IDA chief executive Michael Lohan has said he does not believe the US’s decision to withdraw from the global tax deal poses a “significant threat to Ireland”. In a blizzard of executive orders signed after his inauguration, US president Donald Trump said the agreement, which requires multinationals to pay a minimum rate of tax of 15 per cent regardless of jurisdiction, would have “no force or effect” in the US. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports from Davos.
Arachas, the largest Irish general insurance brokerage group, has agreed to acquire Cork-based Insight Insurance Brokers – the 25th deal since it was established two decades ago. As Joe Brennan reports, the value of the deal has not been disclosed. Still, it is understood to add close to €20 million of annual gross written premiums to the group, which wrote about €600 million of business on behalf of customers in 2024 – giving it a 13 per cent market share of activity in the market.
Platinum Travel creditors will meet on Tuesday January 28th for a second time to appoint a liquidator to the insolvent firm, whose customers could seek almost €4,600 each in compensation from State regulators. Barry O’Halloran reports.
As we await the Oscar nominations later today, a new report shows the audiovisual industry boosts the Irish economy by more than €1 billion annually and directly supports the equivalent of about 10,000 jobs, but “drastic” changes are reshaping the industry. Laura Slattery has the details.
In her column, Ciara O’Brien looks at the short-lived TikTok ban in the US and highlights how the fiasco has underlined the need for more open source social networks.
Cantillon looks at whether UK chancellor Rachel Reeves really was snubbed by the World Economic Forum at Davos this week, while assessing if former AIB CFO Mark Bourke will pull the trigger for an IPO of his Portuguese lender Novo Banco, as well as reporting on how the State spent €10 million on the now lost Apple tax case.
House prices in the Republic of Ireland have risen by an average of 12 per cent last year, a new survey has found, with the median price rising by €40,000 year on year to €370,000. The Geowox Housing Market Report, which looks at the entries in the residential property price register in the last three months of the year, showed the number of homes sold in the final quarter was 11 per cent down compared to 2023, with 15,326 homes sold. Ciara reports.
Ciara also reports on how Samsung unveiled its new flagship smartphones with artificial intelligence more tightly integrated into the devices and capable of taking on more complex tasks.
Clare County Council has given the green light to US president Donald Trump’s golf resort at Doonbeg for new upgrade works. Gordon Deegan has read the plans.
Gordon also reports that Failte Ireland is seeking to turn the former St Andrew’s church in Dublin into a food hall and cultural space.
AIB has become the latest Irish lender to start cutting customer deposit rates, joining Bank of Ireland and neobanks operating in the market, following a raft of official rate cuts from the European Central Bank (ECB) last year. Joe has the story.
Karen Clince is CEO of Tigers Childcare, one of the biggest providers in the Irish market with 22 centres in Dublin, Cork, Kildare and Meath. She joins host Ciarán Hancock on this week’s Inside Business podcast to explain the economics of running a childcare facility and give her view on proposals from the new Government to boost the sector. Meanwhile Eoin Burke-Kennedy updates us on the week in Davos.
In Innovation, Neil Briscoe reports on how Toyota arrived at this month’s Consumer Electronics Show now with a new car, but a new city, while Olive Keogh meets the man behind an app using AI to help prevent people falling.
Ireland’s childcare sector is struggling, but is a State-led model the answer?
Finally Ciara reviews what may be the perfect party speaker.
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