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The Journal
2 days ago
- Climate
- The Journal
Dublin has gotten nearly as much rain since yesterday as the average for an entire July
THE LEVEL OF rainfall in Dublin since yesterday has amounted to nearly as much as what is usually spread out across the entire month of July, figures from Met Éireann show. Several counties in Leinster and Ulster have been under weather warnings this morning due to heavy rainfall, which has caused flooding and poor road conditions in some areas of the regions. Dublin, Louth and Meath have experienced the heaviest of the rain, with intense downpours overnight and into the morning. The three counties, along with Wicklow, have been under a Status Orange rainfall warning, which is 'fairly rare' for eastern counties in the month of July. Speaking to The Journal , meteorologist Brandon Creagh outlined that in a 24-hour period up to around 10am this morning, Dundalk in Louth experienced 60mm of rain, while Ardee, also in Louth, received 55mm. 'Meath was in the 50s as well with Navan at 54mm and Dunsany at 52mm, and Dublin also got into the 50s with 54mm in Phoenix Park and 52mm in Glasnevin,' he said. Creagh said a Status Orange rainfall warning is 'fairly rare for July for eastern counties'. Advertisement 'We can get systems pushing to the west and northwest and southwest that can get those levels of rainfall fairly often, but it's rare enough for Dublin and the east of the country to get those kind of high millimeters of rain,' he said. 'We do get heavy thunderstorms that are more likely in the summer, but these longer bands of rain don't typically bring this much rainfall in the summer.' The long-term (30-year) average rainfall total for July at the Phoenix Park weather station in Dublin is 60.1mm - but the conditions since yesterday have seen nearly as much rain as that monthly average fall in the area in just a 24-hour period. In 2024 and 2022, the total rain recorded at Phoenix Park in July was 49.9mm and 38.1mm respectively. 2023 was an exceptional year with 149.1mm of rain in July. Warning Updates Status Orange Rain & thunderstorm warning for Dublin, Louth, Meath & Wicklow Valid: 00:00 21/07/25 to 14:00 21/07/25 Status Yellow Rain warning for Kildare & Monaghan Valid: 00:00 21/07/25 to 14:00 21/07/25 Stay safe and updated⚠️ — Met Éireann (@MetEireann) July 20, 2025 The intense rainfall was caused by a low pressure system that has been influencing Ireland's weather over the past few days. 'It started off to the south of the country yesterday and it pushed up its occluded front, which brought heavy rain and showers and thunderstorms yesterday as well,' Creagh said. 'The way the system tracked was towards the UK and that shifted it more north-easterly and pushed that heavy band of rain into those east and northeastern counties,' he said. 'The way that the system tracked towards the east and then pushed the front over the northeast caused the front to lie there fairly stationary for a while, and that's why the rain was persistent and non-stop for those overnight hours into this morning,' he explained. Related Reads Heatwaves, blackouts and storms: 'Fail to prepare, prepare to fail' He added that worst of the incessant rain has now passed. The unusual level of rainfall for July is consistent with changing weather patterns caused by climate change. A warmer atmosphere is able to hold more moisture, making extreme precipitation events more likely and more intense. For every one additional degree of warming, the atmosphere can hold around 7% more moisture. 'As a result, heavy rainfall events are expected to be more common,' Creagh said. 'While this is just a single event and it's difficult to ascribe any one event as being a result of climate change, these events do become more likely as we head into a warming atmosphere.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Techday NZ
15-07-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
DLA Piper expands New Zealand team with senior promotions & hires
DLA Piper has announced the promotion of three senior lawyers and the recruitment of two new senior associates in New Zealand. The changes come in response to increased client demand in areas including financial services, employment, infrastructure, renewable energy, regulatory reform, and Māori legal matters. Senior promotions Nick Byrnes has been promoted to Special Counsel in Auckland, where he will continue to contribute to the growth of DLA Piper's real estate, construction, and infrastructure practice. Byrnes advises a variety of clients such as global investors and developers on all elements of project delivery for data centre, logistics, student accommodation, and renewable energy developments. He has been recognised as a Future Legal Leader by NZ Lawyer and leads thought leadership on trends shaping New Zealand's built environment. Mike Campbell, now Senior Associate in Wellington, has extensive experience in resource management and local government law. He provides advice to corporates with substantial landholdings and development interests and has represented clients in high-profile litigation related to freshwater, urban development, and forestry. Campbell regularly presents on developments in resource management law. Tyson Hullena, another Senior Associate based in Wellington, enhances the firm's capacity in dispute resolution and Māori law. Hullena's work involves advising Māori landowners and post-settlement governance entities on cases involving tikanga Māori, Māori land and collective ownership, alongside their intersection with common law. He brings specialist insight to legal and regulatory aspects of emerging technology issues, and assists clients with breach of confidence matters and risks around sensitive information. Strategic lateral hires Jennifer Smith has rejoined DLA Piper as Senior Associate in Wellington after working with a law firm in Hong Kong for two years. Smith is recognised for advising financial market participants on managed investment schemes and product offerings across retail and wholesale markets. Her expertise covers Cayman investment vehicles, private equity, and hedge funds, with experience in fund formation, restructuring, and governance. Kieron Creagh joined as Senior Associate in Auckland from a New Zealand law firm earlier in 2025. Admitted in both New Zealand and Australia, Creagh brings trans-Tasman experience to DLA Piper's employment practice. She provides strategic advice on restructures, dispute resolution, compliance with minimum entitlements, and health and safety obligations. Creagh was recognised as a Rising Star by NZ Lawyer in 2022. "Our continued investment in outstanding talent is guided by what our clients need most – whether that is delivering major infrastructure projects, creating innovative financial products, addressing regulatory change, or managing workforce and governance risk. These promotions and appointments deepen our specialist capability in critical areas, ensuring we provide the right expertise locally, while drawing on the strength of our global firm. Each of these lawyers brings unique perspectives that enhance our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes for both New Zealand businesses and those that operate globally." This statement was made by Laura Scampion, Country Managing Partner for DLA Piper in New Zealand. Additional appointments The firm has promoted Michael Fitzpatrick-Cockram to Associate in Wellington, effective from the beginning of July 2025. Three further appointments have been made in Auckland, with Anne Hewson, Paul Park, and Jacob Smith joining the finance, corporate, and litigation/regulatory teams. Over the past year, DLA Piper in New Zealand has made more than eight mid-level and senior lateral hires, strengthening its market position. The firm was awarded 'Best New Zealand Law Firm' at the 2025 Beaton Client Choice Awards. DLA Piper also announced the promotion of James Wrighton to Marketing and Business Development Executive, supporting the growth of client relationships across the country.
Herald Sun
30-06-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
Melbourne property prices rise again amid renewed demand
Melbourne is gaining momentum for home price growth in June, with new PropTrack data confirming the city's long-awaited property market recovery is finally taking hold. Photo: iStock Melbourne's housing market is gaining momentum, with new figures showing prices have risen for a second consecutive month and annual growth turned positive for the first time in more than two years. PropTrack's latest Home Price Index reveals home values climbed 0.3 per cent in June, taking Melbourne's annual growth to 1 per cent. The median home value now sits at $818,000, up $10,600 over the past year, despite remaining 1.1 per cent below the March 2022 peak. RELATED: Hamptons-style Melb home set to turn heads Auction twist as newcomers seize Greenvale keys Melb's ultimate $10m+ property checklist PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said it was a clear sign the city had turned the corner. 'Melbourne has been one of the weakest-performing capital city markets over the past five years, but we are now seeing momentum return,' Ms Creagh said. 'That's largely due to improved buyer confidence off the back of expected rate cuts and Melbourne's relative affordability, especially when compared to cities like Sydney and Brisbane.' PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh says momentum is building in Melbourne's market, with confidence returning and values rising for a fourth straight month. New data reveals how Melbourne's property market is bouncing back, with values rising and buyer demand heating up across the city. Melbourne's $3000 month on month keeps the city's median dwelling price – combining houses and units – below Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Sydney in June. Ms Creagh said unit values, now just 3.6 per cent shy of their previous peak, are benefiting as buyers 'move down the value chain', she added. O'Brien Frankston director Mark Burke said outer-metro property markets were heating up, driven by increased activity from first-home buyers and interstate investors. 'There's definitely momentum building across the city,' Mr Burke said. Buyers are back in force at Melbourne auctions, with intense competition and rising confidence driving up home values across the city. 'Interest rates are expected to drop further, and we all know what happens then, prices go up. 'Buyer's agents are often bidding on behalf of Sydney clients now, at one auction we had 12 registered bidders, but a few big knockout bids quickly wiped out the competition.' While regional Victoria posted a slower 0.1 per cent rise in June, Ms Creagh said standout markets were Bendigo, Ballarat and northwest Victoria where annual growth was up to 4.25 per cent. This renovated Frankston North home sold for $852,000, showing Melbourne's gaining momentum. Geelong, the state's largest regional city, saw unit prices rise 1.1 per cent over the past quarter to a median of $555,000 and house prices rise 0.71 per cent in to $761,000. 'It's a value-driven shift that's reshaping growth across the state,' Ms Creagh said. Melbourne Property Advocates director Simon Murphy says buyers priced out of the city are turning to regional hubs like Bendigo for better value and growth potential. Melbourne Property Advocates director Simon Murphy said affordability was also drawing interest to regional areas. 'Buyers who once looked in suburbs like Sunshine are now turning to Bendigo, where $650,000 can buy a home, allow for renovations, and deliver $200,000 in equity gains before you even move in,' Mr Murphy said. Jellis Craig Bendigo director Matt Leonard said the regional city remained a hot spot, even with higher taxes in Victoria. 'We're now dealing with buyers' advocates from WA, QLD, SA and NSW, all chasing investment properties here,' Mr Leonard said. PROPTRACK HOME PRICE INDEX JUNE 2025 Region Monthly Growth % Annual Growth % Annual Growth $ Sydney 0.5% 3.3% $47,500 Melbourne 0.3% 1.0% $10,600 Brisbane 0.3% 8.3% $74,800 Adelaide 0.6% 9.8% $71,500 Perth 0.3% 7.8% $64,700 Hobart 0.5% 2.3% $14,300 Darwin 0.2% 5.8% $31,900 Canberra 0.3% 0.5% $15,200 Capital cities 0.4% 4.1% $43,900 Regional NSW 0.3% 4.3% $33,100 Regional Vic 0.1% 1.2% $13,200 Regional Qld 0.5% 9.2% $70,700 Regional SA 0.4% 12.9% $56,400 Regional WA 0.4% 10.9% $51,400 Regional Tas 0.1% 3.3% $19,700 Regional NT 0.1% 1.5% $1,700 Regional areas 0.3% 6.0% $40,900 Nationally 0.4% 4.6% $40,900 Source: PropTrack Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox. MORE: James Packer's new deal at Melbourne supermarket site Inside 'Hospitality Yoda's luxe Melb home Tragic side of Aus housing crisis exposed
Courier-Mail
30-06-2025
- Business
- Courier-Mail
$74,800 rise: Brisbane hits $1m as Qld set to boom
Brisbane has officially joined the ranks of the world's million-dollar house markets, with home prices soaring by the largest dollar increase among all Australian capital cities. The latest PropTrack Home Price Index, released Tuesday, has locked in the Queensland capital's median house price at $1.015m, as it flagged a fresh boom in prices out of regional Queensland. MORE: Mapped: Owners of Aus' trashed islands named Australia's 'most attractive' handout revealed MORE: All the tax write offs Aussies can claim ATO's dragnet: Millions of side hustles face shock tax bill Brisbane homes (houses and units) spiked by the equivalent of an average salary, rising $74,800 in the past 12 months without owners lifting a finger – with the biggest driver coming out of units which jumped a massive 12.9 per cent, up $82,300 in just one year to $708,000, while houses rose by $68,300 (6.93pc) to notch its $1.015m level. Brisbane's median price for all dwellings now sits at $908,000, marking an 8.26pc increase for the year to June, but experts are predicting the next big surge will come from regional Queensland, which is already outpacing Brisbane, seeing its home price rise 9.2pc in 12 months to $719,000 — a jump of $70,700 in one year. Townsville leads the charge as not just the strongest Queensland SA4 region but the top performer in Australia, with an 18.7pc rise in its median home price to $546,000 over the past year. MORE: Foreign investor's abandoned island for sale Cash-strap student turns $40k to 38 homes Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday recorded a 14.98pc surge, bringing its median to $550,000, closely followed by Central Queensland's 14.72pc rise to $531,000. Areas west of Brisbane city also showed strong results: Toowoomba rose 13.01pc to $674,000, Ipswich increased 11.36pc to $754,000, and Darling Downs-Maranoa jumped 9.98pc to $457,000. Across regional Queensland, Wide Bay notched a 9.69pc rise to $596,000, Cairns climbed 8.62pc to $571,000, Gold Coast rose 8.02pc to $1.066m, Queensland-Outback increased 6.74pc to $267,000, and Sunshine Coast was up 5.23pc to $1.076m. REA Group senior economist Eleanor Creagh said Brisbane continued to see strong performance despite affordability constraints slowing the pace of growth. 'Prices are continuing to lift, and we're expecting that they will continue to do so,' she said. 'Affordability is a significant challenge even with interest rates falling.' Ms Creagh said many existing homeowners were now using accumulated equity to upgrade or purchase investment properties, often less expensive options on Brisbane's outskirts or in regional Queensland. MORE: Govt pays $3.3m for unliveable derelict house Shock as city's distressed home listings surge 36pc in one month Real Estate Institute of Queensland head Antonia Mercorella said there was extraordinary strength in Queensland's property market. 'Brisbane is playing catch up,' she said. 'Quite frankly, we have often been overlooked, Sydney and Melbourne have been the cities to watch.' Ms Mercorella expected to see a flight of investment capital to more affordable areas, especially across Queensland's regions. 'Regional Queensland, even though we have seen strong price growth as a general rule, is a more affordable option compared to the southeast corner in many cases.' MORE: Rate cut windfall: Aus big bank's shock new forecast But she warned new housing supply would ultimately determine how prices shape up. 'When we're talking about affordability and accessibility, all roads lead back to supply.' 'Anyone who's trying to get their foot on the ladder is all too familiar with this price growth,' she said. 'It's timely that the government's shared equity scheme beginning this month has a threshold of $1m reflecting market reality.' Across the greater Brisbane region's SA4s, Brisbane-North was up 9.78pc to $1.019m, Moreton Bay-North rose 9.37pc to $825,000, Logan-Beaudesert increased 8.4pc to $784,000, Brisbane-East climbed 8.22pc to $1.027m, Moreton Bay-South jumped 7.7pc to $902,000, Brisbane Inner City rose 7.21pc to $940,000, Brisbane-South increased 6.42pc to $1.159m, and Brisbane-West climbed 6.02pc to $1.191m. MORE REAL ESTATE NEWS
West Australian
06-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Ora Banda 35% lift leaves output just shy of 2025 WA gold target
ASX-listed gold producer Ora Banda Mining has flagged a hefty 35 per cent lift in its annual gold output to 95,000 ounces at its Davyhurst project in Western Australia's renowned Goldfields region. However, the company will land just shy of its 2025 production and cost guidance after encountering delays in a key mill upgrade. Ora Banda says gold production for April and May clocked in at 12,100 ounces and the June quarter is expected to deliver about 24,500 ounces. If June hits its forecast of up to 12,500 ounces, Ora Banda will end the financial year 5 per cent short of its lower end guidance of 100,000 ounces. All-in sustaining costs are tipped to come in at about $2600 per gold ounce, or 4 per cent above the company's previously guided high-end estimate of $2500 per ounce. Keen to emphasise the upside, management points out that the expected 2025 total represents a significant lift over last year's 70,000-ounce result and that recent processing bottlenecks are now behind them. A planned upgrade to install new lifters and liners to the mine's primary mill presented a key challenge in the past few months and the commissioning process dragged on longer than anticipated, disrupting output for April and May. With the works now completed, the plant is now nailing throughput rates of up to 4,000 tonnes per day. Meanwhile, the company is hitting its stride on the mining front. Production from Ora Banda's Riverina and Sand King pits is forecast to contribute a combined 14,500 ounces in June alone. Riverina is in steady-state production, while Sand King is ramping up following a restart. Ora Banda is also sitting on a healthy ore stockpile, built up during the processing plant's downtime. At the end of May, the company had 83,000 tonnes of medium-grade ore at 2.8 grams per tonne (g/t) for 7,500 ounces and 114,000t of low-grade material grading 1.2g/t for an additional 4,400 ounces. Three years ago, Davyhurst was treading water, churning out just 12,000 ounces of gold per quarter with grades barely hitting 1.5g/t. That changed when seasoned mining hand Luke Creagh took Ora Banda's reins as managing director. In a stunning turnaround, Creagh breathed new life into the ageing project, doubling production and proving the doubters wrong on an asset many had already written off as yesterday's story. Davyhurst now has two operating underground mines, with the Riverina deposit initially pulling much of the weight and half filling the 1.3 million-tonne processing plant. During the past six months, management's priority has moved to getting the company's newer Sand King deposit up to speed to fill the mill full of high-grade feed. The move will provide Ora Banda with another significant inflection point for increased production and cash flow. The company has also recently knocked it out of the park with some sizzling, high-grade intercepts at its new Little Gem discovery, south of its Riverina gold camp. Best hits at Little Gem included a whopping 22.7 metres grading 5g/t gold from 481m, including a red-hot 6.2m section running at 10.8g/t. The same hole kept giving, with a further 10.9m slice of 6.4g/t gold just 40m further down. Notably, the find appears to link up a chain of prospects from British Lion, through Little Gem and down to the 32,000-ounce Sunraysia deposit. The company beat a quick march back to site, with the drill rigs now smashing out a 16-hole follow-up blitz to see what other treasures may be lurking beneath. At the end of March, Ora Banda sat on an eye-watering cash pile of $80.7 million, giving it plenty of firepower to chase discoveries and fast-track extension drilling at Riverina and Sand King. The company is aiming to grow the project's 1.95-million-ounce global resource grading 2.6g/t gold. With the upgraded plant now hitting full stride and mining firing on all cylinders, Ora Banda looks primed for a big year ahead, backed by solid stockpiles and a clear runway to hit its 150,000-ounce annual gold target. Despite falling slightly short of guidance this year, Ora Banda's production trajectory remains firmly upward. With its key infrastructure hurdles now resolved, Ora Banda's push to become a mid-tier Aussie gold producer appears on track to continue. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
