Ireland’s jobless rate was 4.7 per cent in January, unchanged from the previous month, but up from 4.5 per cent in January 2025, the Irish Times reported. Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures indicated the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed in January was 138,400, compared with 137,800 in December 2025. The January total represented an annual increase of 8,600.

The Irish economy grew at an accelerated rate of 12.6 per cent in gross domestic product (GDP) terms last year as multinationals front-loaded goods exports into the US to avoid tariffs, the Irish Times reported. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) cautioned that its estimate of GDP growth for 2025 was preliminary and based on “incomplete” data sources. If confirmed, however, it will make Ireland the fastest-growing economy in Europe and one of the fastest in the world.

Property price inflation slowed to 6.6 per cent in the year to November, down from the 7.2 per cent recorded in October, new data from Ireland's Central Statistics Office shows, the Irish Times reported. Property prices in Dublin rose by 5 per cent, while prices outside the capital were up by 7.9 per cent compared with November 2024. The median price of a home purchased in the 12 months to November was €384,000. The highest median price was €677,000 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, while the lowest was €190,000 in Donegal.

The Irish High Court has appointed a provisional liquidator to a Co Galway automation equipment firm that ran into financial difficulty following a customer’s cancellation of a major contract, the Irish Times reported. Mr Justice Oisín Quinn on Friday appointed liquidator David van Dessel to Megadale Ltd, with offices at Briarhill Business Park, Ballybrit, following a petition moved on behalf of the company itself.

The Bank of Ireland’s latest credit and debit card data shows spending rose 5.7 per cent in December. Importantly that was higher than the 3.2 per cent inflation rate, indicating an overall increase in spending for Christmas, the Irish Times reported. Spending on electrical goods was up by 6.3 per cent compared to a year ago, while services spend spiked 5.7 per cent. About 2.5 per cent more was forked out in restaurants and pubs while retail saw its share increase 1 per cent. One notable decline was the continued fall-off in cash usage. ATM withdrawals fell once more.

The volume of retail sales increased by 2.5 per cent in November compared with a year earlier as consumers took advantage of Black Friday sales, the Irish Times reported. However, the volume of sales was up by just 0.5 per cent compared with October, which may suggest people were still careful with their money despite the opportunity for bargains. Excluding motor trades, the monthly volume of retail sales was up by 0.2 per cent in November and by 1 per cent in the year.

Headline inflation in the Irish economy moderated to less than 3 per cent in December, the Irish Times reported. The latest flash estimate for the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) put the annualised rate of price growth at 2.7 per cent in December, down from 3.1 per cent in November. Euro zone inflation was clocked at 2.1 per cent in November. Eurostat will publish figures for December on Tuesday.

The number of retail and hospitality business insolvencies declined throughout 2025 as the overall number of company closures remained steady, new data from professional services firm PwC shows, the Irish Examiner reported. The latest PwC Insolvency Barometer shows the number of insolvencies recorded in 2025 hit 848 which is down from the 868 recorded in 2024. However, it is still higher than the 736 in 2023. There was an average 204 insolvencies in each quarter since the start of 2023.

Bankrupt Irish property developer Sean Dunne has filed a fresh objection to the distribution of $3.8 million (€3.24 million) of the remaining assets in his dozen-year-old U.S. bankruptcy case, the Irish Times reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Julie A Manning, sitting in Bridgeport, Conn. last week ordered payment of $2.8 million to his two ex-wives and about another $1 million in legal fees to the US bankruptcy trustee and his lawyers.

The decade-plus American bankruptcy of property developer Sean Dunne took a major step toward final resolution on Tuesday, after a U.S. judge allowed payments to his two ex-wives, the Irish Times reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Julie A. Manning approved, pending the filing of revised paperwork, more than $2.8 million in payments to Mr Dunne’s two ex-wives. She added she would also rule by Friday on distribution of the remainder of the more than $16 million in the estate.