Irish Times Inside Business

After more than sixty years in business, Irish travel agent Joe Walsh Tours has announced it has ceased trading. The well known tour operator cited Ireland’s strict travel restrictions as one of the main reasons behind the closure. Irish Times Consumer Affairs correspondent Conor Pope and CEO of Irish Travel Agents Association Pat Dawson join Ciaran Hancock to discuss the uncertain future for tour operators and travel agents and their expectations for overseas travel in 2021.

Later, Consumer advocate and founder of Askaboutmoney.com Brendan Burgess speaks to Ciaran about the imminent exit of KBC and Ulster Bank from the mortgage market and the impact this may have on competition and mortgage rates.

On Sunday, twelve of Europe’s biggest football clubs announced plans to form a breakaway Super League, drawing an onslaught of criticism from fans, players and regulators alike. Less than seventy two hours later, their grand plan had collapsed, with six English clubs bowing out of the proposal. So what are the core problems at the heart of European football which led to this shock move and how can the model be adjusted to better serve the sport? Ken Early of The Irish Times and Second Captains and Andrew Doyle, owner of Shelbourne Football Club, join Ciaran Hancock to discuss.

In today’s episode Ciaran Hancock is joined by hotelier John Fitzpatrick, owner of the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group in New York City. Later this month, the Fitzpatrick Manhattan will reopen following over twelve months of closure. In today's episode we hear about the reopening plans, the impact of Covid-19 on the hotel business and Fitzpatrick's thoughts on the Irish mandatory hotel quarantine system.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe says better-than-expected exchequer returns show our economic "resilience", but do the numbers hide deeper scars? Cliff Taylor joins Ciaran to look at the latest set of economic figures showing Ireland's tax, spending and unemployment in the pandemic-stricken Q1 of 2021.

Plus, Barry O'Halloran looks at Ryanair's passenger numbers for the same period of time and assesses the health of our aviation sector.

This week the Government revealed its plan for the phased reopening the economy from April 12th onwards. On today’s show, Ciaran is joined by Ibec chief executive Danny McCoy and Cliff Taylor of The Irish Times to discuss what will it mean for Irish business and the wider economy. Is the timeline for reopening too sluggish? And, with the pace of the vaccine rollout ramping up, when might the Government begin withdrawing the financial supports currently propping up so many parts of the Irish economy?

Value(s) is the new book by economist and former governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney. It’s an exploration into the ways in which economic and social values have become blurred and the radical change that is needed to build a better world for all. Recently, Irish Times columnist Chris Johns sat down with the Canadian banker for a wide ranging discussion on reshaping societal values, his involvement with online payment firm Stripe and his proud Irish heritage. Today we bring you that interview.

It's a year since the Irish economy first shut down. Parts of it have scarcely reopened since. For an update on how the pandemic is affecting the overall economy, Ciaran talks to Mark Paul of The Irish Times and economist Jim Power.

In the retail sector, many businesses are carrying significant rent arrears from periods of lockdown. Some of them may never be able to pay those arrears back. But the shopkeepers and stall-holders of George's Street Arcade in Dublin won't face this problem, because their landlord has suspended rents throughout the periods of lockdown. We hear from Gwen Layden of Layden Group, the family company that owns the Arcade, about why she has taken this approach, how much it has cost her family and why she says all commercial tenants should be treated in this way.

We look at the extraordinary events of the past week at Ireland's biggest stockbroker Davy, with help from reporter Joe Brennan and Professor Niamh Brennan, an expert on corporate governance.

Davy was fined €4.1 million for conducting a bond deal in which 16 of its own employees, including senior executives, were the buyers, a fact unbeknownst to the seller.

How could such a breach occur and what comes next for the company?

With such reduced passenger numbers, how has Dublin Bus adapted and survived in the age of Covid-19? And what does the future hold?To find out, Ciaran went to the semi-state transport company's newly refurbished Broadstone depot to meet CEO Ray Coyne. They talked about the future of transport in Dublin, how technology will allow bus routes to become more flexible, the electrification of the fleet, and how Dublin Bus may diversify into "last mile" transport solutions such as e-scooters.

Twinlite describes itself as the best property company in Dublin. A family run business, their property portfolio consists of housing and apartment developments in Dalkey, Clongriffin and Stepaside. In today’s episode, Ciaran Hancock sits down with Executive Director at Twinlite, Rick Larkin, for a wide ranging discussion on the Irish housing market. Larkin speaks about the impact of lockdown restrictions on construction, the economics of building apartments and the future of housing design.