A round-up of today's other stories in brief
B of I is first lender to raise mortgage rates
Bank of Ireland has become the first major lender to raise mortgage interest rates. The bank, along with its building society subsidiary ICS, yesterday increased fixed rates. They blamed the rising cost of funds in the financial markets ahead of an expected rise in the benchmark European Central Bank (ECB) interest rates next week.
"Given that the ECB rate is expected to rise by 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent over the next 15 months, customers may now wish to lock into a fixed rate so that they have certainty of their monthly mortgage repayments," said Olive Moran, marketing manager, Bank of Ireland Mortgages.
The bank and the building society raised rates on fixed-rate products up to five years by around half a percentage point, with smaller increases on longer-term loans. The bank's three-year fixed rate now stands at 4.09 per cent.
Jurys appoints alternate director
Jurys Doyle Hotel Group has named Conor Roche as an alternate director to his father Tom Roche on the hotel company's board.
Tom Roche is married to Ann Roche, one of the Doyle sisters involved in the recent acquisition of Jurys Doyle. Conor, the couple's eldest son, is the business development manager in the UK for NTR. He owns about 930,000 Jurys Doyle shares.
Fraudster on bail until sentencing
A clerk who fraudulently obtained cheques worth almost £35,000 from her employer in 2001 will be sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court next May.
Lynn Byrne (24), from Killinarden Estate, Tallaght, who worked for BWG Foods Ltd on the Greenhills Road in Crumlin, pleaded guilty to four charges of dishonesty and theft of cheques.
Judge Desmond Hogan remanded her on continuing bail for sentence on May 3rd next when evidence of her crimes will be heard.
Derry to receive Wi-Fi network
Derry will become one of the first European cities to be fully wireless-enabled when a Wi-Fi network is installed there next spring.
Derry City Council appointed specialist contractors Evolution Systems from Cheshire to install Wi-Fi, or wireless fidelity. Evolution will team up in Derry with US-based Tropos Networks, which has developed the network infrastructure.The network is expected to be installed by March.
Council launches code on research
The Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation introduced a national code of practice for managing and commercialising intellectual property from public- private collaborative research. The code of practice is aimed at strengthening Ireland's international reputation as one of the best locations for collaborative research.
Tesco UK reports slowdown in sales
Tesco UK showed yesterday reported its first slowdown in underlying sales growth for two years.
Andy Higginson, finance director, said the 5.5 per cent rise in underlying sales in the 14 weeks to November 19 - against a 6.6 per cent rise in the previous quarter - was "very strong" when taken against the retailer's "longer-term performance".
"The food market is steady and there is a little bit more growth, but non-food has been tougher," he said.
In September, Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive, said that sales in the UK were going to be "hard to come by" because of rising fuel overheads and the impact of rising household debt.
