Pay gaps, grand plans for Dublin’s docklands, and top tips for tech gifts

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

For those with shopping for presents, Ciara O’Brien has top tips on the best tech gifts
For those with shopping for presents, Ciara O’Brien has top tips on the best tech gifts

A pay gap between male and female graduates opens up within a year of leaving college and widens over time, according to a new study. Carl O'Brien reports that while women outperform men in the Leaving Cert and at third level, pay for men outstrips that by women by, on average, €14 per week within a year of graduating, rising to €130 per week after eight years.

Staying with pay gaps, Martin Wall writes that a new report from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions estimates it would take an ordinary worker 212 years to earn what the boss of CRH, Albert Manifold, took home in 2018.

A business group in Dublin's Docklands has questioned if a €320 million project by Dublin Port Company to double its capacity is in the interest of businesses and residents of the area.

Analysing the post-election landscape in the UK, Chris Johns writes that while assembling a coalition of (former) steelworkers and Surrey stockbrokers reveals Johnson to be a political genius, money is at the heart of what happens next and those new Conservative voters are expecting some.

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The Government has tweaked the rules of a State-backed credit union loan scheme that was designed to steer social welfare recipients away from moneylenders. Mark Paul reports.

Irish whiskey is now recognised and protected in one form or another in over 50 international markets, with moves to achieve protection in another 26 countries underway.

In this season of goodwill, Pilita Clark considers kindness in the workplace and asks are we hard-wired to prefer charisma to humility and kindness when it comes to choosing a boss?

Finally, for those with shopping to do, Ciara O'Brien offers advice on the best eco-friendly tech gifts to buy, along with five mid-range phones for the festive season and her top picks of Bluetooth headphones.

Michael McAleer

Michael McAleer

Michael McAleer is Motoring Editor, Innovation Editor and an Assistant Business Editor at The Irish Times