News

Small businesses are being urged to pitch for up to €50,000 in grant aid from Enterprise Ireland in a new funding round. The state agency’s first Competitive Start Fund (CSF) of the year will allocate up to €50,000 to 15 successful applicants in exchange for a 10pc equity share in the firm getting the taxpayer […]

There has been no let-up in the rise in property prices. New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that prices rose 11.6pc ­nationally in the year to November. Dublin prices were up 11.3pc. For the month of November alone, prices grew by 1.1pc, a slight easing off in the rate of increase from the […]

Advertisers can expect Amazon to challenge the Google-Facebook duopoly this year and see tasks become more automated. In a report on search marketing trends for 2018, Shane Lyons , head of search and analytics at Mediaworks, says artificial intelligence (AI) has moved on to the extent that manual bids on keywords have given way to […]

Fraudsters making false car insurance claims are getting away with it because they are not being prosecuted, a leading judicial figure said. Former High Court president Nicholas Kearns warned Ireland has a huge problem with fraudulent motor claims, and there appeared to be no punishment for lying in court. Meanwhile, insurers have been accused of […]

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May and senior officials will meet executives from major finance companies today to give them a clearer idea of what Britain’s European Union exit will mean for them. There are concerns that Brexit threatens London’s status as the financial capital of Europe and that banks are preparing to move thousands of […]

With employees setting back into work after the festive period, the new year is a prime opportunity for staff to consider their career options for 2018. Understanding which employers are recruiting and where the opportunities lie is essential for any jobseeker. In 2018 nearly three-quarters of Irish employers are planning on recruiting staff, 75pc of […]

Shoppers increased their spending in December, but it was mainly driven by a rise in online sales. Expenditure in shops was flat last year compared with 2016. Spending in shops grew in the final months of last year, but for 2017 as a whole it was unchanged, according to Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index, which […]

The impressive retail figures in Ireland should not be a surprise. Ireland is the fastest-growing economy in Europe. With employment levels rising rapidly, net migration boosting population levels and salaries comfortably above the rate of inflation, Ireland’s consumer spending environment should be buoyant. However, the retail sector is undergoing profound change as consumer behaviours and […]

A complete overhaul of property tax has moved significantly closer after a dramatic intervention by the Minister for Housing, who says bills should no longer be solely based on the value of homes and the annual charge needs reform. Minister Eoghan Murphy said the current property tax system is unfair on homeowners and needs to […]

Northern Ireland exports around £20m (€22.6m) of fish products to the Republic annually, the UK exports around twice as much freight to Ireland than it imports, and Ireland is the fourth most visited country by UK travellers. These are just some of the detail contained in the UK government’s sectoral analyses prepared in advance of […]