Pointy delivers for founders, family rows in the courts and setting the election agenda

Dublin tech company Pointy which helps small retailers get their products in front of customers online despite the power of Amazon and Walmart has been bought by Google for a reported $160 million in a deal that will make multimillionaires of founders Mark Cummins and Charlies Bibby. Ciara O'Brien and Charlie Taylor have the details.

Developer Michael O'Flynn is in a courtroom battle with former executive Pat Cox over allegations of stolen company secrets and improper personal sidebar investments while he was working for Mr O'Flynn. Barry O'Halloran was in court.

Still in the courts, the sisters of Dublin cinema businessman Paul Ward are suing him for €31.5 million over payment for the acquisition of shares in various companies.

Another big name in the news is Larry Goodman, whose family company Ternary Limited has been knocked back by planners on its proposals to demolish four historic buildings on the corner of Nassau Street and Kildare Street, in Dublin to accommodate a new office block, writes Gordon Deegan.

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Suzanne Lynch reports on Ireland's EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan who has landed in Washington for a round of meetings with US trade officials over tariffs and treaties.

Back home, about one in 10 mortgage arrears cases involve borrowers who are separated, the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland reckons and it is calling for the State to introduce measures to help those borrowers with their arrears. Peter Hamilton reports.

Data privacy is never far from the headlines these days and a new report says that some of the most popular apps on smartphones – including the likes of Tinder, Grindr and My Talking Tom 2 – are sharing personal data on users' health, sexual orientation, location and interests with advertisers, often without their knowledge. Ciara O'Brien has the details.

As the general election is called, Cliff Taylor examines whether the economy will once again dominate voters' thinking, or whether opposition parties can turn the spotlight onto social issues.

As the closing date looms on Eir's budget mobile network GoMo's offer to provide customers with a fixed mobile deal "for life", it has emerged that the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland is investigating the promise.

Finally, the ESB is likely to attract strong interest in the sale of Fitzwilliam 28 on Fitzwilliam Street, which has just been leased in its entirety to workplace collaboration tech giant Slack Technologies, Ronald Quinlan reports. The guide price is ¤168 million.

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