Earlier this month, Red Flag Global, an Irish-based strategic communications firm was acquired by New York-based Ankura Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm.

The financial details weren’t revealed but it is understood that the price tag on the deal was €45 million.

Founded in 2013 by Karl Brophy, the company was chaired by Gavin O’Reilly, son of Tony O’Reilly and a former chief executive of Independent News & Media.

Karl joins host Ciarán Hancock on this episode of the Inside Business podcast to discuss his career that began as a Fine Gael press officer before stints covering politics for the Daily Mirror and the Irish Examiner.

He later went to work as a journalist and editor with INM, including a six-year stint editing an edgy tabloid title in South Africa.

In January 2011 he was appointed as Director of Corporate Affairs and Content Development at INM, reporting to Gavin O’Reilly.

It was a turbulent period in the history of the company, with a well-publicised battle for control of the business between the O’Reilly family and Denis O’Brien, who became a major shareholder.

Karl left INM in October 2012, setting up Red Flag just months later.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the past week, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has suggested that the Rent Pressure Zone system could be scrapped and that tax breaks could be introduced to help incentivise developers to build more apartments and houses.

Would these measures make rents more affordable for tenants? Or boost the supply of affordable new homes?

To tease out this tricky political issue, Inside Business host Ciarán Hancock was joined in studio by Dublin-based estate agent Owen Reilly and on the line by Michelle Norris, who is director of the Geary Institute for Public Policy at UCD and was a member of the Housing Commission.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the start of this week US President Donald Trump took the global economy into uncharted territory by threatening a multi-front trade war.

After last-minute negotiations on Monday, hefty tariffs for Canada and Mexico were suspended for 30 days. China then saw a 10% duty imposed on their imports into the US and retaliated soon after with their own tariffs on US energy and vehicles.

The EU is also in Donald Trump’s sights, but it is unclear as to what kind of concessions he will want. Ireland is quite exposed in all this as bilateral trade with the US is hugely important - what could this all mean for our main exports and our country’s foreign direct investment?

To get into the potential ramifications for Ireland and the wider global economy, host Cliff Taylor is joined by Irish Times Economic Correspondent, Eoin Burke-Kennedy, Irish Times China Correspondent, Denis Staunton and Professor of International Politics at the Clinton Institute in UCD, Scott Lucas.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

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On Monday, markets were in meltdown when it emerged that a Chinese app called DeepSeek had developed a low-cost AI technology that can compete with those of US giants but at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the computing power.

So, who is behind DeepSeek? And what is the future for the huge valuations on Big Tech and data centre stocks in the US and Europe?

For some insight on this, host Ciarán Hancock was joined by Ciara O’Brien of the Irish Times and Aidan Donnelly, head of Global equities at Davy.

Earlier this week, the State sold another 5 per cent of its holding in AIB. This reduced taxpayers’ holdings to 12.5 per cent in the Irish lender, which was bailed out by the State post the 2008 financial crash.

Why has the State decided to sell more shares in AIB? What do we know of Paschal Donohoe’s plan for the remaining 12.5 per cent stake? What about the cap on pay and bonuses? Joe Brennan of the Irish Times covered the story and joined us on the line to explain.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

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Karen Clince is CEO of Tigers Childcare, one of the biggest providers in the Irish market with 22 centres in Dublin, Cork, Kildare and Meath. She joins host Ciarán Hancock to explain the economics of running a childcare facility and give her view on proposals from the new Government to boost the sector.

And Laura Slattery of the Irish Times talks us through the findings of a survey from Dublin Chamber which shows how the childcare crisis is limiting the ability of companies to recruit and retain staff, especially women, with a fifth of all companies describing it as the primary barrier to doing so.

Plus, the World Economic Forum kicked off on Monday in the Swiss resort of Davos with many leading business and political leaders assembling to discuss the big global issues of the day.

It’s fair to say that Donald Trump’s return to the White House overshadowed all of that. The new US president hit the ground running, issuing more than 100 executive orders on his first day in office and pulling the US from the OECD’s global corporate tax deal.

That deal is very important to Ireland and could put us on a collision course with Trump’s new administration.

Irish Times Economics Correspondent Eoin Burke-Kennedy joins Ciarán on the line from Davos to go through the event’s main talking points thus far.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

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Last week a high-profile residential property scheme for Dundrum village in Dublin, that would have delivered 881 apartments and a mix of commercial units, was rejected by An Bord Pleanála.

The scheme had first been proposed in 2021 by Hammerson and Allianz who between them owned the land. In a rejection letter the board was strong in its language noting the excessive density, height and scale, together with its “monolithic appearance”. And that it would have had an overbearing impact on neighbouring residential properties.

This decision prompted Cliff Taylor of the Irish Times to write a column on the issue and its relevance to the housing crisis here. He joins host Ciarán Hancock on this week’s episode of Inside Business.

Also joining the show is Tom Phillips, an experienced planning consultant who has been involved in a number of large development applications, but not the one for Dundrum. He gives his thoughts on how the planning system works, the role of planning consultants, and the contradictions in the current system that are holding us back as we seek to break the log jam of the housing crisis.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

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Figures for 2024 showed a 1 per cent decline in total car sales across the Irish market versus 2023. But the number of electric vehicles sold reduced by almost 24 per cent with just 17,459 registered. This is against the backdrop of a government target to have one million EVs on Irish roads by 2030 as we phase out the use of fossil fuels.

Neil Briscoe writes extensively about motoring for the Irish Times and he joined host Ciarán Hancock on the line to go through some of the affordable options for those looking to buy, and explain why sales of EVs went into reverse last year.

In part two of the podcast, we hear from Conor Hanley, chief executive and president of Fire1, an Irish MedTech company that this week raised $120million to fund final clinical stage trials in the US for a device which helps monitor heart failure. He joined Ciarán in studio to explain why he thinks the technology is a major breakthrough for the many millions of people who suffer from this potentially life-threatening condition.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this week’s episode, host Ciarán Hancock was joined by a stellar panel to look forward to 2025. They tried to predict what would happen with foreign direct investment with Donald Trump back in The White House, a new coalition government is to be formed but will it solve the decade-plus housing crisis, and they consider the impact of artificial intelligence – can it live up to the hype of the last two years?

The panel comprises Feargal O’Rourke, the former PwC managing partner, who now wears many corporate hats, including as chairman of IDA Ireland, Marian Finnegan is Managing Director of Residential at Sherry Fitzgerald, the country’s biggest firm of estate agents, while Chris Horn is a tech entrepreneur and columnist at the Irish Times.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

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Ireland’s ongoing housing crisis was the number one concern for voters as they went to the polls in November with scarce supply and price inflation a feature throughout 2024. It was also a topic covered repeatedly on this podcast throughout the year with many experts and contributors offering context, insight, and in some cases, potential solutions to the housing crisis.

Produced by John Casey.

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It has been another tough year for restaurant and café owners – according to the Restaurant Association of Ireland, two venues a day are closing as businesses struggle to make ends meet amid rising inflation and a spike in payroll costs.

On this week’s episode of Inside Business, host Ciarán Hancock is joined by Vanessa Murphy, co-owner of Las Tapas de lola on Camden Street in Dublin’s city centre, and Aisling Rogerson, owner of the popular Fumbally café and bakery in Dublin’s Liberties. They discuss their trading struggles post-Covid, rising prices and menu changes, the challenges of recruiting and retaining staff, and how they have changed their trading hours to reflect the altered dining habits of customers.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.