A receiver has been appointed to a builder acting as the main contractor for an Ivan Yates-linked property development firm. Ian Curran has the story relating to Ingram Homes where the broadcaster and former Fine Gael minister is listed as a director and which is behind a large-scale housing scheme in Midleton, Co Cork. It understood to be replacing BPH Construction after it entered receivership this week.
Larry Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, was on a plane when Donald Trump unleashed his “Liberation Day” trade upheaval. Did he catch any of the live press conference? No, he tells Joe Brennan in an extensive interview, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t got a lot to say about it.
Not long after Trump’s tariff U-turn, of sorts, the European Union (EU) moved to pause its retaliatory measures in the hope of building some goodwill. “We took note of the announcement by president Trump. We want to give negotiations a chance,” commission president Ursula von der Leyen said. Nevertheless, as Jack Power reports from Brussels, uncertainty remains. Or as EU commissioner for industrial policy Stéphane Séjourné says, the “only certainty is that instability will remain for the next four years”.
Meanwhile, it emerged that US tariffs levelled against China have now, in their entirety, reached 145 per cent. Denis Staunton is reporting from Beijing on the response there where officials say they are open to dialogue but only absent of threats. “China’s position is clear and consistent,” said spokesman He Yongqian, “…our door remains open, but dialogue must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect.” Meanwhile, Arthur Beesley has a comprehensive explainer on everything that has happened, for now at least, and why.
It’s hard to keep up with tariff news, given just how prone Donald Trump is to changing his mind. Not to mention the markets. There has been much made of what it all might mean for Ireland, given our close ties to US multinationals. In his column, John FitzGerald has a think about what the best responses might be from an EU point of view, and what the manufacturing of iPhones in Asia might mean for our coffers here.
Much like tariffs, Dublin Airport’s efforts to lift its passenger cap rumbles on, although with little sign of imminent change. Peter Flanagan reports that there will be no restriction on slots for carriers this winter, with an ongoing legal challenge keeping the cap on hold. The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has cleared additional slots for the upcoming winter season.
US technology giant Workday has completed the deal to locate its new European HQ to College Square, the mammoth office scheme developed by Marlet Property Group on the old site of Apollo House in Dublin 2. The agreement, first reported on by The Irish Times, is a substantial office deal, and gives Workday’s staff the equivalent of five and a half football pitches.
An Irish payroll manager who admitted “spying” on his own firm has escaped punishment for contempt of court. Keith O’Brien had faced the possibility of going to jail for contempt after destroying a phone he had been ordered to preserve. Rippling, a US-headquartered software provider brought High Court proceedings against its former employee claiming he had passed trade secrets to rival company Deel.
Latest data shows headline inflation in the Irish economy reached to 2 per cent in March, for the first time since July 2024. That was up from an annualised inflation rate of 1.8 per cent. Ian Curran crunches the numbers which show restaurants, hotels and housing made the largest contribution.
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