Bord na Móna and SSE Renewables, both state-owned, have plans investing €1 billion to create onshore wind farms that could produce enough electricity for nearly half a million homes. The two companies announced their collaboration on this eco-friendly power project, which counts as one of the biggest ever executed in this country on Thursday. The details are provided by Barry O’Halloran.
The first quarter saw an increase in house price inflation due to a critical shortage in second-hand market supply, according to the nation’s largest estate agent. Sherry FitzGerald stated that the national asking prices of second-hand houses increased 2% in the first quarter of the year and experienced an annual increase of 5.1%. This is in contrast to the 3.6% annual growth recorded the previous year. Eoin Burke-Kennedy highlights this.
As reported by PwC Ireland, corporate insolvencies leapt by 41% in the first quarter, double the rate it was during this time last year. The first three months of the year saw 223 business insolvencies, hinting that this number might reach around 1000 by the end of 2024, passing the 850 recorded pre-pandemic in 2019. This information is relayed by Laura Slattery.
Ciara O’Brien sheds light on the evolution of television consumption in Ireland. Reflecting on simpler times when only a few channels were available and recorded shows were rare, she takes notice of the plethora of viewing options currently available through the internet.
Karlin Lillington takes a deep dive into the life and career of Mike Lynch and his company, Autonomy. Lynch’s work with adaptive pattern recognition, a precursor to current AI technology, and his creation of software for recognising fingerprints, faces, and automobile licenses, resonates with the issues faced today.
Chris Horn speculates in his column if a tax on undersea cable operators and data hubs could help cover the protection expenses against potential attacks. He contemplates how the government would react if, in the absence of state protection, a private tech consortium proposed to safeguard their own subsea properties in Irish waters.
In other news, Wellola, a healthtech company, has successfully raised a funding of €2.2 million. It intends to use this fund to scale its platform and boost its growth. This follows the increasing need for digital healthcare schemes in both the United Kingdom and Ireland, as per a report by Ciara O’Brien.
Kate Beckett, a speech and language therapist specialising in child speech disorders, is all set to introduce Ultimate Speech Sounds. This soon-to-be-released app aims to rectify sustained sound errors in children’s speech, the kind that continue after their peers have overcome similar issues. Olive Keogh provides further details on this matter.
Under the lens is Dyson’s line of vacuum cleaners. Having initially hit the market with Dyson 360 Eye in 2016 and then the Heurist 360 in 2020, Dyson vacuums were known for their tidy yet bulky structure, meaning they didn’t typically slide under low furnishings but could effortlessly weave their way around chair-legs. Now, their latest product, Dyson 360 Vis Nav, is available for trial, as reported by Ciara O’Brien.