When Muhammad Ali visited Dublin to fight Al Blue Lewis he famously asked where do all the black people hang out? He was told there weren’t any. Dave Hannigan has written a marvelous book about that week in Ireland. He talks to Dion Fanning about Ali’s time in Dublin and the people who made it happen.
Over the past year, The Currency has exposed the structures used by vulture funds to acquire tens of billions’ worth of distressed debt in Ireland. Thomas Hubert’s latest investigation into CarVal also revealed how profitable this business has been for the US private equity firm, and where its Irish-registered special purpose vehicles are headed next. From the policies that led to the mass securitisation of distressed debt to the 2016 reform of so-called Section 110 companies and its effect (or lack thereof) on the tax they pay here, and to the use of Irish vehicles to swoop on distressed debt as far away as Australia and China, Thomas joins Ian Kehoe to take stock on the presence of vulture funds in Ireland as pillar banks book a fresh round of loan impairments.
Over the past month, Investment Strategist John Looby has written a three-part series on what investors, policymakers and business leaders can learn from the thinking of the scholar and mathematician Nassim Nicholas Taleb. In this podcast with Ian Kehoe, Looby talks about the practical implementation of many of Taleb’s theories around probability, risk, and anti-fragility, and explains how investors can buffer themselves in an uncertain world. He also talks about what Irish politicians can learn from Taleb’s theories about the future, with Looby arguing that a significant policy goal should be winning the case with our EU partners for splitting the capital budget from the current budget, and funding the former with tailored, long-term debt.
With sport almost ground to a halt, the various Irish governing bodies have been warning about the financial impact of the crisis on their respective associations. In this podcast, Rob Hartnett, the founder and chief executive of Sport for Business, examines the business shock of Covid-19 on the GAA, the FAI, the IRFU and horse racing. Hartnett, whose company bridges the gap between business and sport, also talks about the impact on television rights, sponsorship and partnership deals, as well the new models that associations and clubs will have to implement to adapt to the new commercial reality.
US physicist Yaneer Bar-Yam has specialised in studying complex systems such as pandemics and financial crises. In January he wrote an influential paper with Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the author of a best-selling book called The Black Swan, warning that the novel coronavirus emerging in China threatened the world. Bar-Yam has been paying close attention to Ireland's coronavirus response and argues that the best approach once the number of new cases has been brought near zero is to cut off routes for any fresh infection to spread. He tells Thomas Hubert: "You want to be as careful as possible to limit the possibility of starting a new fire and what you want to do is to limit travel as much as is reasonably possible and to quarantine people that arrive carefully so that they don't start a new outbreak."
The Irish social media analytics firm Newswhip has raised $9m from investors and counts Walmart, IBM, the Washington Post and Microsoft among its clients. In a podcast with Ian Kehoe, co-founder and CEO Paul Quigley talks about the company’s journey over the last nine years – and outlines its plans for the future. Quigley also talks about how the company helps publishers and companies track online engagement, something that he believes improves business decision making. He also discusses the media landscape, fake news and the importance of recurring revenue.
The economist David McWilliams has always been quick to spot societal and economic shifts. In this interview with Sam Smyth, he explains why Covid-19 offers an opportunity for the government to reimagine the Irish economy and the interaction between business and the state. McWilliams also talks about wealth, the future of the media, the Irish housing crisis, the importance of accessible economics and why Dickens was ahead of his time.
As the co-owner of Fire Steakhouse & Grill in Dublin’s Mansion House and Sole Seafood & Grill on South William Street, Padraic O’Kane runs two of the city’s largest restaurants. Shuttered for three months, both will reopen on Monday, but, due to social distancing, capacity at both will be reduced by 40 per cent. In this podcast, O’Kane talks about the economics of the restaurant business in the world of Covid-19 and outlines a range of measures to help the embattled hospitality sector – from Vat reform to new rental agreements. Plus, as the man who brings American football to Dublin each year, he talks about the impact of the pandemic on Irish tourism.
As managing partner of professional services firm KPMG, Seamus Hand has spent the last three months helping his clients – and his own firm – navigate through the crisis. In this podcast, he talks about the impact of the lockdown on different sectors of the economy and called for innovative policies to get liquidity to cash strapped businesses – including a zero Vat rate for some firms. Hand, who took over as managing partner last year, also spoke about why consumer confidence is key to a quick economic recovery, the opportunities for Ireland in a post-Covid-19 global landscape and the importance of learning lessons from this crisis.
For the past 26 years, Julian Erskine has been the senior executive producer with Riverdance, helping to turn a Eurovision interval act into a global touring phenomenon. One day after his retirement at the end of May, he sat down with Sam Smyth to discuss his Riverdance journey – from managing world tours before mobile phones and the internet to driving Michael Flatley and Jean Butler to the airport in the back of his Fiat Punto. In an in-depth interview, the acclaimed theatre producer also talks about the decision to remove Flatley from Riverdance, the finances and logistics of stage shows and why the Covid-19 lockdown offered him the opportunity to retire without feeling any guilt.
Long before he was a panellist on Dragon’s Den, the businessman Gavin Duffy worked in radio, recruitment and communications. Two years ago, he ran for the presidency, a decision which, looking back now, he admits failed in “quite a spectacular fashion.” In this podcast, he tells his former Dragon’s Den investor Alison Cowzer, that he is a firm capitalist, but that he also believes it is time to change the nature of the relationship between the economy and society. He argues that Covid-19 has accelerated that realignment for the better, but that the crisis will also hit business hard – particularly the Irish high street. He offers communications advice for businesses in this crisis, and says that, after months of high tech, people will now want high touch.
