Spar’s €56m payday; Norwegian hits turbulence; and a crisis of the State’s own making

Spar's Irish management team is in line for a €56 million payout after Christmas as they are paid for the last 10 per cent of the BWG business they own, writes Mark Paul. It will bring to €102 million the amount Leo Crawford, and John O'Donnell and John Clohisey have been paid for their stake in the business that also runs the Mace, Londis and XL brands.

The ravages of Covid-19 were on show as Norwegian Air's key Irish subsidiaries sought High Court protection from creditors in the latest bid to rescue the troubled Scandinavian airline group. Barry O'Halloran and Aodhan O'Faolain have the details.

In brighter news, Pfizer announced that its Covid vaccine was even more effective than originally thought across all age groups and showed no evidence of serious side effects.

House prices nationally fell by almost 1 per cent in the 12 months to September – and by nearly twice that in Dublin – as the Covid-19 crisis dampened activity in the market. However, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy, the CSO's latest residential property price index points to some recovery in September.

Irish Times ‘Lives Lost’ series wins top prize at journalism awards

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€56m payout for directors at Spar parent BWG after Christmas

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Councils overpaying for social housing, rise in private pension age, and businesses unprepared for Brexit

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MacBook Air: Better performance and improved battery life

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They mightn't be helped by broadband access. Eoin also reports on criticism of the company behind the National Broadband Plan by an Oireachtas committee yesterday for "gaps" in the rollout, which has seen certain premises bypassed as neighbours prepare to log on.

Separately, the Government lowered the amount British tourists will have to spend on goods before claiming a VAT refund on their return home, but retailers said the new €75 threshold was still too high. Simon Carswell reports.

The Irish arm of messaging platform WhatsApp had a solid performance last year but €77.5 million set aside to cover possible fees linked to an Irish Data Protection Commission investigation pushed it to an€11.2 million loss.

Chris Horn looks at Intel's latest effort to reposition itself as it loses ground in the CPU market to competitors in Asia.

And Joanne Hunt talks to an innovative Irish company NovoGrid that is looking to do its bit for sustainability by helping to stop the 7 per cent of power than is lost as electricity passes through the network.

In Net Results, Karlin Lillington says fears that Europe's top court will rule against the use of mobile phone data in the Graham Dwyer case is a crisis of the State's own making. The Government has known for years that its data retention framework is unlawful, writes Karlin, who has been prominent among those warning that just such a day would come to pass.

And in technology, Ciara O'Brien make sense of the blizzard of smartphone options this Christmas, whatever your price point.

Finally, with vaccines offering some hope of a more normal future, Boeing had other cause for cheer as US regulators finally gave the green light to the return of the 737 Max. But have the aerospace group's missteps caused its reputation and its prospects lasting damage.

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