Readers like you keep news free for everyone.
More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.
For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.
# The briefcase
Here's everything you need to know about business this week
Everyone was talking about startup cash, Tesco’s dethroning and a Kildare village for sale.
EVERY WEEKEND, TheJournal.ie gives its readers the chance to put their feet up and take a look back at all the goings-on from the world of business.
Once again it’s time to delve deep inside The Briefcase for the important – and sometimes less-important – financial news that has come out this working week:
Irish tech companies are growing, big time. First “fabless” chip designer Movidius – founded in Dublin but now with its headquarters in Silicon Valley – announced $40 million in funding and plans to add up to 100 jobs to its local workforce. Then foreign-exchange service CurrencyFair backed up with €10 million from investors and the goal of creating another 50 jobs
https://vine.co/v/euPvDLrlMeQ
Tesco finally lost its crown. The UK grocery giant was dethroned as Ireland’s most-popular supermarket chain for the first time in several years, with SuperValu taking over the mantle as the retailer with the biggest market share in recent weeks
A whole village went on sale in Kildare. The Village at Lyons, to be exact – a labour of love for late aviation entrepreneur Tony Ryan, who reportedly spent in the tens of millions restoring the run-down property neighbouring his family’s palatial Lyons Demesne Estate. His son, Declan, has put it on the market for €6 million-plus
Greece found a surprising cheerleader. The IMF, one of the debt-laden country’s major creditors, predicted the Mediterranean nation would be the fastest-growing economy in Europe next year, taking the mantle from Ireland. It’s coming off a low base though after a crippling recession – and there’s still the small matter of €2.5 billion in fast-approaching loan repayments to sort out
Dublin should copy the ‘Copenhagen model’. That’s the plan from the group proposing a 390m berth for cruise liners at Dún Laoghaire, where it hopes 400,000 passengers will arrive each year – on top of another 400,000 making their way to an expanded Dublin Port
Next plans to close its flagship Dublin store. The prime Grafton St location is reportedly being taken over by Hugo Boss after the UK fashion chain held the spot for over 20 years. Its Henry St store will be the retailer’s only outlet in the city centre going forward
A US startup boss slashed his own wage – and gave everyone else a pay rise. Dan Price, the founder of Gravity Payments, said he trimmed his own salary 90% so he could pay all his staff a minimum $70,000 a year. Sure it may be a publicity stunt, but we’re sure the workers aren’t complaining
A 37 square foot coffee kiosk in Dublin sold for €250,000. That’s a lot of cappuccinos and/or newspapers to sell – even if the Ballsbridge fixture is in a prime location to catch the passing crowd for matches at Landsdowne Rd
Expect to see a lot more Ethiopian Airlines planes. Africa’s biggest carrier by fleet size is transferring its European hub from Rome to Dublin, which means more transatlantic flights travelling via Ireland – although the majority will only be using the airport as a refuelling stop
Dunnes staff are escalating their industrial campaign. Trade union Mandate says workers have been targeted in reprisals – from reduced hours to outright dismissals – since their first strike two weeks ago and further action is under way. It comes as the spotlight continues to be shone on zero-hour contracts and the extent to which major employers are using them
One for the road…
Inventor Ray Kurzweil is an interesting guy. A leading light in digital technology and artificial intelligence for four decades, he has variously been a pioneer in print-to-speech recognition, music synthesis and designing the flatbed scanner.
However these days, the Google engineering director is perhaps best known for his musings on immortality – or at least vastly extending human life spans.
Kurzweil recently told the Financial Times he spent “a few thousand dollars a day” on his diet, including a cocktail of about 100 different pills.
Here’s the – admittedly youthful-looking – 60-something talking about everything from reverse-engineering the human brain to super-intelligent machines:
First published 18 April
MORE: Have a look at our business wraps from previous weeks >
