Barryroe’s countdown; stalling house completions; and where have all the cheap flights gone?

Barryroe Offshore Energy’s efforts to raise emergency funds from large shareholders to keep the oil explorer afloat are currently set to come up short, with only days to go before an extraordinary general meeting about liquidation, according to sources. Joe Brennan explains that the company wants to pursue legal action against Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan over his refusal of a permit for work on its key prospect.

Estate agents and valuers expect housing completions to stall in 2023 amid labour shortages and construction cost inflation despite a sharp uptick in commencements in the first half of the year, writes Ian Curran. Department of Housing data showed building control authorities received some 2,574 commencement notices for new homes in June, up a quarter on a year ago.

German company Baader has acquired a majority stake in Irish-based software firm Emydex for an undisclosed sum. Ciara O’Brien has details of the deal, which will see Emydex becomes a subsidiary of Baader, a global business.

Consumer confidence improved again slightly in July, but the strains caused by inflation continue to affect some households, the latest Credit Union Consumer Sentiment Index shows. Laura Slattery reports that while holidays and sales may have encouraged us to take out our wallets this month, we remain cautious.

Vulnerable people stuck in the middle of impasse over enduring power of attorney

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Sewage crisis: why this UK election is being fought on – and in – rivers and lakes

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Hubristic Woodford was the orchestrator of his own downfall

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Despite what people may think, taxes in Ireland are low compared to Europe

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Laura also brings us an interview with the chief executive of Decathlon’s Irish business, who comes to the job via senior group positions in Spain, France and Chile. Elena Pecos is a big fan of taking in Irish nature and fresh air as she plots the retail chain’s expansion across the State. She even inspired Laura to go for a run in the rain after they met.

Is the era of cheap flights to Malaga over? Apparently so, according to one commentator quoted in Barry O’Halloran’s long read on the outlook for the aviation sector. He finds that despite more and more people wanting to travel by air, the sector is struggling to provide the capacity they need. What happens next, he asks.

In his Any Other Business column, John Burns asks how much the State is paying to host the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in 2027 and takes a look under the bonnet of RTÉ's pension scheme. He also talks to Conor Faughnan, formerly of the AA, about his new job, and wonders how the sale of Gresham House might affect its controversial deal with Coillte.

John FitzGerald acknowledges that he won’t be around for generations to come but argues that the State should follow Norway’s example and plan for those who will be. He likens the current corporation tax bonanza to an oil find, bringing massive but temporary revenues, warning that any Government temptation to spend much of this next year would deliver poor value.

With the nature of hybrid arrangements varying hugely across workplaces, Olive Keogh takes a look this week at what storage giant Dropbox is doing in its Dublin operation. The group was one of the first organisations to announce it was going virtual-first, meaning that remote working became the “primary experience” for all employees. This meant a dramatic office rethink, with the emergence of “studios” redesigned for collaboration, social exchange and in-person teamwork rather than traditional nine-to-five work.

Technology entrepreneur Terry Clune has been chosen as The Irish Times Business Person of the Month for June, an award run in association with Bank of Ireland. Mr Clune is poised to secure a near €350 million pay-day after his CluneTech group agreed to sell payroll software developer Immedis to US multinational UKG in a deal reported to be worth €575 million.

This week’s Wild Goose is Mayo native Jennifer Greene, who tells Olive Keogh that her wanderlust started at age 17 when she convinced her parents to allow a summer teaching trip to China. She has since travelled the world, settling in Singapore, where she works as a consultant educational and child psychologist

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