Back to the Kingdom
by Niall Shanahan

Good morning,

 

Here's what they're saying on the front pages today, The Guardian's front page on Grenfell is particularly striking.

 

Looks like the Cork social event went well last week. It's not often you see the union's logo so tastefully confected, well done gang.

 

RTE's correspondent namechecked our PeoplePoint survey on Friday as she reported from the AHCPS delegate conference. The copy has since been updated (it no longer refers to to our survey) to include a reaction from DPER secretary general Robert Watt, who has ruled out abolition of the troubled system.

 

The Indo reported on Saturday that the Taoiseach has indicated that state employees may get "a smaller wage boost than they expect over the course of the current three-year pay deal to fund the axing of the two-tier system." As ever, the coverage fails to properly grasp the essentials of the new entrants pay issue, while sparking a little inter-union (or indeed intra-union) scuffling may well be the main objective here.

 

In today's news, it's reported that a third of all Coast Guard stations and buildings around the country have no basic facilities such as running water or bathrooms, a committee established by the Department of Housing and charities to help resolve the homeless crisis has met on only two occasions in the last 2½ years, and Tánaiste Simon Coveney has insisted the Government will be “inflexible” on any border infrastructure but said Ireland was open to any “new thinking” from British prime minster Theresa May on customs arrangements after Brexit.  

 

Elsewhere, reaction to the Eurovision result on Saturday night was most succinctly expressed by RTE's industry correspondent, while Joe O'Connor's Twitter game was strong as the results came through.

 

I'm advised that Pat Considine from the Clare branch will be selling copies of his collection of original poems, Brave Souls, in KIllarney this week. All proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the RNLI. Pat's book will be available in the foyer at lunchtime on Thursday and Friday.

 

Your Zen this morning is an introduction (below) to a new RTE series A Wild Irish Year, the first episode of which aired last night. You can catch the first episode, dedicated to Spring, on the RTE Player here. The photography is outstanding, Ireland's flora and fauna has never looked as good, and it's fronted by three very able presenters. Highly recommended.