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A plan by the main banks here to develop a person to person money transfer app to rival Revolut and N26 has been dealt an early set back, after the competition regulator rejected its application for clearance due to insufficient information. Two weeks ago AIB, Bank of Ireland, KBC Bank Ireland and Permanent TSB applied…

The cost of transporting goods to Britain from Northern Ireland is set to rise as a result of the new post-Brexit regulatory border between the two parts of the United Kingdom, haulage firms said today, with one planning to hike prices by 12%. While Britain left the EU’s single market and customs union on Dec 31,…

Davy has upgraded its growth forecast for the economy for this year on the back of buoyant exports and multinational sector output, especially from the pharmaceutical and information and communications technology sectors. The stockbrokers have pencilled in GDP growth of 4.8% for this year, an increase from its earlier prediction of 3.8%. It is also predicting…

Job postings for the final quarter of last year were 23% lower than the same time in 2019, according to figures published by e-recruitment platform IrishJobs. Despite being in the grip of a third wave of Covid-19 cases, the jobs index – which analyses quarterly vacancy data – indicates that Ireland’s employment market is showing positive signs…

The volume of cargo passing through Dublin Port in the last three months of 2020 rose by 7.6% as pre-Brexit stockpiling, Christmas trading and a bounce caused by a relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions converted into higher demand for goods.  Across the year as a whole though, the volume of goods handled by the port fell 3.4%,…

Residential property prices rose on an annual basis for the first time in six months in November after disruption from the initial Covid-19 lockdown of the economy halted seven years of unbroken annual growth.  New Central Statistics Office show that residential property prices increased by 0.2% nationally in the year to November – the first…

Europe is too vulnerable to the global power of the dollar and must ensure the international standing of its euro currency to challenge US dominance, the EU executive has said. The European Commission made its pitch in a plan that sets out ways to help build the power of the euro and chip away at…

A senior Government official has said there is no reason to expect there will be any significant shortages in goods because of ongoing post-Brexit supply chain challenges.  Declan Hughes, an Assistant Secretary in the Indigenous Enterprise Unit in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said there may have been – and may be in…

The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation has outlined nine key policies which it says are needed to safeguard the industry as it continues to deal with the harsh impact of the Covid-19 restrictions.  The tourism industry here took an 85% hit in revenue last year with the loss of 160,000 jobs due to Covid-19. The Irish…

Some 460,000 people will receive the Pandemic Unemployment Payment this week – an increase of over 15% in the last seven days, according to the Department of Social Protection. The 62,715 rise in claims reflects the re-introduction of tighter public health restrictions and more business closures as the prevalence of Covid-19 has risen in recent…