There is a “window for negotiation” before tariffs on steel imports announced by the US kick in next month, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.
Trade ministers from the 27 European Union states held a video call to discuss the impact of looming tariffs, which US president Donald Trump intends to put on steel and aluminium coming into the US from abroad.
The 25 per cent import duties are due to kick in on March 12th, hitting traditional US allies such as Canada, Europe and others. Jack Power in Brussels and Cormac McQuinn report.
Staff at Meta Ireland are beginning to find out whether they will lose their jobs as part of a series of cuts announced by the Facebook owner last month.
The technology giant said in January it expects to cut about 5 per cent of its workforce, focusing on “low-performers”, globally. It intends to fill the roles again later this year.
A spokesman for Meta declined to confirm how many jobs at the group’s operations in the Republic, where it directly employs around 2,000 people, would be affected. However, if the cuts were proportionate, around 100 jobs could go here. Ian Curran has the details.
How does Ireland fix its dysfunctional rental sector?
Ever since OpenAI’s generative chatbot ChatGPT was publicly launched in late 2022, governments and companies have been trying to position themselves on the right side of the rapidly advancing technology. And the European Union is no different, writes Jack Power.
Who hasn’t handed over a phone to a small child to watch videos online in a bid to get five minutes of uninterrupted time? Or set up an account to play a game online without thinking too closely about the potential repercussions? Ciara O’Brien has a number of tips for keeping children safe online.
Lifelong friends Nicola Lyons and Elaine Crosse are the brains behind Bánór, a new skincare company with a twist. The twist is that the business’s raw materials are supplied by an obliging flock of specially bred sheep whose milk and wool form the basis of the products, writes Olive Keogh.
Fujifilm has built up quite a business for itself in instant cameras. The company has managed to make its own a sector that was once synonymous with Polaroid, and carved a seemingly viable business out of a product that was very nearly killed off by digital. Ciara O’Brien reviews its latest product, the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo, which retails for €379.
While companies explore how to leverage generative AI in ways that are profitable and transformative, a quiet revolution is already under way among their staff. Lawyers, bankers, doctors and many other professionals are now regularly using chatbots to write to colleagues, customers, clients and patients, writes Sam Joiner.
Cantillon notes that Tony Smurfit, chief executive of Smurfit Westrock, found himself being asked by analysts on Wednesday, as the group reported quarterly results, about potential costs of Trump’s potential tariffs on operations Mexico and Canada and also that Irish housebuilder Quintain is now called Evara and has announced plans to significantly ramp up activity in the Republic.
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