11/09 The Saturday Papers

The front pages

‘Forced sale of Polish bank boosts AIB cash by €2.5bn’ is the headline on the front page of today’s Irish Times, detailing how the bank has managed to raise a third of the €7.4 billion required to avoid majority State ownership.

The paper tell us that Spain’s largest bank, Santander, bought AIB’s 70 per cent stake in Bank Zachodni, the third largest bank in Poland, for €2.9 billion and the bank’s share in a Polish asset management firm for €150 million.

The sale boosted AIB’s capital by €2.5 billion and the bank now have to raise another €4.9 billion to reach the Financial Regulator’s capital target by the end of 2010.

Alongside a big picture of Wayne and Coleen Rooney in the wake of damaging revelations about Wayne’s private life, the Irish Independent lead with the headline ‘Closure threat to builders who owe €300m’.

According to a report, twelve developers have been threatened with being put out of business for failing to co-operate with the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA).

NAMA is preparing to offload €500 million worth of property loans in the next few weeks and is taking a hard-line with the twelve developers who have failed to pay back over €300 million worth of property loans between them.

On the ninth anniversary of 9/11 attacks, US president Barack Obama is pleading for tolerance amid the controversy that has arisen over the plans of a Florida pastor to stage a public burning of the Quran.

‘Burning Issue’ is the lead headline in this morning’s Irish Examiner, accompanying a massive picture which shows Pakistani lawyers burning an American flag in protest in Multan to denounce the plans of Terry Jones to burn the Quran in public. Jones was originally planning to burn the Quran in protest at proposed plans to build an Islamic centre near Ground Zero in New York.

Obama has pleaded for calm, saying: “We have to make sure that we don’t start turning on each other.”

“We may call that god different names, but we remain one nation. And, you know, as somebody who, you know, relies heavily on my Christian faith in my job, I understand, you know, the passions that religious faith can raise.”

Tales from the tabs

It’s sex by the barrelful in the tabloids and for once, it’s a female, rather than a male celebrity who is the subject of lurid allegations in the red tops this morning.

‘Sex-mad star tried to bed me’ is one of the headlines on the front of this morning’s Irish Sun, pointing readers to pages 12 and 13 to read about the sordid exploits of Britney Spears and her sexual harassment of male staff.

‘Britney lay naked on the bed running her hands over her body, says Brit’s ex-bodyguard Fernando Flores, who this week launched a £10 million sexual harassment lawsuit against the sexy singer.

Flores claims that Spears seduced him and a number of male staff that worked for her over the years.

“I am not the first employee she has done this to and I will probably not be the last,” he added.

“I’ve been told at least one other former security guard is now willing to come forward and tell how she sexually harassed him too. It was common knowledge when I was working for her that one of her dancers got fired because she started having sex with him.

“This guy was seduced by Britney and then manipulated into sneaking prescription pills into the house so she could take them. He was fired when her Dad Jamie found out.”

In light of all the recent revelations regarding Wayne Rooney and other sports stars who have sought comfort in ladies of the night, it is refreshing to hear that some sex workers still play by the rules.

According to the Star this morning, one of the (many) prostitutes hired by Tiger Woods, Devon James, has been fired from the brothel in which she worked for disclosing details about her dalliances with the world’s best golfer.

“She broke the code, which is privacy and discretion with all clients,” said Dennis Hoff, owner of the Bunny Ranch, the Nevada brothel which Tiger visited from time to time.

James had also claimed that she had a love child with Tiger, a claim that has been since disproved thanks to a DNA test.

The Sports Pages

Predictably, Wayne Rooney dominates the back as well as the front pages this morning as the fourth estate forecast just how hostile a reception Wayne Rooney will receive on his return to Goodison Park this afternoon.

‘Blue Murder’ is the headline on the back page of the Star this morning, as Alex Ferguson has predicted that Rooney and his teammates should expect a ‘bloody nightmare’ at Wayne’s old club.

Despite United’s excellent record against the Toffees in the Premier League, Ferguson said, “It is always a bloody nightmare going there. It would not matter if we had Dixie Dean playing for us”. Ferguson wasn’t prepared to comment on Rooney’ state of mind, however, snarling at reporters “Listen, I am not discussing any of my players’ personal lives. OK. Let’s put that to bed.”

On the home front, there’s the small matter of the All-Ireland under-21 hurling final in Thurles this evening, with Tipperary looking to add another title to the Liam McCarthy they won so impressively last weekend.

‘Tribes future starts in Thurles’ is the headline to a preview of the game in the Irish Independent today, with Galway captain David Burke suggesting that a win today could prove crucial to the development of the county’s senior hurling team.

“We have the talent coming through. We were in a lot of minor finals over the last few years and I was unlucky enough; I lost two of them. If we were to get a result this weekend it could spark a bit of interest and get the ball rolling,” he said.

The game will go ahead in Semple Stadium despite protests from Galway officials and the Tribesmen will no doubt be well motivated to beat the Premier County in their own back yard. Eight of Tipperary’s team today were on the senior panel last week, however and Tipp’ will be confident of victory.