Irish Times Inside Business

On Monday, the motor trade will be allowed to reopen their aftersales departments, but still face restrictions on their car sales operations. Many dealers are growing increasingly frustrated by the impact on sales and the threat of job losses. In today’s episode Ciaran Hancock speaks to Stephen Gleeson, managing director of Hyundai Ireland who is calling for showrooms and garages to open from May 18th. Meanwhile, the online sales of car parts have seen a sharp increase in the last few weeks. Ciaran Crean founder of the website Micksgarage.com discusses the growth in demand since the lockdown was introduced. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Like most industries, the Irish pub sector has been devastated by the Covid-19 crisis. Under the current restrictions set out by the government in their roadmap to opening the economy, pubs must remain closed until August 10th 2020. Publicans argue this will put many out of business and have put forward a proposal to open six weeks earlier than planned. Joining Ciaran to discuss what the future might look like for Irish pubs is Donall O’Keeffe, CEO of the Licensed Vintners Association and John Gleeson who runs Gleesons of Booterstown. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mark Fitzgerald is founder and chairman of real estate firm Sherry Fitzgerald. He talks to Ciarán about the housing market's difficulties and resilience in the time of Coronavirus. Despite the worsening economic situation, he insists there is no drop-off in demand from buyers yet and predicts prices will recover in 2021. Mark predicts a drop in new housing builds this year of between eight and ten thousand, and calls for the next government to ensure a resulting shortfall is made up in the years ahead. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

An Post is one of the companies on the frontline of the Covid-19 outbreak. CEO David McRedmond talks to Ciaran Hancock about how the organisation is adapting to serve the public during the Covid-19 outbreak, and also about the future of letters, post offices, parcels and the financial services that are an increasingly important part of their offering. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Borrowers financially impacted by Covid-19 could be offered a six-month break on their mortgage payments if talks between the banks’ lobbying body and the Central Bank of Ireland are successful, according to Brian Hayes, chief executive of the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland and today's Inside Business guest. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Business representative group Ibec CEO Danny McCoy talsk to Ciaran Hancock about the plight of businesses, the effectiveness of state support and the importance of getting state cash into businesses fast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pat McCann, founder of hotel group Dalata, says this crisis is worse than the many previous recessions and crises of his career all put together - but he says Dalata has the strength to survive, even if, as he believes, restrictions remain in place until late 2020. He talks to business editor Ciaran Hancock. From the Inside Business team, thanks to our listeners for their patience while we have been on hiatus for the past fortnight. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In today’s episode, Irish Times journalists Joe Brennan and Mark Paul join host Laura Slattery to discuss the evolving economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. In a week that began with Black Monday, the greatest global stock market crash since 2008, what emergency measures are now being taken across the world to ease the economic impact? And how will the Irish tourism sector survive the biggest challenge it has faced in decades?Plus Cork native Emer Downing joins Laura on the line from her home in Bergamo, Italy to speak about daily life under lockdown. Emer is a primary school teacher and is delivering all her lessons online through Google Classroom. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On today's podcast:Has Covid-19 changed the outlook for the Irish economy? Cliff Taylor talks to Conall Mac Coille, Chief Economist at Davy Stockbrokers. We find out about an all-Ireland company, Randox Laboratories, whose product is at the frontline of global efforts to detect the disease and prevent its spread. Plus: Before the High Court this week a high-profile personal insolvency case demonstrated the benefits of this ne for debtors in trouble. Simon Carswell reports. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is the worsening global outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus already impacting the economy here and abroad? * Economist Megan Greene on the global effect. Why did investors initially underestimate the risk of the virus, and what are they doing now to minimise their exposure to losses? * Barry O'Halloran on the impact on tourism. Will airlines struggle in the months ahead? * Irish Exporters Association CEO Simon McKeever on the threat to businesses. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week it's the business of sport. Together with Mick O'Keeffe of Teneo PSG, Ciaran interviews GAA Director General Tom Ryan. They talk about funding the sport, Dublin's dominance and what the future holds for inter-county players. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How has the extraordinary result of the 2020 election gone down among investors, the financial sector and businesses? To talk about the election and its aftermath from an economic perspective, Ciaran is joined by Cliff Taylor and by Brian Hayes, head of the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland and a former Fine Gael TD. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Following a ruling this week from the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, AIB have set aside a further €300 million to compensate victims of the tracker-mortgage scandal. In studio to discuss what this means for the thousands of customers affected is consumer campaigner Brendan Burgess from Askaboutmoney.com and Irish Times journalist Joe Brennan. Plus Peter Hamilton is here for the business roundup with details on a major new Brown Thomas store and some controversial Ryanair ads. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, host Laura Slattery is joined by Irish Times contributor Chris Johns, who has taken a detailed look through the manifestos of Fine Gael & Fianna Fáil. What are the parties promising in terms of public finances and how will it be implemented? Also, with Brexit set for Friday evening & the value of Sterling falling, Irish Times journalist Mark Paul discusses the likely impact it will have on Irish tourism. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The growing, ageing population has created a pensions time bomb for this Government and the gap between the common retirement age of 65 and eligibility for the state pension has emerged as a major election issue. Our own Dominic Coyle explains the problem, while Willie O'Dea, Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on pensions, claims his party will make a better fist of this policy area if voted in next month. Joe Brennan reports from Davos where an unusually small Irish contingent is rubbing shoulders with US President Donald Trump, climate activist Greta Thunberg and the usual coterie of premiers, ministers and CEOs. One Irish person who did make it is 18-year-old  Fionn Ferreira, winner of the 2019 Google Science Fair, to talk about his plan to remove microplastics from the ocean. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Ciaran Hancock is joined by Economist Jim Power and Irish Times Journalist Cliff Taylor. Together they take a look at how the Irish General Election campaign will play out over the next few weeks. Will the electorate give Fine Gael any credit for the recent economic growth and which party is best equipped to tackle the housing and health crisis?Plus, New Zealand based entrepreneur Andrew Barnes discusses his new book 'The Four Day Week', which puts forward the idea that shorter working hours results in more productivity. It sounds great in theory, but would it work? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Cork-born businessman Norman Crowley believes the profit motive is the best hope we have for reducing our carbon emissions enough to stave off the worst effects of climate change in the decades ahead. He talks to Ciaran about the various strands of his business Crowley Carbon (electrifying vintage cars, creating meatless meat, and making companies more energy efficient), his assessment of Green politics and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For our final show of 2019 we've assembled a panel of experts to take stock of the the year and to make some predictions about the year ahead in business, the economy and beyond. Stephen Brewer is managing director with telecoms firm Magnet Networks, Michael O'Keeffe is CEO of Teneo PSG Ireland and Lucinda Creighton is CEO of Vulcan Consulting and a former junior minister for European Affairs. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Businessman Kieran Lucid has a dream: an all-Ireland football league, uniting clubs from Northern Ireland and the Republic. But with soccer in the south in dire straits and cultural resistance in the North, he faces an uphill battle. He talks to Ciaran Hancock about his ambitious plan. But first Peter Hamilton has a roundup of the latest business news. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today we are taking you on an exclusive tour of one of the biggest construction projects in Dublin city today: the redevelopment of the former Central Bank building on Dame Street, or "Central Plaza" as it will be called. It is one of Dublin's standout buildings, a bulky modernist structure towering over the 18th century architecture of College Green. For decades the space outside has been a rendezvous point for Dubliners, a hangout spot for teenagers and a stage for numerous demonstrations. Inside, momentous events in Ireland's recent economic history have played out. Now it is the subject of a €100 million redevelopment by US investment company Hines. Brian Moran, Hines's leading executive in Ireland, shows Ciarán around the site, including its rooftop restaurant and public foyer, while explaining the history and architecture of the building, the challenges of redevelopment and its attraction to signed-on lead tenants WeWork. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.