In today's news, The Irish Times reports that businesses deemed to be “vulnerable but viable” in the wake of a no-deal Brexit will be targeted for supports in a new initiative set to be announced in the budget. The same report says Ibec and ICTU have called for similar supports, with ICTU suggesting a short-term work scheme to preserve jobs in at-risk firms and a Brexit adjustment fund to upskill and retain workers while they are still in employment.

It's come to the point where the BBC are reporting on the Irish budget, the Indo's front page predicts a hike in petrol prices. My Brexit-voting uncle in the south of England is 78 today. He's going to love the front page of today's Daily Express (his paper of choice). I've bet him a tenner that Article 50 will be extended on 31st October. He remains blissfully unaware of how Brexit is reported and analysed back home, while he and I engage in low level megaphone diplomacy. I think he actually enjoys it.

An Alabama pension fund for firemen and policemen sued Ryanair last year. Among the funds allegations against the airline is that increased costs resulting from union recognition, coupled with lower profits, have wiped out "millions" in shareholder value and caused "substantial damage" to the fund. The company has dismissed the claims. But let's just take a moment to absorb the weirdenss of all this. A workers pension fund is trying to sue Ryanair for recognising unions.

You couldn't make it up.

Elsewhere, capitalism continues to play a blinder as the British taxpayer will be handed the £60m bill for the collapse of Thomas Cook. The costs relate to unpaid wages, holiday pay and redundancy costs for Thomas Cook’s 9,500 staff following the travel firm’s collapse, and that's on top of the £100m cost of flying 150,000 holidaymakers home last month.

Meanwhile, Lorenzo's bark proved to be worse than his bite but he's passing over the country still and caution is still advised, and more than 4,000 homes and businesses on the west coast are without power this morning.

Other news in brief, the board of the new children's hospital are concerned about the  number of health and safety incidences on the site, Moore Street traders have signalled they're ready to shut up shop after 200 years, the redevelopment of O’Devaney Gardens on Dublin's northside “will have to be abandoned” if councillors fail to approve a €7 million deal with Bartra Capital on Monday, and adaptation to prevailing winds altered by climate change is leaving our trees vulnerable.

Your Zen this morning pays tribute to Kim Shattuck, the LA-based punk musician who died yesterday. As well as her own band the Muffs, Shattuck played with Pixies, Nofx and Bowling for Soup.

Shattuck briefly replaced Kim Deal on bass duties with Pixies for their 2013 tour (adding the great pantheon of punk bass players named Kim. Let's take a moment to salute Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon while we're here, who recently rocked up at the Irish Museum of Modern Art) and I was lucky enough to see them on that tour in Dublin's Olympia. Shattuck held her own in the lineup, shame it didn't last. Here's a tune from that tour, taken from the show in Paris.

Have a nice weekend.