Legislation which allows for the setting of legally enforceable pay and conditions for thousands of workers in various employment sectors was yesterday deemed unconstitutional by the High Court. ICTU has since warned that the decision to declare provisions of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 to be unconstitutional could have very serious implications for tens of thousands of workers. Connect trade union has since cautioned employers of “war” if they fail to honour agreements on pay and pensions in construction, mechanical and electrical sectors off the back of the ruling.

Wearing face masks is to become mandatory on public transport as Government moves to increase capacity on bus, train and luas services for more people to return to work. Minister for Transport Shane Ross is set to bring proposals to today's Cabinet meeting. Meanwhile, INMO leader Phil Ní Sheaghdha has accused the Government of applauding frontline workers and then abandoning them as she told an Oireachtas committee they had to 'lobby and cajole' so that face masks would be made mandatory for healthcare workers.

The front page of the Examiner this morning features warnings from the education minister that there'll be a "massive" cost when it comes to reopening schools fully, which will include the mandatory infrastructure to keep staff and students safe. Meanwhile, further guidance around voluntary summer programmes for children are expected to be sent to schools today. 

Research from the Financial Services Union shows that the number of people who felt obliged to keep working out-of-hours rose from 25% in October to 44% last month. While over 60% of bank workers felt their work intensity had increased during the pandemic. The union is fronting the campaign for new laws obliging companies to agree clear policies on the right to disconnect with their employees.

In aviation, aircraft maintenance firm Dublin Aerospace is proceeding with a €15m investment in a new operation at Ashbourne in Co Meath despite predictions that global air travel will be in a slump for years to come. The new facility, which will eventually employ about 150 people, will be used to perform maintenance on landing gear.

And finally, had Mehak not featured the Irish Women in Harmony's rendition of Dreams yesterday, that would have been my zen of choice today. However, there's plenty more where that came from as one of the featured artists in that collaboration took the time to compile a Spotify playlist of all the Irish women who participated in the project (many thanks to Róisín for catching me on to this one!) A report released yesterday by music publicist Linda Coogan Byrne revealed that female artists totaled just 7.7% of the top 20 most played songs on Irish radio in the last year. And I promise you'll be even more appalled by that statistic if you listen to this playlist and truly realise the wealth of female talent we have on our own doorstep. Here's one by RuthAnne to kick us off, the woman who started it all.