AER LINGUS head of group treasury Brian Wheatley has resigned from he company. He had been with the airline since the mid-seventies and was responsible for liquidity management at the carrier.

Wheatley was also a member of the Aer Lingus ESOT. He replaced former chief financial officer Brian Dunne on the ESOT's board. However, Wheatley resigned that position last week. He has been replaced on the ESOT by former ACC Bank chairman Dan McGing. He was also a partner with Coopers & Lybrand, which later became part of PriceWaterhouseCoopers McGing, a Fianna Fail supporter, has had a colourful career. He made an appearance at the Moriarty Tribunal, where it emerged that he had telephoned the Irish Press in 1989 seeking a £10,000 ( 12,700) donation towards the costs of former minister Brian Lenihan's medical expenses. McGing was one time chairman of Irish Press in the early nineties.

Last week it emerged that Canadian bank Scotia had dropped a lawsuit against ACC in relation to the financially troubled construction of the Four Seasons hotel in Dublin.

Scotia bank and Bank of Scotland (Ireland) had been courted by ACC Bank to help fund its construction.

The hotel was eventually completed with a 40m cost overrun. Scotia and BoS took action against ACC accusing it of negligence in its management of the loan syndication.

RYANAIR CHAIRMAN BEHIND '03 BOEING BID

RYANAIR chairman David Bonderman was behind efforts in 2003 to buy Boeing Commerical Airplanes. Boeing machinists initiated the move and Bonderman, who is head of buyout firm Texas Pacific Group, was to bankroll the acquisition. A Boeing spokesman said last week that the offer was "never seriously considered". It is thought that the deal would have cost between $9bn and $12bn at the time. Ryanair is one of Boeing's best customers. At the time, Boeing was mired in controversy over a Pentagon procurement scandal.

KIA APPOINT DOYLE HEAD OF MARKETING

KIA MOTORS IRELAND appointed Aidan Doyle (pictured right) as head of marketing. Doyle was formerly worked in HR, marketing and public relations with Opel Ireland as well as in sports marketing with the FAI. A UCD graduate, Doyle holds an MBS in marketing from Dublin City University.

Kia Motors MD James Brooks welcomed the appointment saying that Doyle would assist the company in its growth plans.

SMART TO HAVE ITS DAY IN COURT THIS TUESDAY

SMART TELECOM has a rendezvous with destiny on Tuesday. The High Court is expected to rule on Smart's bid to overturn the decision by ComReg not to grant Smart a 3G mobile licence following the company's alleged failure to provide a 100m bond. On the same day, an extraordinary general meeting of the company's shareholders will consider the rescue plan offered by backer Brendan Murtagh.

MAJORITY OF IRISH SUPPORT MOVE TO CET

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME should be scrapped, according to a survey commissioned by the Days Inn hotel chain.

More than half of Irish people surveyed (54%) believe that Western European Time should be put forward an hour to conform with Central European Time. Just 28% thought it was a bad idea.

A majority (51%) of respondents said it would be beneficial to business if all European countries were in the same time zone.

Only 24% did not think so.

Lengthening darkness caused serious worries for personal safety and mental health, the survey also found.

Travelling to and from work in the dark caused 27% to say they became demoralised, 31% to become depressed and a further 34% to say they are simply fed up with travelling in the dark.

It is not known whether the company has commissioned a feasibility study on changing the Earth's tilt on its axis to shorten the length of night at higher latitudes.

CLARIFICATION In an article, published in the Sunday Tribune on October 8, entitled "Creaven's high-rolling life on the carousel" about Dylan Creaven, we repeated a rumour to the effect that the landscape gardeners who did the landscaping work on his house near Ennis, County Clare "f. were tipped 10,000 in those "nal weeks before CAB made its raids in November 2002". We wish to point out that the rumour is entirely false. The landscaper in question, John McCarthy, never received any such tip. We greatly regret repeating this unfounded rumour and apologies to Mr McCarthy for having done so.