Dublin - Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who is currently presiding over the severest economic crisis to hit Ireland in 20 years, is a man in need of a plan.

While his predecessor, the ever-popular Bertie Ahern, was the face of the Celtic Tiger boom, which took off in the mid-1990s and was over by 2007, Cowen - once Aherne's finance minister - has misfortune to be tied to, and blamed for, Ireland's sharp economic downturn

Since taking up office on May 7, Brian Cowen has sustained two crushing political blows.

Dublin - Ireland's low-fare airline Ryanair warned Monday that it is bracing for red-ink of up to 60 million euros (95 million dollars) in the fiscal 2008/2009 year amid surging fuel costs.

At best, the airline said in presenting first-quarter figures, the company could show break-even results.

Ryanair said that in the first quarter starting April 1, it managed a profit of 21 million euros, plunging 85 per cent from the same quarter a year earlier.

Aviation fuel in the quarter cost the airline 367 million euros, surging 93 per cent from the same quarter last year. Ryanair said fuel now accounts for half of the airline's expenses, compared with 36 per cent a year ago.

Brussels -

Dublin  - Ireland, with a population of just 4.3 million, sends 25 million mobile phone text messages every day, according to figures from the telecommunications regulator ComReg carried Wednesday

Dublin  - The Irish parliament, or Dail, cleared its agenda Wednesday to continue debating last week's rejection in a referendum of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty ahead of an EU summit in Bruss

Dublin - Irish homes increased their use of electricity by 62 per cent over the 16-year period from 1990 to 2006, national broadcaster RTE reported Tuesday, with a report showing larger TV sets to