Rents on the way up as apartment construction tails off

Rent inflation in Dublin is accelerating again amid a slowdown in construction of apartments, according to property website Daft. Open-market rents in the capital rose at an annual rate of 5.2 per cent in the third quarter to average €2,476 per month, the company said in its latest quarterly report. That’s twice the rate of inflation seen at the end of 2023. Such a story would always be seen as bad news given the housing crisis, but it comes at a particularly bad time for the Government, with a general election less than three weeks away and the crisis arguably the central issue of the campaign. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the story.
Irish chefs, long suspicious of gruelling kitchen culture, are returning to restaurants more readily following a post-Covid shake-up of the industry and working hours, new research has indicated. As Mark Hilliard reports, an extensive survey on recruitment and retention in the hospitality sector, conducted by Fáilte Ireland, has found that while finding staff is getting easier, workers are more likely to complain about their relative conditions.
The Government decided against cutting VAT for the hospitality industry in last month’s budget, yet Fine Gael is now pledging to cut it to 11 per cent in its election manifesto. In his column, John McManus asks what has changed, if anything.
About 300 jobs are to be created with the opening of 10 Wendy’s restaurants across the country over the next three years. Corrib Oil, which runs a network of service station and energy distribution providers, has reached an agreement with Wendy’s to become its franchise partner in Ireland. Colin Gleeson reports.
University of Limerick graduate Olivia Humphreys has won a Dyson Award in the medical devices category with a mobile scalp-cooling device for chemotherapy patients called Athena. The device is used to help prevent hair loss, but is significantly cheaper and more flexible than hospital-based devices. Because it can be used outside hospital, it reduces the time patients must spend on wards. Ciara O’Brien has the details.
Manchester United hopes to further expand its relationship with US tech company Qualcomm, the club’s chief executive said on Tuesday, after signing an extension to the chipmaker’s sponsorship of the team’s kits earlier this year. Ian Curran reports from the Web Summit in Lisbon.
A High Court judge will make orders providing for An Bord Pleanála to reconsider Johnny Ronan’s previously-rejected application for permission to build 1,000 homes and what would be Dublin’s tallest building in the northside docklands. Ellen O’Riordan was in court.
DCC has moved to abandon its conglomerate roots with a plan to sell its healthcare division and review “strategic options” for its technology business as it focuses on the energy sector. Shares in the Dublin-based, but London listed company soared as much as 17.4 per cent on Tuesday, before closing up 14.2 per cent. Joe Brennan reports.
Joe also has all the details of Kerry Group’s deal to sell its dairy processing division in two stages to its main shareholder, Kerry Co-op, in a deal worth €500 million.
Huawei Technologies (Ireland), the Irish subsidiary of the Chinese multinational that has been the focus of national security concerns internationally, saw a drop in turnover last year, new accounts show. Colm Keena has the details.
Pretax profits at the Irish arm of data centre builder and operator Equinix more than halved last year to €7.86 million. Gordon Deegan has read the accounts.
In Commercial Property, Fiona Reddan reports that Wexford County Council is looking for investors and developers to take on the development of a mixed-use urban quarter at Trinity Wharf in Wexford Harbour. Plans for the more than €150 million development include a hotel, conference centre, artist studios, apartments, marina, offices and a public plaza. She also has details of the four-star Yeats Country Hotel, offered for sale with vacant possession at €7 million by Savills.
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