News from Ireland
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ICONIC DUBLIN STORE TAKEN OVER BY BANKS
Any shopping visitor to Dublin will be familiar with the famous Arnotts department store located
on Henry Street. Together with Clerys and Roches Stores (now gone) the three stores were the
absolute center of retailing at the O'Connell street part of Dublin city centre. Staff and shoppers alike
were amazed to learn that the company has now been taken over by the banks who obviously fear
that the 300M euro debt run up by Arnotts is in peril of not being repaid. Arnotts continues to be a
profitable business but its ambitious scheme to develop a large part of its Henry Street store and to
back onto Abbey street into a 'Northern Quarter' has severely damaged its bottom line. The banks
plan to continue to operate Arnotts with a view to selling it once market conditions improve so there
is still good hope that the 160-year-old store will survive
Any shopping visitor to Dublin will be familiar with the famous Arnotts department store located
on Henry Street. Together with Clerys and Roches Stores (now gone) the three stores were the
absolute center of retailing at the O'Connell street part of Dublin city centre. Staff and shoppers alike
were amazed to learn that the company has now been taken over by the banks who obviously fear
that the 300M euro debt run up by Arnotts is in peril of not being repaid. Arnotts continues to be a
profitable business but its ambitious scheme to develop a large part of its Henry Street store and to
back onto Abbey street into a 'Northern Quarter' has severely damaged its bottom line. The banks
plan to continue to operate Arnotts with a view to selling it once market conditions improve so there
is still good hope that the 160-year-old store will survive
ALEX 'HURRICANE' HIGGINS DIES
The death has occurred of former world snooker champion Alex Higgins who was aged 61 years.
The mercurial Belfast man was as much famed for his prowess on the green baize as for his
antics off the snooker table. He was twice world champion, in 1972 and 1982 and, along with
Steve Davis, is credited with bringing the game of snooker into the modern era, dragging its
image from that of the smoky back-street snooker halls to the very pinnacle of sporting fame
during the 1980s. He had long suffered with alcoholism and drug abuse and was struggling with
cancer. His legacy as a supreme showman and ridiculously talented player is assured both in the
snooker fraternity and also the wider sporting world.
The death has occurred of former world snooker champion Alex Higgins who was aged 61 years.
The mercurial Belfast man was as much famed for his prowess on the green baize as for his
antics off the snooker table. He was twice world champion, in 1972 and 1982 and, along with
Steve Davis, is credited with bringing the game of snooker into the modern era, dragging its
image from that of the smoky back-street snooker halls to the very pinnacle of sporting fame
during the 1980s. He had long suffered with alcoholism and drug abuse and was struggling with
cancer. His legacy as a supreme showman and ridiculously talented player is assured both in the
snooker fraternity and also the wider sporting world.
EASY PICKINGS AMONG THE RUBBISH DRY UP
Pensioner John Putt has been picking up litter in his home town of Moville in County Donegal daily
for the last three years. Asserting that it keeps him fit the 72-year-old is the very model of
public service and was even able to scoop up as much as ten or twenty euro from the pavement
while on his daily duty. His biggest daily haul was 86 euro but those days are gone now. 'Yesterday I
found one cent!' he remarked ruefully.
Pensioner John Putt has been picking up litter in his home town of Moville in County Donegal daily
for the last three years. Asserting that it keeps him fit the 72-year-old is the very model of
public service and was even able to scoop up as much as ten or twenty euro from the pavement
while on his daily duty. His biggest daily haul was 86 euro but those days are gone now. 'Yesterday I
found one cent!' he remarked ruefully.