Whitbread, the listed UK hospitality group that owns the Premier Inn budget hotel brand, has urged Dublin city planners to water down proposed development rules that would limit the number of new hotels. Mark Paul has the story, which comes as Whitbread chases sites in the city centre to build up to 2,500 new rooms.
Gardaí say it is not possible to set deadlines for extra background checks on aviation workers that airlines fear could slow recruitment as summer nears, reports Barry O'Halloran. New EU laws enacted in January demand "enhanced" security background checks on both new recruits and around 40,000 existing air travel workers, on top of the standard vetting that has applied for many years.
Rocketing fuel prices have left drivers paying 33 per cent more for petrol and diesel than a year ago, according to the Automobile Association (AA). Motorists are paying an average of 177.3 cent a litre for petrol, against 133.8 cent in February 2021, the AA says. Barry O'Halloran has the details
Irish shoppers have increasingly turned to local websites for their online purchases, a new report from PayPal has found. Our average online spend reached €503 over the course of 2021, writes Ciara O'Brien.
Joe Brennan takes an in-depth look at the previously cosy world of Dublin's corporate law services sector, which he says has "become a hotbed of activity and intrigue in the past five years". He considers old names and new arrivals and asks where the recent wave of change will leave the sector.
With face masks looking to be on the way out, Mark Paul argues there is nothing wrong with seeking a return to normality and, furthermore, that we should occasionally be prepared to push for it. In his Caveat column, he notes that society is built on a bedrock of trade-offs that involve respect for the choices of others.
John FitzGerald focuses on Derry this week, specifically on what he describes as its"failure to develop as a hub for the northwest region of the island". He says this has had serious consequences for the city's hinterland on both sides of the Border.
With the return to the office underway for many, remote work remains a key demand for jobseekers and employers need to pay attention, writes Olive Keogh. She offers some tips on how companies can improve their recruitment processes to reflect the new environment.
Also in our Work section, Patricia Nilsson profiles Japanese rugby administrator Akane Kagawa, who came to UCD to study for an MBA which she plans to use to promote the game in Japan.
Avolon chief executive Dómhnal Slattery has been chosen as The Irish Times Business Person of the Month for January, an award run in association with Bank of Ireland. During the month, Avolon said rising demand for air travel had sparked the busiest three months in its history at the end of 2021.
And finally, this week's Wild Goose is Mark Costello, whose knowledge of fish has brought him to Norway. The world expert in marine ecology tells Joanne Hunt that fish "are far more sophisticated than you think".
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