Retailers pray for St Stephen's miracleRETAIL SALES: IRISH RETAILERS are pinning their hopes on having a bumper sales period from St Stephen’s Day after a “perfect…Fri Dec 24 2010 - 00:00
Consumer groups criticise decision to overhaul BoI free-banking schemeTHE DECISION by Bank of Ireland to overhaul its fee structure for current account customers has been criticised by consumer groups…Thu Dec 23 2010 - 00:00
Retailers say cold spell could drive struggling small businesses to wallCHRISTMAS SALES: THE HEAVY snow and freezing conditions have proved to be the nightmare before Christmas that most retailers…Wed Dec 22 2010 - 00:00
BoI condemned over fee changesThe decision by the Bank of Ireland to overhaul its fee structure for its current account customers has been condemned as a “…Wed Dec 22 2010 - 00:00
Allied Irish Banks fined record €2m for overcharging customersALLIED IRISH Banks has been fined €2 million by the Central Bank – the largest fine in Irish retail banking history – after it…Wed Dec 22 2010 - 00:00
AIB fined €2m for overchargingAllied Irish Bank has been fined €2 million by the Central Bank - the largest fine in Irish retail banking history - after it…Tue Dec 21 2010 - 00:00
Nothing retro about pricesPRICES THEN AND NOW: The mantra coming from Government is that Budget cuts won’t hit so hard because prices have gone back to…Mon Dec 20 2010 - 00:00
The unwise last-minute menSMALL PRINT: CANNY SHOP ASSISTANTS will spend the last hours of this Christmas season looking for panic-stricken men – and it…Tue Dec 14 2010 - 00:00
Charity gifts hit by recessionCHARITABLE CHRISTMAS GIFTS: Giving a goat or a sheep as a Christmas gift was an idea that took off during the boom but as the…Mon Dec 13 2010 - 00:00
Report criticises charity's tsunami responseTHE IRISH Red Cross struggled to cope with the huge level of donations it received in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian tsunami…Mon Dec 13 2010 - 00:00
New York top of the pile for hotel pricesSURVEYS: WHILE HOTEL prices in Ireland continue to drop thanks to falling demand and a growing number of Nama hotels offering…Sat Dec 11 2010 - 00:00
Report critical of Red CrossThe Irish Red Cross struggled to cope with the huge level of donations it received in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian tsunami…Sat Dec 11 2010 - 00:00
New mortgage arrears code comes into force next monthBANKS WILL no longer be able to impose penalties on customers in mortgage arrears, force them to surrender tracker mortgages …Tue Dec 07 2010 - 00:00
Service with a snarlPERSONAL FINANCE: Surely an upside of the downturn has to be better service, as businesses try their very best to keep customers…Mon Nov 29 2010 - 00:00
As Irish as tea from ChinaIRISH LABELS: If tea comes from China and an orange from Spain, how can they be part of the Love Irish Food campaign – and what…Mon Nov 22 2010 - 00:00
Mexican food on heritage hot listHOPPING Luxembourgers, scissor dancers from Peru, human towers from Spain and Turks wrestling in cooking oil will be smiling …Sat Nov 20 2010 - 00:00
Despite the prices and negative surveys, organic sales riseOrganic vegetables cost more and are no more nutritious than non-organic equivalents. So why are we buying more of them?Sat Nov 13 2010 - 00:00
Policies cost much more once you're 66INSURANCE: PEOPLE CAN find that their travel insurance premiums increase by over 100 per cent when they hit the age of 66, according…Sat Nov 06 2010 - 00:00
New head to sell IrelandTOURISM: MORE BRITISH tourists can be persuaded to holiday in Ireland in 2011 despite the recession and swingeing cuts unveiled…Sat Nov 06 2010 - 00:00
Banks will need greater reservesIRISH BANKS will have to significantly increase their levels of cash reserves over the next decade to cover an EU-wide deposit…Fri Nov 05 2010 - 00:00
Paperless billing: who benefits?PAPERLESS BILLING: E-billing is being sold as the solve-all cure for our modern ills – save time! Save the environment! But …Mon Nov 01 2010 - 00:00
Cavan hotel second scariest in the worldFRIGHT NIGHTS: IT WASN’T screams of terror but shrieks of delight which echoed down the corridors of an old Irish castle this…Sat Oct 30 2010 - 01:00
Central Bank proposes stricter stress tests for mortgagesBANKS WILL be required to impose considerably stricter financial stress tests on mortgage applicants if new rules on lending, …Fri Oct 29 2010 - 01:00
The rugby ticket rip-offRUGBY TICKET PRICES: HOW WOULD YOU like to see the rugby giants of New Zealand run riot this autumn? With tickets costing between…Mon Oct 25 2010 - 01:00
Kellys in their 60s most likely to claimINSURANCE CLAIMS: IF YOUR name is John or Mary Kelly and you’re in your early 60s you might want to avoid going on holiday towards…Sat Oct 23 2010 - 01:00
Dunnes 'cheapest' for babycareDunnes Stores is the cheapest retailer in the Republic when it comes to branded baby care products while Tesco is the most expensive…Tue Oct 19 2010 - 01:00
Is alcohol too cheap?ALCOHOL PRICES: Supermarkets are flooding the market with cheap alcohol, the result is that it now costs 50 per cent less to…Mon Oct 18 2010 - 01:00
Lazy consumers turned into savvy shoppers by recessionCONSUMERS HAVE moved from being lazy, ill-informed and ripped off to being frugal, savvy and more willing to complain, according…Mon Oct 11 2010 - 01:00
The rise of the savvy shopperSHOPPERS SURVEY: BACK IN 2005, most of us – particularly those of us with access to cheap and easy credit – were still thrilled…Mon Oct 11 2010 - 01:00
The new frugal way with foodEATING WELL FOR LESS: Food prices have fallen by 14 per cent this year - not that cash-strapped families have noticed - so it…Mon Sept 27 2010 - 01:00
Pilots criticise new crash legislationAIR TRAVEL: THE EUROPEAN Cockpit Association has criticised EU legislation aimed at protecting families of airline passengers…Sat Sept 25 2010 - 01:00
Tank of oil can vary by up to €80THE PRICE of a tank of home heating oil can vary by as much as €80 depending on what part of the country it is bought and which…Wed Sept 22 2010 - 01:00
Disparity in heating oil prices - NCAThe price of a tank of home heating oil can vary by as much as €80, depending on where in the country it is bought and which …Tue Sept 21 2010 - 01:00
Insulation against price hikesENERGY COSTS: Large numbers of people are finding it impossible to pay their increased electricity bills, but claiming a grant…Mon Sept 20 2010 - 01:00
The €250,000 childTHE COSTS associated with having a child start almost at the moment of conception, or at least within a couple of weeks of it…Mon Sept 13 2010 - 01:00
Posh camping? I don't think soAT 7AM yesterday morning, I was losing the will to go onMon Sept 06 2010 - 01:00
Cost of renovating not that cheapBuilders’ prices have stopped falling as fast as they did a year or two ago – and deals are hard to come byThu Sept 02 2010 - 01:00
Legal eagles not flying so highPROFESSIONAL FEES: Some professions don’t seem to realise that we’re living in deflationary times and a report by the National…Mon Aug 23 2010 - 01:00
Late bargains? Don't hold your breathIN TRANSIT: IT IS supposed to be simple for chilled out people to find cheap holidays at the very last minute and according …Sat Aug 21 2010 - 01:00
Tax windfall for property investors who sold in SpainIRISH PEOPLE who made a profit on holiday home investments in Spain in recent years could benefit from major windfalls after …Wed Aug 18 2010 - 01:00
Frontier country for suburbiaWhitworth Place, one of the first suburban streets in Dublin, was built at a time when Drumcondra was considered a resortTue Aug 17 2010 - 01:00
New appeal to trace faulty gas cookersTHE NATIONAL Consumer Agency has renewed its appeal to locate some 3,000 gas cookers that could potentially cause carbon-monoxide…Tue Aug 17 2010 - 01:00
The free school mythHigh-priced books, uniforms and ‘voluntary’ contributions are only the start of it – parents are getting ready to shell out hundreds…Mon Aug 16 2010 - 01:00
Confiscated items sell wellIN TRANSIT: A PASSENGER travelling from Dublin to Sligo to visit her sister who had recently given birth was stopped by security…Sat Aug 14 2010 - 01:00
Summer time may never end if Government seizes the hourSUMMER DOESN’T last forever but summer time might, if the Government follows the lead of the British parliament, which is to …Sat Aug 14 2010 - 01:00
No rush to discount in Irish marketPACKAGE HOLIDAYS: THE NUMBER of Irish people taking package holidays has declined sharply this year but diminishing demand has…Sat Aug 14 2010 - 01:00
Transfer all your loans to Nama when you pass Go - what's missing from Monopoly makeoverTHE IRISH edition of Monopoly has been given a drastic makeover, but if the aim of the changes was to make it more accurately…Fri Aug 13 2010 - 01:00
