Black flowers blossom
by Niall Shanahan

Today's front pages give a bit of coverage to the the government's plans to introduce an Online Safety Act which will force internet and social media companies to regulate the content they facilitate.

 

The Indo's front page, however, focuses on public sector pensions. Charlie Weston contacted Fórsa's communications office last week and includes our response to the paper by Tony Gilhawley and Roma Burke upon which his story is based. Charlie expands on his theme elsewhere in the paper but arrives at the same conclusions.

 

Meanwhile, new laws cracking down on zero-hour contracts and precarious employment come into effect today. ICTU general secretary Patricia King has welcomed the legsilation and outlines its benefits in an OpEd in the Irish Independent.

 

Yesterday's Sunday Business Post included substantial coverage of its successful defence of a defamation claim by the businessman Denis O'Brien, but its front page story was about a 12 per cent pay claim lodged by construction workers (previously reported in last week's edition of Industrial Relations News), while the Central Bank has expressed concerns that the state's help-to-buy scheme "is now effectively acting as a subsidy to builders."

 

Elsewhere in the Post, a number of RTE workers are still in dispute with the Montrose chiefs about the exact nature of their employment contracts, while ex-HSE chief Tony O'Brien outlines the problems with 12-month health service plans and makes the case for multi-year planning.

 

Congratulations to INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan, who's been selected by the Labour Party to contest the European elections in Ireland South.

 

Your moment of Zen, if you'll indulge me, is another great moment from Massive Attack's Dublin show last week. Surprisingly good quality amateur footage of Cocteau Twins legend Liz Fraser singing Teardrop. Click on the image above to view, it was a particularly brilliant performance.

 

Have a good week.

 

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