Recruitment consultants Morgan McKinley predict that niche professional salaries could rise by up to 20% this year, with 5-10% increases for most. There's more on that in the Indo, while an ESRI study finds that people on the minimum wage are working fewer hours and earning more.

That said, most titles continue to lead with the pandemic as the Cabinet prepares to green-light a well-flagged relaxation in close contact rules. 

The Tánaiste told yesterday's RTÉ listeners that the Haddington Road '"unpaid hours" were unfair and "never intended to be permanent" (that's nine minutes and 40 seconds into the clip), while Anne-Marie Walsh has this on who's covered by the recommended return to pre-HRA working time. That story was widely covered on broadcast shows yesterday, with no real damage done. 

Overseas, Maya Angelou has become the first black woman to appear on a quarter coin. A good start, but I'd have put her on the dollar bill for this alone.

And, no doubt, Boris Johnson will need a glass of wine with friends after what looks like being another difficult day.

So, to Zen. TG4 ran the excellent documentary The Ballad of Shirley Collins at the weekend. It's about the pioneering and excellent English folk singer and revivalist of the same name. Here she is with Davy Graham on the pioneering 1964 album Folk Roots, New Routes.

Enjoy the day.

Bernard