A group of credit unions has announced plans to shake up the commercial mortgage market. The Solution Centre, which is directed by the Credit Union Development Association, estimates it has €400 million to lend potential businesses and homeowners.
A third case of bird flu has been confirmed in a wild bird in Ireland. The influenza virus has now been detected in wild birds in Tipperary, Galway and Wexford over the past few weeks. No outbreaks have been detected in Irish poultry so far, but the Department of Agriculture has activated confinement regulations as a precautionary measure.
Writing for The Irish Times, Conor Pope has drawn attention to industry practises surrounding the marketing of 'Irish' goods. Pope has named specific examples of retailers and manufacturers designing their products to seem as though they're Irish-made when they are not. Examples include an Aldi salmon product whose packaging depicted the tricolour, although the salmon itself was farmed in Scotland, and Dublin Bay prawns, which describes a type of lobster and not the location it was fished from.
Thornton is recalling all batches of its Hollow Milk Chocolate Jolly Santas. This is due to the possible presence of plastic pieces in the chocolates. Point-of-sale recall notices will be displayed in stores that were supplied with the implicated product.
Maxol has opened its third Auto 24 service station in the Republic. The Auto 24 Westside, Galway, opened for business on 23 January with a number of celebratory promotions. The station will provide an automated pay-at-the pump service for ‘on the move’ motorists 24 hours a day.
Street traders on Moore Street in Dublin are worried about the future of their business. Speaking to TheJournal.ie, traders have cited building works on the street, government apathy and business pressure from nearby supermarkets as causing frustration and worry for their business.
Belfast-based wine & spirit merchants Botl has launched its new Butterfly Cane Rum. The new brand is targeted at the 'Millennial' market and boasts a label containing UV ink, "to catch the light in nightclubs," according to Botl owner, Jim O'Neill.
Owen Callaghan, the well-known Cork developer, has passed away. O'Callaghan (76) was one of Ireland's most successful developers, involved in developing the Mahon Point and Merchants Quay shopping centres in Cork, and the Liffey Valley shopping centre in Dublin. He died in Cork University Hospital after taking ill over the Christmas period.
