AER LINGUS' IPO moved closer to reality when the airline issued a 380-page prospectus that set a shareprice range between 2.10 and 2.70. A final price won't be set until later this month, but spread betting "rms by Friday reported positive sentiment towards the shares.

DERMOT DESMOND set tongues wagging and knees knocking in property circles. "There's no doubt about it; it's a bit frothy, certainly in the property sector, " Desmond told Bloomberg News, calling Ireland's prices "a little bubble". Desmond recently sold his shares in property-rich Greencore to Liam Caroll. That sound you just heard was a Desmond-shaped pin testing the bubble's outer skin. Or was it your heart hitting the floor?

DOUGHTY HANSON, the private equity "rm that bought TV3 for 265m, was reported to be preparing a 600m bid for UTV and Scottish Media Group.

NTR went to the markets looking for 150m and came back with 170m. We'll admit it. They're popular.

SMART TELECOM made 76 sales staff, nearly 1/4 of its workforce, redundant last week at the start of a painful process that will try and save the business, which is out of cash and reliant on working capital from their biggest shareholders, the Murtagh family.