A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Community radio stations get contracts

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland has signed 10-year broadcasting contracts with five existing community radio stations.

They are Castlebar Community Radio; Connemara Community Radio; Dublin South FM; Flirt FM which serves the student population of Galway City; and Near FM which serves the community of North East Dublin, including the areas of Coolock, Raheny and Baldoyle.

Siac to build Achill bridge

Building group Siac has got the green light for a €4.4 million project in Co Mayo.

The Department of Rural, Community and Gaeltacht Affairs has approved a €2 million grant for the Michael Davitt Bridge, which will connect Achill Island with the mainland.

The project has been costed at €4.4 million and the local authority has chosen Siac as the main contractor on the development.

But Mayo County Council was waiting for the grant approval before giving the go-ahead, as the Government had pledged to foot half the bill for the project.

It recently received this, and the Department of the Environment has also sanctioned the project.

C&C buys back 300,000 shares

Alcoholic drinks group C&C has purchased 300,000 of its ordinary shares at €11.92 per share under a share buyback programme announced in May.

Over the next few months, the company will buy back up to €300 million worth of shares, or around 8 per cent of the issued share capital.

C&C doubled the buyback programme after it sold its soft drinks division to Britvic, saying it would use €150 million of the cash it received from that deal to repurchase shares.

'No bar' to low NI corporation tax

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) said there is no technical impediment to introducing low corporation tax in Northern Ireland.

In a meeting with Sir David Varney, who is carrying out a review of Northern Ireland tax policy for the UK chancellor of the exchequer, the ICAI said that the technical obstacles that are being raised to lowering corporation tax, principally restrictions in the EU Treaty, can be overcome.

Belfast firm to supply fuel facility

West-Belfast-based Pumps and Fuel Installations Ltd has secured a £1 million (€1.48 million) contract with Iarnród Éireann to design, supply, install and maintain a major fuel storage tank farm and dispensing system in a purpose-built facility in Portlaoise.

It is one of a number of export contracts secured by the company with the backing of Invest Northern Ireland.

Petroneft reports drilling progress

Petroneft Resources, the Dublin-listed but Russia-focused oil exploration company, issued a drilling update yesterday, highlighting significant progress at two of its wells.

Dennis Francis, the group's chief executive, said he was delighted with the initial results from the Tungolskoye No. 4 well, which confirm the presence of a significant and continuous reservoir. He also said the finding supports the earlier forecasts that as many as 17.92 million barrels of oil are contained in the field.

Meanwhile drilling on another well, Lineynoye No. 7, has begun.