Irish Times Inside Business

After almost a year in an out of lockdown, many retailers have seen their premises shuttered for vast majority of the last 52 weeks. A good deal of them have managed to strike rent agreements with their landlords, but some are refusing to make concessions for the pandemic. Ciarán talks to Michael Callaghan, head of commercial finance at Carraig Donn, about how they've been handling the issue with their 42 landlords across the country and the future of the retail sector after coronavirus. They're joined by Mark Paul, The Irish Times business affairs correspondent.

Plus: We could find out this week if Ulster Bank is to exit the Irish market, when its UK parent company NatWest publishes full-year results on Friday morning. Joe Brennan has the background on what’s led to this moment and the impact a wind up of the bank would have here.

On this week's podcast we look at how Covid-19 has created a series of complications for the many companies based in Ireland with large numbers of employees from other countries. What are the tax implications for foreign workers employed here who, having been sent home from the office, decided to return to their home countries temporarily? Ciaran asks reporter Colm Keena and Daryl Hanberry, tax partner with Deloitte.

Plus: Trinity College Dublin economist Ronan Lyons on his recent report for property website Daft that shows residential rents in Dublin have dipped by 3% in the past year while continuing to rise elsewhere. Ronan explains what is behind these trends and what lies ahead for our dysfunctional housing market.

This podcast is sponsored by Davy.

Galway-based company HidraMed Solutions has won the Irish Times Innovation of the Year award for 2020 for developing a novel dressing system aimed at those suffering from the incurable skin disease, Hidradenitis Suppurativa. In today’s episode, HidraMed founder Suzanne Maloney joins Ciaran Hancock to speak about the company’s origins, products and plans for expansion.

But first, Ciaran is joined by Irish Times business journalist Eoin Burke Kennedy and by James Benson, Director of the Irish Home Builders Association to discuss the impact ongoing lockdowns are having on the construction sector. The IHBA has estimated that the supply of new homes could be reduced by 8,000 this year as a result of the current stoppage, so what will this mean for the already squeezed housing market if the lockdown is extended beyond March?

After a devastating 2020, it was hoped that the tourism sector could be restarted in the second quarter of 2021. With the extension of Level 5 restrictions to March 5th and new mandatory quarantine travel rules, that now looks unlikely. Just when, and how, will tourism - domestic and overseas - get its post-Covid reboot? Ciaran talks to Dublin travel agent John Galligan, hotelier and president of the Irish Hotels Federation, Elaina Fitzgerald Kane and Irish Times business journalist Mark Paul.

Olympic Federation of Ireland president and Swim Ireland CEO Sarah Keane and GAA director of communications Alan Milton join Ciaran Hanacok and Michael O'Keeffe to talk about the challenges and opportunities for sport in Ireland in 2021. But first, Michael has some research on the disruption created by Covid-19.

A group of Irish banks is seeking to set up an instantaneous money-transfer mobile app to take on the likes of Revolut and N26. Synch Payments, a joint venture between AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and KBC, is awaiting approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. In today's podcast, Ciaran is joined by Irish Times markets correspondent Joe Brennan and Hesus Inoma, associate director at Grant Thornton's Financial Services Advisory practice, to discuss the move.

Later, Laura Slattery on the growth of television viewing in 2020, driven in part by pandemic lockdown restrictions.

In December 2020, An Post delivered a staggering 14 million parcels. This figure comes in at more than double the amount handled by the company in the same period last year. The pandemic and subsequent lockdown have resulted in phenomenal e-commerce growth for the business, with most consumers doing their shopping online.

In today’s episode, CEO of An Post David McRedmond sits down with host Ciaran Hancock to discuss the company's overall performance in 2020, the multi-million euro investment plans which include the relocation of An Post’s headquarters from the GPO in Dublin and the impact Brexit is having on parcels coming in from the UK.

Ciarán is joined by a panel of guests to look ahead to 2021 and the major challenges facing Irish businesses and the economy.

On the panel are Danny McCoy, CEO of business representative group Ibec, Anne Graham, CEO of the National Transport Authority, and Mark Paul, business affairs correspondent with The Irish Times

Danny tells Ciarán what Brexit really means for Ireland in 2021, Anne explains the investment programme planned for public transport and Mark talks about what the State can do to help reboot our ailing aviation and tourism sectors.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin says widespread vaccination against Covid-19 is possible by "late autumn".

In this podcast he talks to Ciaran Hancock about the vaccine rollout plan, how the Government will extend supports to businesses and employees beyond the current expiration date of those schemes, the likelihood of a Brexit deal and much more.

To all our listeners, we wish you a happy and safe Christmas.

Thanks to our sponsor Davy for its support throughout 2020.

This week Ciarán speaks to Dalton Philips, chief executive of daa, which owns and runs Dublin and Cork airports, as well as the travel retail business Aer Rianta International.

In this wide-ranging interview, he tells us that passenger numbers at Dublin Airport are down by 90% and are unlikely to get back to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.

The situation at Cork Airport is even worse. Before Covid-19 hit it was the fastest growing airport in the country. Now, on some days, there isn’t a single flight in or out.

Philips talks to Ciaran about the drastic measures that daa has had to take in order to prevent the business from going bust, what next year looks like with a vaccine on the horizon and the future of the aviation industry.