By Lorraine Turner DUBLIN | Thu May 17, 2012 11:19am BST DUBLIN (Reuters) - Big U.S. firms may rethink investing in Ireland if Greece leaves the euro zone or there is a "no" vote in Ireland's referendum on Europe's fiscal treaty, the head of the agency tasked with attracting them to the country warned. Investment from multinational firms, whose employees account for almost 10 percent of Ireland's workforce, is helping take the sting out of austerity measures by creating jobs and keeping export activity buoyant.But foreign investors may pass on Ireland, a gateway to the euro zone for U.S. investment in particular, if the crisis worsens, or if Ireland fails to pass the referendum which would secure future funding from the European Union, Barry O'Leary ... Continue reading →

By Olivia Oran and Alexei Oreskovic NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO | Tue May 15, 2012 2:36am EDT NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc has raised the price range on its initial public offering to $34 to $38 a share in response to strong demand, a source familiar with the situation said, giving the No.1 social network a valuation exceeding $100 billion. At the mid-point of $36, Facebook would raise $12.1 billion by selling 337.4 million shares. The company founded in a Harvard dorm room by Mark Zuckerberg, who turned 28 on Monday, had originally aimed for $28 to $35 a share.Wall Street had expected the company to increase the price range, with investors keen to get in on Silicon Valley's largest ever IPO that eclipses ... Continue reading →

By Daniel Flynn and Paul Taylor PARIS | Wed May 9, 2012 1:43pm EDT PARIS (Reuters) - French president-elect Francois Hollande began his drive to persuade European partners to shift their economic policy priority from austerity to growth when he met on Wednesday with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. Hollande takes his call to add growth elements to Europe's fiscal compact to Berlin next week.European Union officials said they have high hopes for the new French leader and his ability to build a working relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that could revive blocked efforts to overcome the euro zone's debt crisis"Hollande's election is a positive development that has already changed the narrative in Europe, which was getting stuck because of an obsession with ... Continue reading →

By Andreas Rinke and Noah Barkin BERLIN | Tue May 8, 2012 10:08am EDT BERLIN (Reuters) - Leading German politicians warned Greece on Tuesday that the country would not receive a cent more aid unless it fulfills all the conditions of its international bailout. An election on Sunday in Greece failed to deliver a parliamentary majority for the two big pro-bailout parties, plunging the country into political limbo and increasing the risk that another vote may be required to resolve the impasse.On Tuesday, the leader of the Left Coalition party, which benefited from rising anger over austerity to take second place in Sunday's poll, declared Greece's policy pledges under its EU/IMF rescue null and void.As Europe's largest economy, Germany has contributed the biggest share of ... Continue reading →

By Peter Dinkloh FRANKFURT | Tue May 8, 2012 1:42pm BST FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Einar Skjerven wants to spend 71 million euros (57 million pounds) on apartments in Berlin for German and Austrian clients, but decided to hold off after prices surged in a city long famed for its cheap, abundant housing. House prices elsewhere in Germany have also accelerated after years of stagnation, prompting fears in some quarters of a real estate 'bubble' in a country deeply sensitive about any sign of inflation. Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, has said it will monitor prices "very closely".Others take a more sanguine view, arguing that conservative German banking rules and demographic factors will prevent the kind of boom and bust cycle that has ravaged Ireland and ... Continue reading →

Tue May 8, 2012 3:25pm BST * NAMA launches 80:20 deferred-payment initiative * Available on 115 houses, may be extended to 750 units DUBLIN May 8 (Reuters) - Ireland's National Asset Management Agency, the country's largest property owner, launched a nationwide pilot scheme on Tuesday aimed at family home and first-time buyers, offering them guarantees against falls of up to 20 percent in the value of their properties. Irish house prices have been cut in half since the credit crisis hit, and fears of further price falls and tight credit conditions have brought the property market to a standstill. NAMA, the state-run "bad bank" set up to purge Irish lenders of 74 billion euros' worth of risky land and development loans, said it was launching ... Continue reading →

DUBLIN | Mon May 7, 2012 7:30pm BST DUBLIN (Reuters) - The head of the Irish Catholic Church apologised on Monday to victims of sexual abuse but rejected calls to resign after a TV documentary reported the cleric failed to warn parents their children were being sexually abused by a priest in 1975. The documentary, broadcast by Britain's BBC on Tuesday, said child victim Brendan Boland gave Cardinal Sean Brady the names and addresses of children being abused by paedophile Brendan Smyth during a Church investigation but Brady failed to act to ensure their safety."I apologise without hesitation to him (Brendan Boland) and to any victim," Brady told state-broadcaster RTE on Monday.Three out of the four main parties in the Republic of Ireland and the ... Continue reading →