Lessons from the month of March

As the clocks finally sprang forward, much happened around the world. Here’s a rundown of what we learned in March.

1. Shattered Webs.

The Web Summit court cases, which kickstarted weeks of back-and-forth among the three men who spent years at the top of the firm, ceased this month. Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), all three men – Paddy Cosgrave, Daire Hickey and David Kelly – all seemed to have gotten what they wanted from the deal. In that, Cosgrave now appears to be in full control of the business, while Hickey and Kelly have presumably received a small fortune for their time. (Seemingly, the value of Web Summit was placed between €280 million-€360 million, and Kelly and Hickey owned 12% and 7% respectively.)

As for its future? Business as usual – but with a degree of the sheen wiped off, naturally. Web Summit Rio is scheduled for next month, with another trip to Lisbon undoubtedly planned for the future.

2. Liberation Day?

The Trump Show really just keeps on going, doesn’t it? This month, that manifested in the so-called Liberation Day, the day on which President Trump climbed the pulpit to tell the rest of the world what he thinks of us. In business terms, of course.

Tariffs were atop the agenda for Trump, which will potentially kickstart a trade war with the EU and China next month. The sweeping tariffs – which see 20% applied to all EU goods and 10% applied to goods from the UK – pose a significant economic threat to this State and particularly to investment, jobs and tax revenues. Their wider impact on the world economy is a negative too, experts claim, though much here will depend on how this plays out. Officially, we’re on a “wait and see/hope” kind of vibe.

For now, the pharmaceutical industry won’t be affected, but who knows what’s to come in the future? All we know now is that Trump has made it crystal clear that he wants production for the US market to come back to the US, and there is more to play out here in terms of how his policy evolves.

3. Amazon comes to Ireland.

Amazon has officially opened its dedicated Irish platform – amazon.ie – to the public as the retail giant promises shoppers here easier access to deliveries, returns, local pricing as well as the removal of red tape when it comes to taxes and charges.

The company announced plans for an Irish site back in 2024, with the platform going live earlier this month to happy customers. It was also confirmed this month that the company is launching a “brands of Ireland” section on the platform as part of a collaboration with Enterprise Ireland. It will see homegrown brands such as Barry’s Tea and Ella & Jo selling their products on amazon.ie.

This move is likely aimed at criticism that an Ireland-specific Amazon platform would make it more difficult for local businesses to grow in the face of competition from the biggest retailer in the world. However, Amazon has promised that the section will “help local businesses to achieve greater scale and success”.

4. Inflation & employment.

Ireland’s unemployment rate was 4% in March, rising slightly from the month previous, according to the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) data. A total of 114,800 people were unemployed last month, nearly 2,000 more than the previous month. “There was a fall of 5,600 in the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed in March 2025 when compared with March 2024,” noted CSO labour statistician Conor Delves.

The average Irish consumer might have also noted a slight increase (1.8%) in their food shop from last year, suggesting a slight increase in the annual rate of headline inflation from 1.4% in February, according to the CSO. On a monthly basis, prices rose by an estimated 0.7% in March despite a decline in energy prices, which fell by 1% in the month and were down 0.4% from March 2024.

House prices across Ireland also rose by an average of 3.7% during the first three months of 2025 (what’s new, says you), with inflation reaching its highest level in eight years. The latest data from Daft.ie shows typical listed prices have reached just over €346,000, a level 11.6% higher than 2024 and 35% higher than at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. For more detailed information on this, check out our Inside The C-Suite interview with Shane Quinlan of Sherry Fitzgerald.

5. M&A roundup.

Another roundup… Hold on to your acquired hats.

Insurance intermediary group Howden Ireland has acquired Roban Insurances Ltd, trading as Roban Financial Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. The deal for Roban is the latest in a string of acquisitions by Howden, which has plans to establish an office in every main town in Ireland. Since its inception in 2019, Howden has grown to more than 500 employees in 27 local offices across the country.
CDS Superstores, the company behind The Range, has acquired the majority of the Homebase stores located in the Republic of Ireland. This latest deal follows The Range’s acquisition of 70 UK Homebase stores, including those located at Nutgrove, Sligo, Drogheda, Santry and Portlaoise, which will be rebranded as The Range. Homebase’s brand will continue as a digital retail outlet, with the firm’s shops becoming The Range outlets over the coming months.
E-commerce financing company Wayflyer has acquired business-to-business marketplace MadeMeBuyIt for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2019 by Jack Pierse and Aidan Corbett, Wayflyer is one of Ireland’s tech unicorns and provides e-commerce companies with loans to kick-start their business or improve cash flow in exchange for a share of their future profits. Meanwhile, MadeMeBuyIt was launched in 2022 and was founded by Benjamin Kosinski. The US start-up connects e-commerce brands with national retailers to sell inventory.
Irish cybersecurity company Integrity360 has this month announced the acquisition of French cybersecurity firm Holiseum for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is part of Integrity360’s plan to further expand into mainland Europe. Holiseum is a Paris-based cybersecurity company, founded in 2018, that offers a range of IT consultations and services.
Tesco Ireland’s acquisition of McEvoys Eurospar Ltd has this month been cleared by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. The acquisition of McEvoys, which operates a SuperValu at Virginia Shopping Centre in Co. Cavan, is Tesco’s first since it acquired 10 units in Co. Galway from Joyce’s Supermarkets in 2021. Owned by Padraig McEvoy, McEvoys Eurospar Ltd brought in a turnover of €12.7m in 2023, up from €12.4m the previous year.

In summary:

Anyone hoping for a month without word from Trump will likely have been left sorely upset. Between the bowl of shamrocks, looming economic terror and prices of fake tan being implicated by inflation, it’s hard to lose sight of him at all. Thankfully, the clouds are veiling to reveal, dare we say it, good weather? Oh god, sorry. That’s jinxed anyway now.

In other news, it appears Meghan Markle is back to teach us how to make bath salts. That might come in handy for anyone looking to avoid the real world. For now, let us enjoy spring lambs, sunsets at 8pm and the knowledge that we still have the soundest president in the world for another few months.

Until next time – see you next month!

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