Spanish Caravan

by Niall Shanahan

In Israel, the country’s first nationwide general strike since the Hamas attacks of October 7th is under way amid widespread public anger at the government’s handling of the war in Gaza.

 

Elsewhere, it's reported that efforts to crack down on people entering the country without travel documentation have increased sharply in recent months, with around 6.5% of flights arriving in Dublin now subject to “doorstep” passport checks. 

 

Last week Fórsa again emphasised the importance of libraries as sanctuaries of safety and inclusivity, as one library closed temporarily last week amid rumours the closure was in response to a planned protest by the far-right, while Fórsa's Ashley Connolly is quoted in this Business Post piece: Major industrial relations talks will take place on moving hospital system to seven-day week.

 

The Sindo carried this puff piece yesterday about Bristow, the company that has taken over the contract for Itreland's search and rescue service from CHC.

 

Meanwhile, more than one quarter of Irish employers have introduced artificial intelligence (AI) to their recruitment processes, according to new research from hiring platform IrishJobs. 

 

There was a noticable increase in the number of articles about remote and hybrid working over the summer, with at least one media title (Business Post) beginning to grow hostile to the concept of remote working, and now frames access to remote or hybrid working as a perk unique to the public sector.

 

With the commercial property market teetering on the brink of...well...trouble, it's not surprising there's been a pushback. In today's Irish Times Emmet Malone writes about how "boundaries are still being thrashed out in many workplaces" - ‘If you don’t swipe in, you won’t be promoted.’

 

Zen

 

Colleagues, last week we bid a very fond farewell to our friend and colleague Chris Cully. It's not going to be the same around Nerney's Court in her absence, especially at lunchtime in the kitchen, where the lively chat over a pot of freshly-brewed tea and a loaf of batch bread was part of the routine. We wish Chris well and...I could really only think of one song to mark the moment (and to defy today's inclement weather).

 

Have a lovely week.

 

Niall

 

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