💶 €1bn deployed, pay keeps rising and US the Fed defies Trump

17 September 2026

Good morning. Legal fees, lending and pay are moving at home, while the Fed has shaken markets abroad. We’ve also got health-sector tensions, fresh deals and a useful agribusiness read. Let’s get into it.

1. Legal Aid Row Turns Into A Pay And Capacity Problem. Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan has rejected the Law Society’s request for an independent mediator in the dispute over the new €520 District Court criminal legal-aid fee. At its core, the dispute is over whether a single flat fee adequately reflects cases requiring very different amounts of work. More than 200 solicitors met in Dublin yesterday to discuss the continuing dispute, with the Law Society saying the turnout showed the depth of concern among practitioners. The Bar Council has warned continued withdrawal of services could create a serious October backlog.

2. Ardcairn Takes Development Lending Past €1bn. Ardcairn Capital has deployed €1bn since 2021, supporting more than 5,000 homes and student accommodation units, and is now opening a permanent Cork base at Horgan’s Quay. The M&G-backed lender provides development finance from €5m upwards and can cover 60%-90% of project costs for experienced developers. The Cork move matters because it puts lending and portfolio decisions closer to Munster developers, where Ardcairn says its pipeline is growing.

3. Irish Deals Hold Up As Credit Gets More Selective. Irish mid-market deal volume rose 12% year-on-year in Q2, with 126 completed transactions, while European syndicated loan issuance jumped 36% to €32.5bn. DC Advisory says Irish buyers have remained active even as international and private-equity buyers become more selective, with AI, financial services and construction services among the busiest areas. Credit is still available, but lenders and buyers are becoming more selective about where they put it, which is a very different picture from financing simply drying up.

4. Housing Cools, While Pharma Adds Physical Capacity. Irish house-price inflation slowed to 5.5% in July, its lowest annual rate since January 2024, although prices still rose 0.8% during the month. At the same time, Irish-owned Xeolas Pharmaceuticals has opened a 158,000 sq ft Baldoyle facility bringing R&D, manufacturing and regulatory operations under one roof. They are different markets, but both show where scarce physical capacity still carries value in that housing remains expensive even as growth cools, while life-sciences businesses are investing in space that lets them develop and manufacture more at home.

5. Employers Expect Higher Pay And Softer Hiring. Ibec expects average wage increases of around 3.1% in 2027, with 83% of surveyed employers planning to raise pay. Hiring intentions are moving the other way. 35% expect to increase headcount, down from 37% for 2026 and 41% for 2025. Businesses are therefore still planning for higher payroll costs, even as fewer expect to expand the size of their workforce.

The Federal Reserve raised US interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4%, its first increase since 2023, as persistent inflation outweighed signs of softer growth. Markets did not love the message with the S&P 500 down 1% and the Nasdaq lost 0.7%, Treasury yields rose and the dollar strengthened as investors priced the likelihood of at least one more increase this year. Europe, meanwhile, is looking north. Ursula von der Leyen wants Canada to become the EU’s first “associate member”, with deeper cooperation spanning trade, defence, technology, energy, critical minerals and AI. Elsewhere, SK Hynix is in talks with Intel over producing memory chips in the US, while L’Oréal has overtaken LVMH as France’s most valuable listed company.

Health & Pharma

Industrial relations in health are widening by profession rather than settling, and the sector is using that leverage to make its own case ahead of Budget 2027. The IMO has opened a ballot of doctors, consultants, non-consultant hospital doctors and public/community health doctors, though not GPs, on industrial action up to and including strike, closing Monday, a response to the pay deal that expired on June 30 with no successor talks begun.

It follows SIPTU and Fórsa members across 30 hospitals confirming a work-to-rule for  20 September and comes after INMO nurses' own ballot result last week, meaning doctors, nurses and general health staff are now all mobilised on the same grievance. The IMO used its pre-budget submission to press the point further, calling for an end to what it termed the annual charade of underfunding, urging multi-annual rather than yearly budget allocations, an increase in acute beds from 3,438 to at least 5,000, and tax incentives for GPs investing in their own practices.

On the commercial side, Uniphar's H1 revenue rose 7.2% to €1.59bn, but the sharper development was the CCPC's move to a full phase-two investigation into its TouchStore acquisition, a genuine regulatory hurdle rather than routine clearance. That sits against continued pharmacy consolidation, with Navi's majority stake sold to French group Hygie31 four years after the CCPC blocked Uniphar's own attempt to buy it. Beacon Hospital has opened Ireland's first dedicated private neuro-interventional radiology service, part of its €30m Brain Institute investment.

Watch the Department of Health and RCSI's new safe-staffing research programme, a direct response to workforce strain now underpinning three separate ballots.

In Friday’s Tá, the Sector Spotlight will be Property & Energy.

Thursday - The Deal Desk…

C&C Group: Agreed to acquire Asahi’s UK wholesale operation, adding another distribution business to the drinks group as it continues reshaping operations beyond its core cider brands. The deal has been agreed but is not yet completed.

Navi Group: Agreed to sell a majority stake to French healthcare group Hygie31 after its proposed sale to Uniphar was blocked by the CCPC. The transaction remains at agreement stage rather than completion.

Salesforce / Fin: Salesforce completed its $3.6bn acquisition of Irish-founded Fin, formerly Intercom, bringing one of Ireland’s best-known software companies into a much larger international group. And all just as a potential slowdown in AI growth hits the headlines, not great timing.

Bending Spoons: Agreed a $1.36bn acquisition of Miro, adding the online collaboration platform to a portfolio that already includes Vimeo, Evernote and WeTransfer. The deal remains subject to regulatory approval.

Delos Data: The chip startup founded by former Intel executives has raised $100m to develop technology connecting processors inside AI data centres, as investors continue backing infrastructure around the AI hardware build-out.

Ireland’s late-night economy is getting quieter. Late bars and nightclubs recorded 30,651 extended openings last year, almost 1,000 fewer than in 2024 and 23% below 2018 levels. Each extra night requires a €205 Special Exemption Order before legal costs, meaning a venue opening late three nights a week can spend almost €32,000 a year just on permission to do so. 

Blackrock’s A94 was Ireland’s most expensive Eircode area in the year to July, with a median home price of €850,500, compared with €158,500 in Castlerea. At this rate, perhaps some mortgage-free residents of Blackrock are the strongest hope for keeping the nightlife going while the rest of us check our bank accounts after nights out and fear looking at Daft. 

The Read – Irish Farmers Journal – Two realities for agribusinesses

Irish food and agribusiness leaders are more optimistic than ever, with 80% positive about the year ahead, the highest reading since ifac's survey began in 2018. Yet 44% have delayed investment, citing rising input costs, tightening margins, trade tariffs and Government policy uncertainty. ifac's David Leydon points to staff turnover, overheads and geopolitically driven energy volatility as the persistent cost pressures behind the caution. Launched at the Ploughing, the report captures a sector torn between record confidence and reluctance to commit capital, a tension worth watching ahead of Budget decisions on business costs. Link: Two realities for agribusinesses

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