Joanna Donnelly: I don't miss night shifts — and Gen Z will feel the same about five-day weeks
When I was performing on Dancing with the Stars this year, I had to do a round table of interviews with journalists.
One of them asked if I felt guilty that my colleagues had to do all the work on the severe weather while I was off dancing. I was able to tell him I had come off duty that morning, having worked all night.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
18 hours ago
- Irish Times
European shares dip as US tariff reality sets in
European shares wavered on Monday as optimism over a framework trade agreement between the EU and the US gave way to anxiety about the reality of tariffs and their impact on the continent's exporters. DUBLIN The Iseq index ended the session up by 0.3 per cent, outperforming its European peers. Ryanair was among the big gainers, advancing by close to 1.2 per cent to €25.54 per share amid recent positive commentary. Banking stocks remained in focus as the three main Irish lenders prepare to report this week. On high volumes, AIB jumped by 0.6 per cent to €6.84 per share while Bank of Ireland slid by 0.4 per cent to €12.55 per share and PTSB shed 2.8 per cent to close at €2.05. READ MORE Home builders were weaker again, with Cairn Homes sliding 2.5 per cent to €2.12 and Glenveagh inching 0.2 per cent lower to €1.85 per share. LONDON The benchmark FTSE 100 index dipped by 0.5 per cent and the mid-cap FTSE 250 fell by almost 0.8 per cent. With global crude prices jumping after Mr Trump's trade deal with the EU was announced, oil majors Shell and BP were among the biggest gainers on the session, adding 0.6 per cent and 2.2 per cent. Property stocks also jumped, with Rightmove advancing by 1.4 per cent after posting strong first-half results, while investment trust Segro added 0.5 per cent. Industrial miners were weaker amid a fall in metal prices, with Rio Tinto and Anglo American down 1.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent, and Glencore down by 0.5 per cent. EUROPE European shares edged lower as markets digested the details of the EU-US trade deal framework. The agreement averts further trade conflict between the two trading superpowers in the short term, but its lopsided nature has raised concerns about the likely effect of US tariffs on European companies and economic growth. After rallying early on news of the trade deal, the blue-chip Stoxx 50 and the pan-European Stoxx 600 finished 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent lower. European automakers, now facing the reality of 15 per cent tariffs on their exports to the US, dropped throughout the session. Volkswagen and BMW dropped by 3.7 per cent and 3.5 per cent, while Stellantis shed almost 3 per cent. With steep duties to be levied against US imports of alcohol, Jameson-owner Pernod Ricard slid 3.3 per cent, while drinks giant Anheuser Busch sank by 3.7 per cent. Pharmaceutical stocks, meanwhile, edged higher with Sanofi, GSK and Novartis all up by between 0.4 per cent and 0.6 per cent. 'It's definitely better than 200 per cent. Most had 25 per cent factored. But I don't think anyone believes it until it's signed,' an industry source told Reuters, referring to previous threats from US president Donald Trump to tax pharmaceutical imports. NEW YORK Wall Street kicked off a busy week with the dollar rallying following Mr Trump's deal with the EU. The US and China also kicked off two days of talks aimed at extending their tariff truce beyond a mid-August deadline and hashing out ways to maintain trade ties while safeguarding economic security. In advance of a highly anticipated Federal Reserve decision on interest rates on Thursday, the Nasdaq 100 was up 0.4 per cent while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were little changed. Nike rose 2.1 per cent after JP Morgan upgraded the stock to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and said investors should 'just buy it'. Tech stocks were up in advance of a crucial test over the coming days as 'Magnificent Seven' heavyweights Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple prepare to report their earnings. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters
Irish Examiner
20 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
David McNamara: All-out trade war averted but ripples will be felt
The weekend breakthrough in trade talks between the EU and US provided a fillip to markets early in the trading week, but the details of the agreement are scant, and key areas are yet to be determined - notably pharmaceuticals. A baseline 15% tariff has been agreed on EU exports to the US, with no additional tariffs from the EU on US products. With pre-Trump tariffs of around 4% to 5% on the EU, reports suggest the 15% will be inclusive of this, meaning a net additional 10% versus the January 2025 baseline. Higher tariffs of 25% will remain on steel and aluminium for now, but autos tariffs will be reduced from 25% to 15%, which will be something of a reprieve for the large car industry in central Europe. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also said there would be no tariffs from either side on aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals, certain generic drugs, semiconductor equipment, some agricultural products, natural resources and critical raw materials. In return, the EU has agreed to purchase more US energy and military equipment, and potentially lower its tariffs in some areas. There are conflicting reports on pharmaceuticals, with some suggesting 15% would apply immediately, while others suggest a carve out below that rate for some areas. The final landing zone for pharmaceuticals and other strategic sectors such as semiconductors is likely to become clearer when the US government concludes 'Section 232' trade investigations into these sectors in the coming weeks. For now, markets have welcomed the certainty provided by the deal, with stocks rising sharply on Monday. While details are scant, the key tail risk of an all-out trade war is now off the table. Nonetheless, the EU has conceded significant ground from its initial position of 'zero-for-zero' tariffs and a later offer of 10%. If sustained across most sectors, a 15% tariff would bring US duties to their highest level since the 1930s and would likely damage trade and GDP growth in the export-orientated EU and could also yield a 'stagflationary' shock for the US. For Ireland, the deal is less damaging than many feared post-'Liberation Day'. Alongside the conclusion of the 'big beautiful' US tax bill, which retains existing provisions which underpin the presence of US FDI intellectual property in Ireland, the certainty might be cautiously welcomed by some large exporters. However, in lower margin sectors, where products might be more readily substitutable, the new higher 15% rate could be a death-knell for some transatlantic markets. It could be several months for the final deal to be hammered out, and the impact on the economy will play out over an even longer period in the years ahead. David McNamara is senior economist with AIB
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- RTÉ News
Concern over future of planned €300m Wicklow film studio
Concerns have been raised about the future of a €300m film studio planned for Greystones in Co Wicklow because three years after the project was launched, there has been no sign of progress. Locals say there's a lack of information about what's happening to the site, and expressed concern about the €24m of taxpayers money committed to the project. They say if the media campus, which was expected to create 1,500 jobs, is no longer viable, the land should be used for other business purposes. Plans for state of the art studio and production facilities on the 44 acre site were unveiled to much fanfare in 2022, promising to build Ireland's largest tv and film campus, which was to have begun operating in 2024. A consortium called Hackman Capital Partners took a lease on IDA land for the Greystones Media Campus for 999 years at just under €600 a year Louise Gaskin, Chair of the East Wicklow Business Network, says her members are concerned about the lack of progress on the site and the "void" of information about the project. "It would bring a lot of community employment and it would bring for businesses locally, huge economic development. "Lying idle, it's becoming an ugly site, overgrown, just lying there doing nothing. "First of all we were being told it was about the actors strike going on. Then we were told it's commercially sensitive. Then we're getting blanks. "No one's coming back with information. So who has the information? Someone has to know something." Ms Gaskin said that - if there are questions about the viability of the project - she would like to see the lease agreement revoked and the land put to other business use. Since the launch of the Greystones Media Campus three years ago, planning permission has also been granted for a large media campus in South Dublin called Dublin Fields. However, those in the industry say that the facilities at Greystones are still badly needed. Larry Bass, Founder and CEO of ShinAwil Productions, says the lack of studio space in Ireland meant that his company had to build a new studio to film Dancing With the Stars when it returned after Covid-19 lockdowns. He said that, despite global uncertainty and the threat by Donald Trump of tariffs on the industry, Ireland's film industry personnel remain in demand, but the lack of studio space is a barrier to attracting productions here "Apple, Amazon, Netflix, the BBC, the big American networks, these studios will all still, thankfully, be creating new shows. "We're an English language country, we've got a fantastic crew base. "It has evolved from, maybe five or six thousand people working in the industry 20 years ago to over thirty thousand people, highly skilled, highly sought after. "All we need is the raw material, the place, to build. And you know, this has never been a truer statement. If you build it, watch them come." The Department of Finance said that while investment is likely to be on a phased basis, it can't say how much of the €24m committed to the Greystones Media Campus has been spent to date. It also says that the current Minister has not had any engagement on the project from the Irish Strategic Investment Fund or the consortium behind it, Hackman Capital Partners. A spokesman for the consortium said that they will make a statement on the project in the coming months.
