From the desk of Frank Kane: Balls, broadband and bookings

Focus: Frank Kane looks into how one bank spends €200,000 on golf balls and the tough times facing Her Majesty's press.

A I hooted with laughter at one fact to emerge from a new book on the collapse of the Irish economy by Simon Carswell, a journalist fromThe Irish Timesof Dublin.

Between 2006 and 2009, the peak years for Irish financial insanity, property prices soared, credit lines were extended ad infinitum, and bank loans were handed out like charity flyers in the high street.

And in those three years, Anglo Irish Bank, the great financial bubble whose bursting was to prove fatal for the Celtic Tiger economy, spent €200,000 (Dh999,442) on golf balls.

Not on golf clubs, or even memberships of golf clubs, nor even on green fees. Just balls. Anglo Irish, then run by Sean Fitzpatrick - now among the most disliked men in the country - pampered its best customers lavishly on the golf course as it sought to push loans down their throats. Many had seldom hit a ball before, so there was a high rate of attrition, hence the €200,000 bill.

I met Mr Fitzpatrick some years before, while working on a story that linked his bank with alleged serious criminal activities, and I must say he showed all the signs of the "bubble disease" even then.

He suggested we talk about it "over a drink", and took me to Dublin's poshest and most expensive hotel for a slap-up, no-expense-spared dinner.

At the end, he suggested we should have a "walk around the course" in the morning, meaning a game of golf. I had to decline. I've never played the game myself, and in any case I had a story to write.

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I never thought I would yearn for the days when I was a fully paid-up customer of Etisalat, with all-singing, all-dancing mobile, landline, TV and broadband services in my monthly package.

But, since moving to Dubai Marina a couple of years ago, I have been forced to become a du subscriber for everything other than mobile, and what an eye-opener that has been. While Etisalat had its faults, in comparison to du it was a model of customer service.

What is it about du that annoys me so much? Is it the sloppy, couldn't-care-less attitude to the customers? Is it the abysmal selection of movies on demand, a really naff offering of the worst of Hollywood, with some unwatchable Bollywood thrown in? Is it the regular breaks in broadband service?

It's all of the above, but this week at least one other reason has surfaced for me to dislike du.

It is the sheer arbitrariness of it. My wife, born in Azerbaijan and a native Russian speaker, used to love the five Russian channels du provided, especially the most popular, ORT1. Even though my Russian is minimal, I used to quite enjoy trying to decipher the game shows and Moscow news bulletins.

Now, there are only two Russian channels, and no ORT1. "We don't provide them any more, we can't do anything about it," said the less-than-helpful lady at du customer enquiries.

I can't do anything about it either, otherwise I'd be back with Etisalat.

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Look out for some big write-ups of the Dubai hotel industry in the UK press in the next few weeks.

In the wake of the scandal surrounding the British minister of defence Dr Liam Fox, Fleet Street's finest have decamped to the emirate to write "colour" pieces about the five-star scenes of the alleged improper dealings, ie the Shangri La on Sheikh Zayed Road and the Address in Downtown, where controversial meetings took place between Dr Fox and various businessmen.

But these are changed times for Her Majesty's press. One poor hack (I won't mention his publication to avoid embarrassment) complained to me: "I've spent all day at the Address, fantastic place, really impressive; then had dinner and drinks at the Shangri La, and loved that too. But then I had to go back to some half-built hole in the middle of the desert, where they booked me."

Standards are slipping everywhere.