It has been the aviation story that does not want to fly away and now Dublin Airport’s contentious 32 million annual passenger cap threatens to become entangled in ongoing US trade tensions. Concerns have arisen within the industry that frustrated US airlines might formally complain to their government – given possible breaches of EU-North American air travel treaties – prompting a like-for-like restriction on US airport access. Barry O’Halloran has been covering the story.
Meanwhile, there has been much reaction to the latest round of proposed US tariffs, and what looks to be coming – namely against Ireland’s Big Pharma, a major source of exports to the US now sharply in the sites of Donald Trump. Speaking to Jack Power and others in Paris, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government was worried but working “flat out” to prepare for what may.
The US moves have also seriously dented consumer confidence here. The latest monthly Credit Union barometer, reports Eoin Burke-Kennedy, shows a measure of 67.5, significantly down from February’s 74.8. This nine month low, reflecting fears of trade war, signals “a clear deterioration in consumers’ assessment of their economic and financial environment”.
And in his Smart Money column, Cliff Taylor takes us through how wider-scale tariffs are likely to affect us, even when the details remain murky. For now, he explains, we don’t know whether the Trump administration sees tariffs more as a short-term vehicle to bring concessions, or as a long-term revenue raiser.
What is in a name? Development delays, apparently. In an interview with Joe Brennan, Ian Lawlor, head of homebuilding financier Roundtower, explains that bureaucratic sluggishness among local authorities in selecting from shortlists of development names can be among the lesser known causes of building delays. And many developers, he says, fear speaking out publicly about such problems less they be blacklisted by those who control the process.
It was the courtroom battle that promised intrigue and dirty laundry, but alas it was not to be. In the end, after seven relatively muted days of proceedings at the High Court, the three former business partners at Web Summit – Paddy Cosgrave, Daire Hickey and David Kelly – found a way to settle their differences, sparing themselves a potentially years-long legal tug-of-war. The surprising ease at which it all came to pass followed a direct appeal from Mr Justice Michael Twomey on Tuesday, pointing out these very real risks of prolonged litigation. Ian Curran has been reporting.
In the latest development of Ireland’s housing spiral, new data from estate agent DNG shows the average price of a second-hand home in Dublin is now almost at €600,000. The company, which monitors movements in the market, reports Eoin Burke-Kennedy, noted “strong demand combined with the very low level of available stock”. A very familiar story.
Energia’s owner, I Squared Capital, has initiated its long-awaited multibillion euro sale. Nine years after the New York-based investment firm bought the business, an initial round of non-binding bids is anticipated by early June. Joe Brennan has the details, including how various investment bankers have begun calling potential bidders.
To square difficult financial circles in the UK, its beleaguered government is looking to cut spending among disability welfare payments. And yet for reasons outlined in his column, John FitzGerald explains how the numbers on disability schemes have rocketed. In Northern Ireland, this proportion of people on disability payments is even higher – about a quarter of adults of working age. Much targeted savings could be achieved by equalling the claims rate in the North to those found in England and Wales.
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