Green light for Howth Castle plan, cheaper electricity for SMEs, and new rules for divorced homebuyers

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Howth Castle: Developers propose including picnic and play areas, a falconry and petting farm, and a garden centre.
Howth Castle: Developers propose including picnic and play areas, a falconry and petting farm, and a garden centre.

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Tetrarch Capital and the Wright hospitality group have been granted planning permission to redevelop Howth Castle in north Dublin for retail, food and tourism uses. Ciarán Hancock has the details.

New rules have made it easier for divorced and separated homebuyers to get back on the property ladder, writes Fiona Reddan in our weekly Your Money feature. If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your pocket try signing up to On the Money, the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers. You can read the latest edition of the newsletter here.

In Your Money’s Q&A, a reader wonders about the capital gains tax implications of their purchase of a derelict house from their parents. Dominic Coyle offers some guidance.

State-owned Electric Ireland has announced a cut for SMEs in electricity bills of 10 per cent from Wednesday but household charges are to remain untouched. Barry O’Halloran and Conor Pope have the details of the move by the energy company.

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Almost nine out of 10 large Irish companies have a gender pay gap that favours men, with the widest in the finance, banking, insurance and construction sectors, according to a new report by PwC. Colin Gleeson reports.

The number and value of mortgages approved in January rose compared with the previous month, defying expectations that higher interest rates would dampen activity. Eoin Burke-Kennedy goes through the data.

On a related topic, will rising interest rates trigger a fall in Irish house prices? Cantillon offers a view

Against the backdrop of a recent BBC note to a group of its journalists that being “as sweaty and dirty as when we’re in the field is actually more trustworthy than if we look like we’ve just stepped out of an awards ceremony”, what is the ideal wardrobe for a journalist? Clothes that say “trust me”, according to our columnist Laura Slattery.

In Me & My Money, family mediator Michelle Browne explains how the process of divorce and raising three girls has changed her spending habits.

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