Down To Business

Mary Sadlier-CEO of Coole Swan had joined Bobby for this week's Executive Chair.

With a tourism industry highly impacted by covid restrictions it seems like we now see a better days for hospitality sector in Ireland. Will our hotels suffer another blow from rising costs of living and energy crisis? To ask this Bobby was joined by Carol Barrett, owner of Dunmore House on the shores of Clonakilty Bay, John O'Flynn, Resort General Manager at Fota Island Resort, Fergus O'Halloran, General Manager at The Twelve Hotel Galway and Martin Mangan, General Manager at Carton House, a Fairmont Managed Hotel.

Economist and weekly columnist on economics with the Irish edition of The Sunday Times, Cormac Lucey joined Bobby on the show today to discuss Ireland’s economic prospects for 2023.

Joining Bobby in the Executive Chair is Leo Sheridan, President & CEO of Advanced Group.

A lot has changed since the start of the year, and as we approach the end of 2022 we here at Down to Business thought it might be an opportune time to find out how the Irish Motor Industry has been faring what with pandemic measures being replaced by rampant inflation and a cost-of-living crisis. Joining Bobby to discuss is: -Rowena Dooley, Dealer Principle at Dooley Motors Carlow -Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General -Denis Murphy, MD & Joint Owner of Blackwater Motors in Cork

Elliot Wise started his first business at the tender age of thirteen and has since gone on to become one of the leading lights in business mentorship and entrepreneurship. He joined Bobby to discuss his journey through business, staying motivated in our professional lives, and helping people reach their goals.

Next week will see the winners announced at this year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards and in the run-up to that we’ve been profiling some of the finalists and looking at some of the issues facing entrepreneurs. This week we’re taking a look at ‘purpose’ and asking the question - "Can you run a business that’s more than just about profit?" Bobby is joined by: - Martin McKay of TextHelp (2022 Finalist) - Fionn Lahart of One Projects (2022 Finalist) - Oonagh O’Hagan – Meagher’s Pharmacy (2021 Finalist)

There have been serious blows to Ireland’s tech sector in recent weeks with job losses at Twitter and stripe to name just two. Yet an Oireachtas committee this week heard that there is still a healthy pipeline of tech investments. To make sense of this and the general headwinds the industry is facing Bobby is joined by Ian Curran of the Irish Times.

‘The Holly Bough’ is something that I can only describe as a sort of "Cork Christmas Annual" and this year sees it is turning an incredible 125 years old. John Dolan who is its editor, joined Bobby to discuss this year's edition and the history of the publication in general.

Liam Griffin is known throughout the country as the much admired Wexford senior inter-county manager who brought them to an All-Ireland victory in 1996. He has since seen great success creating one of Ireland's leading hotel groups - The Griffin Group. He stopped by to chat with Bobby to tell him how he's been getting on.