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Momentous Year From Bad To Worse...

A momentous year which went from bad to worse... Siobhan Creaton uses the alphabet to summarise the main events of what proved to be a tumultuous year for Ireland A The nightmare that is Anglo Irish Bank continued in 2010 when its staggering €35bn of bad loans finally bankrupted the country. Some of the bank's top brass were arrested and questioned by gardai, and the Director for Public Prosecutions will decide next year whether they will face charges for their recklessness. Sean FitzPatrick did suffer the humiliation of being made bankrupt while his protege David Drumm filed for bankruptcy in the US where he may fare better in the long run. For many months politicians dithered and differed over how to solve the Anglo problem before finally agreeing to wind it down. So in 2011 Anglo Irish Bank will disappear forever but Irish taxpayers will be paying for its failure for many years to come. B 2010 will go down in history as the year when Ireland agreed to take an €85bn bailout from ...

Surge In Emigration...

Surge in emigration as economic downturn takes toll... THE NUMBER of people moving to live in Australia, Canada, the US, New Zealand and Britain over the past year has increased sharply, reflecting a major surge in emigration due to the recession. New figures show Irish citizens have received 21 per cent more long-term resident visas for Australia, 49 per cent more New Zealand resident visas and 33 per cent more US immigrant visas. There has also been a 100 per cent increase in the number of Canadian work permits issued to Irish people and a significant increase in the number of similar visas issued for Australia. The number of people moving to Britain has risen by 2 per cent in 2010, which amounts to just under 1,000 Irish people moving to Britain every month to live. The figures from five of the most popular destinations for Irish emigrants are in line with recent data from Central Statistics Office, showing 65,300 people emigrated in the year to April 2010, the highest number leavin...