Hospitality & Jobs: A new DCU-backed report says a quarter of Irish pubs have closed since 2005, with up to 1,000 more closures possible without policy change, hitting counties hardest outside Dublin. Construction & Materials: James Hardie, headquartered in Dublin, has agreed to sell Fermacell’s European flooring business to Holcim for €840m, and plans to wind down its European fibre cement unit. Digital Regulation: The EU has designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine and also brought Reddit and Roblox under stricter DSA oversight, triggering heavier compliance duties for the platforms. EU Security & Diplomacy: Ireland is hosting an informal EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Wicklow, with Canada’s FM Anita Anand attending alongside Helen McEntee and Kaja Kallas, as ministers focus on Ukraine, Middle East developments and maritime security. Public Trust & Regulation: The Veterinary Council of Ireland withdrew a resignation letter from its former president Joseph Walsh after concerns about “public confidence and trust,” spotlighting governance scrutiny in professional regulation. MedTech Funding: Selio Medical (Guinness Enterprise Centre) is raising €5m Series A to commercialise a lung biopsy complication prevention device after FDA clearance.