Irish Times Inside Business

On this special episode of Inside Business recorded at EY’s head office, host Ciarán Hancock is joined by Dr Harriet Treacy, founder and CEO of BeyondBMI, Ireland’s first online medically led weight management and obesity clinic. She explains how frustration at the inefficiencies of healthcare systems was the catalyst in her decision to pivot from a medical doctor to an entrepreneur. Harriet is a...

In the first half of this week’s Inside Business, we debate the merits or otherwise of the now permanent 9 per cent VAT rate for the hospitality sector which kicked in on Wednesday. This followed a pledge in last year’s budget to cut the rate, and a long lobbying campaign by many in the industry.  But at a cost of €681 million in a full year, is it a good way to spend taxpayer’s money? And sh...

On this week’s episode of Inside Business host Ciarán Hancock has Irish Times new recruit Killian Woods in studio to discuss a Government scheme to support the building of apartments in our cities, which looks set to miss a key target. Croi Conaithe cities is a Government support scheme to help plug the affordability gap to support apartment building, which is a key plank in the State’s plan to so...

The announcement of a 60 day ceasefire in the Middle East to allow detailed negotiations on what we understand could be a deal to end the conflict, has given the financial markets breathing space. First up on this week’s podcast is the potential impact on energy prices through the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for oil, liquified natural gas and fertiliser. The Irish Times’s...

First up on this week’s episode of Inside Business is Elon Musk's company SpaceX and its plan to raise $75 billion through what will likely be the biggest initial public offering (IPO) in history this Friday. The company values itself at $1.75tn, but some analysts feel it is worth far less. Could it prove to be a risky bet for the retail investor given SpaceX's lack of profit? And there are questi...

This week, Inside Business host Ciarán Hancock is joined in studio by An Post chief executive David McRedmond, who is about to step down after 10 years in charge of the State-owned company. He recently wrote an article for The Irish Times about the explosion in online shopping in this country and how it would impact on bricks and mortar retailers. Last year An Post delivered 75 million parcels to...

This week Inside Business looks at pay transparency. A new EU directive requiring employers to disclose salary ranges in the workplace and toughen rules enforcing gender pay equality comes into effect on June 7th. However, Ireland is set to miss that deadline, with no draft legislation in place. Nichola Harkin is head of employment law services at employers’ group Ibec and joins host Ciaran Hancoc...

House price growth hit 6.5 per cent in March, the slowest rate in two years, offering some chink of light to those hoping to buy. For tenants however, the news is grim, with rents rising by 4.4 per cent in Q.1, the highest quarterly increase since 2022. While the number of eviction notices issued by landlords rose by 50 per cent in the same period. All that against the backdrop of new government r...

How high could oil prices go? It has shot up since the United States and Israel’s war with Iran began a couple of months ago. But not by as much as might have been expected. Talks on a deal are taking place but in the absence of a deal there is concern that a prolonged conflict could lead to a global recession. Economist John FitzGerald and Cliff Taylor of the Irish Times join host Ciarán Hancock...

First up on this episode of Inside Business, the rising cost of living. Prepay Power last week became the first Irish energy supplier to announce an increase in its prices since the Middle East conflict began. Daragh Cassidy is Head of Communications at consumer advice website bonkers.ie, and he joins host Ciarán Hancock to discuss the outlook for a range of consumer prices, and whether other ener...

On today’s Inside Business podcast Cliff Taylor from The Irish Times discusses the latest inflation figures, and our Current Affairs Correspondent Conor Pope offers tips on cutting your energy bills. Headline inflation in the Irish economy remained steady at 3.6% in April, figures published today show. “It’s hard to know how things will go but it looks like we could have a turbulent three to six m...

Our guest this week on Inside Business is Edmond Scanlon, chief executive of Kerry Group, the global food ingredients player and one of Ireland’s biggest stock market companies. The Tralee-based company has left behind its dairy roots to focus on high value nutrition and ingredients, supplying major food companies around the world. Edmond joins host Ciarán Hancok in studio to discuss how Kerry Gro...

On this week’s episode of Inside Business, host Ciarán Hancock speaks to Mayo entrepreneur Ciaran Crean. Ciaran is co-founder of Micksgarage.com, a business founded in 2004 selling car parts online. There have been a few bumps on the road since its foundation, but Micksgarage is currently in growth mode and has spun out a couple of businesses. One of those is WaveOMS, which provides software to Ir...

In the 10 years since Aimee Connolly founded the viral beauty brand Sculpted by Aimee, it’s become a multi-million euro enterprise with plans to increase its revenues this year by 25 per cent. Today, Ciaran asks about her early days as an entrepreneur, starting the business with €10,000 in savings, and her tips on leadership, scaling, and plans to enter the lucrative US market. Connolly tells Insi...

It’s a year on since Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs and host Ciarán Hancock is joined in studio by Aidan Meagher, EY partner and co-head of the geopolitical strategy team; to hear about the impact this has had on Irish exporters and global trade. They also chat about the current market turmoil and an increasing level of cyber-attack on the operations of American companies in Ireland by Iran...

This week the Government introduced a €250 million package of measures to help businesses and households with their fuel bills over the next couple of months. But will it be enough? And is it merely a bet by Government on the Iran conflict being resolved quickly? Joining host Ciarán Hancock in studio to tease this out are Cliff Taylor of The Irish Times and Fergal O’Brien, director of lobbying and...

First up on this week’s Inside Business is Ireland’s housing crisis and where it is felt most – Dublin city. Mark Fitzgerald is chairman of the Fine Gael Commission for renewal and a non-executive director of Sherry FitzGerald Group. He joined host Cliff Taylor in studio to discuss a recent piece he wrote for the Irish Times where he highlights restrictive geography and the lack of imagination aro...

First up on this week’s Inside Business is St Patrick’s Day. It’s just six days away but the festival itself is a four-day affair this year and will begin on Saturday. The man in charge of this major annual undertaking is Richard Tierney, chief executive of the St Patrick’s Day festival. He joined host Ciarán Hancock in studio to discuss year-long preparations that went into the 2026 festival, wha...

As the US-Israel attacks on Iran intensify and the conflict spreads in the Middle East, the impact on the world economy is already being felt. Ireland is already seeing motor fuel prices creep upwards, and the cost of home-heating oil soar in recent days. Do those price increases reflect reality or are Irish consumers getting taken advantage of? Will prices continue to rise? And how soon before Do...

First up on this week’s Inside Business are US tariffs. Last Friday, the Supreme Court there ruled that Donald Trump’s tariffs from last year via emergency legislation were illegal. Trump responded by introducing a 10 per cent global tariff under separate legislation. So, what does this mean for Irish exporters? And what does it mean for the trade deal agreed last year with the European Union? Cli...

Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris announced a plan this week to introduce a new savings scheme to unlock the €170 billion that people here are keeping in mostly low-yield bank deposit accounts. His plan is to devise a scheme that generates good returns for savers in a way that puts the money on deposit to better use in the economy. Cliff Taylor of The Irish Times covered the story thi...

First up on this week’s episode of Inside Business, we look at new research this week from Revolut suggests that social media companies made €32 million in revenue from scam ads to Irish users in 2025. The figure for Europe as a whole was a whopping €4.4 billion. Host Ciarán Hancock is joined by Irish Times reporter Hugh Dooley to takes us through the headline findings from the Revolut research, w...

On this week’s episode of Inside Business, we hear the argument for scrapping mandatory retirement here. Host Cliff Taylor is joined on the line by Irish Times contributor John Fitzgerald who thinks Ireland should follow the lead of Scandinavia, the Baltics and the Netherlands, where three-quarters of the population aged 60-64 are in the labour force. He makes the case that such a move could not o...

This week on Inside Business, host Ciarán Hancock is joined in studio by Cliff Taylor to talk about the recent surge in the price of gold, which went past $5,000 an ounce on Monday, setting a new high. In January alone, the price has climbed by 17 per cent. So, who’s buying it? Why is it viewed as a safe investment? And what role has US president Donald Trump played in this price spike? Cliff has...

As the annual World Economic Forum enters its third day, host Ciarán Hancock is joined from Davos in the Swiss Alps by Irish Times Economics Correspondent Eoin Burke-Kennedy. US President Donald Trump’s push to take over Greenland, and the strain it is putting on EU-US relations, has dominated this year’s event so far. Trump is due to arrive in Davos on Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday, French pres...