:unsure:

Could be interesting? :rolleyes:

Yep :unsure:

:w00t:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/te...ar-1253194.html

 

 

Ten highest earners scoop up a massive €7bn in just one year

 

By Lynne Kelleher

Sunday December 23 2007

 

 

Multi-millionaire businessman Sean Quinn has a billion-euro fortune -- but he only wager 50¢ stakes when he joins his pals for a weekly card game of 25 in Cavan.

 

 

Quinn, along with many of Ireland's wealthiest men and women, has given an insight into what makes them tick.

 

The country's top 10 earners added a huge lump of cash to their worth last year, taking home almost €7bn.

 

A new RTE show, Ireland's Top Earners, analyses the country's top 50 pay packets of last year.

 

While the No 1 earner, Sean Quinn, made an incredible €1.5bn in the last year he admits he is parsimonious when it comes to gambling.

 

Racing legend JP McManus, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary, media boss Sir Anthony O'Reilly and bloodstock tycoon John Magnier all added to their already substantial fortunes.

 

But Ireland's greatest entertainers failed to make it with dance legend Michael Flatley adding only €2.5m to his €500m fortune.

 

Meanwhile, the show, presented by Craig Doyle, reveals U2 are worth €681m but the rockers only made €25m in the last 12 months.

 

Fermanagh born Billionaire Sean Quinn was the country's top earner. In a rare interview on the RTE show, the health and insurance magnate, nicknamed the Mighty Quinn, said he didn't care about all his riches.

 

He said: "It doesn't worry me at all. The most important thing to me is family. I take great pride creating something here in this local area. The Fermanagh-Cavan-Leitrim area has been very poor for the last 100 years.

 

"I'm delighted to be chairman of a company that has created a lot of employment here so times are exciting."

 

Even though he is one of the richest men in the country, he reveals his tastes are very simple.

 

He said: "I celebrate success by going for a game of cards on a Tuesday. We play 50 cents a game for 10 games.

 

"The most I can lose is a fiver and the most I can win is a tenner. We play for three or four hours and have a bit of craic. That's fine with me and I go to the pub.

 

"I was in Russia last week and in Paris at the weekend so I get around a bit. I'm happy enough. Whatever comes is good enough for me."

 

He said he was quite critical and always trying to achieve the highest standards in his company which employs over 6,000 people.

 

He said: "If I see a lorry on the road with the number plate hanging off or it's dirty or there's something wrong with it, I only see the problems. I don't see the good side.

 

"In fact, 34 years ago when I started off, I only had one lorry on the road but I was all excited about it then."

 

McManus, Ireland's best- known gambler, made the biggest part of his fortune from foreign exchange deals and added €127m to his bank account in the last year.

 

Michael O'Leary may dress down in jeans and casual gear at the office but his pay packet of a staggering €147m in the last year shows the country's cheekiest marketing man has one of the healthiest bank balances in the country.

 

Magnier, one of the world's most influential horse breeders, saw his overall wealth shoot up by €187m last year.

 

Paper and packaging tycoon, Sir Michael Smurfit, brought the Ryder Cup to Ireland and was knighted for services to British businesses.

 

Sir Michael, whose empire employs 70,000 staff in 30 countries around the world, came into the list at No 13 making €203m in the last financial year.

 

Rock 'n' roll property developer, Harry Crosbie, came 11th in the list after adding a massive €242m to his not-inconsiderable fortune.

 

Tycoon Dermot Desmond, who is regarded as one of the best business brains in the country, sold London City Airport at the end of 2006 adding €624m to his worth.

 

Denis O'Brien, who now lives in Malta, comes in at number two on the list after making €1.2bn in the last financial year.

 

But the Murtagh brothers, of construction firm Kingspan, number 8 in the rich list, will have seen as much as €50m wiped off their net worth as Kingspan shares tumbled over the past week.

 

Ireland's Top Earners will be shown on RTE on Thursday, December 27, at 9.35pm.

 

- Lynne Kelleher

 

 

U2 are worth €681m but the rockers only made €25m in the last 12 months.

 

 

:o

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1773

 

Bono takes wife Ali for a traditional flutter at the races

Last updated at 11:22am on 27th December 2007

 

 

He may be an international pop phenomenon but when it comes to Christmas traditions, Bono is as stuck in his ways as the rest of us.

 

The U2 frontman joined 18,000 punters for a day at the races with his wife and four children at Leopardstown, Dublin, on Boxing Day, for the annual St Stephen's day meeting, as he has done for many years.

 

 

http://i14.tinypic.com/6pqvw2t.jpg

 

Rocker Bono takes a chilled out approach to the Christmas holidays - and enjoys a traditional day out at the races on Boxing Day with wife Ali

 

Boxing Day is one of the busiest days in the racing calendar as it is for hunting - 300 hunts are reported to have met in England yesterday despite the ban on the sport in 2005.

 

And Bono is himself a master of tenacity - he and his wife Ali, seen here arriving at the course, celebrated 25 years of marriage this summer.

 

They have two daughters Jordan, 18, and Memphis Eve, 16, and two sons Elijah, eight, and six-year-old John Abraham.

 

 

Totally :offtopic: but I really like her boots...

 

 

http://i1.tinypic.com/87236o5.jpg

 

 

 

:P

Only €25m? :lol: They have done f*** all this year, so to make €25m is remakrable :lol:

 

 

Only €25m? :lol: They have done f*** all this year, so to make €25m is remakrable :lol:

 

 

Interest -_-

 

Bono is stuck in a tradition, he can´t get out of it... :lol:

 

I like Ali´s boots too :heart: and Bono´s are

Edited December 29, 200717 yr by Queen Sheba

Anybody brave enough to download this? :lol:

 

 

http://www.u2france.com/spip.php?article11644

It's actually not as bad as I'd feared :lol:

 

And you don't need to 'download'. If you click on the download button it plays automatically.

Listening to it now... :music:

it´s not bad, not bad at all .. :teresa:

http://www.pr-inside.com/bono-designs-char...irt-r372966.htm

 

BONO DESIGNS CHARITY T-SHIRT

 

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

 

U2 rocker BONO has designed a limited edition T-shirt which will be sold to benefit impoverished African farmers.

The singer has teamed up with the Hard Rock group to create the Bono Signature Series T-shirt which will be sold through the company's various outlets, with proceeds going to the Wildlife Conservation Society's Conservation Cotton Initiative - a scheme aiming to educate organic cotton farmers in Zambia about protecting local animals and plant life.

The T-shirts will also be sold through Edun, a socially conscious clothing company set up by Bono and his wife Ali Hewson in 2005.

 

 

 

You can buy them here (with photo)

 

http://www.hardrock.com/Estore/product.asp...Sig+Tee%2DBlack

 

Also on the Official Site here

 

http://www.u2.com/news/index.php?mode=full&news_id=2186

 

 

I quite like the girlie white one but why is it more expensive than the guy's black one? :blink:

Was wondering the same thing? :blink: :blink:

Extra material to go over the boobies? :unsure:

:lol: :lol:

Edited January 6, 200817 yr by Queen Sheba