Vaccine breakthrough; airline rows; steps to stay clear of ransomware

Pfizer has chosen Ireland as the site for the first manufacturer of the active ingredient of its Covid vaccine outside the US. Dublin's Grange Castle plant will become an integral part of the company's Covid vaccine network from the end of the year in what Taoiseach Micheál Martin called "historic announcement".

Not such good news for EML, the Australian fintech that acquired Ireland's Prepaid Financial Services in March last year in a deal worth up to €220 million. Investors wiped 46 per cent of their value off shares yesterday on news that the Irish Central Bank had raised concerns over how the business is run. Joe Brennan has the details.

Former Aer Lingus boss Willie Walsh and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar were talking airlines at separate Oireachtas committees. The Minister acknowledged that a major package of incentives would be required to get air routes back up and running while the retired airline chief urged immediate action on reopening travel and sharply criticised Ireland's quarantine rules. Barry O'Halloran and Martin Wall listened in.

Social media bosses were accused of running a "Wild West" operation when it comes to abusive content. Facebook, Twitter and Tiktok executives were before an Oireachtas committee considering new rules for online safety and media regulation. Laura Slattery was there.

HSE cyberattack was an accident waiting to happen

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First Derivatives bets big on Kx as it looks to double revenues

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Coca-Cola to establish new digital hub in Dublin

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Uncle wants to give me his house as he’s in a nursing home

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Also on the defensive were insurance companies who were accused of "pocketing" huge sums from consumers. Zurich, Aviva and FBD were among those saying either that they had reduced premiums for customers on the back of new personal injury rules , or would shortly due so, writes Jennifer Bray.

The impact of Brexit is coming through in official trade figures , with Mark Paul reporting CSO data that showed a swingeing decline in Irish imports from the UK allied, especially in food, with a rise in imports form other EU states.

Microsoft thinks it might have an answer in connecting hard to access rural parts of the State to broadband. It has been trialling a wireless technology that uses unassigned broadcast spectrum – made available by the switching from analogue TV broadcasting to digital – in Cavan and users seem happy with the results, which show signals travelling over long distances unhindered by natural and man-made obstacles. Ronan McGreevy reports.

Food delivery group Deliveroo faces a defamation hearing in court after a Galway owner of a Mexican restaurant said the app that it stopped working with in 2016 was telling customers the restaurant was not currently taking orders and was closed.

Charlie Taylor reports that Irish gifting platform &Open has raised $7.2 million (€5.9 million) in investment from some of the biggest names in Irish tech, including Brian Caulfield, Liam Casey and First Round Capital.

In her column, Karlin Lillington is unsympathetic to those claiming theHSE cybersecurity attack was unprecedented and unstoppable. There has been, she noted, plenty of warning that health services were being targeted and nothing spectacularly innovative in the attack itself. Out of date systems and human error are once again the likely weaknesses exploited.

Ciara O'Brien also advises businesses on the steps they can take to to stay safe from cyberattackers, a subject which also features in this week's Inside Business podcast.

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