Dublin may have a persistently high cost of living, but it also has the highest disposable income in the State, according to the latest CSO data. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports Dublin’s disposable income of €27,686 in 2020 was 50 per cent higher than that of Donegal.
What do Roy Keane, Michael O’Leary, RTÉ and Michael Healy-Rae have in common? They all feature in the newest addition to our Friday offering: Any Other Business, a weekly column from sharp-eyed observer, John Burns.
Nasdaq-listed Coinbase has shortlisted the Republic as a potential location for its new regulatory hub once the EU implements a wide-ranging set of regulations for digital assets, the crypto exchange’s new Irish boss has said. Ian Curran has more on this, writing that an “uplift” in Irish staffing numbers could be on the cards.
Irish members of the European Parliament (MEPs) Ciarán Cuffe and Seán Kelly have clashed over a controversial EU green buildings regulation, writes Barry O’Halloran. Consumer groups warn that a provision in the proposed Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which aims to decarbonise all EU buildings by 2050, could leave families supporting expensive boilers run on fossil fuels or even more costly green hydrogen.
Winter is blowing through Dublin’s office market, as a confluence of headwinds face the commercial property sector. In our longer read Agenda, Colm Keena unpicks the dynamics at play in the market and seeks answers on how the current freeze might play out.
In our Work section, Olive Keogh looks into hybrid arrangements, one of the drivers of uncertainty for those buying, selling and renting offices. Are hybrid workers really as productive as office-based colleagues? Olive highlights one manager’s view that there can be a big difference between individual productivity and team productivity.
As inflation tapers off a touch across the State, John FitzGerald notes in his weekly Economics column that most people are still worse off than they were a year ago, posing a challenge for the Government.
Primark chief executive Paul Marchant has been chosen as The Irish Times Business Person of the Month for January, an award run in association with Bank of Ireland. In a trading update on January 24th the retailer’s listed parent company, Associated British Foods, said Primark had traded ahead of expectations last year, including “a very strong Christmas period”.
Ciara O’Brien reports that technology company Expleo is to create 70 jobs in the next two years, investing €5 million in its expansion and opening a new Galway innovation hub. The new roles will appeal to engineers, consultants and software experts.
And finally, this week’s Wild Goose is Sydney-based John Ryan, who tells Olive Keogh about how he ended up as the head of a payments business in the Australian city, tracing his wisdom about cash flow to watching his mother’s decades of work as a postmistress in Wexford town.
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