For those of you with subscriber's access to the Industrial Relations News, I strongly recommend reading Brian Sheehan's analysis of the current situation in relation to public sector pay talks, which includes details of the union position not (yet) published anywhere else.

The Indo reported last night that Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has said there's room for negotiation in public sector pay talks, but other than the headline, there's nothing new in the story itself, though it's drawn from comments he made yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Drawing from the same comments, the Irish Times reports that minister "has stopped short of ruling out an increased Government pay offer to public servants."

Here's yesterday's interview with ICTU general secretary Owen Reidy on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, as unions and workers say “this is not the end” and they will continue their campaign after yesterday's strikes in the North.

I had missed these stories from earlier in the week: A report that wage growth in the Republic eased to 3.7% at the end of 2023, declining “in tandem with a gradually cooling labour market and falling rates of headline inflation,” according to the latest Central Bank data; Almost €2 million in unpaid wages was retrieved for workers following interventions by the WRC last year and the Government's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Advisory Council met for the first time this week. 

Finally, a fiery case for a 'yes' vote by Justine McCarthy in the upcoming referendums in March. 

Zen

I haven't seen it yet but Sideways director Alexander Payne's latest looks like a strong contender as a perennial classic. The always watchable Paul Giammati's performance in The Holdovers might even be the main rival to Cillian Murphy's Oppenheimer stint as awards season develops. Either way, the audience gets to be the main beneficiary of both performances, despite the fact that only one of them is from Cork.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Niall