Ireland’s home-bidding system is marked by auctions that induce overbidding, pushing prices higher in the proces, a new study has found.
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) conducted a controlled auction experiment involving some 800 participants.
It found participants’ bids were pushed higher in open auctions managed by estate agents or online platforms than in sealed bid auctions. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the story.
The legal battle between Kenny Jacobs and the DAA may have been resolved but the Minister for Transport is facing a new round of board trouble at the State airports company as unfilled vacancies and looming departures threaten a power vacuum. Arthur Beesley reports.
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Meanwhile venture capital funding for small and medium-sized enterprises in Ireland fell for the first time in seven years in 2025, according to a new report. Ciara O’Brien writes that the chilling effect of Trump tariffs is being blamed as funding fell 23 per cent on the previous year.
China’s BYD may be overtaking Elon Musk’s Tesla in the race for to capitalise on demand for electric vehicles but it is looking in its own mirrors at a lesser known local rival, Leapmotor, which is producing no-frills, low-cost EVs that have proved a hit with Chinese consumers and seen sales double last year.
As Ireland’s economy, along with those across the euro zone, shifts to cater for a surge in college graduates, the fall in employment for those with lower qualifications has disrupted many lives, creating new challenges for our society, writes John FitzGerald in his weekly column.
Speaking of jobs and disruption, Chris Horn in an opinion piece warns that Ireland might find itself in an unwelcome spotlight as Donald Trump looks to deflect Maga criticism of AI for the loss of jobs in US.
In Me & My Money, Hothouse Flowers’ Fiachna Ó Braonáin tells Tony Clayton-Lea about his best value-for-money purchase - a lurid orange secondhand Reault Mégane that he bought eight years ago for €800 and which has seen him and his musical equipment safely to gigs across the country ever since without complaint or breakdown.
Finally, with Valentine’s Day looming later this week, AIB has drilled into its card spending patterns to discover that the average amount men spent on flowers for their loved ones on the same day last year was €62. Kerry men spent €72 on average and I had better not say who was at the other end of the table. Hugh Dooley has the details.
Bitcoin’s claim to be digital gold looks increasingly thin follow recent price falls, writes Stocktake.
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