Breakfast Business with Joe Lynam

The slow down in the multinationals sector over the past two years has been confirmed by the Department of Enterprise. To discuss this further Emmet Oliver was joined by Economist Austin Hughes. 

Tuesday's business news headlines along with Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam.

The rate at which Irish consumers increased their spending has jumped by 6.1% between January and December. There was a marked surge in spending on gym memberships as overindulgent consumers tried to reinvent themselves.  That’s the view of the latest Consumer spending trends from Bank of Ireland and to discuss the findings further was Conall Mac Coille the Chief Economist with Bank of Irelan...

House building is rarely out of the news these days especially since the government fell so woefully short of its own completion targets last year. Evara is the largest privately owned home builder in Ireland and aims to build 1500 houses a year starting next year.  It’s also given itself a full rebrand to stress its deep roots and longevity. Joining Joe this morning was Michael Hynes is the...

1914, 1939, 1989, 2001 all years that have proven to be pivotal in how the world works.  Is 2025 set to join that list?  Is the western alliance and trading system about to break up?  If so, does Europe look to trade more with China and India and less with its natural ally the US?  Also what will Europe do if America abandons Ukraine and imposes tariffs on its erstwhile allies....

Monday's big business stories along with Joe Lynam and Russ Mould from AJ Bell.

Financial services technology or Fintech has been with us for awhile and has transformed her many of us interact with Banks and new entities. We had never heard of it 15 years ago. But with the arrival of AI, is Fintech going to adapt and change things even quicker and even more substantially than before and what does it mean to the three pillar banks in Ireland?  John O’Beirne is the new cha...

There has definitely been a mood change among the big US technology companies since Donald Trump won the election last November.  Where they might have been accused of being ‘woke’ beforehand they certainly aren't now. . All of them appear to be dumping its diversity and inclusion policies.     All to discussion with Newstalk Technology Correspondent Jess Kelly.

Romance knows no boundaries they say but it can cost you your job in some countries just ask the former bosses of BP and McDonalds.  We’re not as strict in Ireland about office relationships but company bosses need to set some clear rule especially when one part of the new romance reports to the other.  Joe discusses further with Mary Cullen is the Managing Director of Insight HR. 

Friday's business news and markets updates along with Joe Lynam and Kate English from Deloitte. 

The very act of getting legal advice means you are either in or about to enter some sort of dispute with someone or something.  Larry Fenelon is launching a new legal practice which he says will be ‘conflict free’ in terms of commercial disputes.  Fenecas Law also enters a pretty full marketplace which is consolidating with bigger international players swallowing up smaller Irish outfits...

It’s been 6 months since the packaging giant Smurfit Westrock formally delisted from the Dublin Stock exchange.  In that time, shares in the newly merged entity have soared 40% vindicating the decision to quit in many ways. The company, which is still headquartered in Dublin, posted a 4th quarter net income of $146m though it expects to earn an EBITDA of over $1.1bn. Though it’s set to b...

Thursday's business news along with Joe Lynam.

Europe, for many, is at a trading crossroads.  Its traditional military ally and trading partner the US is slapping tariffs without provocation and even looking to seize sovereign European more specifically Danish territory.   It means that the law of unintended consequence says that Europe may well consider trading more rather than less with China with the EU commission president h...

Joe Lynam takes a look at the main business stories of the day.

ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder, affects how young people communicate with others, if they do at all and for some, they can never lead independent lives.  One medical research company in Co Kerry hopes to find a treatment for those with ASD and has started clinical trials of a new drug which could be transformative. But getting from trials to the pharmacy shelves is a complicated and often ve...

As most employers will know pension auto enrolment is supposed to start for all workers in the autumn.  It means that they will be automatically enrolled in the workplace pension scheme unless they expressly opt out.  It aims to bring the less well off into saving for their retirement to reduce the burden on the State.  But are employers ready since they will be carrying a substanti...

Tuesday's business news headlines along with Joe Lynam.

Donald Trump has confirmed that he will be slapping 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum coming to the US.  That will almost certainly face retaliation from Europe and China and underline the fact that we are in a trade war.  It comes as government imposed costs at home for companies are rising rapidly and Ireland looks set to miss out on the AI revolution. Speaking to Joe this morning...

Do you order lots of clothes online and then return them if they don't fit or you simply don't like them?  Well you may be one of the reasons why the fashion industry accounts for up to 4% of global emissions. 100 billion garments are made every year and 70% of them are plastic-based textiles such as polyester or Nylon. Almost 90% of these shirts and coats and trousers will end up in landfill...

Sweden has the highest number of Unicorns in the world outside of Silicon Valley.  Jim Dowling is the founder of Hopsworks.ai and he hopes to join the club of billion dollar companies and that’s why he’s based there.  He’s an Irishman whose company makes the picks and shovels for machine learning in the AI age. He also wants to keep the AI talent and technology in Europe but is but is wo...

Monday's business news headlines along with Joe Lynam and Russ Mould from AJ Bell.

Despite record housing construction commencements last year in Ireland, completions still fell short. That’s according to findings from the Construction Information Services latest report.     Speaking to Emmet this morning was Scott Delaney, CIS Research Manager.

Organisations should think beyond compliance and embrace sustainability as a driver of long-term value for Ireland’s economy and society. That’s the call from Nessa Whelan, Executive Director of UN Global Compact Network Ireland, the newly introduced Irish network of the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. Nessa joined Emmet this morning on the show.

Friday's business news and markets along with Aidan Donnelly from Davy's.