Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE POUND HIT a three-year low against the euro today after Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain will trigger Brexit negotiations by the end of March and her finance minister warned of “turbulence”.
Sterling weakened to 87.46 pence against the euro, the lowest level since August 2013, after May’s government gave more details about how Britain will leave the European Union at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, central England.
Finance minister Philip Hammond said people should expect “some turbulence as we go through this negotiating process”, adding that consumer and business confidence could go up and down like a “rollercoaster”.
His comments came the day after May revealed Britain would start the two-year exit process by the end of March, putting it on track to leave by early 2019 and opening the door for painful negotiations with EU partners.
The new premier, who took power in July after David Cameron quit following the Brexit vote, also indicated willingness to leave the single market in order to secure control over immigration from the EU.
At the start of the week’s trading in London, sterling also fell to $1.2853 against the dollar, a fall of around 0.5 percent since closing on Friday.
“Whilst markets welcome the update (from May), there is still a great degree of uncertainty surrounding what Brexit negotiations will involve,” said Ana Thaker, a market economist at PhillipCapital UK.
“It is generally considered that the more May insists on immigration control, the more the EU is likely to close access to the single market,” an analysis by Rabobank Financial Markets Research added.
“The drop in the value of the pound this morning reflects investors’ concerns.”
“Between a rock and a hard place”
Speaking this afternoon on RTÉ’s News at One, chief executive of the Irish Exporters’ Association Simon McKeever said that Irish businesses were between “a rock and hard place” when it came to the Brexit negotiations.
“I don’t see anywhere where the UK can go with this,” said McKeever.
“[The UK] are heading towards a very hard Brexit which is very bad for Irish exporters.
Because it brings into play all kinds of things like the slowdown in the UK economy but also what’s going to happen with borders and customs and all of that.
So we’re looking at the worst case scenario in terms of a Brexit in all of this.
McKeever said it was “absolutely crucial” that Irish businesses started to perform risk assessments and future planning to offset the potential damage Brexit could cause them.
Strong economy
Britain’s economy has performed more strongly than some analysts expected in the aftermath of June’s surprise Brexit vote.
In a key indicator of the strength of the manufacturing sector, the Markit/CIPS UK manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) rose to its highest level since mid-2014, according to figures out yesterday.
Sterling stabilised on the news, which showed manufacturing had benefited from the lower pound.
However, there is uncertainty among many major employers about long-term investment decisions due to Brexit.
Last week, carmaker Nissan’s chief executive Carlos Ghosn said it was delaying new investment at its giant plant in Sunderland, northeast England, announcing: “We cannot stay if the conditions do not justify that we stay.”
Hammond acknowledged yesterday that there could be difficult times ahead as Britain negotiates its exit from the EU.
“We have to expect a period when confidence will go up and down — perhaps on a bit of a rollercoaster — until we get to a final agreement,” he told the BBC.
- © AFP 2016 With reporting from Cormac Fitzgerald
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Bought a lovely pair of Sennheiser buds about 8 years ago and still going strong. Well worth the extra few quid. Quality and durability excellent.
And made in ireland
If mine don’t break I lose them:(
How much are they paying you to advertise on the journal?
Damien Pet. Where in the article did they recommend a product?
Help…. I’ve gone through a dozen high end headphones and none of them are making crystal swing sound any better….!
Excellent sites Pontius, I am actually on the lookout for a decent pair of sports headphones. The incessant pounding crap they play at my gym totally wrecks my head.
Senheisser HD-25′s are top quality, and also made in Ireland.I’ve used them for 3 years now having been through top of the range Sony, Technics and Pioneer varients. Also, please don’t waste your hard earned cash on a set of Beats. You’d get better quality for €20 in Moore St!
Did Sennheiser close?
Sennheiser are still going. It’s Bose who are closing their plant in Ireland
Have same set meself two and a half years now,paid 150eur for them but would prob would have spent that on lost and broken pairs in same time.. Flac quality files sound flawless through,only prob I have is some flac files can be quite underwhelming compared to others when compiled at a much lower volume. Any way around this?
1.49 in Dealz, job done.
I use these for a sneaky bit of listening to music at the desk at work and they’re far from the worst I’ve ever come across in terms of sound quality, fit comfortably in the ears too, which is something no every pair manages.
At home, full size JVC on-ears that make ya look like a total space cadet, amazing sound quality though!
http://www.harveynorman.ie/tvs-headphones/headphones/sennheiser-hd-201-headphones.html 25 euro manufactured in Tullamore.
New Apple Ear pods €27 the best you can buy for the price. Fairly durable too.
They are €15 in carphone warehouse…
Hmm dunno , ya get what ya pay for and as the article says the ones that come with phones such as the apple are really not great for any kind of half decent audio quality at all , if your looking to spend as little as possible for some kind of replacement but don’t care about audio then the apple are alright , but only alright for money – audio is pretty average tbh , — if ya can afford to spend a quid you won’t believe the difference a set of sennheiser or any of the other suggested ranges etc can make to music enjoyment
Can anyone recommend a good sound enhancement app ?
For Mac…
Boom 2 (simple) and Hear (complex)
The in-ear Samsung headphones that came with my S5 are excellent. Good bass too, which can be hard to find.
Check the ambient range. This means you can listen at a lower volume without losing detail and quality. This In ear and over ear jargon is only used by manufacturers to sell products.
Anyone know where I can get a 3.5mm jack to “female” iPhone connector.. (that’s the best way I can describe it)..For using anything with a 3.5mm to a bose sounddock???
Not sure if it’s any use but Maplin used to do a Bluetooth version of what you are looking for.
I find the Bose in-ears great, decent sound, very comfortable and they stay in evening when fairly active and moving about. €130 the last time I bought a pair and well worth the extra money.
Cheers lads …#Partyon
Bower & Wikins P7 do it for me, essence of comfort and superb clarity across all ranges
I’ve had the Jaybird ‘Freedom Sprint’ Bluetooth headphones for a few years and loved ‘em. Crisp sound, decent bass, lightweight and they don’t fall out when running. Hoping the news “Bluebuds X” are as good but can’t vouch for them yet. Here’s a link to 30% off till today (some mammy’s day promotion) http://goo.gl/GqPxZQ, coupon code JBMOM30 and no I don’t work for them, just love them!
Bluebirds were extremely uncomfortable I found. The driver is pretty big and definitely too big for my inner ear causing pain after a while. I’ve never had that issue with earbuds before. Have ordered the Bose quiet comfort 20 for Apple devices which get excellent reviews but very expensive.
klipsch x10i, top notch in ear headphone.
The apple headphones in this are the old ones from a few years ago, the new ones are much better and the sound is very good.
I recomend tweaked audio ear buds. Just the promo code colt and get 1/3 off and the have free delivery world wide.
Got a pair of B&W P7s for home, C5s for out in town, and SkullCandy sport for the
gym, still I miss my Klipsch, will get a pair of those soon.
Can someone recommend the best Bluetooth headphones for an iPhone. Not too pushed on getting brilliant results, just want something practical!!
Koss Porta Pro – on ear headphones for approx 40-50 eur that are as good as most 150-200 euro range models.
Cheers
I got a set of Philips ear buds today rrp €69.99 for €19.99
Tell us where Joanne ?
Must say the noise cancelling in earphones that came with my Sony Xperia Z2 don’t give the sound an underwater feeling as described above. I use it to watch Netflix on my Tablet (another Sony as the noise cancelling software is in the device rather than on the earphones) and to me it gives the impression of moving surrounding sounds to the next room.
Up there with hand dryers as possibly the worst manufactured products. They last no time before they break. Is it any wonder that most come with a 2 year warranty
have your say