Apple’s $250bn Irish dividend, Bank of Ireland’s U-turn, and the cost of divorce

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

Apple chief executive Tim Cook waves before speaking during the Apple World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco in 2015. Apple was paid nearly $250m in dividends by an Irish subsidiary last year. Photograph: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Global tech giant Apple received almost $250 billion in dividend payments from an Irish subsdiary last year, latest accouts show. Gordon Deegan runs through the numbers.

Bank of Ireland will reimburse a total of about €800,000 to as many as 300 customers who have fallen victim to a text "smishing" scam, marking a U-turn on previous policy as it dealt with a public backlash and potential clashes with regulators. Eoin Burke-Kennedy, Joe Brennan and Charlie Taylor gathered the details of the bank's embarrassing volte face.

Meat plants "jump out" as a prime target for a new face mask designed to protect wearers from Covid-19, according to Dave Manning, the founder of the business that sells the full face masks designed in Ireland. Dominic Coyle reports.

The communications regulator has failed to comply with a request made by the European Commission more than two years ago to urgently update the pricing model it uses to decide how much Eir can charge rivals to access its services. Charlie Taylor has the details.

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Antikytera E-Technologies, a Dublin-headquartered start-up working in the augmented reality (AR) space, has been valued at €15 million after securing investment from an unnamed German venture capital fund. Charlie Taylor reports.

With few office workers to feed and even fewer tourists to serve, the glass is very definitely half empty for the owners of the well-known Dublin city centre pub Doheny & Nesbitt. Gordon Deegan has the details.

In media and marketing, Laura Slattery pondersthe likely TV show formats post Covid.

In our weekly personal finance feature, Joanne Hunt looks at the many costs involved in divorce.

In Q&A, a reader asks aboutthe tax implications of inheriting the family farm from their parents. Dominic Coyle has the answers.

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Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock is Business Editor of The Irish Times