Fórsa appealed to the Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister, Micheál Martin, yesterday to intervene at EU level to secure the release of leading Palestinian doctor Dr Hussam Abu Safiya. That story is picked up by the Irish Examiner in its coverage of Ireland officially joining South Africa's case alleging genocide by Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Elsewhere, Fórsa was in the news yesterday responding to coverage of Ryaniar's legal action against a passenger whose unruly behaviour diverted a flight from Lanzarote to Porto last April. Passengers had to be accommodated overnight, and the airline is suing to recover costs of €15,000 over the incident. Our own AGS Lisa Connell spoke on RTE's SixOne news yesterday, highlighting the union's priority to ensure the safety of cabin crew's working environment.

Elsewhere, Professor Patricia Casey, a consultant psychiatrist at the Mater Hospital, has warned that the country’s mental health services are “in a dire state of neglect” and appealed to the incoming government to give “more funding for psychiatry,” while the MRCI reports that thousands of workers from overseas are encountering problems with pay, conditions and other forms of exploitation, and says the number of employment cases it is dealing with is back to pre-crash levels. 

In the Indo, Anne-Marie Walsh writes that plans to extend paid sick leave to 10 days have stalled, just as flu cases surge. The same paper highlights income inequality, reporting that the CEOs of Ireland’s Iseq 20 group of stock market-listed companies have earned more by today than the average Irish worker will make over the full year. 

Finally, Tusla inadvertently placed two siblings into the care of a company it had previously blacklisted over shortcomings in the Garda vetting of its staff. Jack White provides some more analysis on this story in the Irish Times, while the paper also looks at whether the health system finally beginning to see some benefits from public-only consultant contracts.

Zen 

The recent break was populated by some indulgent afternoons, with a warm fire and some old movies. Optimum conditions for another viewing of Casablanca and an excuse to run through my favourite Coen Brothers films. The Big Lebowski and Oh Brother Where Art Thou? got an airing, and I was reminded of the latter's brilliant soundtrack. Dan Tyminski was the guy who made George Clooney sound like he had a set of golden tonsils. 

Have a lovely day. Wear the scarf, the hat and the gloves.

Niall Shanahan