Central Bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf has warned that the outlook for global energy prices is now closer to the “adverse” scenario the bank’s forecasters set out in March, meaning Irish inflation could accelerate above 3 per cent this year, testing the resilience of Irish borrowers and the domestic financial system. Ian Curran reports.A day after BP ousted Albert Manifold, as chairman after less than nine months, the Irish businessman said the decision to remove him came “out of the blue” and added via a spokesperson that he would contest the claims about his alleged behaviour.In another departure, AIB chief financial officer Donal Galvin is to leave the bank to pursue “other business opportunities”, raising fresh questions about bonus restrictions at the lender, writes Peter Flanagan.Rules requiring data centres to draw most of their electricity from Irish renewables present significant opportunities for green energy developers, according to Niamh Gallagher, country lead for Amazon, a big player in the sector. She told the Wind Energy Ireland conference that, though controversial, the AI technology data centres house helps to cut energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions. Barry O’Halloran reports.German investor MEAG is understood to have paid around €110 million for One Molesworth Street which is home to The Ivy restaurant and Barclays bank’s Irish headquarters, writes Ronald Quinlan.Sticking with restaurants, the collapse of celebrity chef Dylan’s McGrath’s Fade Street Social restaurant costs creditors – including McGrath – €4.08 million in the restructuring that saw the business taken over by Eclective Hospitality Group. Gordon Deegan reports.Like-for-like revenues at sandwich group Greencore increased by 3.2 per cent from the same period last year to £1.3 billion but, writes Ian Curran, shares in the group still slumped over 9 per cent as it reported a £13.4 million (€15.5 million) operating loss in the first half of its financial year after its takeover of rival, Bakkover.Hard-to-spot scams and fake profiles have swamped dating apps as the AI revolution undermines the faith of their users, writes Emmet Ryan as he wonders whether the industry can recover.Shareholders in Paddy Power parent, Flutter, gather for their annual general meeting tomorrow but, like Banquo’s ghost, chief executive Peter Jackson will be but an ephermal presence by video-link, our Cantillon column notes.It also takes time to honour budget oversight committee chairman, Independent Ireland TD Richard O’Donoghue who forced Ministers Simon Harris and Jack Chambers to sit through a 40-minute filibuster after his committee colleagues disappeared early in a session on Ireland’s Annual Progress Report 2026. A new EU directive requiring employers to disclose salary ranges in the workplace and toughen rules enforcing gender pay equality comes into effect on June 7th. Nichola Harkin, head of employment law services at employers’ group Ibec, joins host Ciarán Hancock to explain the key elements of the new EU pay legislation and what it will mean for employers and their staff.In our Ask the Lawyer column, a reader whose husband died recently wants to know whether she needs to contact land Registry to change the details on her home that they owned jointly.In technology, François Locoh-Donou tells Ciara O’Brien why, when the enterprise technology company he leads, F5, wanted to expand its business into AI, it selected Dublin-based CalypsoAI as a target.Revenues at Mercury, which has grown from an engineering business to become an international specialist construction giant, hit €2 billion for the first time last year, according to accounts released on Wednesday. Barry O’Halloran reports.And human resources company Rippling is expecting to add 150 new jobs to its Irish workforce over the coming year as it opened its expanded Dublin headquarters on Wednesday, writes Conor Healy.Finally, there has been a lot of talk this week about AI and the world of work. Emmet Malone looks at some in-depth research from Tufts University in the US that finds the safe zone for workers is uncomfortably close to the poverty zone when it comes to jobs most immune to the AI revolutionIf you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money, the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.
Ireland’s inflation outlook darkens
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