Dublin, Ireland  - The world's first biodegradable computer, the iameco, has been manufactured in Dublin from bio-degradable wood panels made from waste products in the lumber and pulp industry.

During a visit to the company by Ireland's Minister for Science and Innovation, Dr Jimmy Devins, the inventors of iameco, MicroPro Computers Ltd, said they could implant the seeds of native-tree species into the wood panels.

The minister's visit coincided with the announcement of details of a new Enterprise Ireland Green Technology Support for businesses.

Dublin - With Ireland's Prime Minister Brian Cowen expected to tell a summit in Brussels later Thursday that he will hold a second referendum on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty by October 2009, Ireland's naysayers are regrouping for the second battle of Lisbon.

"We are seeking legal guarantees on the concerns that the Irish people have," Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said Thursday in an attempt to reassure a sceptical electorate.

Dublin - European Union officials will remember 2008 as the year Ireland rejected its reform treaty, but for most Irish people it was the year the bubble burst and the Celtic Tiger economic miracle came crashing to an end.

What started as whispers about economic downturn in spring turned to cries of crisis in autumn, with the economy grinding to a halt as a result of a construction industry meltdown and the credit crunch.

The government's defeat in the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by referendum in June was a major political upset in a tumultuous year, in which Prime Minister Bertie Ahern in the south and First Minister Ian Paisley in Northern Ireland stepped down.

Dublin - Trade union members at Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus were due Tuesday to conclude a ballot on cost-cutting measures, following a take-over offer by rival Ryanair, Irish national broadcaster RTE reported.

Low-cost airline Ryanair offered on Monday to take over privatized national carrier with a bid of 1.40 euros (1.78 dollars) per share, which would value the airline at 748 million euros.

Aer Lingus late Monday rejected the offer.

Dublin - The Irish government announced Wednesday a target of 10 per cent of all vehicles to be electric by 2020.

Making the announcement on RTE state radio, Communications and Energy Minister Eamon Ryan of the Green Party said the ultimate target was "to switch our transport system off oil."

The plan was to have 40 per cent of vehicles electrically powered by 2030, he said.

Ireland is one of the most oil-dependent countries in the world, said Ryan, whose portfolio also includes natural resources, adding that it was well suited to switch to electric vehicles because of its size.

Dublin - There was a strong chance that the Irish public could accept a revised version of the Lisbon Treaty in a second referendum, a poll released Monday showed.

The TNS mrbi poll by the Irish Times daily found 43 per cent of respondents favoured the European Union's reform treaty if Ireland and the European Commission revised its declarations on neutrality, abortion and tax.

Thirty-nine per cent said they would vote against the treaty and 18 per cent were undecided.

Foreign Minister Micheal Martin on Sunday said the government would decide whether it would hold a new referendum before the December 11 EU summit.