Regulators face claims nearing €390,000 from holidaymakers likely to lose out as a high-profile travel agency is wound up. Dublin-based Platinum Travel, run by directors Austin Carroll and Ciara Foley, is destined for liquidation after it ceased trading days before Christmas. Barry O’Halloran has the details.
Renewable power generated from wind and solar has saved Irish electricity customers as much as €840 million, energy specialists Baringa have said. The firm’s analysis of how renewables are influencing price has found the financial benefit of developing renewable energy in the Irish market has significantly outweighed all possible costs for consumers “even based on conservative estimates”. Kevin O’Sullivan reports.
Last year’s boost to new housing starts needs to continue if the Republic is to tackle its chronic housing crisis, experts warn. Multinational consulting engineers Aecom calculate that work had started on 54,574 new homes in the first 11 months of 2024, echoing other estimates of high levels of housing starts last year. Barry O’Halloran reports.
January is traditionally the time when people resolve to change their ways, get fitter, healthier or just learn a new skill or two, writes Ciara O’Brien. You do not have to spend a small fortune on an activity tracker with a screen. There are plenty of budget friendly options to suit all. Here are options that will get you on the right track.
Platinum Travel customers could seek almost €390,000 in compensation
Nuclear comes back into fashion as AI and data centres manage their energy challenge
Gorgeous workout bench makes it possible to do reformer-Pilates exercises in your own home
Leap Sit Stand desk review: Counteract your sedentary work lifestyle at the touch of a button
In Ireland, the increasingly disproportionate load on the Irish grid imposed by data centres may some day force a reconsideration of our national ban on nuclear energy, writes Chris Horn in his column. The Irish Academy of Engineering has already recommended that Ireland consider small modular reactors as a part of its decarbonisation strategy.
Is Ireland’s planning system broken?
Cantillon finds that the wind energy sector’s focus on electricity prices is resonating with consumers, one of Meta’s own lawyers unfriends it and how the latest Enterprise Ireland and trade figures underscore Ireland’s vulnerability to US protectionism.
Moore Ireland, the Cork-headquartered accountancy firm backed by private equity, has merged with Galway-based DHKN as deal-making in the sector continues at pace. The deal marks the first big strategic move by Moore Ireland following purchase by UK-based Moore Kingston Smith last summer in a deal funded by Dutch private equity firm Waterland. Joe Brennan reports.
When Hannah Joyce discovered reformer Pilates a few years ago, she was hooked, writes Olive Keogh. It was the first form of exercise that didn’t feel like a chore to her, so in December 2023 she began looking at how she could share her enthusiasm for the practice while also making it her living. Seven months later she launched Flexera, a foldable, home version of the exercise bench that’s integral to reformer Pilates.
Ciara O’Brien reviews the Leap Sit Stand desk, which she says, is big enough to use as an office desk, with plenty of space for your computer, an external monitor and all the other accessories you need to make your work life as easy as possible.
Amazon is gearing up to relaunch its Alexa voice-powered digital assistant as an artificial intelligence “agent” that can complete practical tasks, as the tech group races to resolve the challenges that have dogged the system’s AI overhaul. Madhumita Murgia and Camilla Hodgson report.
Some 73 per cent of office workers said employers hold staff personally responsible for cybersecurity incidents that happen in the workplace, a new study has found. The research conducted by Censuswide on behalf of IT.ie and SonicWall showed 29 per cent of respondents say at least one colleague has been fired from their position for accidentally causing a cybersecurity breach. Fiona Keeley reports.
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