Manufacturing stalls, banks top-up pay, and your essential guide to video call apps

Thousands of frontline bank workers are being offered top-up payments for putting their shoulders to the wheel as the sector seeks to maintain services during the coronavirus crisis, writes Joe Brennan.

Joe also reports that Permanent TSB is holding back from offering mortgage holders already in arrears the full standard three-month mortgage payment break that banks in the Republic are making available to borrowers affected by the coronavirus crisis.

The manufacturing sector recorded its sharpest decline since August 2009 in March as the Covid crisis spread, according to AIB data. The month-on-month drop was the largest on record since the survey began in May 1998. Peter Hamilton reports.

In his column this week, Eoin Burke-Kennedy warns that even if the virus and lockdown are gone by June, the economy we know will not be waiting for us on the other side. He says the notion of a V-shaped recovery is "an illusion or at best wishful thinking".

Fierce backlash to Dutch hard line on eurobonds

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Ireland ‘resilient’ enough to cope with cost of Covid-19, says Moody’s

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EU approves State’s €200m business loans scheme

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Coronavirus: Euro zone inflation slows as global oil prices collapse

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However, the global ratings agency, Moody's, says the Republic's credit profile is "resilient" enough to withstand the cost of Covid-19, as it predicted the economy could contract this year by as little as 1.6 per cent.

Builders have halted work on major road and other projects after the Government stepped up Covid-19 restrictions at the weekend. Last night, BAM Ireland said it has halted work on the National Children's Hospital in Dublin. Barry O'Halloran reports.

Commercial real estate adviser Savills Ireland has estimated that Dublin's hotel development pipeline will decline by up to 32 per cent as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ronald Quinlan has the details .

Ronald also reports today that Trinity College Dublin has acquired the landmark Stack B office building at the IFSC for €16 million.

Finally, with the world turning to video conferencing for everything from corporate meetings to cosy family chats, Ciara O'Brien offers an essential guide to the best video calling options around.