Irish Times Inside Business

The ESRI has warned that its projected growth rate for the Irish economy this year could be slashed by more than two-thirds if Britain crashes out of the EU, derailing the Government’s plan for tax cuts in the next budget. Lead author of that report, Dr Adele Bergin, joins Cliff Taylor and presenter Laura Slattery to discuss the gloomy analysis. Plus: The robots are coming, but for who? Eoin Burke...

Ciara O'Brien on the launch of a video streaming service by Apple. Can the tech behemoth make a dent in Netflix and Amazon's existing services, and why should we sign up? Fiona Reddan on the enduring financial advantages of getting hitched, despite growing numbers of people feeling alienated from the custom. A potential solution: bring back civil partnerships, this time for people of all orientati...

The UK has revealed the tariffs it would impose on imports in the event of a no-deal Brexit, which will have serious implications for the Irish economy, particularly the food sector. If the UK crashes out of the EU on March 29th, is there any way businesses will be ready? Cliff Taylor talks to Allie Renison, Head of EU and Trade Policy at the UK’s Institute of Directors, and Cormac Healy, Senior D...

Earlier this week an investigation by The Irish Times revealed that hundreds of residents in boom-time apartment blocks are facing huge bills, the risk of eviction and the prospect of costly legal action to fix structural defects in their homes. It's a personal tragedy for apartment owners and a problem for our housing stock that is "verging on systemic", according to journalists Jack Horgan-Jones...

BANKING: Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB both released their annual results this week. What have we learned about the health of Irish banks? And why is Bank of Ireland indicating future mortgage rate increases? Joe Brennan reports. HOUSING: Dublin City Council, short on space to provide desperately-needed land for housing development, is eyeing up some of Dublin's industrial estates. Can the pla...

Simon Carswell on what he heard at Oireachtas committee hearings into the botched prosecution of Anglo Irish Bank by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. Cliff Taylor on the latest CSO data showing that in 2018 2.28 million people were employed in our economy, an all-time high. What does that mean for employers, employees and the economy? Plus, Peter Hamilton has a roundup of busin...

Some call it the pensions time-bomb. In the private sector, under 40% of workers are covered by a pension. As our workforce ages, the problem of retirees lacking the funds they need will grow and grow. Most agree that the planned introduction of auto-enrolment, whereby workers automatically contribute to their own pension, is a good idea. But beyond that, there is much disagreement on how it shoul...

It's officially titled The Open Championship but whether you call it that, the British Open or simply The Open, it’s coming to these shores in July. For the first time in 68 years Royal Portrush will host golf’s oldest major. Over 200,000 golf fans are expected to descend on the County Antrim coast with the eyes of millions worldwide focussed on the Dunluce Links as the seaside resort becomes the...

If you've been in Dublin lately you might have noticed a tall new building dwarfing its neighbours on the south quays. Capital Dock, now the Republic's tallest building, is a residential development by Kennedy Wilson, who hope the wealthy executives who work nearby will choose to rent an apartment there. And you will need to be wealthy, because a standard two-bed will cost €3,300 per month. For th...

Siobhán Talbot, Glanbia chief executive and the Irish Times Business Person of the Year for 2018, talks to Ciarán about Brexit and the difficulty of planning for a ‘no deal’ scenario. They also talk about Glanbia’s transition from dairy to high tech proteins and weight management products, the importance of promoting diversity, and how surviving cancer has changed her outlook on life. Hosted on Ac...

On this week's podcast: Cliff Taylor on the market reaction to the defeat of Theresa May's Brexit deal. What now? There is at least one sector for whom a hard Brexit may not be all bad: cars. Motoring Editor Michael McAleer explains why. Peter Hamilton has a roundup of the latest business news, includinga good week for Supermac's as it wins its David v Goliath court battle with McDonalds, a terrib...

Apple and Samsung both reported revenue slumps for the last quarter of 2018. What's going on? Analyst at Davy Stockbrokers Aidan Donnelly explains. Plus: Ibec is predicting a major slowdown in growth this year as the Irish economy approaches full capacity and “cost competitiveness erodes”. CEO of the employer's group Danny McCoy joins Cliff Taylor to give his predictions for the economy in 2019 am...

Christmas Day is behind us, and so is a record year for Irish business. But as 2018 draws to a close the picture is beginning to look a lot more mixed. Today we assess some of the risks to the Irish economy in the year ahead, from Brexit to retail and the housing crisis. Joining Ciarán Hancock to look ahead to those challenges are Anne Graham, CEO of the National Transport Agency, Maurice Pratt, c...

As 2018 draws to a close, Ciarán talks to some of the Irish Times business team about the stories they’ve covered this year. Joe Brennan and Cliff Taylor take a look back at the banks, Brexit and Ireland’s continued economic recovery, just five years after exiting the EU-IMF bailout. Plus: Laura Slattery recalls a torrid year for Facebook and Mark Paul goes through the highlights of the ongoing dr...

What could derail Ireland's economic recovery next year? Ciarán talks to Megan Greene, Global Chief Economist of Manulife/John Hancock Asset Management in New York, Equity Analyst at Investec, Owen Callan and Cliff Taylor, about the international variables that could influence Ireland's growth prospects in 2019: Brexit, the US-China trade war and global stock markets. But first, Laura Slattery has...

Why are Republic of Ireland football managers paid so well? That’s just one of the questions Ciarán puts to FAI finance director Eamon Breen on this week’s podcast. He talks about where the association is investing its money in the sport, the debt it is currently carrying and he reveals how much money the businessman Denis O’Brien contributed to the FAI's finances over the years. Plus: Cliff Taylo...

Sports agents have never been as big a part of the sporting landscape in Ireland as in some other countries, but that is slowly changing. Today Ciaran Hancock and Michael O'Keeffe talk to two people working in the field in Ireland about their businesses and their unique perspective on the business of sport. Niall Woods is CEO of Rugby Agents Ireland and Sinead Galvin is founder of Galvin Sports Ma...

The 2018 Irish Times Innovation Awards took place last night and the overall winner is Aid:Tech. The company's platform enables entitlements like aid, welfare, remittances, donations and healthcare to be digitised and delivered through blockchain technology in a completely transparent manner. Ciarán caught up with Niall Dennehy, co-founder and COO, right after his big win last night. Plus, Fiona R...

Mediacon Summit co-founder Steve McCormack talks to Laura Slattery about the TV business and why the Irish television industry needs to look overseas for co-production opportunities. Later, Cliff Taylor explains the latest Brexit developments and what the possible outcomes could be. But first, Michael McAleer previews the upcoming Irish Times Innovation Awards and some of the novel business ideas...

This week: Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe will be happy with the outcome of Tuesday’s Ecofin meeting, which saw his German counterpart suggest a two year delay on the introduction of a digital sales tax and the French propose a compromise, or to borrow a Brexit term, a backstop measure. Europe editor Patrick Smyth and Olivia Buckley of the Irish Tax Institute join Ciaran to discuss how the t...

This year's winners of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Ireland awards, Daniel Mackey and Peter Coppinger, are the founders and leaders of Teamwork.com, a Cork-based Saas (software as a service) company. They talk to Ciarán about their ambition to build a €450 million-revenue company, going where the talent is (which isn't Dublin), not needing funding despite spending their savings on their url, an...

Today's guest: Former stockbroker Mick Dawson took over as Leinster Rugby CEO in 2001. Since then Mick has overseen the transformation of Leinster Rugby into one of the genuine powerhouses of the European game, claiming four Heineken Cups and numerous other successes along the way. In that time, support for both the province and the game in general has grown considerably with Leinster very much no...

On this week’s show AIB chief executive Bernard Byrne is in the hot seat to answer questions on a wide variety of topics including housing and rip-off mortgage rates, Brexit, bankers’ salaries and bonuses, when Irish taxpayers will be fully repaid for the bailout and whether he gets any hate mail. Ciarán also asks why, a decade after the financial crisis, trust in the banks is still being eroded b...

Paschal Donohoe’s Budget 2019 has a little something for everyone, but the goodies are spread widely across tax and welfare. The decision to restore VAT to 13.5 per cent for hotels, restaurants and hairdressers will be a hot topic, though perhaps not quite as hot as the lack of action on the carbon tax, in a week when climate change experts delivered their starkest ever predictions on global warmi...

September tax returns give Paschal Donohoe little scope for surprise giveaways in Budget 2019, unless he raises taxes elsewhere. Will that see hoteliers lose their coveted 9 per cent VAT rate? Is it possible to Brexit-proof the economy? Ahead of the announcement next Tuesday, Chief economist at KBC Bank Austin Hughes and Irish Times business journalist Eoin Burke-Kennedy go through the numbers. Al...