Dublin Airport operator DAA is “reasonably confident” of blocking a plan to impost tight night-time flight restrictions at the airport in five weeks’ time, the Business Post reports. Legal teams for the operator were working over the weekend to seek a stay on Fingal County Council’s enforcement order with High Court action expected this week, the paper writes, amid concern among senior Cabinet ministers over the potential impact on the economy.
Toll hikes
Drivers face toll hikes of 20 cent on the M50 and other key routes next year, the Business Post reports. The newspaper says Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has warned Eamon Ryan, Minister for Transport, in a private note that further increases in charges for motorway use are needed in January to cope with 6 per cent inflation. This would add around 20 cent to tolls on the M50, M4 Dublin-to-Galway, an on routes linking Cork, Belfast, Waterford and other centres to the capital, The Business Post calculates.
Government hiked tolls last month after fears of a public backlash delayed the move. TII warned a failure to increase charges again next year could scare off investors in future transport projects, including the much-vaunted €9.5 billion Dublin metro link.
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Vision Capital threatening to drum up fresh opposition of chief executive
Disgruntled Irish Residential Properties Reit (Ires) shareholder, Vision Capital, is threatening to drum up fresh opposition to chief executive, Margaret Sweeney, says the Sunday Times. The Canada-based company tried to oust Ms Sweeney and force a sale of the company at its annual general meeting in May.
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Its chief executive, Jeff Olin, tells the Sunday Times that “we are not content” and warns that fundamental issues remain, despite Ires reporting underlying improved earnings, increasing its dividend and confirming sales worth almost €100 million, last week. Mr Olin and Vision Capital plan on raising their concerns with Ms Sweeney when she visits Toronto this month on an investor roadshow, the paper reports.
Glenveagh Homes seeking planning permission for two factories
Listed housebuilder Glenveagh Homes is seeking planning permission for two factories to manufacture timber and steel frames for home construction, a development likely to create 500 jobs, says the Sunday Independent. Glenveagh subsidiary NUA Manufacturing submitted the plans for the two factories on a 23.4 hectare site in Kildare to the county council last week, says the newspaper.
A spokesman told the Sunday Independent the company had ambitious plans to invest further in the area over the longer term.
Tetrarch Capital secures planning permission to replace Howth hotel
Developer Tetrarch Capital has secured planning permission to replace the Deer Park hotel in Howth with a new 142-bedroom “destination hotel”, the Business Post writes. The plan will involve the demolition of the existing hotel building which currently houses 150 Ukrainian refugees. Tetrarch’s plans for a 5,806 burial plot cemetery on part of the 472-acre Howth estate was recently knocked back by the council over concerns at the number of trees that would be lost due to the proposal.
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British homeowners putting lives on hold to keep up with soaring mortgage repayments
British homeowners are forgoing holidays, stalling plans to have children and swapping new cars for second-hand models to keep up with soaring mortgage repayments, the Observer reports. Families face a possible doubling in monthly repayments as fixed-term deals are replaced with variable rates that have risen to 5.25 per cent since last year.
One couple interviewed by the newspaper has put plans for a second child on hold. Another woman axed foreign holidays plans and opted for a second-hand car over a new one. A third goes out less, eats less, drinks less “almost not doing these things at all”, to ensure they can repay home loans.
