February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Stephen McKinley
At a conference in Virginia, Deputy Prime Minister Mary Harney said that the slowdown in the U.S. economy is having a knock-on effect in Ireland. U.S. tech companies based in Ireland have already seen cutbacks in orders from the U.S.
"There’s no doubt it’s having an impact," Harney said. "In some sectors there’s a slowdown. We’re not getting the level of investment we got 18 months to two years ago, though in some sectors, like health care and some of the service areas, there’s an increase."
Green glaze
Ah, it’s great to be Irish in America — even the doughnuts go green on St Patrick’s Day.
Anyone entering one of the seven Krispy Kreme stores in New York City on March 17 wearing or clutching something green will receive a free Paddy’s Day doughnut, complete with chocolate glaze and green sprinkles.
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The gleeful press release from Krispy Kreme continues, "a moment to enjoy that glazed Krispy Kreme pastry is just the beginning of your journey to a pleasurable and lucky St. Patrick’s Day." Words to ponder as you order your pint of Guinness.
Cell phone heaven
Ireland’s Office of the Director of Telecommunications has issued a quarterly survey that shows cellular phone usage in the country has reached 67 percent of the population, about 2.4 million people.
Internet access is now open to 27 percent of the population, with over a million people surfing from home.
Additionally, 41 percent of the users are under 25, showing that they Internet if a fixed feature of Irish business and leisure. But two-thirds of those with Internet access at home said they were wary of buying anything online, citing credit card fraud, and the satisfaction aspect as well.
McCreevy tightens the screws
Ireland’s finance minister, Charlie McCreevy, has called for budget cuts of $600 million for the next fiscal year, in a memo issued to his ministerial colleagues.
He blamed mad cow disease, increased expenditure on health, and costs incurred for the euro currency changeover.
The memo was issued before the foot-and-mouth disease scare, which will undoubtedly increase expenditure even further.
Time to tighten one’s belt — but the call will be welcomed in Brussels.
Pensions Fund Commission
Finance Director Charlie McCreevy was in the news again when he revealed his appointees for the National Pensions Reserver Fund Commission. Among the new members will be Daniel P. Tully, chairman emeritus of Merrill Lynch and a prominent Irish American businessman. Other members are Donal Geaney, chairman of Elan Corp. plc., and Robert Curran, second in command at the Irish treasury. Curran will resign that post before joining the commission.
Foot-and-mouth
Business leaders are worried about foot-and-mouth disease because the effect on agriculture will have a knock-on effect in the rest of the economy. They fear job losses, reduced earnings and an unavoidable slowdown in the pace of the Celtic Tiger.
Oddly enough
The companies report for 1999 shows an interesting statistic: the number of companies dissolved jumped from about 10,000 to 36,295, a rise of 260 percent. There was a 13 percent increase in liquidations and 18,604 new companies were incorporated.