Private employers on both parts of the island are increasingly reluctant to hire cross-Border workers because of complications about taxes and pensions, complicated by the growth in hybrid and remote working, a new report has found. Mark Hennessy reports. He also takes a more in-depth look at the challenges facing employers and their cross-Border staff and how other countries have addressed some of the issues.
Senior management at a New York-listed mixed-martial arts training company in which Conor McGregor is a big shareholder have refused to say whether he will continue as its brand ambassador, writes Barry J Whyte as companies and brands distance themselves from the fighter since a jury in a civil action found that he raped Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel.
Barry also reports on the appointment of receivers to Mark Reynier’s Waterford Distillery after it failed in its effort to raise fresh funding.
Profits at Element Pictures, the multiaward winning production company behind screen hits including the adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People and Poor Things more than halved last year to €2.64 million before tax. Gordon Deegan has the details.
Better news at Ogilvy & Mather Group, parent of Dublin advertising and public relations group Wilson Hartnell, where profits jumped 19 per cent last year, allowing the business to pay a dividend to its parent, WPP, for the first time in 12 years. Laura Slattery reports.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s largest hotels group, Dalata, has attracted the interest of Norwegian property investor, Eiendomsspar, which has built up a 5.45 per cent stake in the business. Joe Brennan reports that the Oslo-based company says it sees the move as a “financial investment” rather than stakebuilding by an active investor. Shares in Dalata, which have fallen 5 per cent so far this year, edged up on the news.
Climate change and green agendas and the associated costs can be tricky subjects for politicians as Ireland this week decides on the make-up of its next Government, and Sarah O’Connor in her column suggests they think twice about selling climate action with the promise of “green jobs” as studies on political messaging show that doesn’t tend to be very convincing with the wider public.
In Technology this week, Margrethe Vestager looks back on a decade of high profile clashes with Big Tech as the European Union’s corporate enforcer prepares to move on from her Brussels role.
And Ciara O’Brien takes a look at the Samsung Galaxy Ring which promises to monitor your health and general wellness accurately without bombarding you with notifications.
Chris Horn’s Innovation examines green initiatives in the aviation sector, where manufacturers are taking inspiration from sharks and migrating geese in efforts to reduce fuel use, amid a growing realisation that it will take longer to see real cut in emissions from initiatives in sustainable fuel that are still in their infancy.
And Olive Keogh talks to a Dublin woman who has developed a nutrition app promising more granular data about food choices such as a colour-coded nutri-score indicating the nutritional quality of a food or drink, a nova-score indicating how processed your food is and an eco-score, which shows how sustainable a product and its packaging are.
On the Inside Business podcast, Max Colchester, Britain Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal joins host Cliff Taylor to give an outsider’s view of our economy as the State prepares to go to the polls in Friday’s general election. Consumer Affairs Correspondent Conor Pope also checks whether advertised Black Friday bargains are as good as they seem.
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