What the Papers Say: World reacts to Trump tariffs; new boss for Tesco Ireland; Big Tech firms ‘should be in court' says minister
10 am - Good morning from a busy Business Post newsroom. Editor Daniel McConnell here with you. With the world reeling from US President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat, here are the stories making the headlines here in Ireland and across the world.
Donald Trump 'not looking for deal' as he threatens EU with 50% tariff
Donald Trump said he was ' not looking for a deal ' with the EU, hours after he announced plans to impose a 50 per cent tariff on imports from the bloc next month, the Financial Times is reporting.
In a post on Truth Social on Friday, the US president attacked the EU for what he alleged were unfair trade practices and said negotiations over a new deal were failing. 'Therefore I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.'
The EU fired back later on Friday, saying it would 'defend our interests'. 'EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats', the bloc's trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said on X after a phone call with his US counterparts.
Ireland says tariff move is 'enormously disappointing'
In terms of Irish reaction, Taoiseach Micheál Martin described the announcement by Mr Trump as ' enormously disappointing ', the Irish Times reports.
'Tariffs at the level suggested would not only push prices up, they would grievously damage one of the world's most dynamic and significant trading relationships, as well as disrupting wider global trade,' the Taoiseach said.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris said tariffs 'are a bad idea. They're bad for Ireland, the EU, and the US. They push up prices for consumers and businesses. We have built a relationship of prosperity, jobs and investment based on working together and trading together'.
Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, confirmed that the Trump administration had been dissatisfied with the progress of the negotiations under way since the 90-day tariff pause was announced on April 2nd.
Big Tech firms 'should be in criminal court', says Media Minister Patrick O'Donovan
The Cabinet minister overseeing Ireland's newest Big Tech regulator says he would like to see social media platforms 'in the criminal courts' for neglecting to protect children online, the Irish Independent reports.
Patrick O'Donovan, minister at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media which set up Coimisiún na Meán, also described swathes of the sector as 'rotten' with a system summed up by 'lots of carrots and no sticks'.
His blunt remarks come after Coimisiún na Meán commissioner John Evans said that the powerful new regulator has begun scoping possible probes that could lead to large fines and other sanctions on Big Tech firms.
In recent years, Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner has fined Instagram €405m and TikTok €345m for failing to adequately protect children online. But Mr O'Donovan said tougher measures may now be needed.
ESB group owes €5.6bn in bonds
State-owned energy supplier ESB owed €5.66 billion to creditors holding its bonds at the end of last year, new figures show.
The group, whose Electric Ireland subsidiary sells electricity and gas, borrows money from capital markets by issuing bonds through another arm, ESB Finance Designated Activity Company.
Accounts recently filed for that business show it owed €5.66 billion in total on foot of those bonds on December 31st last year. That was about €300 million less than the €5.97 billion due 12 months earlier, the figures show.
ESB Finance repaid a €300 million bond in January last year, the date on which it was due.
Daily Telegraph to be sold to RedBird Capital
The UK's Daily Telegraph is to be sold to a transatlantic consortium led by RedBird Capital Partners under a preliminary deal to end two years of gruelling uncertainty and deliver significant investment in journalism.
Gerry Cardinale, the founder of the US private equity firm, has signed an agreement in principle to acquire control of The Telegraph for £500m from RedBird IMI, an investment vehicle majority backed by the United Arab Emirates.
RedBird IMI was blocked by the Government from taking full ownership last year following a parliamentary outcry over press freedom, the Telegraph itself is reporting.
Now, RedBird Capital, which provided a quarter of RedBird IMI's funding, is moving to take direct control of the publication and is expected to be joined in the ownership group by British media investors. They have an ambitious plan to accelerate The Telegraph's growth at home and abroad.
Oracle to buy $40bn of Nvidia chips for OpenAI's new US data centre
Oracle will spend about $40bn on Nvidia's high-performance computer chips to power OpenAI's new giant US data centre, as technology groups race to build the vast infrastructure needed to underpin artificial intelligence models, the Financial Times also reports.
The site in Abilene, Texas, has been billed as the first US Stargate project, the $500bn data centre scheme spearheaded by OpenAI and SoftBank, and will provide 1.2 gigawatts of power when it is completed next year, making it one of the largest in the world. Oracle would purchase about 400,000 of Nvidia's GB200 chips — its latest 'superchip' for training and running AI systems — and lease the computing power to OpenAI, according to several people familiar with the matter.
Supermarket giant Tesco has announced that Geoff Byrne will lead its management team in Ireland after existing Ireland and Northern Ireland chief executive Natasha Adams moves to a new role, the Irish Examiner reports.
Byrne, who lives in Co Wicklow, has been Tesco Ireland's chief operating officer since 2014, and has worked for Tesco for over 30 years. Tesco Ireland has 183 stores nationwide, employing more than 13,500 people. Tesco is the single largest retail buyer of Irish food and drink in the world, buying €1.6bn a year.
Tesco Group chief executive Ken Murphy - who himself hails from Cork - said Mr Byrne "knows our business better than anyone. "Geoff takes over a business with strong momentum, and I believe his deep understanding of our customers together with his extensive retail experience, will help us build further growth in Ireland,' said Mr Murphy.
"I have spent my entire career in Tesco. I love this business, and I am so proud to now have an opportunity to lead it. I'm really excited about the opportunities ahead," said Mr Byrne, who takes up his new role next month. He will also join Tesco Group's executive committee.
Adams will take up a newly created role of group strategy and transformation officer on Tesco's executive committee, after three years as Irish CEO.
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When word trickled back to Westminster, the queen was not amused, and the fallout would play a crucial part in sending Essex to the executioner's block two years later. Harington fared better and managed to wriggle himself back into his godmother's good graces. Yet, if she'd known about his actions at the meeting with O'Neill, he too might have lost his head. Harington spent much of his career presenting himself as a harmless buffoon, too fond of 'jestes… sportes and frolicks' to be taken seriously. Relegated to the footnotes of literary history, he is chiefly remembered as a minor figure who never made it as either poet or politician. But this is exactly what he wanted. A canny operator, Harington's bluff persona obscured a hidden life: he was connected to several prominent Catholic families, circulated dozens of banned books and wrote reams of politically explosive poems which never saw the light of day. These secret endeavours often led Harington into dangerous territory. On the morning of Essex's meeting with O'Neill, Harington risked his neck with a carefully coded message to an enemy. In a letter to John Carey, justice of the peace for Cambridge, he recounts how Sir William Warren and himself were despatched to begin negotiating the treaty with O'Neill. According to this version of events, Warren and O'Neill set about the discussing the truce, while Harington was assigned babysitting duties. Nudged out of the important business of the day, the queen's gregarious godson decided to take matters into his own hands and began to read from his translation of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (1591) to the Earl's sons. An epic poem full of sorcerers, fantastical voyages and a loveable flying horse, Harington's reading material must have seemed harmless enough. But his performance clearly caught the ear. In his letter to Carey, he reveals how O'Neill's attention was drawn toward the contents of his elaborately printed book. Before long, the Earl 'call'd to see it openly.' Here was Harington's chance: granted an audience with the most notorious man in Ireland, the opportunity had arrived for one of his trademark sleights of hand. The letter to Warren explains how Harington 'turn'd (as it had been by chance) to the beginning of the 45th canto' and launched into his oration. Canto 45 refers to Elizabeth's time as her sister Mary I's prisoner. Here, to supplement the action in the poem, he retells the story of how the young princess 'wrote in the window… with a diamond: much suspected by me, nothing proved can be.' Harington's choice of verse was dangerously double-edged. On the surface, it demonstrates his commitment to his godmother: she was wrongly imprisoned and overcame adversity. Delivered to a political radical on the banks of the Glyde, however, it carries with it a more explosive message: shifts of fortune can impact anyone, but things will turn eventually. Placed in context, this passage serves not only as a demonstration of public loyalty to the queen, but also as a dangerous message of hope to an exiled enemy. To his fellow Elizabethans, the 'hidden drift' of Harington's words seems to have gone unnoticed. O'Neill, however, got the hint, and 'solemnly swore his boys should read all the book over to him.' Harington was always aware of his audience and his cautious handling of words in person and on the page kept his secrets hidden The brilliance of this moment lies in Harington's carefully managed bait-and-switch. Apparently happy to sit on the sidelines with the kids, he must first have appeared a harmless fop to O'Neill. Feigning nonchalance, this seemingly idle-minded courtier is called to read, thumbs through Orlando and falls as if 'by chance' on what appeared to be a random verse. Then, as if from nowhere, he casually tosses into the Earl's lap a political hand grenade wrapped inside what is revealed to be a judiciously chosen, and carefully coded passage. A masterclass in conjuring, this moment sees Harrington suddenly transformed from children's entertainer into the political sorcerer he was. Even the letter to Carey is a savvy bit of gamesmanship. While he served in the Elizabethan court, Carey appears to have held Catholic sympathies and was tied up with a network of anti-Elizabethan courtiers. Harington wrote a relentless stream of letters home from Ireland, but never mentioned this episode to any of his other courtly contacts. Harington was always aware of his audience, and his cautious handling of words in person and on the page kept his secrets hidden. On that September morning in 1599, this verbal dexterity likely saved him from his godmother's axeman.
