Breakfast Business

Ireland is not famed for its steel industry we usually outsource heavy industry to other bigger nations. But we do make the stuff and a Laois business is investing €16m in its plant which will create 62 jobs in the Midlands. And as Europe rearms, they could end up being far busier than they expected a year ago. Speaking to Joe on the show this morning was Tony Woods the boss of Midland Steel. 

Thursday's business news headlines along with Joe Lynam.

The energy provider Flogas will be providing all of Emerald Park’s renewable energy from now on. The deal involves solar panels, recharging points and guaranteed sourced renewable energy for the adventure park formerly known as Tayto Park.  Joining Joe on the show was John Rooney the Chief Executive of Flogas. 

Yesterday Avant money launched a new mortgage product called Flex Mortgages.  It’s the latest offering from Avant which is owned by the Spanish company BankInter which is deepening its investment in Ireland every year and putting it up to the pillar banks. Brian Lande, is the Head of Mortgages for Avant joined Joe this morning.

Inward investment has helped make Ireland one of the wealthiest and most prosperous countries in Europe.  But FDI has been turned on its head by Donald Trump who has started a global trade war and aims to punish nations who he thinks are taking advantage of the US tax system. So attracting overseas investment is getting harder.  What will Ireland’s IDA do?  Michael Lohan the Chief Executive of the IDA joined Joe on the show this morning to discuss.

Wednesday's business news headlines along with Joe Lynam.

The US remains the biggest single market for its goods exports - notably in the pharmaceutical sector. But the threat on that sector from the White House has started to undermine the Irish economy according to the latest Central bank quarterly assessment.    The report said that geopolitical and tariff concerns have blurred the picture for the Irish economy. But it says that domestic growth will continue at a decent clip and real wages will continue to rise. Joe spoke Robert Kelly, the Director of Economics and Statistics with the Central bank of Ireland and began by asking about overall growth. 

The Irish Times did a feature recently on why everything appears to be more expensive here than most other European nations.  Our rents are the highest in the EU and our restaurants and hotels are 28% higher than the average in Europe.  Our Energy costs are 18% higher.  But Energy companies are making huge strides to cut their carbon footprints.  They're also trying to encourage sustainability in the workplace by sponsoring that award in the forthcoming Changemaker awards being hosted by Newstalk. Stephen Gallagher is the Managing Director of SSE Airtricity, proud sponsors of the Sustainable Workplace category for the Newstalk Changemaker award.

Tuesday's business news headlines along with Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Open AI, Gemini, Grok and latterly Deepseek.  All services we had never heard of three years ago but now very much in the lexicon.  But which one is the best and most accurate and even most honest?  An Irish AI company Calypso has assessed them all with their new software called Argentic Warfare. It is also used to stress test the vulnerabilities of AI systems by pretending to be a hacker.  Speaking to Joe this morning was Donnchadh Casey, Chief Executive of Calypso AI. 

The 6 nations rugby comes to a close tomorrow.  Ireland fell short this year against a very strong French side.  Rugby as a business has boomed in these nations off the field as well in recent decades and much of that is down to public equity investment.  But with a clampdown on head injuries will the declining physicality of the game damage the income being earned by it off the field? Robert Brophy is the former CFO of World Rugby and now with Interpath Ireland which was involved in the review of Manchester United at the end of last year. 

Austin Hughes from AJ Bell takes a run through all of Friday's business headlines with Joe Lynam.

So the evenings are getting longer and the temperature is rising a bit and so the annual spring clean is underway in many homes.  But does that extend to our technology?  Shouldn't we also clear out the old unused files and perhaps even throw out out of date phones, printers, cables and software?One person who certainly thinks so is Ciara O’Brien is the technology correspondent with the Irish Times.

Thursday business news review along with Joe Lynam.

The number of tourists coming into Ireland in January was down 25% on the previous year. But more worrying, the amount of money they spent fell by even more - 28%.  On top of that the dollar is losing ground against the Euro which means US visitors will find Ireland even more expensive than last year. So as we prepare for the key St Patrick's day weekend, how are we fixed for a sector which is vital for more remote parts of the country? Orla Carroll is Director of Product Development with Failte Ireland and discussed this and more with Joe this morning.

AI adoption could soon raise Gross National Income per person to €160,000 and put a rocket under growth according to a major report carried out by Microsoft and Trinity College.  But nearly two thirds of bosses say their staff illicitly use AI for their work against company policies. Also there’s a major skills gap emerging between those who have and are comfortable with AI and those being left behind.  Joe spoke to Dr. Ashish Kumar Jha, Associate Professor of Business Analytics at Trinity Business School and co-author of the report. 

João Vale De Almeida was the EU ambassador in Washington, the United Nations and then in London and has served under 6 EU commission presidents.  He’s met Putin 15 times and has seen a few trading and geopolitical missteps in his time but his latest book kind of sums up the state of the world right now.  It’s called ‘The Divorce of Nations’ and João Vale De Almeida spoke to Joe this morning.

Donald Trump raised tariffs on Canadian aluminum to 50% last night.  That was in response to the application of a 25% tariff on all electricity sold by the Canadian province of Ontario to northern US states including New York. The escalation and tit for tat between the 2 otherwise friendly neighbours is shocking the world. Speaking to Joe this morning was  Deirdre Giblin Director of Development and External Engagement at National College of Ireland National college of Ireland but is also with the Ireland-Canada Business Association.  

Thursday's business news headlines review with Joe Lynam.

It’s World Consumer Rights day this weekend - do you know yours?  Or are you the ‘shrug your shoulders’ type once you discover you were treated badly or bought faulty goods? The Consumer Watchdog the CCPC was up last year by 13% to 44,247. The number one complaint concerned cars and the amount in question was a substantial €6,000 on average.  Speaking to Joe this morning wasGrainne Griffin from the CCPC.