Previous Day
VHI to fight cut in risk equalisation payments
VHI has vowed to campaign against a 20 per cent cut in payments to it from rival health insurers in compensation for having an older customer base. Paul Cullen , Consumer Affairs Correspondent, reports. p
Pay deal 'opt out' proposed for exporters
Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin has raised the prospect of giving exporters who face severe pressure on their business due to currency fluctuations opt-out clauses from parts of future social partnership pay deals, writes Arthur Beesley , Senior Business Correspondent, in Druid's Glen p
Ryder Cup injected €143m into economy
A report commissioned by Fáilte Ireland shows that the
Ryder Cup injected €143 million into the economy, exceeding
expectations by more than €10 million.
Caroline Madden reports. p
Other Stories
Waterford Crystal chief tells of soaring costs
Waterford Crystal has disclosed that it employs 1,300 staff in
Indonesia for the same wage cost as 90 staff in Britain, itself a
cheaper labour market than Ireland.
Arthur Beesley , Senior Business Correspondent in
Druid's Glen, reports. pFirms 'risk losing' immigrant staff to other EU states
Irish companies risk losing large numbers of immigrant staff to firms in other EU states if they fail to fully integrate foreign workers into their organisations, a businesswoman warned yesterday. pBank warns of slowdown in economic growth
AIB has become the latest institution to predict that economic growth will not meet Government forecasts next year. pAn Post says it is on course for profit
An Post said it was on track to make a profit this year, but
admitted it would be three years before it achieved the regulator's
target of delivering more than 90 per cent of mail the next
day. pICG and bidding consortium in dispute
A war of words broke out yesterday between the Philip Lynch-led consortium eyeing a bid for Irish Continental Group (ICG) and the company and its independent directors. pDollar fall could hurt global economy
Recent falls in the dollar could have profound consequences for the world economy, currency analysts warned yesterday, despite the US currency staging a modest recovery after coming within touching distance of historic lows on Wednesday. Marc Coleman , Economics Editor, reports. pBoylesports set for €15m profit
Boylesports, Ireland's third biggest bookmaker, expects to post an operating profit of €15 million in the current financial year, which would represent a near four-fold increase on 2006. pManufacturing prices fall again in March - CSO
The prices of goods leaving the factory gate continued to fall in March. The Central Statistics Office wholesale price index shows that manufacturing prices in March were 0.2 per cent lower than in February and 1.4 per cent lower than a year before. p€128.8m record profit for ICS
Profit at ICS Building Society rose 13.6 per cent to a record €128.8 million last year, writes Caroline Madden. pGlencar share sale raises £2.4m
Glencar Mining has raised £2.37 million (€3.5 million) through a share sale to fund further exploration activities at the group's African gold prospects. pIrish firm buys €6m UK practice
Civil engineering firm Project Management has bought a UK architects firm in a deal valued by the industry at about €6 million. Barry O'Halloran reports. pDow's record moves fail to spur Iseq
It looked like the record performance of the Dow Jones overnight was going to spur the Iseq index of Irish shares yesterday, but after rising more than 1 per cent in early trading, the index fell back to close up just 58.66 points, at 9,601. pIn Short
A round-up of today's other stories in brief. p
Taxing questions
It is not possible for Ireland to enjoy Nordic levels of public service provision at Estonian tax rates, writes Paul Tansey. pBuilding blocks
The Friday Interview: Civil engineering firm Project Management is on the verge of breaking new ground. The Dublin and Cork-based consultancy has just won two contracts to build a pair of highly specialised research laboratories in Singapore, writes Barry O'Halloran . pShareholders join in ABN bid battle
Shareholders entered the fray yesterday as the stakes increased in what will be Europe's largest banking sector consolidation. pStamp duty reform must be substantial and well-timed
Economics: With government action in the offing, it's time to revisit the issue of stamp duty. The difference is that this time, the philosophers of the debate need to stand aside for the engineers: passionate argument needs to be replaced by precise and accurate policy making, writes Marc Coleman. pCultivating risk-takers
Beltway Diary: Eventually I found myself in the right lift heading for 29th floor. I am utterly confounded by how long it takes to get from the entrance of a skyscraper to the actual office in which you have a meeting. Endless security, the frustration of trying to find the one lift out of 12 that brings you to your desired floor and corridors full of identical doors with microscopic signage all contribute to delay, writes Caroline Casey pThe hidden costs of trade
Platform: Ever since David Ricardo constructed his simple two-country, two-product analysis back in 1817, all right-thinking people have understood that trade is good. pPlanet Business
Compiled by Laura Slattery. p
Pensions predicament
There are decisions to be made about what to do when your SSIA matures - should the money be put into an investment or your pension, writes Caroline Madden. pGovernment SSIA pension incentive
To whom is this incentive suited? pWill power
A will is probably one of the cheapest legal documents you will ever have drawn up - and one of the most important, writes Ciarán Brennan. pIf you don't make a will . . .
If you die without making a will, the law provides that your spouse is entitled to your entire estate if there are no children, according to the Law Society. pFrom banger to BMW
Upgrading to a flashy new car or splashing out on a boat will be common temptations, writes Laura Slattery pPRSAs good for certain employees
A personal retirement savings account (PRSA) is a type of personal pension plan launched in 2003 to boost the level of private pensions take-up in the State. pTime for growth
Serious Money: The four-year bull market in global stock prices continues as market indices edge ever higher, driven by the dash for trash which persists despite an obvious deterioration in the underlying fundamentals, writes Charlie Fell pInjection of hope
Croesus/An Investor's View: On Tuesday, Elan Pharmaceuticals reported its first-quarter figures, which were mixed relative to expectations. pGrowth strategy
Cents & Nonsense: Dandelions pepper the front lawn, nettles are creeping in and moss coats the driveway. The silent battle between grass blade and yellow-crowned invader, assisted by regular rounds of weed and feed, begins again, writes Margaret E. Ward. pQuestions & Answers
Dominic Coyle answers your questions. p
Keeping the bytes safe
A small company in Dublin's Digital Hub will organise and manage the storage of all your digital data, writes Karlin Lillington pTechnology projects need fast-tracking, says IBM
Major government technology projects should be fast-tracked in the same way priority is given to physical infrastructure projects under the National Development Plan, according to IBM. pProfits at Apple soar 88% to $770m
Profits at Apple soared 88 per cent in its second quarter thanks to lower component costs and sales of MacBook laptops and iPod media players. The news lifted its shares over $100 (€73.54) for the first time. pIrish mobile firm signs Malaysian deals
Little-known Irish mobile technology firm Qtelmedia has signed deals with two of the main mobile networks in Malaysia to provide mobile television services, and is increasing revenues by 20-25 per cent a month, writes John Collins . pParallel worlds
Wired: I'm writing this column on Linux. That's to say, I'm writing the article using a word processing program that's running under Linux, the free operating system. Except, I'm not, quite: because the copy of Linux I'm running is actually being run on a Apple laptop, which is running MacOS X, Apple's operating system, writes Danny O'Brien . pTuning in at the Unconference
Net Results: Unofficially, it's known as an "unconference". Officially, it's known as "BarCamp". Inasmuch, that is, as anything is ever overly formal about BarCamp, which is to conferences what open source is to software: a few people are vaguely in charge, lots of people get involved and contribute, everyone is a bit obsessive about technology, no one pays for anything or gets paid, and everyone gets a free T-shirt, writes Karlin Lillington pThe wireless
Inbox: As I explained to a technophobic friend the
other day, "Bluetooth is just like radio, but it broadcasts only as
far as you can reach", writes
Mike Butcher pBlogspot
The term A-list blogger seems to have fallen out of favour as blogs have exploded in popularity. pIn short
A round-up of other stories in brief. p
You're worth it
Catering for the whims of top staff and clients through souped-up PAs makes sound business sense, Irish firm Kudos believes. Gabrielle Monaghan reports pGetting family matters right
Careful planning is essential when arranging the handover of a family-run business to the next generation, writes Caroline Madden pLearning by osmosis
Insead File: Back in the 1980s, Mark McCormack, founder of the sports marketing industry, wrote a book called What They Don't Teach You at Business School . McCormack famously never studied for an MBA, but his book was a bestseller nonetheless, becoming required reading for managers in the late 1980s. p
America calling Ryanair
One More Thing: Having failed recently to land Aer Lingus with a package of incentives worth $11 million, Baltimore Washington International (BWI) now has Ryanair on its radar after Michael O'Leary said he was pondering the launch of transatlantic services. pPivotal time for Superquinn
One More Thing: Superquinn boss Simon Burke is set for a busy few weeks. At some stage over the next 10 days, staff in its Dundalk store will to vote on a restructuring plan that would involve about 20 voluntary redundancies and a downsizing of its shop floor. pDeja vu for Amarin boss Lynch
One More Thing: Shareholders in pharma group Amarin must have been reaching for the smelling salts on Tuesday evening after watching their stock lose 77 per cent of its value in Dublin to close at just 64 cents. About €200 million was wiped off its market value. pPorn ban a blow to Channel 6
One More Thing: Life doesn't get any better for Channel 6, the struggling Irish entertainment channel. pThe Bottom Line
One More Thing: Having kept below the radar in Ireland, HKR Architects in Dublin is beginning to register overseas. BD World Architecture's annual survey of the top global practices gives HKR a first-time ranking of 70th place, based on the 128 architects it employs. pHire achievers
Under the Radar/Approach People: Last Sunday Irish-based French businessman John Murat spent three hours queuing at the French embassy in Dublin to cast his vote in the presidential election - a ballot that is seen as pivotal in lifting France out of its economic malaise. p
