Monday
Indicators: Irish vehicles licensed for the first time (Jun); German imports and exports (May), industrial production (May); US consumer inflation expectations (Jun) consumer credit change (May).
Meetings: Getting Ireland Brexit Ready event for small firms with Minister for Business Heather Humpheys (Four Seasons Hotel, Coolshannagh, Monaghan).
As if to reinforce its dominance, two significant Brexit events bookend this week. On Monday, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys will address the second of two events on how best small businesses might ready themselves for the inevitable – in whatever shape it ultimately arrives.
Ms Humphreys will supply an opening address to the Brexit information session in Monaghan in conjunction with the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies of Ireland. It will be followed by a panel discussion.
“We know that businesses in the Border and northwest regions are particularly exposed to Brexit, as are importing and exporting companies, and those in specific sectors such as agri-food,” her department said.
Key topics will include various Government supports available to businesses, pointers on emerging import, export and customs controls, supply chain management, and certification and standards for industrial products. As the summer ultimately leads to end game, politics must inevitably give way to the need for hard practical preparations, at least in the business world.
However, political intrigue will continue in earnest on Friday when the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve, former attorney general to England and Wales, gives his musings on where things might go from here, the subject of continuing wild speculation in an increasingly uncertain Westminster world.
Also a former advocate general for Northern Ireland, Mr Grieves will mull over the Conservative Party leadership race and what a new prime minister, whoever that ultimately proves to be, will mean for the Brexit process and future EU-UK relations.
Tuesday
Results: Levi Strauss, PepsiCo.
Indicators: US business optimism index (Jun).
Wednesday
Indicators: Irish residential property price index (May); UK GDP (May), industrial and manufacturing production (May), construction output (May); US mortgage applications and rates (Jul), wholesale inventories (May).
Meetings: ECB non-monetary policy meeting; Women in Business Network extraordinary meeting (Anglers Rest, Castleknock, Dublin 15); Ibec Budget 2020 Briefing (Ibec, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin2).
Residential property prices, possibly the most keenly monitored economic indicator, are published on Wednesday in wake of new data that appears to show a definitive cooling in the market. Confirmation of such would be a welcome relief for anyone afraid of repeating history’s mistakes or of the continued inability of many to clamber on to the proverbial ladder.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) data for April gave some similar indications – the official numbers showing that, while prices continued upward, they did so with less aggression.
Homes increased in value by 3.1 per cent across the country in the year to April compared to an increase of 13.3 per cent in the 12 months to April 2018.
However, there were more pronounced signs last week when research by Davy and property website myhome.ie, owned by The Irish Times, showed price growth had slowed to its lowest level in five years.
Asking prices in Dublin, it noted, are now falling for the first time since 2013, a release in the pressure valve that will be welcomed by many. Given these early signs, Wednesday’s data will be eagerly awaited.
Thursday
Results: Norwegian Air, Südzucker, Delta Airlines.
Indicators: Irish consumer price index (Jun); UK Bank of England financial stability report; German inflation (Jun); US inflation (Jun).
Meetings: Dublin IP and R&D Summit on intellectual property (Convention Centre Dublin); Girls in Tech Mentorship event (Huckletree, Pearse St, Dublin 2); International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) networking event legal IT professionals (Rustic Stone, South George's Street, Dublin 2).
Friday
Indicators: Irish agricultural prices (May), trade statistics (Apr); euro zone industrial production (May); US PPI (Jun).
Meetings: Brexit: A Perspective from Westminster with Dominic Grieve MP, former attorney general for England and Wales (Institute of International and European Affairs, North Great George’s Street, Dublin 1).