News

Smurfit Kappa has resumed some operations at a packaging plant in the UK after a large fire ripped through the facility overnight, the local fire service said. West Midlands Fire Service said more than 100 firefighters had made progress containing the blaze that they were alerted to yesterday evening. It said there were no reports…

The euro zone will avoid a recession this year and growth will accelerate noticeably after bottoming out in the second quarter, a key European Central Bank survey shows. The 19-country currency bloc has been hit by fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has sapped confidence, investment and households’ purchasing power via sharply higher fuel…

Activity in the construction sector continued to increase in May but at its slowest pace in more than a year, according to the latest Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index from BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland. It represents the third consecutive month of slowing growth in the sector, as rising prices and declining sentiment impacts activity. The…

Around 4.5 million cheque payments were made in the first quarter of 2022, according to the latest Payments Monitor from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland. While the figures is a new quarterly low for cheque volumes, it appears high in the age of digital banking. Gillian Byrne, Head of Payments, BPFI agrees that, “4.5 million…

Oil prices slipped today but remained within touching distance of three-month highs as fears over new Covid-19 lockdown measures in Shanghai outweighed solid demand for fuels in the United States, the world’s top consumer. Brent crude futures for August were down 77 cents, or 0.6%, at $122.30 a barrel as of 0448 GMT after a…

The Minister for Finance has said he is not considering the introduction of price caps to deal with soaring inflation. Paschal Donohoe was speaking after the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said that annual rate of inflation rose to 7.8% in May. This is the highest rate in 38 years, and up from 7% in April.…

The cost of everyday items is continuing to rise, with a recent estimate from the Central Statistics Office suggesting consumer prices were 8.2% in the year to the end of May. That translates into higher costs at the shopping tills, leaving many households with less money at the end of the week – and forcing…

Telecoms company eir has said around 25% of its customers will be impacted by price hikes from August. The changes in fees will impact households and small to medium sized businesses using the company’s landline, broadband, TV and mobile services. eir said current customers will see a €5 increase to their bills per month. “eir…

European shares slipped today ahead of the European Central Bank’s meeting later in the day, with investors awaiting clues on the central bank’s policy tightening plans. The ECB will announce its decision just before 1pm, followed by a press conference this afternoon. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.5% by 0709 GMT. The index is…

The Government is announcing a series of new initiatives to support remote working. A voucher scheme will give remote workers free access to local digital hubs and provide at least 10,000 hot desk facilities free of charge to existing hub users and those availing of the facilities for the first time. The scheme will initially…