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Stories

Greater Dublin Drainage settlement: Uisce Éireann and ACP concede to planning flaws

A High Court challenge to the €1.3bn sewerage project has ended with Uisce Éireann conceding it submitted incorrect details to the EPA and An Coimisiún Pleanála that it failed to comply with public consultation rules.

Niall Sargent

6th Dec, 2025 - 4 min read

Stories

From offshore wind to inner calm: The coach bringing breathwork to business

Paul Reynolds has worked with everyone from renewable-energy giants to ambitious start-ups. His message is simple: your breath can be your secret weapon — and most of us aren’t using it properly.

Tom Lyons

6th Dec, 2025 - 3 min read

Voices

Voters shift, tempers flare: America enters a season of sour politics

As Tennessee voters inch leftward and Trump lashes out at immigrants, allies and adversaries alike, Washington is consumed by economic alarm, foreign-policy fog and a restless MAGA base.

Siobhán Brett

6th Dec, 2025 - 5 min read

Stories

“The desire to get the big shiny celebrity star at the tournament overrides everything else”

The World Cup draw yesterday was a demonstration of FIFA’s priorities. But regimes have recognised since its inception the influence of the competition. Jonathan Wilson talks to Dion Fanning about the power and the glory of the World Cup.

Dion Fanning

6th Dec, 2025 - 6 min read

Voices

John Looby: Britain’s long road to economic purgatory

Rachel Reeves and her recent budget are just the latest victims of a series of historic mistakes. Both are destined to join their recent predecessors as short historic footnotes.

John Looby

5th Dec, 2025 - 4 min read

Top Stories

Tonstix creators aim to crowdfund a global expansion

A rare manufacturing success story, Soothing Solutions’ all-female founding duo are scaling their patented Tonstix children’s lozenges globally — and turning to crowdfunding to fuel their next stage of growth.

Markham Nolan

5th Dec, 2025 - 5 min read

The EU is plotting a major housing plan. Ireland has sent officials to hammer it out

The EU is planning an expansive effort to loosen state aid rules for local authorities on housing. The Department of Housing has seconded officials to help.

Jonathan Keane

5th Dec, 2025 - 3 min read

Brokers move to appoint liquidator to Solar21 companies behind proposed £275m plant

Investors in energy company Solar21 have long been worried about their money. Now their brokers are moving to appoint a liquidator to two key companies in the group.

Tom Lyons

4th Dec, 2025 - 2 min read

Barry Synnott resigns from Port of Cork board in third senior exit in five months

Synnott’s resignation follows the departures earlier this year of the chief commercial officer in July and the chief operations officer in October.

Alice Chambers

4th Dec, 2025 - 2 min read

“There can be no free pass for what has been done to the people of Ukraine”

A year into the job, Commissioner Michael McGrath discusses plans to bolster EU competitiveness, including new details of the upcoming bloc-wide 28th regime for companies. He also restates Europe's unwavering support for Ukraine.

Francesca Comyn

4th Dec, 2025 - 9 min read

“We will see things in the world around us”: The start-up betting on the rise of smart glasses

Meta, Apple, and Snap have all bet big on augmented reality. Michael Guerin explains how Imvizar will be well placed to take advantage and why it's looking to Hollywood to raise €5m.

Michael Cogley

4th Dec, 2025 - 9 min read

Receivers appointed to House Dublin and House Limerick venues

All Christmas bookings will be honoured at the bar and restaurant complexes, and the receivership will not affect the wider Nola Clan group.

Alice Chambers

3rd Dec, 2025 - 1 min read

Faster approvals, fewer judicial reviews: Legal risks and rewards in the new infrastructure plan

The Government's acceleration plan includes radical reforms in the legal area. While it shows ambition, some law experts have raised concerns about its impact on access to justice and the new proposals may face their own legal challenges.

M. Cogley and N. Sargent

3rd Dec, 2025 - 10 min read

“I’m not saying Ronaldogate is going to be the thing that brings down Infantino, but it definitely has shifted the general mood.”

Dion Fanning

6th Dec, 2025

When Ronaldo was cleared to play at the World Cup despite his sending off in Dublin, it told something of the modern FIFA and what it prioritises. Dion Fanning talks to Jonathan Wilson about his book on the history of the World Cup and why the tournament may be in jeopardy.

Top Voices

The EU has taken a gentle approach in its first big DSA action against X

Friday’s €120m fine against Elon Musk’s social media site, which has its EU office in Ireland, is on the lower end of the spectrum. Now is the European Commission ready for a battle with the billionaire on reforms to the platform?

Jonathan Keane

5th Dec, 2025 - 3 min read

Stuart Fitzgerald: Stop working hero hours – the best CEOs are ruthless allocators of their time

A business student's perceptive question about whether the payback for long hours justifies the grind didn't get the response it deserved from me. Here's my imperfect attempt at answering her properly.

Stuart Fitzgerald

4th Dec, 2025 - 5 min read

Colm McCarthy: A new era of capital recklessness?

From the Children’s Hospital overshoot to the revival of rail schemes without credible studies, Ireland risks repeating past mistakes as independent evaluation fades and political urgency takes precedence over economic discipline.

Colm McCarthy

3rd Dec, 2025 - 7 min read

Ireland isn’t short of plans – it’s short of a system that can deliver them

The Metrolink challenge, now in mediation until Christmas, highlights an uncomfortable truth: Ireland’s planning and review processes are so fragmented that even broadly supported projects can be frozen by legal disputes, not planning substance.

Ronan Lyons

2nd Dec, 2025 - 11 min read

Waking COP 30 – political failure versus economic reality

If anyone tells you that COP 30 shows that climate action is dead, think again. Despite the headwinds caused by the Trump administration’s love for oil and the stalling by the EU on mandatory reporting, the transition away from fossil fuels is well underway.

Tara Shine

1st Dec, 2025 - 5 min read

Misreading the mixed signals on planning: Rewinding the week that was

Frustration about housing and infrastructure has led to confusion between private interests, environmental obligations, and the processes at play to balance them against the public good.

Thomas Hubert

30th Nov, 2025 - 6 min read

Andy Farrell’s Ireland fought the law – and the law won. Now it’s time to react and recalibrate

Irish players are getting penalised for actions that have been coached into them – deliberate, trained behaviours that are all about pushing boundaries. The problem is that referees now have their number.

Brett Igoe

29th Nov, 2025 - 5 min read

The Irish economy is just hitting a soft patch – unless risks materialise

The slowdown is not yet pointing to a recession. But why run both a security and political risk when there is no need to run either?

Dan O'Brien

28th Nov, 2025 - 5 min read

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