Electronics component manufacturer AVX is creating more than 50 jobs in Co Derry. AVX makes multilayer ceramic capacitors, tiny electronic components which store and release energy at a predetermined rate, and which have a wide range of applications, particularly in the telecoms and automotive industries. The output of AVX's Coleraine plant is more than 40 million capacitors a day, making it Europe's largest producer. The expansion is the result of new orders from the Far East, and will increase the workforce to more than 1,000.

The dispute between Belfast shipyard Harland & Wolff and its US customer Global Marine over money owed for additional modifications to two deep-water drillships may be settled shortly. The dispute arose after H&W said it was owed around £50 million sterling (€61.6 million) for changes it had made to the original design. Global Marine rejected this, saying it had expected the vessels to be delivered at the original price.

But following a visit to Belfast by a delegation from the US company, it appears a settlement may now be possible in the argument over the £600 million contract. It is understood that Global Marine has offered a "stage payment" of £18 million in an attempt to defuse the row, which H&W said threatened the future of the yard. The contract for the vessels was signed in March, but the yard's management insists that it did not include provision for the additional modifications it says were carried out at Global Marine's request.