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The Minister for Foreign Affairs said the EU is negotiating with a partner it simply cannot trust following yesterday’s move by the British government to unilaterally change how the Northern Ireland Protocol is implemented.  Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Simon Coveney said the difficulty is that the British government has changed its approach.  He said said progress was…

The chief executive of Permanent TSB has described its discussions with Ulster Bank parent NatWest on the possible purchase of parts of the business as positive. Speaking on Morning Ireland, Eamonn Crowley confirmed the talks included a possible deal on mortgages, as well as the micro-SME aspects of the business. Asked about branches forming part of…

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the unemployment rate, including those receiving temporary Covid-19 jobless benefit, fell slightly to 24.8% in February from 25.1% in January.  The CSO said the Covid-19 crisis continued to have a significant impact on the labour market here last month. But it added that the “true” jobless…

The European Parliament has postponed a decision on ratifying the EU-UK free trade agreement in protest at the UK’s unilateral move on how the Northern Ireland Protocol should be implemented. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) was concluded by the EU and UK on 24 December, but it has only been applied provisionally because of…

The decision by Bank of Ireland to close over a hundred branches across its network highlights the digital divide that exists between the generations. The migration of banks online has been a difficult transition for many people – particularly older customers, many of whom still favour face-to-face interaction. There is a more obvious solution to the…

Decades of chronic underinvestment in key infrastructure is threatening to undermine the prospects for economic recovery, according to Ibec. Publishing its submission to the mid-term review of the National Development Plan, the business group says such under-resourcing has resulted in quality of life challenges in areas like housing, environment, health, childcare, and commuting. It says…

Bank of Ireland has said that no location will be left without access to financial services or cash facilities after its decision to close 103 branches in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.  The bank said the branches that are closing are predominately self-service locations that do not offer a counter service.  The branches…

Dublin remains the most popular destination for UK financial services firms looking to relocate staff or operations as a result of Brexit, according to EY. The accounting and consulting firm has been compiling a tracker of movement of services and staff at 222 financial services firms in the UK since the Brexit referendum in 2016.…

Euro zone inflation held steady as expected last month, taking a break in what is likely to be a temporary but sharp spike in consumer prices in the coming months, data showed today.  Prices in the euro zone rose by 0.2% on the month in January and 0.9% compared to a year earlier, in line…

Exchequer returns for February show that the budgetary situation has now deteriorated by €1.7bn compared to the same period a year ago, due to the decline in tax revenue and the increase in spending. The figures will show a deficit to the end of February of €14bn on a twelve month rolling basis. The Minister…