Waterford airport ‘in jeopardy’, investigation into INM, and Facebook scandal rumbles on

Serious questions over the future of Waterford airporthave been raised by officials in the Department of Transport. Peter Hamilton reports on an internal submission to the minister, warning that the airport's future is "in jeopardy".

The move by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) to seek the High Court appointment of all-powerful inspectors into Independent News & Media (INM) certainly marks a serious escalation of its investigation into its affairs, as Laura Slattery explains.

The Facebook scandal rumbles on and Derek Scally reports how Ireland's data protection commissioner says around 2,000 internet connections in Europe are linked to the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica data scandal in the US.

Netflix doesn't publish subscriber numbers on a country-by-country basis, but the latest findings of a survey by communications regulator Comreg, suggest it is used by at least 500,000 Irish households.

First non-stop flight between Australia and UK lands

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Transport officials warn future of Waterford Airport ‘in jeopardy’

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Avolon sells 41 aircraft to its special purpose company Sapphire

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Norwegian Air raises €137m to boost finances

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House sales in Dublin rose 16 per cent to 17,491 last year, according to an analysis of the market by property company MyHome.ie. Amid a rising market, the total value of the transactions rose 21 per cent to €7.4 billion. According to research based on figures in the Property Price Register, the number of house sales rose in all but four of Dublin's 22 postal code districts.

Good news on the tourism front as figure show job vacancies in the hotel sector increased almost 200 per cent between 2013 and 2017. Vacancies for hotel chefs increased by 149 per cent over the five-year period, while hotel bartending, mixologist and concierge vacancies all soared by 80 per cent.

US businesses have appealed for the Trump administration to clear up uncertainty over its tariffs on steel and aluminium, after the White House announced a substantial rollback of plans unveiled by the president at the start of the month.

Chris Johns outlines the growing number of threats facing financial markets at present, and it's more than just a potential trade war.

Finally, Pilita Clark offers up some innovative suggestions to tackle the scourge of spam mail, notably the potential to charge those who send them.