Weekend Business Papers

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● The Business Post says the taoiseach will highlight the role of major Irish-based firms in defending Ireland’s trade surplus with the US during Trump meeting on Wednesday

● The Sunday Independent reports that Krispy Kreme is looking at selling its corporate-owned stores in Ireland

● The Sunday Times details Ireland’s European commissioner’s warning to Trump that the EU will respond “swiftly and firmly” if the US acts on trade war threat

● The Financial Times says Mark Zuckerberg is ramping up Meta’s AI voice capabilities this year as the company seeks to monetise the fast-evolving technology 

● The Wall Street Journal covers Trump’s latest crypto love, with the president telling a group of donors that his personal meme coin could bring in billions

Taoiseach Micheál Martin will highlight the role of major Irish-based firms like Ryanair and Aercap in defending Ireland’s trade surplus with the US during his meeting with President Trump on Wednesday in Washington DC. A Department of Foreign Affairs report shows Irish-owned companies employ 203,000 people in the US, with firms like Eaton, Kingspan, and Kerry Group having a major presence. To counter criticism of the trade imbalance, officials stress that recent investments, such as Ryanair’s $40 billion Boeing order, are not yet reflected in trade figures. Dublin Airport may not secure planning permission to expand to 40 million passengers until 2030, DAA chief Kenny Jacobs has warned. Meanwhile, capacity limits will see 20,000 fewer tourists arriving for St Patrick’s Day. Jacobs said major US airlines are struggling to understand the winter cap. His warning comes as new transport minister Darragh O’Brien prepares to meet attorney general Rossa Fanning to find a “viable but sustainable” way to lift the cap. At an emergency summit in Brussels, EU leaders backed a €800bn plan to “rearm Europe” and secured €15bn to support Ukraine, despite Hungary’s objections. While Ireland will contribute €100m in non-lethal aid, Taoiseach Micheál Martin made clear that proposed EU defence financing measures, including low-cost loans and reallocated budget funds, are not for Ireland. Ireland is increasing defence spending to a record €1.5bn by 2028, but at just 0.3% of GDP, it remains well below other neutral EU states. Austria, for example, is targeting 2%, despite not being in NATO. Ireland must strengthen its fiscal buffers and rein in spending, Paschal Donohoe warned ministers, citing an OECD report that highlighted risks to public finances. The report urged the government to broaden its narrow tax base, recommending VAT and income tax reforms. It also called for phasing out one-off spending measures and revisiting housing policies, including rent caps and landlord tax incentives. Officials are now assessing how to address growing financial pressures from climate change and an ageing population. In brief ● FBD chief’s pay packet doubles to €2 million despite drop in profits ● Viatel Technology Group more than doubles profits to €8.8m ● Women-led startups see investment surge but are still a fraction of total funding secured ● Eurozone inflation likely to stay above 2% target says ECB executive board member

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The Sunday Independent offers details of what to expect from what it calls “biggest diplomatic offensive Ireland has ever launched on the United States”, referring to Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s visit to meet US president Donald Trump on Wednesday. Martin has been briefed by officials on all the business and economic benefits Ireland can bring to the US. Briefing documents seen by the paper show the Taoiseach and all ministers travelling to the US will be pitching that “Ireland is open for business” and pointing to a number of lucrative deals for the US coming down the tracks. Global doughnut giant Krispy Kreme is evaluating its international markets and considering selling its corporate-owned stores in Ireland. The potential sale of Krispy Kreme’s stores in Ireland will be hotly watched by the country’s franchise owners. Franchising is where local business owners open stores under the umbrella of an established name, and it has proven especially successful in the fast-food sector. A Northern Irish firm linked to Manguard Plus, one of Ireland’s largest security groups, owed over £1.2m (€1.44m) to the UK tax authorities when it went into liquidation. Tearidge Limited, which operated as Manguard Plus in Northern Ireland, had outstanding debts of £557,980 in PAYE and £697,000 in VAT, according to its statement of affairs seen by the paper. In brief ● Profit at Grafton Group fell 15% to £173.5m (€207m) on the back of tough UK conditions ● The ECB reduced key rates by 0.25 percentage points, making the main deposit rate 2.5% ● French arms builder to open third Belfast site after £1.6bn UK-Ukraine missile deal ● TikTok is to let as many as 300 of its 3,000 Dublin-based staff go

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Michael McGrath, Ireland’s European commissioner, has warned ­President Trump that the EU will respond “swiftly and firmly” if the US acts on his threat of a trade war. Speaking before a crucial week for cross-Atlantic diplomatic ­relations, McGrath insisted that Trump’s plan to target the ­European Union with 25% tariffs would result only in both European and American consumers paying more.   The government is considering using national security exemptions to bypass EU procurement rules and speed up defence acquisitions amid escalating security threats. Tánaiste Simon Harris will meet officials this week to plan a more aggressive procurement strategy, with a decision on the exemptions resting with him. One key project expected to be fast-tracked is a primary radar system to monitor Irish-controlled airspace, crucial for both security and detecting drug-trafficking aircraft.   A growing number of Americans are seeking political asylum in Ireland, according to new figures from the Department of Justice. Between 2017 and early 2025, 110 US citizens applied for international protection in Ireland. Although annual applications were historically low, there was a notable increase in 2023 (18 applications) and 2024 (22 applications), coinciding with Donald Trump’s announcement of his presidential bid. Ten more people have applied since January, when Trump became president. The vast majority of the asylum applications were refused, as granting asylum to an American could be viewed as offensive to the Trump administration.   In brief ●      Vodafone eyeing up six-storey office block in Dublin ●      Agent appointed to find buyers for Camden Yard site ●      Most mortgage interest tax relief remains unclaimed as few file for refunds

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The Financial Times reports on Fed­eral Reserve chair Jay Pow­ell’s playing down of con­cerns over US growth after a series of U-turns by the Trump admin­is­tra­tion, dis­ap­point­ing Amer­ican jobs num­bers and a tumul­tu­ous week in fin­an­cial mar­kets. Pow­ell said on Friday that the largest eco­nomy remained “in good shape” des­pite elev­ated “uncer­tainty” amid Pres­id­ent Don­ald Trump’s aggress­ive agenda of tar­iffs and spend­ing cuts.   On the subject of the US President, Don­ald Trump’s crypto project made at least $350m from the launch of his memecoin, a wind­fall that is likely to fuel con­cerns over con­flicts of interest arising from the token. Digital wal­lets owned by the entit­ies run­ning the scheme earned the money from sales of $TRUMP in the three weeks after it was launched in Janu­ary, accord­ing to a Fin­an­cial Times ana­lysis of block­chain data. Investors and eth­ics experts have said the sale of crypto tokens would in effect allow a way to chan­nel anonym­ous dona­tions to the pres­id­ent while also exploit­ing retail investors. Mark Zuckerberg is ramping up Meta’s AI voice capabilities this year as the company seeks to monetise the fast-evolving technology. Meta plans to enhance voice features in its upcoming open-source language model, Llama 4, expected in the coming weeks, sources said. Betting on AI agents becoming more conversational than text-led, Meta aims to enable more natural, two-way dialogue, allowing users to interrupt rather than follow a rigid Q&A format. In brief ● Senior Walgreens exec seeks to reassure Boots staff after $23.7bn takeover ● Europe’s defence sector tur­bocharged by Trump’s Ukraine approach, boos­ting sup­pli­ers ● Oil prices rebound on hopes of Opec+ U-turn on out­put

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WSJ also covers Trump’s crypto stance, with the president telling a group of donors that his personal meme coin could bring in billions of dollars. The success of $Trump is one of the starkest examples of the president benefiting from an industry his administration regulates. Trump, who promised to be the nation’s “first crypto president,” recounted to the group the Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent dismissal of cases against crypto companies, nearly a dozen by Friday. Crypto executives see that as evidence of the industry’s liberation from regulatory threats under the Biden administration that limited its growth in the US.   French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI plans to release models that its chief executive said could outperform DeepSeek’s latest version, embracing open source as a cost-effective approach to develop increasingly powerful AI without spending billions of dollars. Mistral AI and some other startups make their models available to the public. That open-source approach allows smaller companies to learn from each other and improve their models in the race against larger and better funded rivals like ChatGPT maker OpenAI .   Property and casualty insurance has been under pressure, with some calling the market a “crisis,” particularly in California. However, Warren Buffett described Geico’s 2024 performance as “spectacular.” Despite $145bn in global insured losses from natural disasters last year — well above the 21st-century average — publicly traded insurers, especially in personal insurance, reported strong results. Many have secured regulatory approval for rate hikes, helping to offset rising costs and positioning the industry for continued stability.   In brief ●      US generated jobs at steady pace in February, adding a seasonally adjusted 151,000 ●      US stocks seesawed, ending slightly higher on Friday, but down for the week ●      Fed leader signaled central bank comfortable maintaining current interest rates for now

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