Over the last number of weeks on The Bottom Line  we have discussed the decision by NatWest to close Ulster Bank in Ireland as well as the  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. 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.

Remote Working was for many people 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”.

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.

To contact the show, email: [email protected]

John Hurley, CEO of Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and Brian O'Farrell, CEO of County Carlow Chamber of Commerce spoke with John about how businesses are dealing with the continued restrictions and challenges,  as well as what the Chambers feel needs to be done to support local businesses.

Eamon Quinn, Business Editor of The Irish Times joined John to chat through some of the big business stories from the week. The Banking sector continued to dominate the headlines and Eamon discusses what is happening in the sector as well as impact on business.

Starting and running a business can be a daunting and lonely path for people. To have someone to give advice and act as a sounding board can be a huge help when faced with the challenges that may arise, which is where the role of a mentor can be a great addition to a business. John spoke with Gabrielle Carroll, Business Advisor at Carlow Local Enterprise Office and to Ronan Murphy of Vision Green Consultancy. Gabrielle discussed the role of the mentor and the mentoring options available through the Local Enterprise Office and Ronan chatted about how he availed of mentoring and how it helped his organisation.

Eamon Quinn Business Editor of The Irish Examiner joined John to chat through some of the business news from the week with Banking being the main story. Eamon chats through what is happening in the banking sector and the impacts on business.

John spoke with Brian O'Farrell, CEO of County Carlow Chamber of Commerce and John Hurley, CEO of Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce to hear how businesses are dealing with the continued restrictions and challenges,  as well as what the Chambers feel needs to be done to support local businesses.

Fiona O'Neill joined John on The Bottom Line last year to chat about her business "Jobs for Family Carers" and at the time Fiona spoke to John about being a Social Entrepreneur and being involved in the Ideas Academy with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland. This week as Social Entrepreneurs Ireland are looking for innovators to take part in their Spark Session on 11th March 2021, John caught up with Fiona to see how business is going and he also spoke with Hayley Kilgallon, Programme Lead at Social Entrepreneurs Ireland to find out more about the work they do and the programmes that are available to social entrepreneurs.

Starting and running a business can be a daunting and lonely path for people. To have someone to give advice and act as a sounding board can be a huge help when faced with the challenges that may arise, which is where the role of a mentor may be a great addition to a business. John spoke with Gabrielle Carroll, Business Advisor at Carlow Local Enterprise Office and to Ronan Murphy of Vision Green Consultancy. Gabrielle discussed the role of the mentor and the mentoring options available through the Local Enterprise Office and Ronan chatted about how he availed of mentoring and how it helped his organisation.

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

To contact the show, email: [email protected]

Colette Byrne, Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council spoke with John about The Abbey Quarter in these Covid times.  Colette discusses where the project is at currently, whether it is on track or if the development of thousands of square feet of offices is a waste of money in an era of home and remote working.

To contact the show, email: [email protected]

One of the biggest stories from the week was the announcement by Ulster Bank that they would commence a phased withdrawal from the Republic of Ireland over the coming years, Economist Jim Power joined John to discuss the impact of this announcement and what it will mean for Irish business.

The World Resources Institute is a global research organisation with over 1000 staff across the globe working on campaigns such as health, food, oceans, and forests, they work with various institutions such as universities, cities and Governments to affect change. Edwina Hughes is the Head of Engagement for the Cool Food Pledge and Edwina joined John to discuss the work of the WRI and to tell us more about the Cool Food Pledge.

Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council Colette Byrne spoke with John about The Abbey Quarter in these Covid times.  Colette discusses where the project is at currently, whether it is on track or if the development of thousands of square feet of offices is a waste of money in an era of home and remote working.

Kilkenny based CR Payroll are a payroll service provider who offer emergency payroll cover to businesses and CEO Mairead Coughlan chatted to John about the business, how it has grown over the last year and plans for expansion with the hopes of increasing the number of employees before the end of 2021.

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

To contact the show, email: [email protected]

Denis Casey of Casey Business Consulting was last on the programme in November 2020 when we were speculating about Brexit and what businesses needed to do to prepare, John spoke with Denis on The Bottom Line about what the Brexit experience has been like for business so far.

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

To contact the show, email: [email protected]