27th August 2009
Owen O'Callaghan on the move; Rumours of MBO at Golden Vale; Car sales plummet during the eighties; OECD's optimistic forecasts; Fashion export hopes; Jameson closes premises.
Compiled by Róisín O'Sullivan
10 years ago
As part of a £200m development on the Mahon Point peninsula, local
property developer Owen O'Callaghan is planning an International Trade
Centre for Cork. The project, which is awaiting planning permission,
will put the development in direct competition with a similar World
Trade 
Centre
that International firm, the Drew Company, is planning for Dublin.
O'Callaghan is expected to argue at a political level that Dublin has
had its fair share of investment in recent years and that any trade
centre should be located in Cork.
Rumours of a management buyout at Golden Vale may yet prove to have been greatly exaggerated. The recent announcement of an MBO proposal at Clondalkin Group has caused some speculation, but with financier Dermot Desmond once again building his shareholding, share prices look set to go up rather than down and MBOs tend to occur when prices are falling.
20 years ago
After the registration of 106,000 cars in 1981 the Irish motor industry
was expecting a sustained market of over 100,000 units per year. But
the market peaked and in 1987 sales shrunk to 55,000 units. While this
year figures could top 70,000, the rising interest in second hand and
imported cars suggests that the market is anything but steady.
While it is generally believed that Food Industries' bid of £43m for Premier Tir Laighean is an attractive one, there are suspicions that under-bidders such as Express Dairies will be back with a higher bid. Express Dairies, a subsidiary of GrandMet, already has a 40% shareholding in PTL's liquid milk offshoot.
After 20 years Irish offshore exploration has entered a critical phase. Following the departure of BP, there is only one major oil remaining, Marathon Petroleum. But with falling oil prices as well as the failure of successful drills in Irish waters, it too may soon pack up and leave.
30 years ago
It is thought that annual trading levels for Ireland's new car sales industry could fall more than 12% below those of the previous year. With the price of buying, running and insuring a car rising and the fuel shortage still unresolved, the Society of the Irish Motor Industry is becoming understandably anxious.
A major statistical blunder in the 1971 Census may have put the
population at 100,000 less than its real size. If reports are
confirmed, a major 
revision of Government economic and job creation targets will be urgently required.
Kilkenny Design Workshops looks set to rise. The firm has recently set its sights on international markets as well as opening its own food hall in Dublin.
An OECD report understated the case when it said "there are more uncertainties than usual in assessing short term prospects." Its forecast of a 4% rise in GDP is significantly higher than those of the Central Bank and ESRI.
40 years ago
According to incomplete statistics, Irela
nd's
garment industry is worth £35 million per year. Export sales in 1968
topped £12m but with growing foreign interest in Irish clothes and the
help of Coras Trachtala's annual export fashion fair, there is plenty
of reason to hope that clothing will soon contribute significantly to
Ireland's overall export earnings. While three-quarters of exports go
to Britain, the US, West Germany, France and Canada are also
significant importers of the product. Firms tipped to do well out of
the expected boom include Trend Fashions, Brian Tucker, Emor Designs,
J.P. Fashions.
United Distillers of Ireland has come to the inevitable decision that it will concentrate its distilling production in one unit by the mid-70s. The firm will therefore stop distilling in the Jameson premesis and close all but one of its operations by that deadline.
A new line of take home packs introduced by Guinness has earned £1m.
