Home building slows as Irish emigrants discover that housing markets abroad are also red hot

Home-building activity in Ireland fell for the eighth straight month in December as all three sectors of the construction industry recorded a decline in activity, according to AIB’s latest PMI survey of the construction sector. Hugh Dooley reports.

Airport operator DAA has committed to the High Court that it will pause a planned investigation into complaints against its chief executive Kenny Jacobs pending the hearing of his legal case seeking to lift his suspension from the company. Joe Brennan was in court for the latest development in this saga.

The cost of housing here has resulted in a lot of Irish people choosing to move abroad in search of a home and a better quality of life. As Fiona Reddan discovers, many of the likely destinations for Ireland’s departing emigrants have some of the hottest housing markets in the world.

In our Q&A, a reader asks if they can opt in to the State’s new workplace auto-enrolment pension scheme even if they don’t meet the criteria. Dominic Coyle offers a view. 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.

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China’s rising industrial strength has left the EU fretting about its manufacturing future. Denis Staunton got to see this firsthand at a BYD factory in Zhengzhou, a city in central China, which is increasingly outpacing its rivals in the production of electric cars.

The recent Minneapolis killing has ushered in our new media dystopia, writes our columnist Hugh Linehan.

An Post’s latest price increase for stamps means the cost has more than doubled in a decade, as volumes slump and costs continue to increase. Are the days of its obligation to provide a Monday to Friday postal service to every household in the country numbered? Cantillon offers a view.

Cantillon also argues that the criminal investigation of Fed chief Jerome Powell is a dangerous development.

Taco (Trump always chickens out) was a popular acronym thrown around last year due to various U-turns on US economic policies. Post Trump’s move on Venezuela, does that view still hold? Stocktake offers a view.

EY has opened up the nominations process for the 2026 popular EY Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) programme. Colin Gleeson has the story.