Flutter slices jobs, Ryanair increases prices, and Louis Theroux meets his most obscure subjects yet.

21 October 2026

Good morning. It's a busy Wednesday, with Flutter planning major job cuts, Ryanair warning of pricier flights, and the Government changing how social housing gets built. Whatnot and Salesforce have better news for Dublin, while the markets are giving AI investors plenty to think about. And Louis Theroux is coming to investigate the tech crowd, which should be interesting. Let's get into it.

1. Flutter Plans 1,400 Job Cuts As Gambling Taxes Bite. Paddy Power owner Flutter plans to cut up to 1,400 roles across its UK and Ireland business, including 240 in Dublin, as it restructures weeks after Dan Taylor became CEO. The company blames higher UK gambling taxes, although growing competition from US prediction markets has added to its difficulties. The proposals remain subject to consultation, with Flutter facing pressure to cut costs while protecting its position in an increasingly competitive industry.

2. Ryanair Warns Of 20% Fare Hikes As It Cuts European Routes. Michael O'Leary expects European airfares to rise by 10% to 20% next year as higher fuel costs hit airlines with limited price protection. Ryanair has hedged just 15% of its fuel needs for the period from April 2027, while separately removing six aircraft and 20 Belgian routes following an aviation-tax increase. There is some potential positive news though. O’Leary expects Boeing's MAX 10 certification could unlock 16 new aircraft in early 2027. So, more planes may be coming, but profitability is the priority for now.

3. Government Plans To End Turnkey Social Housing Purchases. Housing Minister James Browne is bringing plans to Cabinet to phase out purchases of newly built homes from the private market for social housing, with funding applications ending in December 2027. The Government wants councils and housing bodies to build more themselves, potentially leaving more new homes available to private buyers. Meanwhile, Cairn, Glenveagh, Evara and D-RES are challenging Wicklow zoning decisions affecting sites with potential for more than 2,000 homes. The policy shifts who buys and builds housing, but questions remain over how quickly councils can replace the supply.

4. Whatnot Expands In Dublin As Salesforce Targets More R&D. US livestream-shopping platform Whatnot plans to double its Dublin workforce from 130 to 260 by 2027, hiring across engineering, AI and operations after opening a new office in the Docklands. Salesforce's new Ireland chief, Nadja D'Arcy, meanwhile wants to shift its 3,000-plus Dublin workforce from 70% sales and distribution towards a roughly equal split with engineering and R&D by 2030. One is announcing new jobs; the other wants to change the work done here. Both put greater emphasis on developing technology in Ireland. Good news.

5. Echelon's Waterford Green Energy Park Refused Permission. Irish data-centre developer Echelon has been refused planning permission for a proposed multibillion-euro campus in Kilmeaden, Co Waterford, combining data centres, renewable energy, 100 homes and community facilities. The council cited concerns over potential environmental impacts, following more than 300 local submissions. This comes just weeks after the Supreme Court dismissed a legal challenge to Art Data Centres' €1.6bn campus near Ennis, allowing that project to progress towards a planned 2027 construction start. Two major regional data-centre projects, with very different planning outcomes.

European gas prices breached €90 per megawatt-hour for the first time since 2022, roughly triple pre-Iran war levels and raising fresh concerns over winter energy costs. Amazon plans to invest more than €16bn in Germany next year across cloud computing, AI, satellites and media, while Salesforce announced a $5.66bn deal to acquire customer-engagement platform Braze, following its recent $3.6bn acquisition of Irish-founded Fin. Google Cloud services were recovering after a power-related outage disrupted HSBC, Lloyds and Revolut, including payments and transfers. Anthropic is reportedly discussing a further $45bn computing deal with Nscale, adding to concerns about the scale of AI infrastructure spending. Europe's energy is getting dearer just as technology companies find increasingly expensive ways to use it.

Finance & Markets

Markets have moved from buying everything AI to questioning it, and the doubt is now showing up in debt as much as in shares.

Data-centre developer Elice fell 32 per cent on its Seoul debut on Tuesday. CoreWeave lost 25 per cent last week over its $50bn debt, with bonds reportedly yielding up to 15 per cent. Goldman Sachs upgraded it to buy on Monday and the shares have rebounded somewhat, gaining 3.4 per cent that day and about 3 per cent in late-morning trade on Tuesday, despite HSBC reiterating its reduce rating on returns below borrowing costs. Weekly trading in default insurance on Oracle, Nvidia, Alphabet and other bonds averaged over $9bn in September, up from under $2bn in July, Morgan Stanley says. Demand looks intact, with TSMC and ASML beating forecasts; the worry is who pays.

Dublin has been steadier. The Iseq rose 2.1 per cent last week to 14,187.83, led by Kerry and Glanbia, while the Nasdaq fell 4.4 per cent.

Bonds are selective too. The NTMA raised €1.25bn in an oversubscribed 10-year auction on Thursday at just over 3.5 per cent, the highest yield since January 2014, yet KBRA moved its outlook on Ireland’s AA rating to positive. France’s spread over Germany widened to 146 basis points on Monday after weekend rioting.

On PTSB, Bawag has resumed dividend accruals, saying it can fully self-fund its agreed €2.97-a-share deal, with completion targeted for the fourth quarter or early 2027, subject to court and regulatory approvals. Axis and Scotchstone have only said they are considering bids.

Watch the 27 October High Court hearing on the Bawag deal.

In Thursday’s Tá, the Sector Spotlight will be Health & Pharma.

Wednesday - By The Numbers

32 stocks: Just 32 companies accounted for the S&P 500's entire year-to-date gain of over 14%, with Nvidia alone responsible for 14% of the increase.

36%: China's exports surged in September compared with a year earlier, pushing its monthly trade surplus to almost $134bn.

€35bn+: Additional Irish Government borrowing projected between 2027 and 2030, taking gross national debt from approximately €208bn to €243.2bn.

€1.25bn: Raised by Ireland's National Treasury Management Agency in last Thursday's bond auction, at a yield of 3.5045%.

4.69%: Grocery inflation in Ireland over the 12 weeks to 4 October, up from 4.28%, even as shoppers made more frequent trips and bought fewer items each time.

Stripe is joining Formula 1 as Mercedes’ new payments partner, so John Collison can now help Toto Wolff make money disappear even faster than a pit stop. Porsche is developing a new petrol-powered supercar to rival Ferrari, while Tesla’s flying Roadster has Irish experts wondering whether the RSA or the IAA would get the paperwork. Elsewhere, Hasbro is making more money from digital games, and former Google boss Eric Schmidt’s Anthropic investment could make him nearly $80bn rich. Louis Theroux is also coming to Dublin to interview tech leaders at Vodafone’s November conference. Between the flying cars, AI billionaires and robotic dogs on display, he may have finally found his strangest documentary subjects yet.

The Read – Business Post – ‘Investment bankers used to look down on us’: Kestrel leaders on growing wealth (Requires free account)

Kestrel Capital’s leaders explain how a ten-year-old wealth manager is chasing Irish household wealth, reported at €1.4 trillion in the first quarter. CEO John Crowe describes a talent market where senior Davy staff are now moving, with equity stakes helping Kestrel recruit. It has 300 client families, 70 per cent of them business owners and entrepreneurs, and is courting their children as wealth passes between generations. The planned Kinsale acquisition, which would lift assets to €1.5bn, remains subject to regulatory approval. Link: ‘Investment bankers used to look down on us’: Kestrel leaders on growing wealth

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