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Taoiseach says UK protocol plans are ‘anti-business and anti-industry’

The Taoiseach has described the legislation on the Northern Ireland Protocol published by the British government yesterday, as “anti-business and anti-industry”. Speaking on his way into Cabinet this morning, Micheál Martin said the action by the UK represented a “fundamental breach of trust”. He said he did not believe that the legislation was well thought […]

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Ryanair CEO says summer fares will be up 7-9% on 2019 levels

Ryanair Group chief executive Michael O’Leary said today that bookings at Europe’s biggest budget airline are strengthening and he expects summer fares to be between 7% and 9% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Speaking to Reuters, he said the load factor, a measure of how well an airline is filling available seats, should be around 94% […]

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Major blaze hits Smurfit Kappa packaging plant in UK

Smurfit Kappa has resumed some operations at a packaging plant in the UK after a large fire ripped through the facility overnight, the local fire service said. West Midlands Fire Service said more than 100 firefighters had made progress containing the blaze that they were alerted to yesterday evening. It said there were no reports […]

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Euro zone to avoid recession, growth to accelerate in Q3 – ECB survey

The euro zone will avoid a recession this year and growth will accelerate noticeably after bottoming out in the second quarter, a key European Central Bank survey shows. The 19-country currency bloc has been hit by fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has sapped confidence, investment and households’ purchasing power via sharply higher fuel […]

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Growth in construction sector slowed again in May

Activity in the construction sector continued to increase in May but at its slowest pace in more than a year, according to the latest Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index from BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland. It represents the third consecutive month of slowing growth in the sector, as rising prices and declining sentiment impacts activity. The […]

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Cheque payments hit new quarterly low in Q1 at 4.5 million – BPFI

Around 4.5 million cheque payments were made in the first quarter of 2022, according to the latest Payments Monitor from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland. While the figures is a new quarterly low for cheque volumes, it appears high in the age of digital banking. Gillian Byrne, Head of Payments, BPFI agrees that, “4.5 million […]

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Oil prices slip, but still close to three month highs

Oil prices slipped today but remained within touching distance of three-month highs as fears over new Covid-19 lockdown measures in Shanghai outweighed solid demand for fuels in the United States, the world’s top consumer. Brent crude futures for August were down 77 cents, or 0.6%, at $122.30 a barrel as of 0448 GMT after a […]

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Govt not considering price caps as inflation rises to 7.8%

The Minister for Finance has said he is not considering the introduction of price caps to deal with soaring inflation. Paschal Donohoe was speaking after the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said that annual rate of inflation rose to 7.8% in May. This is the highest rate in 38 years, and up from 7% in April. […]

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Price shock: Why car prices are being driven higher

The cost of everyday items is continuing to rise, with a recent estimate from the Central Statistics Office suggesting consumer prices were 8.2% in the year to the end of May. That translates into higher costs at the shopping tills, leaving many households with less money at the end of the week – and forcing […]

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Around 25% of eir customers to be hit by price hikes

Telecoms company eir has said around 25% of its customers will be impacted by price hikes from August. The changes in fees will impact households and small to medium sized businesses using the company’s landline, broadband, TV and mobile services. eir said current customers will see a €5 increase to their bills per month. “eir […]

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