Good morning colleagues,

Ian Kehoe had a fascinating piece in The Currency yesterday, referencing the certainty, as expressed by Ibec's Danny McCoy, of industrial conflict on the issue of public service pay. Kehoe throws a jaundiced eye, and a backhanded compliment, at the union ballot results, describing the Fórsa, Siptu and Unite ballot numbers as 'Putinesque' and falling into the familiar pattern of hot takes that assumes the current impasse is part of the 'theatre' of negotiating a new pay deal.