Monday

29 June 2026

Good morning. Ireland starts the week with insolvencies steady overall but retail under real strain, fuel supports looking likely to survive July, and household money moving through credit unions, wealth managers and savings policy debate. Abroad, US-Iran talks are back on the calendar, but oil, shipping and platform regulation are still refusing to relax.

1. Insolvencies Stay Steady, Retail Does Not. Ireland recorded 444 insolvencies in the first half of 2026, barely changed from 436 a year earlier, so this is not a collapse story. The pressure is sector-specific: retail insolvencies rose 35% and now account for nearly one in four cases. For landlords, lenders, suppliers and advisers, the warning is not general panic. It is weaker consumer-facing cash flow.

2. Fuel Supports Look Likely To Survive July. The Government is expected to avoid a full cliff-edge reversal of fuel excise cuts, with a one-month extension or phased withdrawal now the more likely landing zone. The current cuts, 27c on petrol and 32c on diesel, expire at the end of July. For commuters, hauliers and farmers, the decision is less about political relief and more about what cost base they move into August with.

3. Household Money Is Looking For A Home. Credit unions’ loan book has reached about €6.7bn, while AIB-owned Goodbody is expanding in wealth management through its planned purchase of Belfast-based Legacy, which advises on roughly £700m of client assets. Add surveys showing people are still deterred from investing by cost and tax treatment, and the link is clear enough: Irish households have cash, credit needs and advice gaps. Finance firms are positioning around all three as talk continues on the Government’s planned Savings and Investment Scheme.

4. Cherry Orchard Adds A Delivery-Stage Housing Story. The LDA and Dublin City Council are moving ahead with 137 affordable-purchase homes at Cherry Orchard Point, adding to a first phase already under construction. That first phase includes more than 700 cost-rental and social homes, with Sisk already working on 389 of them. The useful part is the status: this is not another target, it is named contractors, phases and homes moving through the system.

5. Procurement Gets A Labour Test. Unions want workers’ rights factored into public procurement contracts, pushing pay and conditions further into how State work is awarded. That sits beside the wider SME pressure showing up in insolvencies, fuel costs and borrowing demand. Public contracts are not only burdensome paperwork for firms seeking State work; they increasingly carry labour, compliance and margin questions before the job even starts.

The US and Iran have reportedly agreed to halt attacks after fresh strikes around the Strait of Hormuz and a tanker incident put oil and shipping risk back in crisis. That is a stand-down, not a settlement, with deal negotiations now set to resume in Doha. In the UK, Andy Burnham is setting out a plan to shift power from London, including more regional control over growth, housing, infrastructure and public procurement. Australia is moving to give its online-safety regulator stronger powers over Big Tech, including higher fines and document demands under its under-16 social-media ban. Europe’s heatwave is testing power demand and lifting air-conditioning stocks. Markets and policymakers are getting the same lesson: the headline can improve before the risk has actually gone.

Tech & AI

The AI boom is cutting two ways for Ireland right now: pulling fresh capital into Dublin's data-centre build-out while pushing costs onto consumers and drawing tighter scrutiny from Brussels.

Micron kicked off Wednesday with blockbuster results, revenue more than quadrupling to $41.46 billion, sending its stock up 15% and lifting the wider chip sector, reversing last week's sharp selloff as AI's hunger for memory chips shows no sign of easing. Apple followed two days later, raising iPad and MacBook prices after a sharp rise in component costs, saying it had "never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly." In Dublin, that same demand is being put to work: TensorX has partnered with financier Solstice on a facility worth up to €1 billion to buy GPUs and build European data-centre capacity, days after its own €8 million seed round, betting Europe’s demand for onshore AI compute is only starting.

Brussels moved on Big Tech’s cloud businesses on Thursday too: the European Commission gave a preliminary view that Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure should be designated gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act, citing entrenched lock-in, with a final call due in November. Dublin delivered the domestic mirror the same day: Coimisiún na Meán granted Trusted Flagger status under the Digital Services Act to the Irish Internet Hotline, the Irish Music Rights Organisation and the Jewish Representative Council, joining the Central Bank of Ireland in that role.

Further out, Dublin space-tech firm Ubotica raised $11 million this week for its AI-powered maritime surveillance platform, flagging threats to undersea cables and offshore infrastructure, timed ahead of Ireland’s EU Council presidency starting on 1st of July, where its chief executive hopes to showcase the technology.

Watch whether Brussels' November decision and Ireland's presidency turn this week's positioning into real obligations for hyperscalers based in Dublin, as the AI boom keeps pulling in capital and cost.

In Tuesday’s Tá, the Sector Spotlight will be Legal & Regulatory.

Monday - The Weekend Round-Up…

The weekend kept the Irish business follow-ups moving. CRH’s $8.5bn Arcosa deal raised fresh questions about how far its US pivot goes, while PTSB’s Eamonn Crowley clarified earlier comments around bid interest as the Bawag process moves toward its shareholder vote. FBD agreed to buy the Knightsbrook Hotel in Meath, adding another hospitality-property deal to a market still working through costs, insurance and occupancy. Dublin Airport car-park ownership also stayed in play, with Maurice Regan linked to a purchase. The week has started, but last week’s deal files have not closed.

Lottie Ryan is swapping RTÉ 2FM for Virgin Media’s Six O’Clock Show, while Shane Coleman is taking The Tonight Show chair full time, so Irish evening telly is getting a seating-plan update and a steadier place for evening current affairs. Handy timing, because Ring doorbells are also under fresh privacy scrutiny for watching the street. Between Virgin, RTÉ and what the neighbours are up to, the nation may never be short of something to look at.

The Read – RTÉ – What Does NATO Mean In 2026 Under Donald Trump?

The useful part of this analysis is not another “Trump versus Europe” headline. It explains how NATO is being reshaped by America’s defence budget, Trump’s negotiating style and Europe’s sudden need to spend more seriously on its own security. That matters for Irish readers because defence spending is becoming industrial policy, procurement policy and fiscal policy all at once. Ireland may not be in NATO, but Irish exporters, advisers and public finances still live beside the security decisions Europe is now making. The Link: What does NATO mean in 2026 under Donald Trump?  

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