by Tom Gallagher
Just when one wouldn't think things could get worse for Catholics in the Emerald Isle, a news report discloses that Catholic dioceses have lost millions of dollars in stock market investments in the Bank of Ireland and in the Allied Irish Bank.
[To assist the reader with the currency conversion to U.S. dollars from Euros, I inserted a bracket below with a quick conversion formula to U.S. dollars from Euros using the online currency conversion site, http://www.xe.com, which conversions have not be double-checked by an accountant!]
The Belfast Telegraph reports:
They are among a number of dioceses, political figures and charities which have lost a fortune on their Bank of Ireland shares.
At their highest value in February 2007, the shares traded at €18.70 (£16.21), but they were trading at their lowest point this year yesterday at just 43c (37p).
According to the register of Bank of Ireland's shareholders, Cardinal Sean Brady's Armagh archdiocese holds 409,000 shares that have plunged in value from over €7.6m (£6.6m) to just €204,000 (£176,883).
[My quick conversion to U.S. dollar values: $7.6 million Euros minus $204,000 Euros (the current value of the investment) = $7,396,000 Euros x the current conversion rate of 1 Euro = $1.40322 dollars, or a loss of the equivalent of $10.4 million U.S. dollars.]
[$10 million Euros minus $234,110 Euros (the current value of the investment) = $9,730,000 Euros x the current conversion rate of 1 Euro = $1.40322 dollars or a loss of the equivalent of $13.6 million U.S. dollars.]
