Lessons from the month of January

As storms battered and hundreds of thousands went without power, the first month of the year brought with it much to think about. Here are some of the best lessons we learned in January.

1. Storms weren’t the only things rising and falling.

As per the Central Statistics Office, prices in Ireland are estimated to have increased by 1.5% in the year to January – up from 1% in the 12 months to December. Energy prices also went up by 2% in the month, but are down by 7% in the year. As for food, prices fell by just under 1% and rose by 1.4% in the year.

As a result, consumer sentiment improved slightly by hitting a six-month high in January as concerns about household finances eased. That said, worries about the broader macroeconomic outlook grew. The Credit Union Consumer Sentiment index climbed to 74.9 in January from 73.9 in December, a figure well below its long-term average of 84.3 but slightly ahead of the 74.2 reading 12 months ago.

The data “hints that consumers’ concerns about the cost-of-living crisis are easing somewhat although a pullback in spending plans suggests caution still dominates consumer thinking,” said David Malone, chief executive of the Irish League of Credit Unions.

2. Storm in a TikTok.

For anyone under the age of 25, January was the month of the US TikTok ban. TikTok went dark in the United States on 19th January, preventing access to one of the world’s most popular social media apps to the 170 million Americans who use it. Visitors to the app were met with a message reading: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”

TikTok’s action comes after the Supreme Court on Friday, 17th January upheld a ban that was passed with broad bipartisan support in Congress and signed into law in April by President Joe Biden. The law prevents American companies from hosting or serving content for the Chinese-owned social media platform unless it sells itself to a buyer from the United States or one of its allies. (The app is controlled by the Beijing-based company ByteDance.) Upon his reelection, US President Trump stated in a post on his Truth Social platform that he would issue an executive order to delay the ban for 75 days before the law’s provisions took effect, with no liability for any company that “helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order”. TikTok decided it had received enough clarity from the incoming administration, saying that Trump had provided assurance “to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans” and that it would restore service.

The platform then returned online with a short message thanking Trump for his “efforts,” and chief executive Shou Zi Chew, denying any Chinese state involvement with the app, saying ByteDance is not “an agent of China or any other country”.

3. Guess who’s back.

Trump took office again in January, insisting that following his assassination attempt late last year, he was “saved by God to make America great again.” The incoming 47th president promised a blitz of executive orders, including a radical shake-up of the global order and a “golden age of America”.

In a ceremony staged indoors because of sub-zero temperatures, the former president prepared to return to the White House in triumph after taking the oath of office from John Roberts, chief justice of the Supreme Court. Trump immediately struck a nationalistic tone in his inaugural address, vowing to “put America first”. “The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer during every single day of the Trump administration, I will, very simply, put America first,” he said. “America’s decline is over.”

4. What Trump’s return means for Ireland.

At his inauguration and thereafter, the 47th president made it very clear his desire to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China – meaning that Ireland could be implicated in a wider global trade war. While the next moves remain unclear, disruption to bilateral trade with the US could execute a critical blow for the State. According to Trump, the EU is now on his hit list, with action there set to be  “very substantial”. His understanding is that the EU has somewhat taken advantage of the US by way of a trade deficit. A significant contributor to this deficit? Ireland, mainly due to the large production here of pharma and chemical products for the US market.

According to Cliff Taylor at the Irish Times, if tariffs are placed on these Irish exports, they would hit the sales and profitability of the companies involved and — if sustained — would have implications for jobs here. Potential US tax changes are another source of threat, according to Taylor. That said, we don’t know what’s due to happen just yet. But what we do know is that Trump means what he says, and that a worrying period could lie ahead for the new Government as it tries to navigate US relations.

5. An FGFF government, who’d have thought it.

Speaking of… Our new Irish Government is here – and it only took two months.  Following a period of chaos, there was a return to parliamentary order in the month as Micheál Martin was announced as Taoiseach. As Martin said following his appointment, “the task is to protect Ireland’s strength at a moment of real threat, while also addressing critical social needs” and also accelerating delivery in key areas, particularly housing.

The news of a new Cabinet came in around the same time that the Central Statistics Office figures showed that 30,300 homes were completed by the last administration in 2024, almost 10,000 below target. Paired with a reduced number of women in Cabinet – a paltry 3 to last year’s 4 – a pained start left much to be desired. That said, the reappointment of Paschal Donohoe to the Department of Finance and Jack Chambers to the Department of Public Expenditure, does promise some stability in key areas. The rest, according to Natasha Bedingfield, is left unwritten.

6. Start-ups are go.

The number of new companies established last year was the second-highest in more than a decade, according to CRIFVision-Net. A total of 23,384 start-ups were formed in 2024, an increase of 5.5% from the previous year, with a similar rise in sole traders and partnerships. This figure was only beaten in 2021 when 25,692 companies were incorporated as a post-pandemic backlog was cleared. CRIFVision-Net posited that the strong performance in the sector explains “Ireland’s robust business ecosystem,” with the abundance of business and financial support businesses in Ireland providing a well of expertise for start-ups to draw upon.

As for office space for these start-ups, property experts have warned of a possible squeeze as demand for prime, high-energy-rated offices revives, according to a report from Irish commercial property firm HWBC, Dublin’s office market recovered from a post-Covid slump in 2024 with multinationals opting for city centre locations in an attempt to bring staff back into the office. The majority of interest is in A-rated Dublin 2 and 4 locations, with constraints for such prime space over the next 12 months expected if the same demand rates were to continue.

7. M&A roundup.

• Irish sports technology company Output Sports has closed a €4.6m pre-A funding round with new and existing investors. The company, whose sports science technology is used by Olympians, the Premier League and the NBA said the investment round was supported by athlete-led investment company Apex Capital, European deep tech investor Uni.Fund and Dopamine Sports. Existing investors Elkstone, Atlantic Bridge and Enterprise Ireland as well as angel investors such as Jim Kelliher, formerly CFO of Drift and LogMeIn, also participated in the financing.
• Two of Ireland’s largest law firms, ByrneWallace LLP and LK Shields Solicitors LLP, have completed their merger to form Byrne Wallace Shields. The merger was announced in November and has now been completed in one of the largest such deals between two Irish law firms. ByrneWallace managing partner Feargal Brennan will lead the new firm as managing partner, while LK Shields managing partner Richard Curran will act as senior partner.
• Soft drinks maker Britvic Ireland has become part of Carlsberg following the Danish drinks group’s purchase of its parent company, Britvic PLC, for £3.3bn. Carlsberg will retain Britvic Ireland as a standalone business led by managing director Kevin Donnelly, and no jobs will be cut with the transition.
• FBD Hotels and Resorts has reached an agreement to buy the Grand Hotel in Malahide for €55m. The Dublin hotel –– a popular conference and wedding venue which employs 200+ people –– has been in the ownership of the Ryan family since 1974. The deal is subject to approval by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and would see the Grand Hotel become the seventh property in FBD Hotels and Resorts portfolio.
• And finally, Irish medtech company Aerogen is set to create 725 new jobs in Galway and Shannon over the next 10 years, as part of a €300 million investment. The Aerogen Group is headquartered in Dangan in Galway and the new roles will be across research and development, manufacturing, science and engineering. It says the investment plan will increase its global workforce to over 2,000, of which over 1,100 will be based in Ireland.

In summary:

Who said January was boring? Between Dáil fights, reelections and TikTok bans, it’s been a big month for pretty much everyone. Perhaps no one more so than the West of Ireland, who remained sheltered from this news as power outages raged, or Elon Musk, whose deranged Trump fascination led to him saluting inconclusively at his one true love’s inauguration. But, the less said about that, the better. In lighter news, Spring has (kind of) sprung, in that the days are getting brighter and wetter. Perhaps this will foster some common sense in our new government, but with fewer women at the helm, such dreams are unlikely.

In local news, Irish speed limits are being drastically decreased in an attempt to protect society from harm on our roads. A noble effort indeed, and one we should all take stock of. When was the last time you slowed down to take in what’s around you? Following a mental Christmas, and potentially the busiest January I’ve personally felt in a while, let’s consider taking February with a bit of a slowdown. I’m, personally, very happy to let the month be shaped by longer evenings, springing lambs and the Six Nations. And hey, if the government can reinvent itself following two months of chaos, so can we.

Until next time – see you next month!

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