Jackson bows out at troubled Flutter and what to look for in a new laptop

Peter Jackson, the man who turned Paddy Power from a UK and Irish kingpin into global gambling powerhouse, Flutter, only to be undone by the swing to prediction markets, will step aside after nine years as CEO , writes Barry O’Halloran. The news came as Flutter announced a $296 million (€256 million) loss in the three months to June 30th, and cut full-year forecasts. McCloskey’s pub on Morehampton Road in Donnybrook has been refused permission to retain a 136 sq m retractable barrel-roofed awning over its existing beer garden. An Coimisiún Pleanála ruled the application would give rise to an unacceptable level of noise disturbance for residential properties in the vicinity. Gordon Deegan reports. Sticking with hospitality, the group behind the Sligo Park Hotel and the Dublin’s Mespil Hotel paid out just under €5.2 million in combined dividends last year to the Kidney family that owns the properties, with the Sligo business paying the larger share, writes Stephen Conneely. Denis O’Brien and Leslie Buckley were also the beneficiaries of dividends as the engineering services group they own, Actavo, paid out €10 million to its shareholders, repeating a payment from the previous year. Ian Curran has the details Deloitte Ireland earned €10.45 million in fees from the State since the start of last year providing consultancy services on the response to the international protection accommodation crisis and the war in Ukraine, writes Gordon Deegan. And Ken Foxe reports that Fáilte Ireland is spending more than €10 million on a campaign to encourage short breaks at home after domestic tourism hit a “flat” spot in 2025. Activity in the Irish services sector rose last month, with improved employment prospects and higher overseas demand driving the strongest rate of business activity this year. That did not extend to the transport, tourism and leisure sector, however, which clocked up its fifth successive decline in activity in July. Stephen Conneely reports Irish companies fared well in securing venture capital funding in the second three months of the year but three large deals accounted for almost two-thirds of all the business, according to KPMG’s Venture Pulse. Andrew Yaxley will return as chief executive of Tesco Ireland , a role he first held 11 years ago, as he effectively trades positions with Geoff Byrne, who will take over from Yaxley as chief executive of Booker Group from next month. In Technology, Ciara O’Brien looks forward to the new college year with some guidance to students on what they need to look for – and what you don’t – in a new laptop . Speed, memory, size and weight will all be factors you need to take into account and all have an impact on your budget As Minister for Finance Simon Harris signals that tax cuts are coming in the budget after no income tax package last year, Cliff Taylor joins host Ciarán Hancock on the Inside Business podcast to debate whether middle earners are being ripped off by the Irish income tax system and tease out the difficult political trade-offs Harris faces if he is to deliver on his promise. In his column, Emmet Ryan examines how AI models went rogue on both OpenAI and Anthropic – the two leaders in the field – without their developers being aware of it and asks what that means for the technology and for business. Margaret Ward harks back to those schoolday assurances that hard work will always be rewarded. Once we enter the workforce, we soon realise that the people who get the promotions and the bonuses may not necessarily be the ones who are best at the job. Meritocracy is not always what it seems, she writes. Finally, in Ask The Lawyer , a reader wants to know if she can word her will in such a way that the two beneficiaries of her home will not have to pay an inheritance tax bill until the property is sold. If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money , the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.