Lessons from the month of October

As the weather turned wet and wonderful this October, a number of appropriately juicy news stories filled the media. Join us in reflecting on the month that was and sharing what we’ve learned.

1. That quarter-final… and Johnny Sexton’s retirement

Very few athletes get the fairytale ending to leave their sport at the top. For every Steve Redgrave (who retired after a fifth straight Olympic rowing gold medal at Sydney 2000) and Rocky Marciano (bowing out as heavyweight boxing champion of the world in 1955 with a perfect 49-0 record), thousands of greats step away after one final moment of heartbreak and disappointment. So in that sense, after Ireland’s 37 phases of agony against New Zealand led to the latest Rugby World Cup quarter-final exit, Johnny Sexton isn’t special. Yet almost anyone involved with the game will refute that fact. “You’ve got to work hard for fairytale endings and we didn’t get it but that’s life,” mused a visibly emotional Sexton after one final gut punch at the Stade de France on Saturday evening. “It’s small margins and that’s sport. That’s life. It’s gutting, isn’t it?”

He bows out as a four-time Heineken Champions Cup winner, a six-time Pro14/United Rugby Championship champion, a four-time Six Nations victor, a two-time grand slam champion, Ireland’s record points scorer, the Six Nations’ top points scorer, a Test centurion, a two-time British & Irish Lion and the 2018 World Rugby Player of the Year. It will be for the next Irish generation to finally overcome that seemingly insurmountable World Cup knockout hurdle but Sexton’s impact has made it more likely.

Thank you, Johnny.

2. Is Paddy Cosgrave’s reign over?

Though an extraordinary and memorable career preceded the past few weeks for 41-year-old Paddy Cosgrave, his tenure as CEO of Web Summit concluded this month. He led the growth of a small tech gathering from humble beginnings in Dublin in 2009 into a series of enormously impactful events held around the world each year and became very wealthy in the process. But the mighty Dubliner fell mid-way through the month in a way few would have predicted earlier this year.

It was his controversial words on the Israeli response to the conflict in Gaza that did it, driving a wedge between Cosgrave and Web Summit on the one hand and its most influential supporters and partners on the other. Among those people were entrepreneurs from Israel, which has one of the strongest tech startup ecosystems in the world, as well as key US executives who were long-time supporters of Web Summit.

Might this case, in the future at least, be seen as noble – or a warning sign to those at the top? You decide.

3. Budget 2024

Back at the start of the month, Finance Minister Michael McGrath announced a Budget package that included up to €800 in tax breaks for workers, energy credits for households and half-price travel for those aged under 25. Renters, it was announced, were also in line for further credits in the total package, which is worth €14bn.

For businesses, the Increased Cost of Business Scheme was introduced, which would offer one-off grants to 130,000 SMEs in the form of tiered grants equivalent to up to 50% of the commercial rates paid this year, with grants to be paid in early 2024. Also introduced was the new targeted Capital Gains Tax relief for angel investors in innovative start-up SMEs allows angel investors to benefit from a reduced rate of CGT. Finally, amendments were made to the Employment Investment Incentive scheme (EII) in standardising the investment period to four years for all investments and doubling the amount investors can claim relief on for four-year investments to €500,000 are welcome for smaller, early-stage businesses which are typically most in need of funding.

Following its release, financial analyst David McWilliams wrote in The Irish Times about the Budget: “Housing is the biggest problem facing the State, and this Government’s budget interventions are contradictory and short-sighted.”

For more information on every element, including housing, check out our full budget review here.

4. Insolvencies came a-knocking

First came liquidators for F45, Gavin McConnon’s gym which has been seemingly booming in Ireland since 2017. “It all happened so fast,” McConnon told The Currency, adding: “It was a battle we have been fighting since March 2020, but it was a battle we thought we could win up until yesterday.” A serial entrepreneur, who brought the F45 fitness franchise into Ireland some six years ago, McConnon had employed 35 staff across five gyms in Sandyford, Nutgrove, Townsend Street, Bray, and George’s Street.

From Dublin to Limerick, some 540 jobs are at risk after the company that operates the huge Wyeth Nutrition infant formula factory in Limerick announced it is planning to cease operations there by early 2026. A high-tech research and development facility at the same site in Askeaton would close by the first three months of 2025, the company said.

Nestlé purchased Wyeth Nutritionals in 2012 as part of its acquisition of Pfizer Nutrition. The factory manufactures infant formula products exclusively for export to markets in greater China and Asia. The factory currently employs 491 people with 51 people employed at the R&D facility. The company said that “external trends” have impacted demand for infant nutrition products across China and surrounding territories. “The number of new-born babies in China has declined sharply from some 18 million per year in 2016 to fewer than 9 million projected in 2023. The market, which had previously been reliant on imported infant formula products, is also seeing rapid growth in locally-produced products,” the company said. It added that it has been seeking a buyer for the facility but has been unsuccessful.

And, as we wrote last month, Mac Interiors is sadly no more. Mr Justice Michael Quinn of The High Court made an order earlier in the month for the fit-out specialist construction company after being informed by the company’s examiner, Kieran Wallace, that it was not possible to put together a modified rescue plan with a new investor, which if approved by the court and its creditors, would have saved the company. The firm had 31 full-time employees and employed many more as subcontractors. It owes its creditors more than €27 million and had entered examinership earlier this year.

As per information collated by Fitzgerald Power, 15 sectors – from Agriculture to Real Estate – were affected by insolvencies in Q3, with 163 companies affected.

In summary: As Halloween comes and goes, and nights get shorter, there is a contagious sense of dread in the air, over a world that has seemingly turned upside down. For us and for others, heartbreak has reigned for some time now, with little chance of let-up.

That said, when times are low, the only way to go is up. It may be coming from unlikely sources – the HSE employing 2200+ more staff, Britney’s autobiography, and a Late Late Show we can finally be proud of – but at least England didn’t go on to win the Rugby World Cup, eh? (Too soon, we know.)

For now, we think it might be best to bask in the reflected strength shown by local heroes in Middleton; providing assistance to those impacted by flooding, whether it was feeding volunteers or rowing people to safety. May we provide the same when wading through disheartenment.

See you next month!

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