Lessons from the month of April

Here’s a rundown of what we learned in the month of April. Sit back, it was a busy one.

1. The manufacturing sector sees its strongest growth since 2022.

Growth in Ireland’s manufacturing sector accelerated in April thanks to a robust expansion in new orders amid signs of stock building due to tariff uncertainty, S&P Global confirmed. The Irish Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 53.0 from 51.6 in March, moving further above the 50.0 threshold “that separates expansion from contraction for a fourth consecutive month”. That was its highest level since June 2022 and was well ahead of the flash April readings for the Eurozone, US and UK.

2. Irish tech firms pivot towards defence sector.

Despite its neutrality, a lucrative market in security technology has opened up for Ireland. Namely, in the tech sector, according to the Irish Times. Irish companies in radar, AI and surveillance tech are pivoting to new opportunities in defence and security, seemingly motivated by the EU’s huge spending splurge in the sector following Trump’s jarring comments in recent weeks against the continent.

Ireland has the EU’s smallest defence budget and has no plans to change its policy of neutrality. However, our favourable corporation tax provides an opportunity to “help with Europe’s resilience”, said Malcolm Byrne, Fianna Fáil’s spokesman for innovation. “We’re never going to see Ireland investing in tanks and weapons. But certainly it makes a lot of sense for Ireland to develop our capabilities in areas around cybersecurity.”

3. Revolut’s been busy.

We found out this month that Lithuania’s central bank fined Revolut €3.5 million for failures in “money laundering prevention”. The fine followed a routine inspection that identified “violations and shortcomings in the monitoring of business relationships and operations”, the central bank said in a statement. The start-up, which has its HQ in London, operates in the EU under a Lithuanian licence and is under the supervision of the European and Lithuanian central banks. Revolut said the investigation had not identified any confirmed instances of money laundering, and its findings were related to improvements in existing controls.

Separately, the fintech announced plans to roll out mortgages for Irish customers this year. “We think the mortgage process that customers go through at the moment [generally] is unwieldy and can be made a lot slicker,” Joe Heneghan, chief executive of Revolut Europe, told the Irish Times.

4. The seesaw of inflation and employment.

According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for Ireland is estimated to have risen by 2.0% in the 12 months to April 2025 and increased by 0.4% since March 2025. This compares with HICP inflation of 1.8% in Ireland in the 12 months to March 2025 and an annual increase of 2.2% in the HICP for the Eurozone in the same period.

Energy prices are also estimated to have fallen by 0.3% in the month and decreased by 1.7% over the 12 months to April 2025. Food prices are estimated to have increased by 0.6% in the last month and by 3.1% in the last 12 months.

The CSO separately revealed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.1%, which was down from a revised rate of 4.4% in March 2025. (On an annual basis, the unemployment rate of 4.1% was down from a rate of 4.4% in April 2024.) Breaking down the results by sex, the monthly unemployment rate in April 2025 was 4.0% for males and 4.2% for females, and in terms of age, the monthly unemployment rate for people aged 15-24 years was 11.4%, and for people aged 25-74 years was 3.0%.

5. The death of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis, the 266th leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died at the age of 88 this month, the Vatican confirmed. “Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican’s TV channel on the morning of April 21.

The Argentinian leader will leave a legacy of tolerance and consideration. His death ushered in a new conclave which began on May 7.

6. Iberian Peninsula blackout.

Power started returning to parts of the Iberian Peninsula on Tuesday, 29 April, after a huge outage brought most of Spain, Portugal, and an area of France to a standstill, grounding planes, stopping public transport, and forcing hospitals to turn machines off. Spain’s Interior Ministry quickly declared a national emergency, but no root cause has been found yet.

Rumours of a hacking swirled, as did suggestions of a rare thermal mishap due to the area’s high temperatures. Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez said that the country had suffered a loss of “15gw of electricity generation in five seconds,” equivalent to 60% of national demand.

7. (to the Jaws theme) Tariffs… Tariffs….

If there was one word to describe this month’s business news, it would likely be tariffs. President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on some of the country’s largest trading partners early in the month. This, in turn, upended decades of US trade policy and threatened a global trade war – all to allow him to coin the 24 hours in question “liberation day”. “This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history,” Trump said afterwards on the White House lawn. For decades America had been “looted, pillaged and raped” by its trading partners, he said. “In many cases, the friend is worse than the foe.”

In the middle of his hour-long speech, as the rest of the world wondered what was going on, Trump displayed a chart showing the “unfair” fees that countries placed on the US, alongside the new “USA Discounted Reciprocal Tariffs”. China charged the US 67% in “unfair” fees, and said the US would now levy a 34% fee. The EU charges 39% on imports, according to the White House, and will now be levied at 20%. Trump said the UK would be charged 10% – the baseline tariff – equal to the Trump administration’s calculations of the UK’s fees on US imports. The joys. Whatever will come next?

8. Blue Origin.

For some reason, six people who weren’t astronauts entered space this month. All thanks to Jeff Bezos. Bezos’ Blue Origin all-female crew headed to space for 11 minutes, for a reason that is not quite clear. Singer Katy Perry was there, promoting her upcoming album, as well as Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sanchez, CBS host Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, scientist Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn. King said that when the crew returned to their seats after weightlessness, Perry sang the Louis Armstrong song “What a Wonderful World.”

What resulted was four million memes, endless fodder for news journalists and a growing despair from sustainability activists. Oh, and I guess Perry has an album coming out. But don’t let that stop you from emptying your recycling bin.

9. M&A’s.

Buckle up, she’s a big ’un!

Cork-based occupational health group Cognate Health has been acquired by Optima Health for €9M

Optima Health, which provides technology to help people manage their health in the UK, said it struck a deal to acquire the entire issued share capital of Cognate Health for a total consideration of up to €9M on a cash-free, debt-free basis. The acquisition will be financed using the group’s existing financing facilities.

Mitsubishi Electric acquires Irish elevator firm Ascension Lifts

The Irish elevator company based in Dublin has been acquired by subsidiary, Motum AB, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Through this acquisition, Mitsubishi Electric and Mitsubishi Electric Building Solutions will “strengthen their business base in the Irish market by expanding their business domain into maintenance and renewal, starting with the use of Ascension Lifts’ maintenance stock, and promote their strategy for expanding the elevator and escalator business in the European market.”

Howden acquires a Ranelagh-based financial advisory firm

Howden announced its agreed terms to acquire Chartered Financial Solutions Limited this month, a large financial advisory firm established in 2005 and based in Ranelagh, Dublin. This acquisition is subject to CBI approval. CFS specialises in empowering owner directors, senior executives and the self-employed to achieve their long-term financial outcomes.

HLB Ireland to merge with FutureRange Group following Cardinal Capital investment

Cardinal Capital has backed Sandyford-based HLB Ireland, marking the private equity firm’s first investment in the accountancy sector. HLB is a leading global finance advisory and accounting firm and has enjoyed a successful technology partnership with FutureRange since 2016.

Sigma Wireless acquisition

Day Wireless Systems, a communication solutions company based in Oregon, announced this month its acquisition of Sigma Wireless Communications Limited, a prominent wireless communications solutions provider HQ’d in Dublin. This strategic acquisition marks a “significant step in Day Wireless Systems’ global expansion and strengthens its commitment to providing comprehensive and innovative communication services worldwide.”

In summary:

Whichever way you slice it, that month was a bit mental. And though it’s unclear what else we’re destined for, it is increasingly possible that things are only going to get weirder from here on out. That said, a new Pope might shake things up a bit. And a new Katy Perry album. (I jest.) In other news, it appears May might bring with it some well-needed heat (thank you, Blue Origin) as well as some Ed Sheeran bangers. So sit back, apply suncream and bask in the reflected knowledge that hosepipe bans are in our very near future.

Until next time – see you next month!

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