Grim news for tourist groups; policing social distance; and Beaufield Mews site for sale

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

Almost two-thirds of businesses in the hotel and restaurant sectors were still closed at the end of June, according to new CSO survey data, making it the hardest hit sector in the lockdown. Construction comes next. Peter Hamilton reports.

A report by the Central Bank covers much of the same ground, finding that sharp falls in turnover, unpaid invoices and limited availability of capital from the banks has forced small and medium business to lay off staff and leave their own bills unpaid if they can continue trading at all, writes Colin Gleeson.

The site of Stillorgan's much loved Beaufield Mews is on the market, with a guide price of €2.5 million, writes Ronald Quinlan. He also reports on a move by the OPW from Stephen's Green to the old Ulster Bank building on George's Quay.

Irish fintech startup CreditLogic, which has developed technology that automates the mortgage application process, has raised €1.5 million to commercialise the product. Charlie Taylor has the details.

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Sticking with technology, Ciara O'Brien writes about Tipperary company Vision ID, which thinks it has developed the answer for companies worried about staff keeping their social distance. Get too close and it'll beep at you...and let HR know.

Not such good news for LinkedIn as the networking tech group says Irish staff will be among those let go as it culls close to 1,000 staff worldwide. Ciara has some details.

Bord Na Móna reports a €22.5 million loss this morning but that's good news. The figure is less than half the 2019 loss and is entirely attributable to the cost of exiting the peat business. Barry O'Halloran has the details.

In his column, Cliff Taylor argues that, for Ireland, success at the EU Summit was not measured in cash secured or not; failure by the EU to act on the current crisis would have been more costly.

Désirée Finnegan was seven months into her role as chief executive of Screen Ireland when every Irish cinema shut down and every film and television drama being shot in Ireland was obliged to press pause. She talks to Laura Slattery about rewriting the script for 2020.

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Dominic Coyle

Dominic Coyle

Dominic Coyle is Deputy Business Editor of The Irish Times