British shopping centre owner Hammerson generated net rental income of £34.8m (€39.4m) from its Irish properties last year, representing a 7.4% increase on the previous 12 months.

A renewed push on both sides of the Atlantic is needed to promote Cork flights to and from Rhode Island if the region is to compete with Dublin’s dominance in the transatlantic sector, according to business and political figures.

The parent company of Primark - which trades in Ireland as Penneys - has said the discount clothing retailer’s profit margins are set to benefit from the recent weakness of the US dollar versus sterling, given that the fashion chain sources the majority of its goods in dollars from the Far East.

There has been a lot of commentary about how the UK economy has held up better than expected since the vote for Brexit in June 2016, writes Oliver Mangan.