Betting on drones, mortgages defying Covid, and beating the online scammers

Bobby Healy's drone delivery service Manna has secured a €21 million investment from listed VC group Draper Esprit as it looks to scale up the business and be ready to cover markets across Europe by 2023 as regulators sanction such services. Charlie Taylor has the details.

Mortgage activity continues to defy the Covid-19 lockdown as approvals and drawdowns remaining strong in the first quarter for 2021 with drawdowns in the first quarter at their highest level since 2009, according to the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland. Eoin Burke-Kennedy looks at the numbers.

Staying with banks, Central Bank deputy governor Sharon Donnery yesterday urged them to "move forward" with instant payments. However, Laura Slattery reports, she said cash was likely to stay the most common way of making small retail payments, despite the move to contactless payments during the pandemic.

Laura also reports on a call from the film, TV and animation sector for a significant increase in, or removal of, the spending cap on which productions can claim section 481 tax relief. A report by PwC for Ardmore and Troy Studios says the current €70 million limit is costing Ireland Inc business.

Financial advice from a bank is never ‘free’

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Coillte profits halved in 2020 as firm forced to borrow millions

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Covid drugs fail to pay off for Eli Lilly

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European Commission sues AstraZeneca over contract and delivery of vaccines

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The list of suitors for Ireland's ¤1.7 billion valued foods group Valeo has been whittled down to three, writes Joe Brennan, and they're all international private equity players.

He also has some details on likely bidders for stockbroker Davy as the deadline for first round offers closes this week. However, the process could be complicated by the developer at the heart of the scandal that recently rocked the firm who has moved to sue it again five years after reaching settlement over alleged losses.

Karlin Lillington is baffled by Sinn Féin's apparent missteps with its Abú voter database. Why? Because, she says, the party has been the only one in Ireland to take a "substantive, long-term interest in data protection and digital rights in Ireland" over the many years she has been writing on the subject.

In technology, Ciara O'Brien advises readers on how to protect themselves from online scammers who have become increasingly sophisticated during the pandemic at passing themselves off as legitimate.

Cantillon examines what the Joe Walsh Pilgrimtours collapse tells us about the short-term future for the travel sector and also looks at the impact of landmark pension reform introduced very quietly this week by the Minister for Social Protection.

Finally, Bread 41, the popular Dublin City bakery, is spending over a quarter of a million euro in the midst of the pandemic on a revamp that will see it expand into a new premises next door on Pearse Street, as well as opening a new restaurant upstairs. Colin Gleeson reports.

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