News

Mortgage approvals jumped in October, both in terms of volume and value. Across all types of borrowers, banks approved a total of 4,262 mortgages in October, up 11.4pc month-on-month. This is a 13.6pc increase in approvals year-on-year, figures from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland show. First-time buyers accounted for the lion’s share of activity, […]

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair said any second Brexit referendum should be a choice between remain and a hard Brexit. Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday, the former Labour leader said a second people’s vote was the only way to settle the deadlock in Parliament. Mr Blair, who is in favour of […]

A selection of ‘food zones’ are the big winners from the allocation of €30m in new funding for regional employers. Business Minister Heather Humphreys will today reveal the recipients of the Regional Enterprise Development Fund. It provides money to enterprises involved in food, pharma, design, marine, engineering, bio economy and disruptive technologies. Among those getting […]

European shares climbed modestly at the end of a volatile week, with banks and technology stocks, which have been hit hard by growth worries, leading the way, while Italian stocks rallied as bond yields fell. The pan-European STOXX 600 managed a 0.2pc gain by 0830 GMT, while Italy’s FTSE MIB outperformed with a 0.8pc rise. […]

THE DAA has entered preliminary discussions with An Bord Pleanála about raising the cap on the number of passengers that Dublin Airport can handle, from 32 million to 35 million. The construction of Terminal 2, which opened a decade ago, was subject to a planning condition that included the current maximum number of passengers that […]

BANKS in this country have become more profitable since the financial crash. At the same time, other EU banks have seen their level of profits decline, a new paper from an economist based in the Central Bank has found. Banks here are gaining from the low cost of funds, and from the fact they have […]

Q: I am at an advanced stage of business planning for a new food product and all the indicators are that it will be successful. My projections show I will be doing several million in turnover in the third year, however my bank has been highly critical saying my projections are over-ambitious and not based […]

Ecommerce has exploded in China – on current trends half of all of the world’s online transactions will take place in the economic power house this year. Local Chinese tech champions such as Alibaba, Tencent and JD.com dominate a rapidly-growing ecommerce ecosystem, mostly within China, according to a paper from the World Economic Forum (WEF). […]

In five days, ‘Black Friday’ will occur. You’ll see and hear lots of ads appearing about this. Sadly, it’s a time of the year when retailers spoof a lot about price cuts with no consequence from any regulatory body. Discounts are exaggerated and recommended retail prices – ‘RRP’ – are quoted that have not been […]