Confidence in the country’s economy has stalled among finance professionals as demand weakens and access to credit becomes more restricted.

Irish companies are still struggling to tap into international trade opportunities and explore new markets, despite improving sentiment levels, according to a new survey.

Exiting the bailout has given businesses a boost in confidence, but the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has warned it might be temporary.

Borrowers are being urged against deliberate non-mortgage repayment — in a hope of attracting debt forgiveness — ahead of new legislation being passed.

Irish accountants are the most pessimistic in the world in terms of business confidence, with most observing that global trade is drying up.

INSPECTIONS into mortgage arrears cases will be a core target in 2012 under the Central Bank’s new framework for supervising risk levels in financial institutions.

THE luck of the Irish will help us get through the next few years, according to the chairman of Enterprise Ireland.

FORMER taoiseach John Bruton has called for a wide-reaching new development model to be drawn up for Ireland’s future stability, warning that a return to so-called normality cannot be expected once the recession runs its full course.

ACCA Ireland (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is warning taxpayers not to reply to emails from the HMRC (the British tax authorities) after Irish-based British taxpayers were targeted with bogus tax refund emails.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has announced Mr Brendan Foster as its president for 2008.

DEFINED benefit (DB) pension schemes can pose the single biggest threat to a company's long term future, said Liam Quigley, senior consultant with Mercer.

IRISH investors spent €3 billion buying foreign properties in the three months to June of this year bringing the total spend this year to €5bn.

Companies may be cherry-picking one set of accounting rules over another to show their financial position in a better light, it was claimed today.

NCB Stockbrokers’ chief economist has today told business leaders not to be unduly pessimistic about the current state of the property market or of the economy.

Deane Morrice has been elected as the new president Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), it was announced today.

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has today welcomed the proposed consolidation of the Companies Acts as “the completion of a major milestone in process of reforming and consolidating company law”.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has today welcomed the move by Minister for Trade and Commerce Michael Ahern to refer the issue of auditor liability to the Company Law Review Group.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) today warned of a potential “time bomb” for some homeowners, which could result in attractive properties quickly becoming downmarket.

Complex, outdated EU directives on accounting for SMEs are causing problems and need to be simplified was one of the key points of European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy’s speech at ACCA Ireland’s (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Business Breakfast at the Conrad Hotel this morning.

HOMEOWNERS are facing another hike in mortgage repayments after the European Central Bank (ECB) voted to increased interest rates.

THE Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has warned that despite recent changes to company law, a number of unqualified persons continue to hold themselves out to be auditors.

THE body representing chartered accountants, ACCA Ireland, has named Gerard Loughnane, a Galway- based accountant, as its new president. He succeeds Frank O’Brien, a senior investment analyst.

IRELAND should copy new requirements in Britain to force companies to provide better information in their published accounts, a leading accounting body said yesterday.

NEW accounting standards will be a bigger logistical nightmare for Irish companies than the Year 2000 computer changeover project, one of the country's leading accountants said yesterday.

THE separation of audit and non-audit advice could cost small firms up to €6,000 extra a year, a new survey shows.

Frank O’Brien, incoming president of accountancy body ACCA Ireland, talks to David Clerkin.

ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has welcomed the establishment of the Irish Accounting and Auditing Supervisory Authority (IAASA) and the appointment of Ian Drennan as IAASA’s first chief executive.

In 2004, the Presidents of ACCA Ireland’s five member networks will be women. This is a first for a major professional body and recognises the inroads which women have made into the accountancy profession over the past number of years.

THE Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) fears a recent court ruling exposing directors to claims will lead to a shortage of non-executive directors.