Donal O'Donovan

DRI invites European victims of Facebook leak to join legal action against tech giant

Digital Rights Ireland (DRI), a non governmental organisation (NGO) focused on privacy, is inviting European victims of a recent Facebook data leak to join a combined legal action against the tech giant seeking damages.

Neil Short is aiming to increase his cows’ milk solids average rather than expanding the herd

Kerry Group says sale of €800m dairy arm is off

A planned €800m sale of Kerry Group’s primary dairy business to Kerry Co-op is off. It is understood a proposal from the Co-op fell short of what management at Kerry Group were seeking.

Kerry Group, led by Edmond Scanlon, has ended talks. Photo: Colm Mahady/Fennells

Kerry Group calls off its planned €800m dairy unit sale to Co-op

THE planned €800m sale of Kerry Group’s primary dairy business to Kerry Co-op is off and it is understood that a bid proposal from the Co-op fell short of what management at Kerry Group were seeking.

Lakeland is the largest cross-border dairy processing co-operative on the island of Ireland. Photo: Colm Mahady/Fennells

Lakeland profits rise despite up to 40pc spike in shipping costs

The cost of shipping food out of Ireland is up as much as 40pc in the past year, hitting margins for a sector already under pressure from Brexit.

Bernie Madoff case in Irish court gets settled on day of death

The Madoff scandal has had a long afterlife in the Irish courts, thanks to various links to the banks and fund managers in the IFSC.

Lakeland profits rise despite up to 40pc spike in shipping costs

The cost of shipping food out of Ireland is up as much as 40pc in the past year, hitting margins for a sector already under pressure from Brexit.

Uniphar's CEO Ger Rabbette has led the company to a series of US acquisitions

Uniphar executives see big rises in their pay after independent salary review

Total pay packages for Uniphar’s chief commercial and chief financial officers were brought fully into line last year, new figures in the pharmacy supplies group’s annual report show.

The European Central Bank HQ on the bank of the River Main in Frankfurt, Germany

ECB bought more than €2bn of Irish bonds in two months

The ECB bought €2.04bn of Irish government bonds over February and March of this year in the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP), according to Ryan McGrath head of fixed income strategy and sales at Cantor Fitzgerald in Dublin.

Treats: Nurse Marcella Hunt with her children Adam and Gemma at the reopening of Krispy Kreme Drive-thru, Blanchardstown last May. Photo:Gareth Chaney/Collins

Icing on the cake: Krispy Kreme to supply 20 stores from Blanchardstown

Krispy Kreme is planning a significant rollout across greater Dublin following its massively successful arrival here almost three years ago.

Derville Rowland is the Central Bank's Director General, Financial Conduct. Photo: Colin O'Riordan

Davy bond deal breaches ‘not criminal offences’, says Central Bank

Breaches in relation to the Davy bond-dealing scandal did not constitute criminal activity, the Central Bank has said in letter to TD .

The property portfolio was sold for €50m more than the investor paid

Premium

Court hearing on Dutch property losses is delayed

A Dutch court has delayed an initial hearing in a case taken against ACC Bank parent Rabobank by a group that includes dozens of small Irish investors who say they lost millions investing in an Amsterdam property fund even as real estate prices rose in the city.

Gig economy: A Deliveroo rider takes a break in London. Photo: REUTERS/Simon Dawson

Premium

Donal O'Donovan Opinion Deliveroo investors grapple with fear and greed

When the tide turns in financial markets, it’s usually because fear has trumped greed as the dominant factor in investor sentiment, or vice-versa.

Costs associated with the Suez Canal blockage continue to rise.

Retailers say Brexit impact is driving up costs

Retailers are bearing the brunt of the Brexit trade disruptions at the same time that the sector is being hammered by Covid.

Builder working on scaffold on building site

Builders set to work on 2,000 homes if they get green light

Builders are ready to begin work on 113 sites that will provide almost 2,000 homes, if they get the green light on April 5, according to data from Construction Information Services (CIS) which tracks and monitors all construction projects throughout Ireland.

Premium

Donal O'Donovan Opinion Repayment of bailout loans reminder of a lost high point in Anglo-Irish relations

It didn’t feel like it at the time, but in hindsight the worst year’s of the Irish financial crash were a golden age for Anglo-Irish relations. In the current era of Brexit snarl ups, vaccine nationalism and Boris Johnson’s dangerously casual approach to the Good Friday Agreement, it is easy to forget.

Almost half of new mortgages go to switchers and movers

Almost half of mortgage approvals in February were for customers switching from their current bank or moving house.

Canal: Van Diemenstraat 206-380 in Amsterdam

Premium

Investors line up legal action over ACC property losses in Amsterdam

A group of up to 40 Irish farmers and small business owners are lining up behind a potentially major legal action against Rabobank saying they missed out on around €50m when they were forced to sell their investment in prime Amsterdam offices in a 2016 deal that recouped the bank’s loan but left the investors nursing big losses.

ESRI’s Kieran McQuinn. Photo: Frank McGrath

Housing crisis: Building ban and savings to send house prices soaring

Covid restrictions on building will lead to a 25pc collapse in new housing construction this year.

Premium

Investors line up legal action over ACC property losses in Amsterdam

A group of up to 40 Irish farmers and small business owners are lining up behind a potentially major legal action against Rabobank saying they missed out on around €50m when they were forced to sell their investment in prime Amsterdam offices in a 2016 deal that recouped the bank’s loan but left the investors nursing big losses.

Deliveroo does not meet Aviva's ESG metrics. Photo: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

Aviva won’t buy into Deliveroo IPO over riders’ employment status

One of Britain’s most important financial investors has said it will not invest in Deliveroo’s stock market flotation because of concerns over workers’ rights.

Incomes: Mark Cassidy of the Central Bank said emergency economic supports should be withdrawn only gradually.

Mortgage arrears are masked by supports, says Central Bank

The scale of new mortgage arrears stemming from the Covid pandemic will only be seen when wage and business supports are withdrawn, the Central Bank’s chief economist has warned.

Printing newspapers at the Citywest plant

Webprint to take over Citywest site from INM

Cork-based Webprint has agreed a deal to take over the former Independent News and Media (INM) printing plant at Citywest on the outskirts of Dublin.

Departure: Leon Black is leaving Apollo immediately. Photo: Demetrius Freeman/Bloomberg

Apollo’s Leon Black exits early after fallout from Epstein links

Leon Black, the Wall Street billionaire who appeared to be a main client of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, is stepping down as chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management months ahead of schedule.

Taxes will have to rise to fund extra services, warns Central Bank

Taxes will have to rise to pay for the big increases in public spending announced last year or we’ll run a high risk of plunging the public finances into crisis, Central Bank economists have warned.

Davy was dropped after failing to give NTMA details sought about bond scandal

The NTMA sacked Davy Stockbrokers as a primary dealer for government bond deals after the firm failed to provide details beyond what was already in the public domain about its 2014 bond scandal.

Criticism: Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon declined to attend EU committee. Photo: Adrian Weckler

Data watchdog needs two more commissioners, says rightsgroup ICCL

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has asked the Minister for Justice to appoint two additional Data Protection Commissioners (DPC) and says an independent review of the commission’s operations is needed to strengthen the embattled regulatory authority.

Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon. Photo: Mark Condren

Helen Dixon refused to attend EU parliament session alongside Max Schrems

Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon refused to attend a European Parliament committee meeting if it meant answering questions alongside privacy campaigner Max Schrems.

5G network opened for high-tech research

Researchers in the high-tech manufacturing sector will have access to Ireland’s first 5G standalone mobile private network (MPN) to develop and demonstrate innovative smart manufacturing use cases in automated production lines, mobile robots and cobots, and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) displays.

Lockdown: A quiet Grafton Street during pandemic restrictions in Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

More Covid job losses at Irish family firms than at European peers

A global survey of mostly larger family-owned firms shows Irish employers are significantly more likely to have cut jobs than peers in Europe and globally. Cutting wage bills especially through temporary lay-off was the single most common tactic among firms surveyed here to deal with the effects of the crisis, the survey found.

Property boss saw pay tumble in 2020 as shares took a Covid hit

The head of the country’s biggest residential landlord, IRES Reit, saw her overall pay cut by around 40pc last year.