Good morning colleagues,

A delegation of our Education division colleagues, including school secretary and caretaker members, will address the Joint Oireachtas committee on Education and Youth shortly (from 09:30).

The news leads today with yet more stage-managed appeasement of an autocrat, as reports come in that the EU and US "are believed to be on the brink of a deal that would stop the transatlantic dispute over tariffs escalating into a full blown trade war." Any deal, however, remains subject to the whimsy of one man and his unhinged administration, no matter how much European butter adorns Idaho parsnips. 

The Indo reports that a group of non-profit organisations is urging the Government to revive a draft law that would require all policies to plan for decades beyond the present time. It says the “Future Generations Bill” was drafted during the last government, and would create the post of ­commissioner for future generations to future-proof all government policies and measures. Coalition 2030, "a group of trade unions, human rights organisations, voluntary bodies and political parties, is behind the move to get the bill back on track."

In case you missed it, Fintan O'Toole's column on Ireland's record on anti-Semitism is well worth a read, as are the letters the column has prompted since publication. Elsewhere, the proposed Occupied Territories Bill would (according to US legal opinion supplied to the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee) pose “serious risks” to US companies operating in Ireland because US laws prohibit compliance. Meanwhile, a Palestinian man who lives in the West Bank has taken an action against the Garda Commissioner for refusing to investigate a complaint alleging that Israeli settlers barred him from his land and used it to build cabins, which were then advertised for rent on an Irish-registered website. 

An amendment to yesterday's briefing: the Irish Times reported that unions representing workers in the CIÉ transport group warned that the group could collapse under the weight of its pension liabilities if asset values fell in any future economic downturn. (Note to self: coffee first, write second...). The Irish Times Cantillon column returns to the issue today, reporting that "Trade union members in the State-owned CIÉ transport group will next week start voting on whether to accept proposals aimed at bringing to an end a lengthy saga over the future of their two pension schemes."

Your Zen moment is prompted by an appraisal of Ed Sheeran's attempts to emulate the art of Jackson Pollock (pictured). The Guardian's art critic is suitably withering (and absolutely right) in his analysis. It made me laugh because I remember the brilliant Professor Thomas Finan, of Maynooth's Classics department, being distracted during a lecture (in 1989) on the evolution of Greek and Roman depictions of the human form. He went on a brilliantly splenetic rant against modern art in all its forms, but his reference to "splashing a bit of paint about like a hyperactive child" can only have been prompted by Pollock. Still makes me giggle.

Have a great day.

Niall Shanahan