A glance at the week that was
Rainy days
It rained this week. It rained, in fact, all week, with many parts of the country left under water. In Cork, Waterford and Galway, it was especially bad with roads cut off. The Dublin to Sligo line was partially closed due to flooding and the Wicklow to Gorey saw a landslide derail a train. All of this was coupled with high winds to make it a particularly miserable week. And the weather forecast says it won’t get much better. Batten down those hatches.
Big in soccer
It was a huge week in soccer, with Slovenia knocking the mighty Russians out of the World Cup play-offs. This huge surprise sent shockwaves through world football. Of course, there was another big story this week, with Algeria beating Egypt by a single goal and so getting through to the World Cup. Oh and yes, there was the minor matter of France beating Ireland on aggregate, thanks to Thierry Henry’s foul that put our nation into convulsions of anger and grief.
We now know
Unfriend is the word of year, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary
Average disposable household income increased by 2.2 per cent last year, according to the Central Statistics Office
The wealthy citizens of Ancient Egypt suffered a heart disease epidemic, according to new studies
The numbers
400 years
The time it would take to test every Irish house for radon gas, according to experts
€633,000
The original salary of AIB’s new MD Colm Doherty before finally agreeing to the Government’s €500,000 cap
£250,000
The prize won by rugby fan, Stuart Tinner (pictured), when kicking the ball against the post from 30 metres during a half-time competition in Wembley on Tuesday
"It did make up in some way, for the defeat"
- Colum McCann on how winning the US National Book Award balanced out an otherwise bad night for Ireland
