Tourism’s €55m aid package; Rosslare’s Brexit boom; and the vaccine crisis that won’t go away

Fáilte Ireland will this morning unveil plans for a €55 million aid package aimed at outdoor-related tourism businesses that have, until now, been unable to access Covid-19-related aid. Mark Hilliard reports on an initiative that will also focus on promoting Dublin.

Rosslare Europort recorded a fivefold increase in European freight volumes in January as more businesses chose direct ferries with mainland Europe to avoid Brexit checks with Britain in January. Simon Carswell has the details.

Brexit, Covid-19 and stockpiling led to a sharp fall in manufacturing output and new orders in January, according t the AIB's monthly purchasing managers' index, but the sector still expanded marginally. Laura Slattery reports.

Brussels is facing an international backlash over its new export controls on vaccine as European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen struggles to quell a firestorm over the EU's handling of vaccine shortages.

Ryanair boss tells Ireland and EU to ‘get the finger out’ on vaccinations

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Huawei to create 110 jobs and invest €80m in R&D

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HR tech company Personio to create 140 jobs in Dublin

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Lonely lockdown for London’s luxury housing market

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In his column, Chris Johns asks whether the vaccine crisis could turn into an existential issue for the EU, exposing weaknesses that could yet undermine the entire bloc.

Trying to draw a line under theAstraZeneca fiasco, Dr von der Leyen last night announced nine million additional doses of AstraZeneca vaccine last night in a move hailed by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly as progress. However, this ignored the fact that the company had offered eight million extra doses as a compromise last week before the European Medicines Agency approved the vaccine – and before the Commission's ill-judged threat to trigger article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol. At the time, the offer was dismissed as "not nearly enough".

Huawei is to create 110 new jobs in Ireland by the end of 2022, writes Charlie Taylor. The Chinese telecoms company says it also intends to invest €80 million in research and development activities locally

Several senior executives have resigned from London-listed company Iconic Labs to join Greencastle Media Group, the division of UK private equity company Greencastle Capital that owns digital media brands Joe, Her and Lovin, writes Laura Slattery.

Some of the ways that companies have adapted to meet the challenge of Covid will form a longer-term part of the approach to business, writes Deloitte partner Tom Maguire.

Finally, Pilita Clark casts an eye on the business emperor with no clothes – those many boards professing a commitment to climate friendly policies but whose members no so little about how climate will even affect their businesses that they are "climate incompetents".

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