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Most of North’s exports head south, landlords continue to sell up in rental market, and pension top ups

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

Freight trucks arrive at the ferry terminal in Larne in Northern Ireland, Trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic has risen since Brexit took effect.

Ciarán Hancock's face
Ciarán Hancock
Tue Jul 4 2023 - 06:45

The Republic accounts for more than half of Northern Ireland’s exports, thanks largely to Brexit, according to in-depth research from the ESRI. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.

In our weekly personal finance feature, Fiona Reddan explains how Irish residents who worked in the UK for at least three years, and who spend about €3,600 to top up their UK state pension entitlements, could benefit to the tune of almost €180,000. 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.

Oil exploration group Barryroe Offshore Energy has said Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan’s officials declined repeated attempts over the past two years to discuss its key Barryroe field before they pulled the plug on the prospect. Joe Brennan reports.

Some 6,000 tenancies were lost in the Irish rental market in the first six months of 2023, according to data from estate agent Sherry FitzGerald, while house price growth continues to slow. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the details.

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In our second personal finance Q&A this week, a reader wonders about the tax implications on both sides of the transaction of buying an apartment from their sister, who has never lived in the property. Dominic Coyle offers some guidance.

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath is likely to use the Summer Economic Statement on Tuesday to warn about the overheating risks facing the economy and how an imprudent budgetary spend might undermine efforts to rein in inflation, writes Cantillon.

In our media and marketing column, Bernice Harrison asks is time up for fossil fuel sponsorship of arts events?

On a related topic, Cantillon notes how electric vehicles appear to be well on the way to dominating sales of new cars in the Irish market, helped by various Government subsidies.

In Me & My Money, Mary-Therese Byrne, tourism and marketing manager at Dublinia, recalls how when her job went part-time during Covid, she was “forced to learn how to tighten my budget”. She spoke with Tony Clayton-Lea.

In Stocktake, we profile the late Harry Markowitz: great economist, ordinary investor.

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