Home economics: Sinead Ryan answers your property questions
Q. I’m confused about the new affordable mortgages being proposed. Do I still need a deposit and do I have to buy a local authority home? A. I think you have the wrong end of the stick, but it is confusing. The new loan scheme to provide mortgages to those who cannot get them from banks, […]
Rents spiral despite Minister’s claims that bargains are available
Rental costs were up again in January despite the rate of inflation falling back, new official figures show. Private rents rose by 6.3pc in the year to January, despite overall prices going up by just 0.2pc, according to the Central Statistics Office. For the month of January, overall prices fell by 0.7pc – but this […]
Revealed: How much your local pub needs to make to stay open
Last year saw a 6pc increase in turnover in card sales for Ireland’s pub sector, according to AIB’s 2018 Pubs Outlook. Food was a key driver of growth for the period, with food service in pubs reaching a market size of €982m in 2017, up 3pc year-on-year. And increasing numbers of Irish publicans are accepting […]
Hydrogen to power homes, boats and cars on Aran Islands
The Aran Islands will form part of an EU study to see if hydrogen can be produced using renewable energy to power cars, boats and heat buildings. The €3.5m project led by NUI Galway will also see construction of a hydrogen plant on the Canary Islands, where up to 25kg of hydrogen gas a day […]
Enterprise offices help create 4,000 startup jobs
ALMOST 4,000 jobs were created last year by startups and small businesses backed by their Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs). This brings the total number of jobs created by LEO-supported companies to 15,000 since the LEOs were established in 2014. Yesterday’s announcement of some 3,700 jobs created in 2017 was welcomed by the Minister for Business, […]