Subscriber OnlyBusiness Today Newsletter

ESRI cuts growth forecasts, Esprit’s plan for a 300-bedroom hotel in Dublin 2, and drones as a weapon of war

The best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

A Ukrainian serviceman prepares to launch a drone during a military training exercise. Drones have been used by both Ukraine and Russia as a weapon of war in the 22-month conflict, writes columnist Chris Horn. Photograph: ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images

Ciarán Hancock's face
Ciarán Hancock
Thu Dec 14 2023 - 06:40

There is little Christmas cheer in the ESRI’s latest set of forecasts for the Irish economy. It has once again lowered its forecast for domestic demand growth, reducing it to just 0.6 per cent for this year while predicting that our GDP, which captures the activity of multinationals located here, will decline by 2.7 per cent as Irish consumer. Joe Brennan reports.

On a related topic, the slowdown in the Irish economy predicted by the ESRI could be the last straw for the Irish retail sector, and hasten the closure of more shopfronts in early 2024, writes Cantillon.

Esprit Investments, owned by Jones Engineering founder Eric Kinsella, is seeking permission to build what will be one of Dublin’s biggest hotels on Mount Street, along with apartments and other elements, in a historic Georgian section of the city centre. Barry O’Halloran has the details.

In his weekly column, Chris Horn notes how the war in Ukraine has demonstrated how readily-available low cost drones can be turned into lethal weapons of war.

READ MORE

A big story from Wednesday was a report from the Financial Times about BP’s decision that its former chief executive, Kerryman Bernard Looney, will forfeit up to £32.4 million (€37.6 million) over “serious misconduct” related to failing to disclose past relationships with colleagues.

The Republic’s bilateral trade with France has mushroomed to a record €30 billion per annum in the wake of Brexit, according to a new report. Eoin Burke-Kennedy was at the Irish embassy in Paris for its launch.

It’s just 12 months ago that Dalata, Ireland’s biggest hotel chain, breached the €500 million revenue mark for the first time and now it flagging income of more than €600 million for 2023. As Cantillon notes, much of this growth is driven by its expansion into the British market, which is set to accelerate next year.

While rivals race to add artificial intelligence capabilities to products, Amazon Web Services focuses on making it easier and more secure for firms to integrate it into workflows, writes Ciara O’Brien in our technology feature this week.

Our new innovator this week is TrustDish, a company that aims to make it easier for those with food allergies to eat out safely. Olive Keogh tells its story.

In our tech review, Ciara O’Brien isn’t impressed by the MyMonX Original Smart Wearable watch.

Stay up to date with all our business news: sign up to our Business Today daily email news digest. If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money, the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.