
The euro passed the $1.50 barrieragainst the American currency for the first time.
A Mayo man, blinded in an industrial accident in 2005, has had his sight restored using his son's toothimplanted into his eye socket.
The numbers:
2,000The number of public service staff who have been decentralised so far.
€9mThe street value of cocaine washed up on Cornish beaches this week.
€365mThe combined amount so far raised by US presidential hopefuls.
Quote
"I think this is about as normal as I'm ever going to get."
- Prince Harry, as it emerged he had been serving in Afghanistan since December.