House price rises to ease; Clerys new retail look; and Ireland’s newest unicorn

Property prices are expected to rise by about 5 per cent this year as supply shortages, pent-up demand and pandemic savings continue to drive activity, according to a survey of estate agents. Eoin Burke-Kennedy examines the report.

Eoin also writes about a new report from the Parliamentary Budget Office which argues that rising rents and surging house prices have triggered a "collapse" in home ownership rates among adults of prime working age (25-54) in the Republic.

Premium fashion group Flannels, part of Mike Ashley's Fraser Group, has signed up for half the retail space that will be available at the redeveloped Clerys store site on Dublin's O'Connell Street when it opens later this year, writes Ronald Quinlan. H&M has taken the rest of the space.

Covid has been good for takeaways and digital food-ordering platform Flipdish is among the winners, becoming the State's fifth official home-grown "tech unicorn" following a $100 million (€87million) investment led by Chinese conglomerate Tencent, writes Charlie Taylor.

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Food and drink exports hit record €13.5bn in 2021 despite Covid and Brexit

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Investors looking for the next big thing need to understand the risk involved in crowdfunding, the Central Bank said as it launched a regime to bring the sector within its regulatory grasp in line with new European Union rules. Joe Brennan has the details.

AIB's managing director of its UK unit, Robert Mulhall, is planning to leave the group in the coming months after a 25-year career after overseeing a major restructuring of the division. Joe Brennan reports.

The operators of the Clarence Hotel – part of the Press Up Entertainment group – has dropped an action against an insurance broker over business interruption cover settled in the Commercial Court. Ellen O'Riordan writes that Brushfield had sued Arachas Corporate Brokers Ltd, which arranged the hotel's insurance policy with Axa.

Larry Goodman's son, Laurence jnr, has won an An Bord Pleanála appeal against a Dublin City Council refusal of his plan for a build-to-rent apartment scheme in Beaumont.

Meanwhile, the OPW has argued that a 399-unit build-to-rent apartment scheme up to 18 storeys in height would have "an unacceptable impact" on one of Ireland's most important built heritage sites – the Royal Hospital Kilmainham and its gardens. Gordon Deegan reports.

A report from Northern Ireland says fewer manufacturing companies there were struggling to deal with the post-Brexit trading rules under the Northern Ireland Protocol as 2021 wore on. Simon Carswell looks at the figures.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) raised €3.5 billion on Thursday selling 10-year bonds in a heavily oversubscribed auction, completing more than a third of its minimum full-year funding target less than two weeks into 2022. Joe Brennan reports.

In Agenda, Charlie Taylor some of the issues raised by the decision of chipmaker Intel not to site a €70 billion investment in Ireland and examines whether it presents wider problems for the State in attracting foreign direct investment.

And John FitzGerald writes that Ireland's reliance on air transport for exports means it is critical that it restores routes mothballed as a result of Covid-19 as soon as possible for the good of the economy.

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