Ryanair was the most complained-about company in Ireland last year, while Rathwood, the home and garden retailer, attracted almost as many complaints to Ireland’s consumer watchdog, according to data released today. Conor Pope has the story.
Meanwhile, Kingspan chief executive Gene Murtagh has again received “qualified” support from a shareholder advisory firm for his re-election to the board at this month’s annual general meeting (AGM), amid concerns about the reputational damage the insulation group suffered from the inquiry into the Grenfell disaster.
Worried that the Iran war and the related energy shock will push up inflation and ECB interest rates, a reader asks whether it makes sense to walk away from their tracker mortgage rate now. Dominic Coyle offers a view in our Q&A.
Speaking of energy prices, the oil price shock the world economy is currently experiencing will force governments to find ways to reduce their future dependence on crude. Our columnist, John FitzGerald, argues that Ireland’s answer to this conundrum will be found in renewables, not nuclear power.
A pint of standard beer comes with a 54 cent excise rate attached – its zero-alcohol partner does not. So why exactly is alcohol-free beer so expensive? Paul Colgan takes a deep dive into the issue.
As the Artemis II voyage proceeded, Pilita Clark was reminded of how hard it is even for the smartest, most well-intentioned humans to avoid the inevitable pitfalls that jargon opens up. Much of this, she writes in her latest column, was due to the astronauts’ toilet. Sorry, the Universal Waste Management System.
New research from PwC has revealed a “stark and widening divide” between a privileged minority of artificial intelligence (AI) leaders, who are profiting from the technology, and the rest of the field. The report, based on a survey of more than 1,200 company leaders in Ireland and around the world, also suggests that Irish companies are lagging behind their global peers in both AI adoption and generating economic returns from it.
Finally, John Webb, acting chief executive of the CCU-CUSO, argues that recent changes to Central Bank regulations could unlock €7 billion in lending for credit union members, allowing the sector to compete with the banks.
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