This is the week that Lady Gaga declared herself the Twitter Queen as more people follow her than anyone else on Twitter. so popularity is still, well, popular. A new marketing service has arroved of late that allows you to "buy" Facebook Fans and Friends. 55 dollars will get you 500 people liking your Facebook Business Page or 900 dollars for 10,000 likes on your Page.

Greenwood Furniture, one of Ireland's leading retail furniture stores recently held a TV Giveaway Prize Draw for its valued customers and was overwhelmed with the response it received. Both new and long time customers visited the 20,000 square foot showroom to snap up the fantastic extra value offers available in store as part of the €1m stock clearance sale.

A New tourism brand for county Leitrim was launched this week to act as a one-stop information shop for visitors, supporting the county's thriving tourism industry. The new entity 'Leitrim – explore, experience, enjoy' is aimed at reaching out and providing a variety of informational portals to the wide variety of visitors both domestic and international who visit or are considering visiting the county in the future.

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Results of a recent survey carried out by Cork Chamber indicate that Cork companies are continuing to invest in training for their employees. During 2009, over 40 per cent of Cork Chamber member companies attended training organised by two state-funded training networks, BiznetCork Skillnet and Munster Finuas Network, both managed and promoted by Cork Chamber.

Ulster Bank has announced the introduction of extended opening hours in its 137 main branches in the Republic of Ireland, including Cork city branches in Blackpool, Patrick Street, South Mall, Wilton and Winthrop Street.

"The family takes its air-conditioned, power-steered and power-braked automobile out for a tour, passes through cities that are badly paved, made hideous by litter, blighted buildings and posts for wires that should long since have been put underground.

Three out of every five (59 per cent) accountancy practices in Ireland intend to take on more staff by September 2011. That's one of the main findings of a survey by Hays, one of the world's leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people, which spoke to 200 senior partners within accountancy practices around Ireland between April and June of this year.

We have all heard the hard luck stories of friends or relatives who started up small companies, lightly staffed with modest turnover. Once the pinch of the recession was felt, they didn't have the know-how or backing to fight their way out

Cork's growing claims culture is acting as a barrier to work for some entrepreneurial individuals looking to generate an income by using their skills to go it alone, according to Sean Burke from Publicliability.ie "As a nation we have definitely become more litigious over recent years," he says.