Government files Microsoft submission; Ryanair pilots in revolt; S&P chooses Dublin

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

It’s not getting any easier for Ryanair on the industrial relations front as German pilots last night warned that they could strike at any time

The Government late last night submitted a brief to the US Supreme Court in a landmark case involving attempts by law enforcement to gain access to emails stored on a Microsoft server in Dublin in a drug-trafficking investigation. Elaine Edwards has the details while Karlin Lillington warns of the dangers for the Government being seen as a pushover on data privacy.

It's not getting any easier for Ryanair on the industrial relations front as German pilots last night warned that they could strike at any time and indicated they were likely to consider the timing of industrial action by Irish pilots in their plans. Barry O'Halloran reports the latest in a rough week for the airline.

Brexit is never far from the headlines and, as Tory rebels, bloodied the UK government's nose in Westminster yesterday, Standard & Poor's Global Ratings announced that it had chosen Dublin as a European hub for its business. It is currently based in London.

Janet Yellen's final act as Fed chairwoman was to oversee a third quarter point increase in US rates this year. The Fed also raised its economic forecasts, with Ms Yellen giving part of the credit to the Republican tax plan working its way through Congress. But she had no such support for bitcoin despite its giddy surge.

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News that Facebook will no longer booking much of its global revenue through Dublin was cheered by the European Commission, who take it as a sign that their pressure on digital giants to pay more corporation tax is having an impact, writes Mark Paul.

In a statement that will fill many with dread, the barrister for former Irish Nationwide Building Society chairman Michael Walsh said the Central Bank inquiry into certain practices at the collapsed institution could taken two years to complete, or more. Joe Brennan was at the inquiry.

Dominic Coyle

Dominic Coyle

Dominic Coyle is Deputy Business Editor of The Irish Times