News

US President Donald Trump yesterday signed an executive order to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, a day before meeting with executives from the cryptocurrency industry at the White House. The reserve will be capitalised with bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings, the White […]

January saw the first year-on-year decline in first-time buyer approval volumes since June 2024, new figures from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland show today. Today’s figures show that a total of 3,395 mortgages were approved in January 2025, down by 5.5% on a monthly basis but up by 4.1% compared to the same time last […]

Tax receipts in the first two months of this year are up 12% on the same time in 2024, indicating that the economy continues to power ahead. In addition, the State’s coffers benefitted from a €1.7 billion payment which was part of a settlement made by Apple. The payment related to the Court of Justice […]

The Government is scenario planning for effects of tariffs being imposed on goods from Ireland by the Trump administration, according to the Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers. He said the planning included looking at the consequences on “businesses, consumers and the broader economy”. Minister Chambers said tariffs “would impose serious costs on Irish citizens […]

The damage wreaked by Storm Éowyn in January has caused many home and business owners to look at other sources of backup power for the next big storm. The most popular choice is a petrol or diesel generator. Both Government and opposition politicians have called for a supply of generators to be set up and […]

New figures from the Central Statistic Office show there is no sign of an increase in the building of houses and apartments. Residential construction declined by 0.1% in the final three months of last year compared to the same period in 2023. The latest data from the CSO monitors ongoing building work and differs from […]

The Irish Exporters Association has warned companies to prepare for the possibility of tariffs being imposed on exports from the EU to the US. The CEO of the Irish Exporters Association Simon McKeever said: “People need to take this seriously. Any idea that Donald Trump is not going ahead with tariffs is a misconception.” “People […]

Growth in the country’s services sector eased slightly in February, with both total activity and new business expanding at the weakest rate for more than a year, a survey showed today. The AIB Global S&P Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 53.2 from 53.4 in January. The index has been above the 50 mark that […]

Retail sales fell by 0.5% month-on-month in January and by 0.3% year-on-year, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show today. The CSO said that excluding car sales, the monthly volume of retail sales was down by 1.5% in January from the previous month and was down 0.3% in the year when compared with January […]

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he will tell US President Donald Trump that tariffs could cause damage to a “small open economy” like Ireland when the two men meet in Washington next month. Speaking to reporters in Dublin, Mr Martin said that he “will give our perspective” on the issue at the White House on […]