Fórsa has welcomed a commitment by elected representatives on Dublin City Council to implement the demands of the More Power To You campaign. The agreement was launched as a joint initiative by Dublin City councillors from Fianna Fáil, Labour, the Green Party and Social Democrats yesterday evening. The Irish Times also covered the agreement, highlighting the pledge not to sell public lands to private developers for housing except in exceptional circumstances.

The strike by around 10,000 HSE support staff is set to go ahead this Thursday after talks in the WRC broke down last night without agreement. Simon Harris has urged management and Siptu to "double their efforts" to resolve the row over pay.

Government has outlined a highly ambitious plan to cut Irish carbon emissions on a sustained basis up to 2030, which will be backed by annual increases in carbon tax. However, unions have warned that, "Workers and their families have to see a clear road map from one to the other and be assured that every effort will be made to create decent replacement jobs."

Over in the UK, a ban on adverts featuring "harmful gender stereotypes" or those which are likely to cause "serious or widespread offence" has come into force. The ban covers scenarios such as a man with his feet up while a woman cleans, or a woman failing to park a car.

Today's Zen goes out to Dermot Kennedy (aka the Irish lad that played Coachella.) I saw him at Malahide Castle last week and while the weather wasn't comparable to what you'd get at the American festival, the performance was certainly just as impressive. Meanwhile, today's cover image goes out to the seagull who landed on my head last week and stole my lunch out of my hand.