REGULATOR LOOKS INTO STOBART AIR CHANGES - Stobart Air, the airline which runs the Aer Lingus regional network, is believed to have been contacted by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), the industry regulator, about recent boardroom changes.
Industry sources say that the IAA, which licenses airlines to operate from Ireland, has expressed concerns to Stobart about relationships at senior management level in the airline and the need for a clear structure and accountability to the regulator, says the Irish Times. Stobart runs up to 680 flights a week to Britain, Ireland and France on behalf of Aer Lingus. The IAA would not comment yesterday on whether there had been contacts with Stobart. In a statement it said that it is “in regular contact with all airlines concerning safety and security matters”. The statement added: “As happens regularly, where takeovers or management changes occur, the IAA must be satisfied that transitions occur in a safe manner to ensure organisational effectiveness is maintained. Airlines regularly change management and the IAA maintains open dialogue with all parties in these cases to ensure that all parties understand the regulatory responsibility.” The last week has seen the departure of former Stobart Air chairman Tim Jeans, a former senior executive at Ryanair and Monarch. Stobart Group chief executive Andrew Tinkler was appointed as chairman of the companies that operate the Irish airline.
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CLOSE TO A MILLION MUST NOW WAIT SIX YEARS FOR FAST BROADBAND - Tens of thousands of homes and businesses have been told that they must wait longer for adequate broadband as the Government confirmed a delay in the State-subsidised National Broadband Plan.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Communications said that the scheme, which has pledged modern fibre broadband to 750,000 non-urban homes and businesses by 2020, will not roll out this year as planned. The Government has postponed negotiations with bidders such as Eir and Vodafone, the spokeswoman said, saying it hopes to resume the process later this year. The setback means that completion of the rollout plan may not happen until 2022 or later - two years after the Government's promised delivery date and 10 years after the scheme was first launched, says the Irish Independent. The spokesman said negotiations with bidders were postponed because of planning and procedural issues. She said that the lack of a new Government minister in place has had "no effect" on the process. "This is a complicated process," said the spokeswoman. "It requires detailed planning to ensure delivery of the State intervention in a manner that meets all of the objectives set out in the intervention strategy. "The contract will be for a 25-year term - it's important that we get this right in terms of deployment of the network, technical specifications, future-proofing and value for money for the State."
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MOTHERCARE IRELAND HAS BUMPER SALES IN FIRST QUARTER - Sales at Mothercare Ireland in the first quarter of this year "have shown the first consistent positive trend for a number of years".
That is according to the directors of Mothercare Ireland Ltd who also say that "the underlying business remains viable and strong with the directors anticipating a return to growth and profitability in the short to medium term". The firm last October exited examinership that led to the closure of three stores, at Blackrock and Jervis Street in Dublin and Cruises Street in Limerick. It also negotiated significant rental reductions, says the Irish Examiner. New accounts show that the firm recorded a modest pre-tax profit of €2,905 in the 12 months to the end of March last year after revenues decreased by 6.5% from €35.6m to €33.27m. The directors say that the economic recession here and a disproportionately high level of contracted rents, in particular, legacy upward-only leases in retail parks, high street and shopping centres left the group with little or no option but to enter examinership on July 22 last year. As part of the examinership process, the group said it has secured a rent reduction of 30% across its stores.
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BANKS WARNED OF ATTACKS TARGETING GLOBAL PAYMENTS 'NERVOUS SYSTEM' - Cyber thieves who pulled off one of the biggest robberies in history when they raided the Bangladesh central bank in February are now targeting other financial institutions.
This is according to the main group providing interbank transfer messages and a cyber security company investigating the crime, writes the Financial Times. Swift, the financial transaction system that has about 11,000 banks worldwide as its customers, said it had ordered clients using its Alliance Access interface software to install a mandatory upgrade after attackers “successfully compromised the banks’ own environments” in order to send messages. Meanwhile, FireEye, a cyber security group hired for the investigation in Dhaka, said it had “observed activity in other financial services organisations that is likely by the same threat actor behind the cyber attack on Bangladesh Bank”. The FireEye statement - which one person in the cyber security sector said amounted to a warning of a criminal “campaign” targeting banks - followed an admission by Swift on Monday that it was aware of malicious software designed to prevent banks spotting fraudulent transactions. Swift is a global messaging-network used by banks and other financial firms across the world to send payment instructions and has become a vital part of the global financial architecture.
