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.

Consumer prices in Ireland were 3.2 per cent higher in November than the same month last year, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Thursday, as inflation in the Irish economy continued to pick up steam, the Irish Times reported. On an annual basis, prices accelerated last month at the fastest pace since February 2024, with education, clothing, and food prices all contributing to the headline consumer price index (CPI) increase.

In a significant post-Brexit development, the High Court has, for the first time, recognised and enforced a Northern Ireland Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) in the Republic of Ireland, Irish Legal News reported. The application was brought on behalf of the IVA nominee and supervisor, Séamas Keating, with Daly Hempenstall Solicitors LLP acting and Keith Farry BL appearing before Mr Justice Oisín Quinn.

Ireland wants to help Canadian tech companies scale up across the Atlantic Ocean, its enterprise minister told The Logic, as the country gets ready to shepherd new regulations on artificial intelligence through the European Union next year. Peter Burke, Ireland’s minister for enterprise, tourism and employment, was in Toronto and Ottawa last week on a mission to expand trade and investment with Canada—especially through greater connections in the tech sector.

Bankrupt property developer Seán Dunne has lost an appeal challenging the appointment of officials who oversaw his bankruptcy process. Mr Justice Charles Meenan, on behalf of the three-judge Court of Appeal, dismissed his appeal on Friday, the Irish Times reported. Mr Dunne was one of the most prominent property developers of the Celtic Tiger era, but he went bankrupt with debts of some €700 million and in 2013 filed for bankruptcy in the United States. Shortly afterwards, with the permission of the U.S. authorities, he was declared bankrupt here.