Dublin - Ireland's Central Bank said Tuesday that mortgage- lending had reached its lowest level in 21 years in August.

Lending for residential mortgages was up just 9 per cent compared to August 2007, which is the lowest growth rate since
1987.

The increase in August was less than half the increase in July, according to the Central Bank, which described the figure as "exceptionally low."

The Irish government has donated more than 1.5 million dollars to Irish immigration organizations in the United States, a statement from Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said Sunday.

The total of 1,518,500 dollars would go to 16 organizations "which provide frontline support and advisory services to Irish emigrants."

Dublin has so far provided over 3.1 million dollars to immigration groups this year as up to an estimated 50,000 Irish citizens living and working in the US face possible deportation for not having visas.

Dublin has been pressuring Washington to grant the so-called undocumented Irish legal status.

Dublin- A report in Thursday's Irish Times revealed more about the funding for the main lobby group that successfully campaigned for a "No" vote in Ireland's June referendum on the EU's Lisbon Treaty.

The founder of Libertas, Declan Ganley, told Ireland's Hot Press he had given the campaign a "personal loan" of 200,000 euros (300,000 dollars), the Irish Times report said.

Ganley said he had also set up a loan facility at the start of the campaign in case it needed more money. The campaign spent 800,000 euros, he said, out of a budget of 1.3 million.

Dublin  - Ireland's economy - which enjoyed an unprecedented boom in the last decade - is in recession after the gross domestic product fell for the second successive quarter, figures released from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in Dublin showed Thursday.

GDP fell by 0.8 per cent in the second quarter of this year compared to the same quarter of 2007 after falling by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter compared to the first three months of 2007.

GDP fell by 1 per cent overall in the first six months of the year compared to last year.

Gross national product, which excludes earnings from multinational companies, fell by as much as 2.1 per cent in the second quarter after growing by 0.9 per cent in the first quarter.

Dublin - Dublin and Washington have signed a deal to allow 20,000 Irish school leavers to live and work in the US for 12 months and also allow 5,000 US citizens to live and work in Ireland for the same length of time, the Irish Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Micheal Martin signed the deal on Wednesday with US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte in Washington.

"This represents one of the most significant developments in our visa arrangements with the US in almost two decades," Martin said in a statement.

Dublin - After 22 hours of negotiations, the Irish government said Wednesday it had managed to agree a 6-per-cent pay increase with workers for the next 21 months.

The deal would be paid in two phases following an initial pay freeze, a statement from Prime Minister Brian Cowen's office said.

Private-sector workers would receive a 3.5-per-cent rise for six months, then 3.5 per cent for the following year after an initial three-month freeze.

Public sector workers' wages would be frozen for 11 months, then they would receive 3.5 per cent for nine months and 2.5 per cent for the final month, the statement said.