Tuesday

Good morning. Day two of Your Morning Tá, and already Ireland is trying to move more power underground, turn savings into investment, upgrade its skills pipeline, and make old offices pay rent again. Abroad, AI wants public-market money and geopolitics wants everyone’s full attention. Let’s get into it.

1. Power Is The New Planning Permission. Renewables supplied around 40% of Ireland’s electricity, but interconnector rules are reportedly limiting how much green power can flow when needed. A proposed €2bn Carlow storage project would convert excess renewable electricity into hydrogen and store it underground. The constraint is no longer just generation; it is flexibility. Energy due diligence belongs in every expansion plan, not only in ambition talk.

2. Limerick Software Gets A Private Equity Exit. Kneat Solutions, the Limerick life sciences software group, has agreed a sale to Thoma Bravo valuing it at about €404m. Kneat sells digital validation tools into regulated pharma, where the paperwork becomes expensive software. Ireland’s next software wins might not be flashy, but they are finding the margins that matter.

3. Ireland’s Talent Pipeline Works Harder. University of Galway has secured triple-crown accreditation, putting its business school in the 1% globally. Skillnet Ireland is also launching a new growth strategy, aimed at helping firms build workforce capability as technology and regulation keep moving. The labour market is not just short of people; it is short of prepared people. Modernised and AI-focused training plans are moving from HR nicety to necessity.

4. Ireland Wants Savers To Do Something. Ibec says Irish savers are leaving too much money idle, while Simon Harris is defending a savings and investment plan aimed at “middle Ireland”. The politics is delicate: Irish people still distrust markets, but inflation quietly taxes cash that does nothing. Getting households from deposit accounts into productive investment is becoming the State’s next great “infrastructure” campaign, on top of all the others.

5. Cork Builds, Dublin Reworks. The Taoiseach turned the sod on a Cork housing development, while Johnny Ronan won approval to redevelop Citi’s old North Wall Quay site into four office blocks. One story adds homes; the other tries to make old office space earn its keep again. The property market is splitting between what Ireland urgently needs and what investors can still make stack. The next property cycle should reward projects that solve a real shortage, not just the ones with a fancy location.

OpenAI has reportedly filed for a US IPO after Anthropic, meaning the AI boom is moving from pitch decks to pension-fund exposure. Stellantis will put €1bn into Opel in Germany by 2030, useful proof that Europe’s car industry is not ready to hand the keys to China. David Miliband called Brexit a £30bn-a-year drag on Britain – quite the told-you-so moment when a figure is attached. Israel and Iran have paused their latest exchange of fire, calming oil nerves until the next headline. Meanwhile, the EU released nearly €2.8bn for Ukraine, and President Xi courted North Korea following meeting with Trump and Putin… busy month for him. It’s clear that markets want certainty, but geopolitics isn’t cooperating.

Legal & Regulatory

A week shaped less by headline rulings than by the slow accumulation of structural change in how law is practised, regulated and enforced in Ireland.

The most substantive domestic development was the commencement of the Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) Amendment Act 2026, signed into effect by Minister Peter Burke on Monday. The Act creates a "Deemed Insolvent Process" allowing workers owed wages, holiday pay or sick pay by employers who ceased trading informally, without entering receivership or liquidation, to access the Insolvency Payments Scheme directly. Claims are capped at eight weeks and €600 per week gross. The change resolves a compliance gap that a 2018 Supreme Court ruling found had breached an EU directive dating from 2008.

IAASA opened four investigations into potential legal breaches during 2025, its annual activity report confirmed last week. The body has imposed eight fines since assuming direct supervisory responsibility in 2016, a figure likely to raise questions about whether enforcement activity matches its formal powers over audits of Ireland's listed companies.

On legal tech, Wordsmith, covered in yesterday's Tech Spotlight for its $70m raise, confirmed this week that Dublin is under active consideration as its EU headquarters, a signal of how Dublin's legal AI ecosystem is maturing. Norwegian firm Newcode, meanwhile, appointed former Mason Hayes & Curran solicitor Donna O'Leary as its Ireland director, with 30 hires planned by year end, joining Harvey and Clio in treating Dublin as a serious operational base rather than another flag on a map.

The August 2026 deadline for establishing the AI Office of Ireland remains the most consequential near-term marker. How its coordination role sits above 13 sectoral regulators will define the compliance experience for every firm deploying AI in a regulated Irish context.

In Wednesday’s Tá, the Sector Spotlight will be Finance & Markets.

Tuesday – On the Move…

Iain Finlayson, Centre Director, Blanchardstown Centre: recruited from Liverpool ONE, where he oversaw 33 million annual visitors as estate director; Falcon AM is signalling ambition rather than continuity at Ireland's largest shopping centre.

Mike Birch, Transportation Director UK & Ireland, Egis: joins from West Yorkshire Combined Authority, where he led a £3 billion tram programme; a client-side background Egis is backing to sharpen its pitch to Irish and British transport authorities.

Ronan Kelly, CEO, Digital Infrastructure Ireland: joins from AllPoints Fibre Networks with three terms as president of FTTH Council Europe behind him; a well-connected industry figure now leading Ireland's data centre and connectivity trade association at a moment of heightened political scrutiny of both.

Slane locals are getting a €61,000 community benefit from Luke Combs gigs, which feels like the correct exchange rate for two nights of traffic and cowboy hats. On curious clothing decisions, NASA astronauts may soon be decked out in Prada on the Moon. All the while, Trump turned the NBA Finals in his usual attire, turning the event into a security queue and receiving welcoming "boos". Slane wins: at least its disruption comes with music and money for the parish.

The Read – RTÉ News – Households face higher costs as ECB set to raise rates

With the ECB decision due Thursday, this is the cleanest summary of what higher rates would mean for Irish pockets.

Ireland's 110,000 tracker holders face an immediate €37-per-month increase on a €300,000 loan. Those rolling off fixed terms are walking into a different market entirely. It would be the first ECB hike in almost three years, and Irish banks will feel the pressure on variable pricing long after Thursday. The Link: Households braced for higher costs as ECB expected to raise rates

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