Wind farm bids, electricity demands and back to school with the Institute of Education

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

Competition is growing to buy a wind farm project in which Johnny Ronan has an interest. Photograph: iStock
Competition is growing to buy a wind farm project in which Johnny Ronan has an interest. Photograph: iStock

Major players in the oil and gas sector, including Shell, have expressed an interest in the €100 million sale of a wind farm project jointly owned by a company linked to property developer Johnny Ronan, writes Jack Horgan-Jones. The project is attracting such attention, sources said, that a second round of bids may be required.

Still on energy, Barry O'Halloran reports that experts believe the growing number of Irish-based data centres could require a multi-billion investment in new electricity plants to service their needs.

Barry also looks at what might happen next in the Ryanair industrial relations saga, identifying the key issues that divide the sides.

Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), the State-controlled remains of Anglo Irish Bank, has won a temporary reprieve against Indian officials who seized control of Q City, an $80 million technology park in Hyderabad formerly controlled by the family of Sean Quinn. Mark Paul reports that IBRC got control of Q City earlier this year.

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Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment is poised to take a punt on the American Midwest on time for the kick off of one of the United States' biggest sports tournaments, the National Football League (NFL). Barry O' Halloran has the story.

John FitzGerald takes on the likely impact of a no-deal Brexit on the North's agriculture sector, and it makes for grim reading. In short, expect many farmers to go out of business.

It's back to school for many next week, including the students of the Dublin-based Institute of Education. Ciarán Hancock gets a sense of the energy behind the family-run private education business as September approaches, speaking to managing director, Peter Kearns and HR director, Úna Kearns. In a wide-ranging interview, they discuss high academic standards, the public/private education divide and how to deal with occasionally demanding parents.

In Caveat, Mark Paul predicts that the legalisation of cannabis is imminent in the Republic and that businesses will be at the forefront of the development. The mood music on the drug may already be changing, he writes.

Berlin-based Derek Scally uses this week's Agenda to take a clear look at the German economy, which has been shown by various indicators to be stuttering. Are we talking about a brief dent in growth or is there greater danger out there?

Finally, our Wild Goose is Dubliner Conor O'Driscoll, who made it all the way to become a master bourbon distiller in Kentucky. It all started, he tells Charlie Taylor, with the production of citric acid at a factory in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork.

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Úna McCaffrey

Úna McCaffrey

Úna McCaffrey is Digital Features Editor at The Irish Times.