Top stories in the papers this week 26 March – 2 April 2012

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Dunnes ordered to pay €20m to developer; Confusion as shopkeepers discover they must fork out; Petrol panic buying turns up heat on David Cameron

News

2 April 2012

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1. Dunnes ordered to pay €20m to developer

Dunnes Stores has been ordered to pay around €20m to the company which built the Ferrybank Shopping Centre in Kilkenny, after failing to become its anchor tenant as agreed. The Irish Examiner reports Mr Justice Peter Kelly dismissed a bid by Dunnes to set aside an earlier arbitrator’s award for €20.2m to Holtglen Ltd, on the grounds that Holtglen had become insolvent. Instead he ordered that Dunnes should still pay the sum to Nama.

2. Confusion as shopkeepers discover they must fork out

Thousands of shopkeepers who expected to be exempt from paying the household charge found out last week that they would in fact have to pay €100 by Saturday’s deadline. The Irish Independent reports there was confusion over whether homeowners who live over their shop or business would have to pay. However only those under an old system of paying commercial rates are exempt and the majority will in fact have to pay the €100 charge.

3. Petrol panic buying turns up heat on David Cameron

Police closed some petrol stations to stop panic buying, as the British government faced criticism for warning motorists to stock up ahead of a threatened strike by tanker drivers. The Irish Examiner reports petrol sales shot up by 81% and diesel by 43%, according to the Petrol Retailers Association. There was a surge in sales of jerry cans after Minister Francis Maude advised people to fill them with fuel, in comments he later had to retract.

4. Calls to move budget to February

Budget blues in December pushes annual consumer spending down by as much as 7%, according to the National Retail Industry Alliance, which argues the government’s VAT tax take would rise significantly by moving the budget to February. The Irish Examiner reports the group believes moving the budget to traditionally weaker consumer spending months such as February or November could boost sales by as much as 3% annually.

5. Marks & Spencer eyes up Waterford city centre site

Marks & Spencer could be on its way to opening a long-awaited store in Waterford after it emerged that the group had been impressed with a site at Millars Marsh carpark on a recent visit. Waterford News reports that while City Manager, Michael Walsh, did not deny M&S had expressed an interest in Millars Marsh, he also said there was no deal on the table at the moment.