There will be a hard Brexit

I’m sitting opposite the “Spitfire” Meeting Room in Southampton airport. The echoes of “their finest hour” are everywhere on the south coast of England, not surprisingly. Southampton, one of the main ports for British trade with Europe, voted overwhelmingly for...

Ireland needs to avoid another property bubble at all costs

Today, I am writing about trends in the property market against the background of moving house, and so this article will be a little bit of testimony as well as proper analysis.   For the record, we are also moving from one area of south Dublin to another. Therefore,...

The rise of the creative classes

Is it any surprise that the Web Summit decided to head to Lisbon? I am in the amazing Portuguese capital today speaking at a conference. It seems that the entire city has decided that hosting conferences is sufficiently important for the modern brand of the city, that...

Pensions: Beware of suits and tempting promises

On Wednesday night, I gave a talk at my old primary school, Johnstown National School in Dún Laoghaire. One of the many interesting questions from the parents of the pupils focused on pensions and what this early-middle-aged group could expect from them.   I am...

What Dublin Bus workers can learn from Genghis Khan

Sometimes it is good to look back at history in order to look forward. Since long before the Apple judgment, I have been trying to figure out what could be the economic model for Ireland in a globalised world of free trade, large-scale movements of people and free...