Irish tourism continues to be at odds with State number-crunchers regarding the number of visitors arriving each month. Since last September, the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which carries out forensic surveys and data gathering, has reported a steady and consistent decline, bad enough to fall 30 per cent in February. But ask tourism organisations, and they just don’t see it on the ground. The CSO has been engaging with them on the numbers.
Following similar moves by AIB and PTSB, Bank of Ireland is now considering an offer to buy out thousands of legacy shareholders with tiny holdings after crisis-era bailouts diluted their stakes. Joe Brennan, who was at the bank’s AGM, considers the detail.
The operator of the Six Nations Championship rugby tournament turned a pretax profit of £10.5 million (€12.5 million) in its last financial year, following previous losses. The Ireland-based Six Nations Rugby Limited is also confident of further strong performances. Hugh Dooley looks at the accounts.
The current Donald Trump presidency has brought diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies squarely back into the spotlight. A new survey, reports Emmet Malone, shows that in Ireland more companies are persisting with them than elsewhere.
Staff at the Business Post have been told it likely they will be moving from their current offices to the Irish Management Institute (IMI) campus in south county Dublin. Colm O’Reilly, chief operating officer of the group, told Ian Curran that while plans had not been concluded, the move was “probable”. The Business Post Group acquired the IMI from University College Cork (UCC) in a deal finalised earlier this month.
It is still a mystery to many how we can ever build enough homes to meet swelling demand. But Glenveagh at least thinks the Government’s plan for a housing delivery agency is a step in the right direction if it can just ramp things up a modest amount. Ciara O’Brien and Ian Curran report on comments by chief executive Stephen Garvey as well as some financial details following Thursday’s AGM.
Eoin Burke-Kennedy takes a look at the ongoing housing crisis, a problem so entrenched that the term “crisis” may no longer seem the appropriate word. But it is an enduring failure, tangled up in questionable policy decisions, rising rents and demand, building issues, and all in a cash-rich economy. Agenda takes a step back to examine how it all went wrong.
Even in simpler times – say the 1960s, when Ireland and the UK were at it – working out a trade agreement was a tricky business. So, when all the drama and intrigue around Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff regime is put to one side, it is important to consider just how complicated trade wars and agreements can be. In his column, John FitzGerald explains it all, and warns that it’s hard enough when executed in good faith, and far more difficult with a hostile and erratic US negotiating partner.
Over €1 million worth of bonus payments have been shared among staff at Storyful, the Rupert Murdoch-owned social media intelligence company, which was bought from former RTÉ journalist Mark Little and investors for €18 million in 2013. Accounts for the Dublin headquartered company, reports Gordon Deegan, also show pretax losses last year decreased by 14 per cent to €2.66 million.
The Construction Industry Federation has chosen Andrew Brownlee as its new director general, succeeding Hubert Fitzpatrick. Ciarán Hancock reports on the appointment of Mr Brownlee, who is currently chief executive of Solas, the education and training outift.
The former Irish arm of consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) paid a €55 million dividend to its Swiss parent company in the year after it sold its last factory and exited manufacturing in the Republic. Ian Curran has the detail on the company which closed its doors here in 2022. Procter & Gamble (Manufacturing) Ireland Ltd currently holds the group’s defined benefit pension scheme.
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