Bewley’s cafe to close, Irish economy to shrink and the best homeschooling tech

The historic Bewley's cafe on Grafton Street is to close permanently with the loss of 110 jobs. Ciarán Hancock explains the background to the final chapter of this landmark's story.

The struggle for other businesses is evident from a report by Dominic Coyle on the pharmacy sector. A third-generation pharmacist in Birr, Co Offaly tells him: "This is the most difficult six or seven weeks that any of my family have experienced in the business."

Meanwhile, one of Dublin's leading publicans tells The Irish Times Inside Business podcast that the Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme will need to be extended until the end of this year if publicans are to have a chance of surviving financially under social-distancing rules.

Developer Johnny Ronan and former Olympian Philip Cassidy apologised on Wednesday after a video showing them joking in a South African bar about coronavirus sparked anger on social media.

Bewley’s: Covid-19 nail in the coffin for Dublin's best-known coffee shop

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Bewley’s on Grafton Street to close permanently with loss of 110 jobs

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Coronavirus: Worldwide death toll passes 258,000

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Coronavirus: Care facilities have more than 62% of overall deaths

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More than a third of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Republic, equating to €312 billion, is so-called "phantom" capital, according to the CSO.

Phil Hogan the EU trade commissioner has warned of risks to Ireland in ill winds against global tradeish economy due to slowing international trade. Naomi O'Leary reports that he also didn't hold out strong prospects of a trade deal with the UK by October.

Cantillon picks up the theme, saying you'd be forgiven for thinking the Covid-19 crisis had cancelled Brexit given the lack of attention it's got in recent weeks.

In technology, Ciara O'Brien advises on the best tech for homeschooling during the Covid-19 lockdown while in Innovation Charlie Taylor reports on how start-ups and SMEs have rapidly adopted online payment services like Stripe to cope with the new economic realities.