DIT TO SELL CATHAL BRUGHA STREET COLLEGE ON 75th ANNIVERSARY - Another landmark building in Dublin city centre, Cathal Brugha Street College, is to be offered for sale a week after the adjoining Gresham Hotel was launched on the international market by Nama.
The college trained thousands of chefs and hotel managers over the years and is due to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year. The sale comes as the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) pushes ahead with plans to relocate the Cathal Brugha Street College and students from five other campus sites in the city centre to its new campus being developed at Grangegorman, says the Irish Times. Killian O’Higgins of WK Nowlan Real Estate Advisers is quoting €15-€20 million for the iconic college building off O’Connell Street which includes two properties - the original early 1940s art deco style building fronting on to Cathal Brugha Street, Marlborough Street and Thomas Lane and a connected 1990s building opening on to Marlborough Street. Though each building has its own independent access they are linked at ground and first floor levels via a six-storey building of which the remaining upper floors form part of the Gresham Hotel.
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RETAINING 9% VAT RATE 'VITAL' TO THE COMPETITIVENESS OF TOURISM SECTOR - Retaining the 9% VAT rate is essential if the tourism sector is to remain competitive, the newly-elected president of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) said yesterday.
Joe Dolan claimed the reduction in VAT was the "single biggest job creation strategy since the foundation of the State",writes the Irish Independent. "Our competitiveness, of which VAT is a significant part, is the difference between some hotels staying open that otherwise would have closed, and raising it would be hugely counter productive. "It's just on a par with our counterparts in Europe and if we can retain our VAT, we can retain our momentum and sustainable growth," he argued. "Outside of the Dublin, the reduced rate of VAT has actually kept some properties open and people in jobs," he added. Mr Dolan, who owns the Bush Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, will be seen as a champion for the small, family-owned hotel. In 2014, he dramatically halted the auction of the farm of a neighbour at his hotel, which was being sold against the farmer's wishes. He said at the time it was a small rural community where people shared each other's pain and happiness and that same community had rallied around his family in their time of tragedy.
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BLACKROCK WARNS OF ECONOMIC DANGERS OF BREXIT - BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has warned that Britain’s economy would be hit hard by a vote to leave the EU, with equities, sterling and the London property market all likely to suffer.
In a gloomy report for clients, it also warns that David Cameron could lose control over his fractious Conservative party whatever the result of the June 23 referendum, adding to the uncertainty hanging over the UK economy, says the Financial Times. Those campaigning for Britain to quit the EU will point to the fact that one of the report’s authors is Rupert Harrison, a former chief of staff to George Osborne, the chancellor. Mr Harrison now works as a strategy adviser for BlackRock. Although Conservative supporters of a British exit say Mr Osborne is orchestrating what they call “Project Fear”, the views of the US fund manager are a sign of growing concern among investors about the EU debate in the UK. “Our bottom line is that a Brexit offers a lot of risk with little obvious reward,” wrote Philipp Hildebrand, BlackRock’s vice-chairman. “We see an EU exit leading to lower UK growth and investment and potentially higher unemployment and inflation.” Aside from citing a blend of economic risks, the report says: “A tight result or a feeling by Leave campaigners that it had not been a 'fair fight’ might see Cameron’s small parliamentary majority and authority over his divided party come under pressure. This spells trouble for post-referendum unity regardless of the vote’s outcome and would make it harder to pass controversial legislation.”
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UK WORKERS MAY NEED TO RETIRE AS LATE AS 81 TO GET A PENSION LIKE THEIR PARENTS, REPORT WARNS - Workers in some parts of the UK face working the best part of a decade longer than others to maintain their current living standards when they retire, according to a report, says the London Independent.
The findings raise the prospect of some people having to “work until they drop” to sustain their current lifestyles. An average earner who starts saving for a pension aged 22 and makes the minimum statutory contributions would need to work until the age of 77 to get the sort of “gold standard” pension enjoyed by many of their parents' generation, the research from Royal London found. This is defined as a total pension, including state pension, equating to two-thirds of that person's income before they retired, and it would include protection against inflation as well as provision for a surviving spouse. Even to get a “silver standard” pension of around half of pre-retirement income, with inflation protection and provision for a spouse, the same worker would need to work until the age of 71, the report found. But with wages varying across the country, those in high-income areas need to build up much more private pension to maintain their current living standards than people in lower wage areas. In several areas of London, including Camden, Wandsworth, Bromley, and Richmond upon Thames, people may need to work until their 80th birthday to achieve their current living standards in retirement, the report found.
