That Irish Times coverage can be found here, and RTÉ's coverage is available here.

Two pieces on the affordability of the deal for the State appear in the Irish Times (Eoin Burke-Kennedy) and Indo (Donal O' Donovan) respectively, with O'Donovan twice  using the phrase "Unions have played a blinder" although that compliment comes with a backhander: "but their success will drastically shrink Ireland’s wriggle room to escape the next crisis." To be expected, particularly considering how all this has been framed by the public expenditure minister.

The Indo also carries testimonials from public service workers talking about making ends meet in a cost-of-living crisis. Good jobs, well paid, still struggling...and that's in the Irish Independent (as I repress the urge to add half a dozen exclamation marks to that sentence. Any of you who were around during the financial crisis will understand why). 

The Indo's latest news report on the talks is available here, the Irish Examiner here, the Irish Mirror here, while the Indo also reports Fórsa's message to members yesterday that “plans for the strike and rallies on Thursday must continue”.

Your Zen this morning is a song of defiance from Roberta Flack from her sublime 1969 debut album First Take*. You gotta make it real...but Compared to What?

Have a great day.

NS

*yes, other tracks from this album have made previous Zen appearances...I'm on a mission to make everyone love this album.