Top news today is Ryanair pilots based in Ireland have voted unanimously to accept a collective agreement negotiated with the company last month. Fórsa reached the agreement after a 22-hour negotiating session.
In other news, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he does not intend to call an election despite Fianna Fáil’s rejection of his request for early negotiations on an extension of the confidence-and-supply agreement. Fine Gael's Parliamentary Party is meeting in Galway today ahead of the return of the Dáil later this month. The two-day gathering is set to focus on the party's Budget priorities, Brexit and housing.
In the States, senior government officials, from the White House to various executive branch departments and agencies, are “working to insulate their operations from” President Donald Trump’s whims, according to an anonymous op-ed published in The New York Times. Mr. Trump, speaking in the White House shortly after the publication of the letter, said that the op-ed was “really a disgrace” and later called the author "gutless" over Twitter.
Back over to this side of the water, an Irish-owned pharmaceutical company is to create 350 jobs over the next five years in Loughrea, Co Galway while more than 2,000 affordable homes are set to be built in Dublin.
My colleague Niall brought this article to my attention. It visually depicts the statistic of one in five American teachers now working a second job in conjunction with full-time teaching.
Finally, today's Zen is Nike's latest ad campaign featuring former American footballer, Colin Kaepernick. He was thrust into the spotlight in 2016 when, as the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, he chose to first sit, then “take a knee”, rather than stand during the national anthem in protest of social inequality and police violence against unarmed black people. He was later dropped off the team, inspiring the line "Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything." However, his presence hasn't been welcomed by all as Nike's shares fell after the launch with the alt-right calling for a Nike boycott. You should really watch it though - very inspiring!
