Covid to hit housing, pay to remain flat and a very Irish hybrid

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

Covid-19 restrictions will have a considerable impact on housing supply, with up to 23,000 fewer homes being built between 2020 and 2022, the Central Bank has warned. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the details.

Kerry Group's largest shareholder, Kerry Co-op, is considering raising as little as aa ¤240 million sale of shares in the publicly-quoted food giant to fund its participation in a €800 million dairy business joint venture between both sides, according to sources. Joe Brennan reports.

Estate agent DNG predicts property prices in Dublin could rise by as much as 5 per cent when the current lockdown restrictions are eased, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy.

Arachas, an Irish insurance broker that was bought last year by larger UK peer Ardonagh Group, has continued on its own deals trail, writes Joe Brennan, with the purchase of Mayo-based commercial lines broker MCM Insurance Brokers for an undisclosed sum.

READ MORE

Professional salaries in the Irish market are likely to remain flat on average in 2021, although employees and contractors with certain in-demand and emerging niche skills can expect a 5 per cent uplift, according to recruitment company Morgan McKinley. Laura Slattery reports.

Post-Brexit red tape is continuing to stall deliveries to businesses in the North and Republic. Barry O'Halloran reports.

Caveat suspects we are heading for a very Irish hybrid to keep the virus at bay as much as possible.

In his weekly column John FitzGerald argues that our Government and those across Europe need to develop plans for how we will return to normal as an increasing proportion of the population is vaccinated.

Covid-19 has given crisis management a work out on an unprecedented scale, and it's not over yet, warns Olive Keogh.

In Wild Geese Limerick-born tenor Paul McNamara talks to Barbara McCarthy about life in Berlin.

In this week's Inside Business: sport special podcast Olympic Federation of Ireland CEO Sarah Keane and GAA director of communications Alan Milton join Ciarán Hancock and Michael O'Keeffe to talk about the challenges and opportunities for sport in Ireland in 2021.

Stay up to date with all our business news: sign up to our business news alerts.

Conn Ó Midheach

Conn Ó Midheach

Conn O Midheach is Assistant Business Editor - Digital of The Irish Times