Over the last number of weeks on the programme we have discussed the decision by NatWest to close Ulster Bank in Ireland as well as the most recent announcement that Bank of Ireland are to close 103 of its branches. At a local level, this will mean the closure of 8 bank branches. This week John spoke with Minister of State for Heritage & Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan about the impact that this will have on the towns and businesses across the two counties.

The story dominating the headlines over the past week was that of Davy Stockbrokers and Dara Doyle, Bloomberg Bureau Chief in Ireland joined John to discuss the story in more detail. Dara also chatted to John about the economic outlook with the Central Statistics Office having recently release preliminary figures outlining that GDP increased by 3.4% in 2020.

Water Conservation is hugely important both in our homes as well as in our business and Christine Crawford, Business Communication and Marketing Lead at Irish Water spoke with John about the importance of conserving water in the workplace, the Water Stewardship Programme along with tips and advice on how to conserve water while at work.

Remote Working was for many a new way of working at the start of the pandemic and now a full year later most of us are still working from home. Claire McInerney joined John to discuss some tips on effective remote working and some interesting data on “Zoom Fatigue”.

With thanks to O’Neill Foley, Produced by Deirdre Dromey.

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