The Front Pages
Today’s Irish Times front page runs with the headline ‘Regulator signed off on €169m loan from Anglo to Quinn’, as the paper reveals the extent of the Financial Regulator’s involvement in Seán Quinn’s purchase of 15% of Anglo Irish Bank.
In a confidential letter seen by the Times, the prudential director at the regulator signed off on a €169m loan, which was used by the Quinn Group to fund the purchase of Anglo’s shares in July 2008, with the actual loan granted by Anglo also. Under company law, this action is typically prohibited.
The Irish Independent meanwhile, follows up yesterday’s headline regarding Anglo’s possible purchase of ailing department store Arnotts with their main story ‘Arnotts could be sold for €1 as banks tighten grip’. To restructure the store’s debts, Arnotts may end up having to let its new owners Anglo Irish Bank and Ulster Bank buy out all its shares for a nominal sum.
The department store currently owes its new owners €300m but has assured its near-1,000 workers that their jobs are ‘secure’. An Arnotts spokesperson told the Independent that the store ‘continues to invest in the future of the store. We would like to reassure our customers that it is business as usual at Arnotts.â€
Tales from the Tabs
‘Mouse-trapped! The greedy rodent that bit off more than it could chew’
The Daily Mail today reports on the ongoing battle of wits between Merseyside gardener Noel Blundell and the rodent he has dubbed ‘Supermouse’, which has an amazing talent for sneaking into the gardener’s backyard bird feeder.
‘Supermouse’, a three-inch-long field mouse, likes nothing more than to run up a nearby backyard branch and clamber into the apparently ‘squirrel-proof’ feeder once the seed drops below the feeder hole.
On many occasions, Blundell says the mouse has eaten so much nuts and oats while inside his feeder paradise that he has become too fat to escape, and needed the gardener’s help.
Feeder manufacturer Nature’s Feast sales executive Lauren Walker told the Mail: ‘In 20 years we’ve never heard of a mouse that has managed to get to one of our bird feeders in this way. We’d be interested to see him in action.’
The Sports Pages
The ever-controversial ex-Argentina national coach Diego Maradona is not taking his departure too well, after accusing the Argentina Football Association (AFA) of “lies and betrayal†after deciding to not renew his contact (The Sun). Maradona also accused his national team manager Carlos Bilardo of working ‘in the shadows to get me fired.’
In other managerial news, The Sun today expects former Manchester City, Wales and Blackburn manager Mark Hughes to take the reins at Fulham. Hughes is expected to sign a £2 million-a-season, three-year-deal today. If he signs, it will be a huge relief for Fulham fans, who recently experienced the utter fiasco of the club trying to lure Ajax manager Martin Jol, whose Dutch side had blocked him from joining the London club.
In transfer news, David Beckham has pledged to give West Ham a decision soon on whether or not he wishes to end his career at the club. Beckham was born in east London and this is believed to be a key factor in trying to lure the 35-year-old former England captain to Upton Park (The Sun).
Finally, Danish shot-stopper Anders Lindegaard of Norway’s Aalesunds, is being lined up to eventually replace Edwin Van Der Sar at Manchester United. The 26-year-old is thought to be the perfect replacement for the departed Ben Foster as United’s second-choice goalkeeper this season, with a view to becoming the 39-year-old Van Der Sar’s successor (Daily Mail).
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