February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Harry Keaney
If you hope to buy shares in the Irish national airline, Aer Lingus, don’t hold your breath.
A government bill for the initial public offering of shares in the state-owned company, which should have begun its passage last month, has been delayed. And the minister for public enterprise, Mary O’Rourke, has warned the government chief whip’s office, which is responsible for Dáil business, that she may wish to put it back further.
With the airline now in the midst of a number of industrial disputes, the timing certainly isn’t right for a discussion about an IPO.
It now seems that it may be the summer at the earliest before the flotation takes place. By then the industrial relations situation at the company may have improved.
Anyone for pizza
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It seems the market for pizza is booming in Ireland. The Dominos chain is to expand its outlets from five to 30, possibly creating another 1,000 jobs.
Domino’s already has three outlets in Dublin and one each in Waterford and Limerick.
Dominos’ plans for Ireland were announced on Monday by Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy in Naas, Co. Kildare, where he opened a £15 million headquarters and production facility for the chain.
Car repossessions
Car sales are at an all-time high in Ireland. But, like many aspects of the Celtic Tiger economy, there’s also an ugly flip side. A member of the Dáil, Billy Timmins, has called on the country’s major banks and finance companies to publicly outline the exact position on car repossessions nationally. He said he had received disturbing reports that some garages were experiencing difficulties finding sufficient parking space for the number of repossessed cars coming back into their showrooms. Timmins’s opposition Fine Gael party has called for an investigation.
Meanwhile, an auction house in Dublin that sells repossessed cars told the Irish Independent newspaper that it was now selling 100 cars a fortnight compared to 150 a month last year.
Cross-border cooperation
A new North-South cross-border effort has been launched to attract further investment to the Northwest of Ireland. The initiative, launched by Tánaiste Mary Harney and Sir Reg Empey, the North’s minister for enterprise, trade and employment, provides information to potential investors in areas such as Derry, Limavady, Strabane and Donegal.
Harney said the initiative would complement a government plan announced last May that brought together the Republic’s Industrial Development Agency and the North’s Industrial Development Board to promote the region.
"While the IDA and IDB are in competition in a global marketplace for direct foreign investment, there are areas where they can share resources and work together for the benefit of everyone on both sides of the border," Harney said.
Details of the new initiative may be obtained by logging onto www.irelandnorthwest.com.
Meanwhile, a new All-Ireland tourism body is expected to be in business by next March. It will have a budget of £25 million to £30 million to market Ireland abroad, according to Irish news reports. Tourism bodies in the North and South already co-operate on the overseas tourism Marketing initiative but this is likely to be subsumed by the new body.
IBO news
The Irish Business Organization of New York will hold a midtown networking breakfast will take place Nov. 28 at 8 a.m. in the Fitzpatrick Grand Central Hotel, 141 East 44th St., between Third and Lexington Avenues, NYC. Details, Bill Buckley at (212) 627-2111.
A Central-South Jersey networking dinner will take place Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. in Shore Casino, Atlantic Highlands Harbor, N.J. Details, Bernadette McManus at (212) 571-1150 or Jim Hinckley at (732) 747-0066.
A downtown networking dinner will take place Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. in Beckett’s Restaurant, 78 Pearl St., between Broad Street and Hanover Square, NYC. Details, Eileen O’Toole at (212) 267-6364.
Road carnage continues
Last weekend, during a 48-hour period, five people were killed on Irish roads. This year, in the Republic of Ireland, 349 people have died as a result of road accidents.