Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash As 2026 looms, the murmur of regulatory teeth finally being shown towards dodgy box users — those who stream subscription content illegally via set-top boxes — might be turning into a growl. While enforcement remains an outside chance rather than a done deal, the prospect of public naming or…

Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash The recent handover of a €60,000 painting by RTÉ to a Dublin-based gallery has grabbed headlines more for its symbolic resonance than sheer monetary value. At face value, this is a straightforward dispute over ownership, a bureaucratic hiccup involving a state broadcaster and a private gallery. But the episode…

Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash The recruitment landscape, never known for proceeding at a leisurely pace in the tech sector, is undergoing a transformation as artificial intelligence increasingly takes the helm in candidate interviews. What used to be a handshake and a few probing questions now sometimes amounts to being sized up on the…

Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash At the start of next month, An Post will raise the price of a standard stamp by 20 cent to €1.85, a move that, while seemingly minor in isolation, offers a window into the broader pressures facing Ireland’s semi-state sector and the subtle ways these ripple through the economy.…

Photo by Henrique Craveiro on Unsplash Come January 1, 2029, the eurozone will welcome a new member—not a country, but an entirely new form of money: the digital euro. The European Central Bank’s (ECB) long-gestating project finally goes live, transforming the messy, often frustrating experience of cash payments into a digital affair as seamless as…

Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, Ireland’s flagship airline and one of Europe’s most audacious business figures, was recently candid to say the least, calling out then Taoiseach Micheál Martin as “useless”. This wasn’t a casual gripe aired in passing. It highlights much broader tensions between private enterprise, government efficacy,…

Photo by Henrique Craveiro on Unsplash Lansdowne Oil and Gas has secured litigation funding from a US law firm to pursue a claim exceeding $100 million against the Irish Government relating to the Barryroe oil and gas field in the north Celtic Sea. While headlines may frame this as just another corporate tussle, its wider…

Photo by Henrique Craveiro on Unsplash The recent revelation that Nutriband’s Dublin-based subsidiary faces an involuntary strike-off for neglecting to file annual returns for seven years is more than a footnote in corporate oversight. It’s a reminder of the thin line multinationals and their subsidiaries tread in maintaining Ireland’s reputation as a well-regulated investment destination.Gareth…

Photo by Henrique Craveiro on Unsplash Vodafone Ireland has been ordered by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) to refund €894,000 to approximately 20,000 customers who were incorrectly charged roaming fees. The telecom giant’s lapse, as flagged by Ireland’s regulatory watchdog, drags into sharp focus not just consumer protections but also the complexity of operating…

Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has forecast no meaningful increase in Ireland’s housing output next year, a projection that feels less like breaking news and more like déjà vu stamped across the country’s increasingly creaky infrastructure. For a nation grappling with a multi-year housing supply crisis, the…

Photo by Henrique Craveiro on Unsplash This Christmas, Ibec predicts a 3% rise in consumer spending across Ireland, an uptick that translates into an additional €1,600 per household. For Irish retailers, this should feel like the gust of wind beneath their wings after a period marked by inflationary pressures and cautious consumer behaviour. But beyond…

Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash Fintech newcomer Bunq has increased its savings deposit rates in Ireland, trumpeting one of the highest returns on offer in the market. At first glance, this may seem like a straightforward win for Irish savers weary of paltry interest in the post-crisis banking environment. But zoom out, and this…

Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash The recent news that Kenny Jacobs, Chief Executive of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), is bracing for a potential suspension by elements within the board strikes a discordant note amid Ireland’s crucial infrastructure landscape. The threat of sudden leadership upheaval at the operator running the nation’s busiest airport arrives…

Photo by Henrique Craveiro on Unsplash The latest Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) report has issued a cautionary tale that’s all too familiar to Irish policymakers and business leaders: Ireland’s economy, heavily reliant on foreign multinational corporations, remains exposed to a range of economic vulnerabilities. Narrowing the productivity gap between indigenous Irish businesses and…

Photo by Gadiel Lazcano on Unsplash Inflation has ticked up to 3.2% year-on-year, marking the highest level since February 2024. While headline inflation figures often dominate soundbites, the real story is their ripple effect on Ireland’s complex economic ecosystem. For a small open economy deeply entwined with global markets and European policy, this uptick is…

Photo by Gadiel Lazcano on Unsplash This festive season, Irish families are bracing themselves for a bill averaging €1,792 for a family of four—a figure that inevitably raises eyebrows in boardrooms and Dáil debates alike. This isn’t merely the cost of mince pies and presies swelling to alarming heights; it’s a symptom of the broader…

Photo by Henrique Craveiro on Unsplash Elon Musk’s social-media platform, now known simply as X, has initiated nine judicial reviews against Ireland’s media regulator, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), with a tenth reportedly in the works before Christmas. While the coverage often focuses on the combative personality of the Tesla and SpaceX chief, the…

Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash On its first day of trading following the announcement by Standard & Poor’s that building materials giant CRH will be added to the coveted US S&P 500 index, shares in the Irish multinational jumped over 5% on the London market. This milestone, while a win for investors, carries broader…

Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash Ireland has signed an agreement with Australian counterparts to study Australia’s forthcoming ban on social media access for users under 16. This is more than a transcontinental exchange of policy notes — it signals the growing global pressure on governments and regulators to grapple with social media’s impact on…

Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash The recent conversion of €18 million in loans into equity by shareholders of the Curragh Racecourse, including high-profile figures like John Magnier and JP McManus, may not make front pages beyond horse racing circles. Yet, beneath the surface, this financial manoeuvre offers intriguing insights into asset management, investment patterns,…

Photo by Henrique Craveiro on Unsplash The Irish Government has announced a significant push to accelerate infrastructure projects by narrowing the grounds on which judicial reviews of planning decisions can be initiated. Accompanying this move is a simplification of the information required in planning applications, aimed at cutting back the lengthy bureaucratic wrangles that have…

Photo by Henrique Craveiro on Unsplash The Irish media regulator has launched a formal investigation into the protocols employed by TikTok and LinkedIn regarding anonymous reporting of suspected child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This move targets the adequacy and accessibility of mechanisms allowing users to report such content without compromising their identity.On surface, an appropriate…

Photo by Alexandra Mitache on Unsplash The plaintive voice of a small shop owner in Limerick city lays bare the challenges quietly eroding the backbone of local Irish commerce. With mounting closures, rising operational costs, stubbornly tight labour markets, and council initiatives that feel, at best, tangential to small business needs, the picture is bleak—and…

Photo by Nathan Hurst on Unsplash The latest accounts from Arq, the fashion label spearheaded by influencer-turned-entrepreneur Rosie Connolly, reveal a €2.1 million profit over a six-month period in the second half of last year. On the surface, a half-year profit at this level for an indigenous fashion brand sounds like the kind of success…

Photo by Gadiel Lazcano on Unsplash The recent acquisition of The Tuam Herald by Celtic Media Group marks another chapter in the ongoing consolidation of Ireland’s regional press. As one of Galway’s oldest newspapers and among the country’s most venerable titles, The Tuam Herald’s transfer into a larger media holding reflects subtle but persistent shifts…

Photo by Gadiel Lazcano on Unsplash Mediahuis Ireland, the publisher behind some of the country’s most established titles including the Irish Independent and Crime World, has reported a narrowing of its gender pay gap. Women employed by the firm still earn, on average, 17.3% less than their male counterparts. While this shift is progress of…

Photo by NIR HIMI on Unsplash Irish aparthotel chain Staycity has announced revenue topping €243 million, buoyed by its expansion into Portugal, Austria, and the Netherlands this year. For a sector still grappling with pandemic aftershocks and ongoing volatility, this is more than a cheerful headline. It signals an assertive Irish hospitality brand stretching beyond…

Photo by Justin Scocchio on Unsplash Ryanair’s recent legal defeat in the UK—where the airline failed to have a compensation claim against it dismissed because passengers enlisted third-party agents—may seem, at first glance, a footnote in consumer rights enforcement. Yet, for Ireland’s aviation sector, its broader economy, and the complex interplay of EU regulations post-Brexit,…

Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash When Stuart McCaul sealed the acquisition of Big Red Book, a well-established player in Ireland’s accounting software market, it was more than just a business handshake. It marked the opening gambit in a strategy aimed at consolidation in an otherwise fragmented local software sector. For an Irish tech ecosystem…

The tech world has decided: phone calls are the enemy. They’re “interruptions.” They’re “synchronous overhead.” They’re relics of a bygone era when people didn’t respect each other’s time. Every productivity guru and their Twitter thread preaches the gospel of async communication. Slack over calls. Email over meetings. Loom videos over conversations. The future is asynchronous,…