Inside Business with Ciaran Hancock

Earlier this week, US meal delivery group DoorDash agreed a deal to take over its British rival Deliveroo, which has a big presence in Ireland.The deal is valued at £2.9 billion and will pit the merged group in competition with other online delivery platforms such as Just Eat and Uber Eats.Callum Cant is an author and senior lecturer from the University of Essex and also worked for Deliveroo while he was in college.He joined host Ciarán Hancock on the line to discuss the merger and what it might mean for Deliveroo’s battalion of gig economy workers and for retailers using the online ordering platform.Also on this week’s Inside Business, the Department of Finance’s annual progress report on the Irish economy, a document that informs budgetary strategy and is filed with the European Commission.This week it brought news of a slowdown in growth, reduced job creation and a significant fall in corporation tax receipts.Eoin Burke-Kennedy covered the story for The Irish Times and explained the headline numbers in the report and what impact Trump’s tariffs will have on Irish economic growth this year.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

This week Inside Business looks at the impact of Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office on markets. The sweeping US tariffs announced on April 2nd rocked equity and bond markets.They plunged in value to such an extent that Donald Trump was forced into a quick U Turn, postponing all of the tariffs for 90 days, with the exception of China.Aidan Donnelly is Head of Global Equities at Davy stockbrokers and joined host Ciarán Hancock in studio to consider the impact of those tariffs and to offer a view on where markets might go for the rest of the year.In the second half of the show, Hugh Linehan of The Irish Times will reflect on the terms being offered in RTÉ’s latest voluntary exit programme for staff in an effort to help the broadcaster reduce its headcount by 400 over the next four years.The funding for this restructuring has essentially been provided by the State via a €725 million three-year funding plan agreed last year with the Government.In a column in The Irish Times this week, Hugh Linehan of The Irish Times examined the plan and asked the question as to whether RTÉ was in a worse position than other media companies in Ireland?Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.  

This week’s episode features Patrick Guilbaud, the French chef who brought fine dining to Ireland 44 years ago. Situated beside the Merrion Hotel in central Dublin, Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud continues to thrive with two Michelin stars. Guilbaud moved to Ireland in the early 1980’s when the country was in recession, and it wasn’t always plain sailing. A visit from the sheriff for unpaid debts led to a partnership with successful businessmen Lochlann Quinn and Martin Naughton that helped put the restaurant on a sound financial footing. It also led him to relocate the restaurant to the Merrion Hotel site which was developed by Quinn and Naughton. A move that he considers to be the making of the business.In February Guilbaud received the Distinguished Leader in Business award at the Irish Times Business Awards. In this interview with host Ciarán Hancock he discusses those difficult early days of trading, changes in the Irish restaurant trade over the past four decades, the current challenges facing the sector in terms of cost, and his plans for retirement.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

Kerrygold is one of the biggest food brands in Ireland and one of our largest exports.Earlier today, its parent company Ornua announced that revenues last year were flat at €3.4 billion but its operating profit and Ebitda were up, helped by efficiencies achieved during the period.But that was last year. Before Donald Trump won the US presidential election and later announced sweeping tariffs on all imported goods.Kerrygold is one of the main Irish food brands facing a hit from Trump’s tariffs, which are currently set at 10 per cent for 90 days but could ultimately rise to 20 per cent.Conor Galvin is chief executive of Ornua and he joined me in studio to discuss the impact the 10 per cent tariff is currently having on Kerrygold sales in US retail.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

A full-blown global tariff war in underway.Donald’s Trump’s tariffs took effect last night with the EU due to vote today on a retaliatory list drawn up by the European Commission.The US and China meanwhile have engaged in tit for tat tariffs in the past few days. China has also vowed to fight to the end in the tariff war.What will all this mean for Ireland? What hit will consumers face?And should Ireland now pivot east to protect jobs and secure new investment?To answer these and other questions host Ciarán Hancock Is joined on this week’s episode of Inside Business by Ibec chief executive Danny McCoy, Cliff Taylor of The Irish Times, and Chris Smyth, group CEO at Perennial Freight & president of the France-Ireland Chamber of Commerce.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

Last week data from the CSO showed a decline of 30 per cent in the number of visitors to the country in February, with revenue taking a hit of €88 million during the month.This continued a trend dating back to last September.In this week’s episode of Inside Business, you’ll hear conflicting views from the trade on the current state of the tourism sector here.Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, CEO of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, tells host Ciarán Hancock why he thinks the CSO figures might be overstating the current position within the sector.Whereas Sean Connick, who operates the Dunbrody Famine Ship Experience and the Kennedy Homestead in Co Wexford, is seeing a different picture with visitor numbers to those experiences declining last year with January and February also soft.In addition, he has had to absorb significant increases in their running costs.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. 

In the first part of this week’s episode of Inside Business, we look at Tesla and the backlash against the vehicle car maker this year because of Elon Musk’s association with Donald Trump.Sales in Europe have slumped while its share price has shed 24 per cent of its value year to date. That amounts to about $800 billion of market value being wiped out.In addition, there have been many protests and reports of Tesla’s being vandalised.To add to the mix, Chinese rivals have also upped their game.Neil Briscoe is a motoring journalist and writes for the Irish Times. He’s been covering Tesla since the get-go and joined host Ciarán Hancock on the line to discuss the issues affecting the company.Also on the show, Eoin Burke Kennedy, economics correspondent of The Irish Times, discusses new data on house prices from Daft.ie after it published its latest quarterly report. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture for anyone seeking to buy a home, with house price pressure reaching an eight-year high and the number of second-hand properties available for sale at lowest level since 2007.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

On this week’s episode of Inside Business, we discuss US President Donald Trump’s intention to impose new reciprocal tariff rates on EU countries and elsewhere from April 2nd. What are reciprocal tariffs and how will Ireland be affected? Will we be singled out? What is coming down the line in terms of ‘special tariffs’, and their potential impact on big exports from Ireland to the US? And what possible options are available to Irish companies to soften the blow of all this uncertainty? Gerard Brady, Head of National Policy and Chief Economist at Ibec, joined the podcast to give a timeline of all upcoming tariffs and what they mean.And this week saw the much-anticipated arrival of Amazon.ie, a dedicated Irish platform for the retail behemoth – a move that will be welcomed by most online shoppers in Ireland with the prospect of more product choice and better value. But what about retailers who will have to go toe-to-toe with Amazon here? Irish Times Consumer Affairs Correspondent Conor Pope joined host Cliff Taylor in studio to outline what Irish consumers can expect.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

This week, Inside Business host Ciarán Hancock is joined by Tony Smurfit, president and CEO of Smurfit WestRock, the biggest paper and packaging group in the world.Last month he was chosen as Irish Times business person of the year for successfully concluding a combination of Smurfit Kappa Group with American company WestRock in a $24 billion deal. The Dublin-based company is now the leading player in its sector.Grandson of the company’s original founding father Jefferson Smurfit, and son of Michael Smurfit who grew the company to become Ireland’s first multinational, Tony has led the business since 2015.During this episode Tony discusses the impact of the WestRock deal on the group over the past nine months, the threat posed by Donald Trump’s tariffs, the special challenges of working for a company where your name is above the door, and his plan to make Smurfit WestRock the best company in the world.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.