Inside Business with Ciaran Hancock

As 2024 nears its end, Inside Business looks back at some of the big stories of the year. Everything from rising house prices to soaring corporation tax receipts, to Taylor Swift concerts and Donald Trump’s re-election as US president.To review the year, host Ciarán Hancock iss joined by Eoin Burke-Kennedy, Conor Pope and Ian Curran of The Irish Times to discuss issues around housing, the cost of living crisis, the €13 billion Apple tax ruling, and the demise of many restaurants and cafes.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s episode of Inside Business, host Cliff Taylor is joined in studio by Louisa Earls, manager of Books Upstairs, along with Laura Caffrey, & Clare Grennan, Co-Owners of Irish Design Shop, to get an insight into their experience as independent retailers in Dublin city during a period of the year that accounts for up to a third of their annual sales.Louisa discusses the pivot Books Upstairs made towards online sales during the early days of Covid, the titles that have flown off the shelves this year, competing with Amazon and what the government could do better to protect small independent businesses operating in the city.Laura and Clare from Irish Design Shop explain the challenges of starting a business in the teeth of the financial crash in late 2008, stocking products from over 60 Irish designers in its Drury Street shop, soaring tourist trade and why so many online orders are now coming from suburban Dublin. All three guests highlight the surge in shoplifting and why it is so difficult to combat.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the Irish government rolling in clover like never before, what is the outsider’s view of our economy? Max Colchester, Britain Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, has been writing about this following his recent visit to Dublin. He notes how other governments around Europe are struggling and raising taxes while we have set up two sovereign wealth funds to make good use of the billions in corporate tax receipts that continue to roll in – something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Donald Trump’s pick for Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick.He joins host Cliff Taylor to discuss the envious position Ireland finds itself in.Also on this episode, Irish Times Consumer Affairs Correspondent Conor Pope digs into whether the onslaught of advertised bargains for Black Friday are as good as they sound. Why do sales now start weeks before Black Friday? Can I get the same bargains during the year? And does buyer’s remorse and this annual event go hand in hand?Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump’s stance on imports coming into the US could have very real implications for Irish transatlantic trade.September proved to be a record month for Irish exports, as well as a record level of exports going to the US. This underlines the importance of a market that could be jeopardised if the president-elect follows through on his promise to introduce blanket tariffs on goods entering the US.Carol Lynch is customs and trade partner with BDO Ireland and she joined host Cliff Taylor to give some insight into what those tariffs could do to the Republic’s largest export market outside of the EU, and how Irish companies have already started preparations to manage those impacts. Cathal Foley and his company PACE won the sustainability and overall prize at the 2024 Irish Times Innovation awards.PACE stands for Platform for Analysing Carbon Emissions, specifically airline carbon emissions. The aviation sector has set an ambitious target of net zero emissions by 2050, something that is likely to cost around five trillion dollars. Cathal explained how PACE aims to help the sector achieve that target.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.