Work & Life issue 31

THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

ISSUE 31 • AUTUMN-WINTER 2015

IT’S ONLY FAIR Decency, fairness and respect in the workplace

SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS LAND AND HOUSING FROM REVENUE TO LABOUR COURT – A CAREER STORY TRADE UNIONS UNDER ATTACK

ALSO INSIDE PAY BARGAINING. FASHION GRADUATES. MISERY & MANCHESTER. DUNNES RALLY. STAR WARS. THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE FOR YOUNG READERS. HERBS & SPICES. LONDON ADVENTURES. GENERATION GOLF. BOOKS. NEWS. PRIZES AND MORE.

www.impact.ie

In this issue

work& & life Autumn-Winter 2015 WORK

LIFE

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FAIRNESS AND THE FUTURE Congress general secretary Patricia King on housing, the economic recovery and the charter for fairness.

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REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS Cartoonist Donal Casey tackles Europe’s response to the refugee crisis.

FASHION – TECHNO FUTURE The Irish fashion graduates that are turning heads.

GARDENS All hail the Pumkin King.

The golf generation.

MOVIES

NEWS

HARD BARGAIN The changing face of pay bargaining.

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RENT CERTAINTY As the homeless crisis deepens, IMPACT pushes for market interventions.

HOLDING COURT New Labour Court appointee Louise O’Donnell’s unintentional career path.

SPORT

The Force beckons us all once again.

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PRETTY VACANT New legislation could prove a game changer on the use of vacant land.

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PUBLIC SERVICE School psychologists begin a campaign to address school needs.

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MUSIC Maudlin Manchester’s chirpy southern cousins.

TRAVEL London as seen through the eyes of a ten-year-old on his first visit.

BOOKS Author Patricia Murphy on the worst jobs in history and the War of Independence.

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LANSDOWNE ROAD CARMEL KIRWAN COMMEMORATION SECTION 39 AGENCIES ESRI REPORT ON SCHOOL COMPLETION IRISH WATER BUSINESS PLAN CHALLENGED

PRIZES

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Win Patricia Murphy’s new book.

Win €50 in our prize quiz.

Rate Work & Life and win €100.

UK UNION BUSTING Lorna Merry of PCS on why the Tory campaign must fail.

Work & Life is produced by IMPACT trade union's Communications Unit and edited by Niall Shanahan.

Front cover: ICTU general secretary Patricia King.

Photo by Conor Healy.

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Phone: 01-817-1500.

Email: info@impact.ie

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WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 1

THE BIG PICTURE

WORKER CHAMPIONS

The Great Dublin Bike Ride

Jayaben Desai

That was then…

100 years ago British nurse Edith Cavell is executed on October 12th 1915 by a German firing squad for helping Allied soldiers escape from Belgium. In the same week, France, Russia and Italy declare war on Bulgaria.

In the same month, Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung) is first published in Germany.

Photo: SPORTSFILE.com

JAYABEN DESAI was born in Gujarat, India, in 1933 and came came to prominence as the leader of the landmark Grunwick strike in 1976.

ON SUNDAY 14th September more than 3,000 cyclists from over 28 countries, ranging in age from 17 to 73 years old, took part in the inaugural Great Dublin Bike Ride.

The bike ride is an initiative of the Irish Sports Council, working in conjunction with Cycling Ireland, Dublin City Council, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Healthy Ireland, Fingal and Meath County Councils.

At 8am the cyclists left Smithfield Square and poured onto Aaron Quay to tackle the two scenic routes (60km and 100km) specifically designed for the event, taking in stunning views, with excellent road supervision and assistance provided by the Gardaí and Volunteer Ireland.

Dublin Lord Mayor Críona Ní Dhálaigh is pictured at the starting line with Government ministers Paschal Donohoe and Leo Varadkar, Chief Executive of the Irish Sports Council, John Treacy and broadcaster Ray Darcy O

STRANGE WORLD

Ennis men interned ON SEPTEMBER 28th in 1915, two businessmen of German descent from Ennis, County Clare, were interned. Joseph Maurer, Jeweller, and Clement Dilger, a watchmaker, had been living in Ireland for approximately 30 years.

The outbreak of the Great War, in August 1914, led to the internment of all Germans, Hungarians and Austrians ‘of military age’ throughout Britain and Ireland. Civilian internees were moved to camps at Oldcastle, Co. Meath, and on the Isle of Wight.

Maurer jewellers on O’Connell Street, Ennis, remains in business to this day O

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As a teenager, she took part in the Indian independence movement and later moved to Tanzania.

The “Africanisation” Jayaben Desai fought for collective bargaining rights. policies of the 1960s, which forced Asians out of newly independent African nations, saw Desai and her husband flee to Britain. She took a job at the Grunwick Film Processing Laboratories in 1974, where recently arrived immigrant women accepted long working hours and low wages. The need to do so, Desai said, “nagged away like a sore on their necks”.

Desai led a walkout of 100 workers from Grunwick in the summer of 1976 in an attempt to convince managers to recognise a unionised workforce, and joined the Apex union. The campaign gained national recognition and lasted more than two years, creating the biggest mobilisation in British labour-movement history in support of fewer than 200 strikers. At its peak the dispute drew 20,000 workers on a TUCorganised march to the factory.

She has been immortalised by her comments during a confrontation with a manager at Grunwick: “What you are running here is not a factory, it is a zoo. In a zoo, there are many types of animals. Some are monkeys who dance on your fingertips, others are lions who can bite your head off. We are those lions, Mr Manager.”

The bid for collective bargaining rights was ultimately unsuccessful. Her legacy, however, was to draw attention to the overlooked plight of female migrant workers and she encouraged trade union participation among Asian women.

Months before she died in 2010 she said “I am proud of what I did. They wanted to break us down, but we did not break.” O

Lyda Conley becomes the first Native American woman to appear before the Supreme Court of the United States on October 25th. In Dublin, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) Military Council decides in December to stage an Easter Rising in 1916.

70 years ago Professor Eoin MacNeill, foundermember of the Gaelic League and the Irish Volunteers, dies in Dublin on October 15th 1945 aged 77. On the same day Pierre Laval, the former premier of Vichy France, is shot to death by a firing squad for treason against France.

The United Nations is founded by ratification of its Charter on October 24th, and establishes the International Court of Justice. In November, the United States controversially imports 88 German scientists to help in the production of rocket technology.

20 years ago Irishman Seamus Heaney was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature on October 5th 1995.

In Nigeria, playwright and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, along with eight others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, are hanged by government forces on November 10th.

A budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the Congress of the United States, forces the federal government to temporarily close national parks and museums, and run most government offices with skeleton staff from November 14th.

A recount in the Divorce Referendum on November 26th confirms that a majority of the electorate voted in favour of divorce.

Jack Charlton retires as manager of the Irish football team on December 21st.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

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IMPACT people

Love is the drug

Tell me a little about yourself?

I’m from Bray, County Wicklow, I’ve lived here most of my life. Apart from a year living in Libya, and I also lived in Wexford for a period of time. I am married to Jennifer, and we have an English Mastiff called Jameson. I currently work as a drug education and prevention development officer with Bray Youth Service which is part of Crosscare.

Describe your ideal day?

My ideal day would involve no work, a little lie on in bed, a nice breakfast. Paint until lunch time, then head out exploring with my wife Jenn, have a nice meal out somewhere. Perfect.

Describe yourself?

Hard working, motivated, a bit quirky and always thinking.

What music do you listen to?

I’m a bit eclectic when it comes to music – some days I like to listen to a bit of Queens of the Stone Age, other days it could be Tori Amos or the Eagles. My guilty pleasure is a bit of Sarah Brightman.

What’s it like working in the youth service?

I work with young people from 11 years up to those in their early twenties, in and out of school settings. I also deliver workshops for parents and occasionally provide training to other youth workers around best practice in drugs education.

I love working with young people, it’s challenging at times but rewarding. You hope you are making a difference.

Tell me about your research on masculinities and drug use?

I’m a little over half way through a PhD exploring masculinities and recreational use of illegal drugs among Irish men. I’m interested in how both drug using and non-drug using men view illegal drugs, and whether it contributes to their idea of what it is to be a man.

Why this topic?

Through my work with young people, I noticed differences in the types of drugs young men and women were using, and differences in how they were using these drugs. Young men appeared to be using much more drugs than young women.

This got me thinking about why men use drugs, and what their drug use means to them.

You were invited to present the report in the US? Yes, earlier this year, I presented some initial findings from my research at the International Conference on Masculinities, in New York. It was a really great mix of academic speakers, activists and community workers, all with a shared interest in gender and equality issues. It was a fantastic experience and I got to meet other masculinities scholars from places like the Lebanon, Germany, Africa and even County Carlow.

What are your interests?

Art (painting & drawing), digital photography and sociology.

What do you do to relax?

Spending time with my wife, eating out, watching movies and spending time outdoors.

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Who or what’s the greatest love of your life?

My wife Jenn.

What item can you not leave home without?

My glasses. I’m blind as a bat.

What makes you laugh out loud?

Animals doing silly stuff tends to make me giggle. Father Ted always manages to make me laugh.

I love working with young people, it’s challenging at times but rewarding. You hope you are making a difference.

What do you watch on the box?

I really enjoy a good horror movie, I’m a big fan of Hammer Horror. I enjoyed watching the most recent season of True Detective.

What’s your favourite meal?

Most people think this is gross but, I love liver and onions with gravy and creamy mash.

If you could have a pint with anyone alive or dead who would it be?

Great question – it would have to be one of the great painters like Leonardo or Michelangelo (I’d need a translator though).

Who inspires you?

My Mam has always inspired me, she’s always helping others and is always putting others before herself. She’s determined, positive and a force to be reckoned with. X

What inspires you when the going gets tough?

That other people experience far greater adversity. I think it’s important to try to keep sight of what’s important. So when things get tough, I try to remember that my obstacles or difficulties pale in comparison to others.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Never put off to tomorrow what you can do today! And never go to sleep on an argument.

What advice would you give to the 18 year old you?

Definitely be more social. Get out and have fun.

What would you like to be remembered for?

Making a difference … even if it’s a small one.

How did you get involved in IMPACT? There was an industrial dispute in work, I saw the importance of having a collective voice, and having expert representation. I joined IMPACT over a year ago, and I’ve gotten more and more actively involved. I became a workplace rep and was later elected onto the branch executive.

What’s the best thing about being involved in the union?

The benefits for me and my colleagues have been many, collectively we had a successful resolution to our industrial dispute. On a personal level, I have availed of upskill training, I am developing new skills as a work place rep and as a member of the executive committee. So getting involved with IMPACT has been a very positive and rewarding experience for me.

What would you say to non-union members?

I think it’s really important to have a collective voice, a collective voice is so much stronger than a lone one. The community and voluntary sector has been decimated and fragmented in recent years. I know of many who are working in jobs with very poor pay and conditions. Now more than ever it’s important to begin a process of restoration and investment in the C&V sector.

Photo by Conor Healy.

Clay Darcy is a member of IMPACT’s Boards & Voluntary Agencies branch and works for the Bray Youth Service, delivering drug education and prevention programmes. He is currently researching a PhD looking at masculinity and drug use.

Interview by Martina O’Leary O

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

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Photo: Conor Healy

Congress

A charter for fairness Since taking up the post of ICTU general secretary this year, Patricia King has established a Congress campaign for fairness, ethics and respect in the workplace. NIALL SHANAHAN met with Patricia to explore the ICTU charter for fair conditions at work, and Patricia’s views on the landscape for the Irish workforce as the country begins to emerge from economic catastrophe.

“EVERY WORKER is entitled to enjoy fair pay and decent conditions; all workers should be entitled to negotiate collectively with their employer without fear, and every worker is entitled to be treated with respect.” These were the words of Patricia King when it was announced she would succeed outgoing ICTU general secretary David Begg earlier this year.

Before becoming ICTU general secretary, Patricia was a full time official with SIPTU for over 25 years, representing workers in all areas of the economy, and played a leading role in the Irish Ferries dispute (2005/6) and in subsequent negotiations to establish the National Employment Rights Authority.

After taking up the post of general secretary, Patricia immediately set about a programme of work to pursue the principles she outlined, which has led to the development of the ICTU charter for fair conditions at work. The charter identifies the “key elements required to make Ireland the best place in which to work, live and raise a family” and is underpinned by the conviction that a strong economy cannot exist without a fair society.

A Living Wage A living wage affords an individual sufficient income to achieve an agreed, acceptable minimum standard of living, taking account of the need for food, clothing, heating, accommodation, transport and other essential costs. – Congress Charter for Fair Conditions at Work.

Patricia is one of two trade union representatives on the Low Pay Commission, who produced a minority report in July that argued that the Commission’s proposed rise of 50c per hour to the minimum wage was inadequate. Patricia’s approach was to aim for a Living Wage of €11.50 over the three year term of the Low Pay Commission, looking for a minimum wage of €10 per hour as a first step. The report maintained that, because of an anomaly in the PRSI system, a single adult working 39 hours a week could end up taking home less money after receiving the proposed rise.

Setting out her views on the issue of low pay, Patricia cautions against buying into the idea that pay recovery is widespread.

“There is a misconception that if certain sections of the economy are now delivering pay increases that everything is fixed.

We’re a long way from that to be honest.”

Patricia highlights the fact that some industries, like hotels, are moving into big profit, and it is quite affordable for them to pay people a better rate for the work that they do. “The nature of the work is very labour intensive. It amazes me that employers can’t grasp how much is demanded of staff, and yet they don’t estimate the value of that to be high.

“The other issue is the availability of staff. It doesn’t take a lot to figure out that a big reason for this is that they won’t pay their staff appropriately. In Dublin you can’t get a hotel room and yet, for the most part, they’re not going in to the JLCs (Joint Labour Committees) to agree a decent rate of pay.

Patricia says that while the collective bargaining legislation is not without its flaws, “The bit that makes you hopeful is the opportunities contained within it.”

“I’ve said it before that such employers should not be allowed to avail of the reduced VAT rate of 9%.

Where did that reduced rate go? It was supposed to go to the customer but all of the evidence I’ve looked at suggests that it has in fact gone into the profit margins.”

inherent in the pattern of tax increases and public spending cuts for them. They are suffering on the double, they are being denied public services that they can’t afford to get anywhere else, unlike those who are much better off.”

Recovery

The conversation about recovery turns, inevitably, to the growing crisis in housing, about which Patricia is a very passionate advocate for releasing land through compulsory purchase, a model that’s been proposed by the National Economic and Social Council (NESC).

Patricia says the legacy of budgets during the years of crisis – which saw each euro increase in tax matched by a two euro cut in public spending – is a ‘double whammy’ for lower paid workers. “People on lower wages depend a great deal more on public services, so there is a double hit for those workers

“There are competing factors, such as developers holding on to land (see page 14), construction companies and their representatives determining what’s affordable or not, and

local authorities who won’t do anything unless they see the colour of the Government’s money.

“All of these competing interests won’t do anything as they are all holding out to see if they can get a better offer down the road. The NESC proposition is to have NAMA provide land in those cities with an urgent need, if necessary on a compulsory basis, and have them do an agreement with local authorities and construction companies so that affordable housing is built and rents capped within that scheme, purchase prices capped, construction companies get a guarantee on investment and there would be no shortage of the provision of the land that would be required. continued on page 8

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WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 7

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Congress

Pay bargaining

Photo: Conor Healy

skilled people in the workplace who do not have the ability to deal with their colleagues in a respectful and dignified ways” Patricia explains.

“This may be regarded as ‘fluffy’ stuff and I have seen some senior people bristle when I talk about it, but it really does resonate with union members. I’ve seen it all too often. You can tell almost immediately when you enter the workplace whether or not that environment of mutual respect exists.

“We have been asking all TDs, senators and councillors to sign up to the charter. Our intention now is to meet with the management of every local authority in the country and talk to them about incorporating the charter. We’ll also be talking to faith groups and corporate bodies and this is all part of a national conversation we’ve initiated about these values” she says.

Patricia says that ethics need to be put on the agenda. “If you look at what happened with Clerys, and what company law permitted. We need to have a change in the law which means that when the company directors go into a room to manipulate the legislation, they will do so in the knowledge that they can never be a company director again.

“The Clerys workers want their sacrifice to count for something. The directors contrived to profit from the closure, abandon the workers with nothing and have the state pick up the remaining costs. The law needs to change, we have to keep pursuing that, it’s far too important not to” she says.

“We need to get people in the establishment to accept that housing is a fundamental necessity for people. How many more children need to be living in hotels before it’s acknowledged that we are in a housing emergency and we need to take measures to address that emergency? That’s why we need to build houses using the compulsory purchase model, and why I fully support the NESC model,” she says.

Hours Every worker has the right to a regular contract of employment which provides security of hours and certainty of income. – Congress Charter for Fair Conditions at Work.

Patricia says that the recent Dunnes Stores dispute shows how easy it is for employers to manipulate working hours.

“Uncertainty over available paid hours of work means that you cannot determine many aspects of your life, some employers are assuming total control over that, and there is nothing to stop them from engaging in that type of behaviour.”

Patricia explains that Congress is looking for an inclusion in the Organisation of Working Time Act that workers are entitled to know for a reasonable period what their hourly commitment will be. “That will give them certainty about their day to day life as well as their income. The next big step around this issue is the low hours report by the University of Limerick, commissioned by Minister Ged Nash, which is due to be published shortly.”

Respect and ethics Every worker is entitled to be treated with respect and dignity, as they go about their work. No one at work should be subjected to discrimination, harassment, bullying or any other form of abusive behaviour.– Congress Charter for Fair Conditions at Work.

“The purpose of putting ethics on our charter is about taking the opportunity to have that conversation. There are highly 8

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Collective bargaining Every worker has the right to be represented without fear of victimisation and to have a union represent them in collective bargaining negotiations with their employer. – Congress Charter for Fair Conditions at Work.

Patricia tells the story of a colleague who attended the International Trade Unions Congress about a year ago.

“Around 164 countries were represented, with many, including European countries, talking about the attacks on collective agreements and bargaining rights. Ireland was the only country that could report that unions were negotiating the development of legislation for collective bargaining laws.”

Patricia says that while the new legislation is not without its flaws, “The bit that makes you hopeful is the opportunities contained within it.

“It’s much more robust than the 2004 act, it deals with a number of issues we raised. The establishment of the sectoral employment orders is a very positive piece of legislation, offering unions the opportunity to go out and organise substantially in economic sectors.

“There’s now a pathway under the headings of remuneration, pensions and sick pay, to seek improvements for workers under those headings. The order then becomes the law of the land via the Oireachtas for the workers in that sector.

“It’s something we never had before, and offers a unique opportunity for unions to go out and organise and build structures to win improvements for workers.” When I ask Patricia if she’s generally optimistic about the future, she is quick to respond that the collective bargaining legislation is ‘where the hope lies.’

“It remains to be seen whether or not the movement rises to the challenge. If utilised correctly it offers the opportunity to organise workers to improve their terms and conditions. That has to be seen as a positive.”

For more on the charter visit: ictu.ie/congresscharter/ l

Beyond the smoke filled rooms While the Lansdowne Road Agreement has begun the process of pay restoration for public service workers, changing pay models in the private sector have had a huge influence on how pay bargaining is conducted. IMPACT assistant general secretary JOHNNY FOX looks at the changing landscape and what it has yielded for IMPACT members in the the state commercial and private sectors.

IN 1978, Sylvester Stallone played the character Johnny Kovak in F.I.S.T. Set in the 1930a, Kovak is a Cleveland warehouse worker who becomes an organiser in the Federation of Inter State Truckers (FIST). He eventually comes to lead this fictional union of two million members. In a pivotal moment of the film, Kovak is seen in a series of smoke-filled rooms, sleeves rolled up, driving a hard bargain with the employers.

Kovak then stands before hundreds of jubilant conference delegates to declare “I promised ya eight per cent and I gots ya eight per cent!”

It’s a colourful representation of the wage bargaining process, and there’s probably a good many commentators who think this is how it’s still done. The reality, however, is very different,

as the process of wage bargaining is constantly evolving. With the social partnership era long since passed, new approaches are emerging, and examples of how wage bargaining is developing can be seen in both the state commercial and private sectors where IMPACT members are part of the union’s Services and Enterprise division.

While new developments bring new challenges for trade union officials and representatives, there are also opportunities to carve out agreements that are beneficial to union members and which allow them a stronger stakeholder role. The following are a few examples of how this is developing the state commercial and private sectors. continued on page 10 ‰ WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 9

Pay bargaining Coillte As far back as 2003 the state forestry company Coillte indicated it wanted to move from national pay agreements, linked to the public service, to a market based pay mechanism. This mechanism would be based on performance and reward and replace traditional increment-based salary scales.

Negotiations eventually got underway in 2010 and a new pay and reward model was agreed in 2012.

This model determines base salary by reference to the market, and cost of living increases are determined by reference to the wage movement in an agreed number of companies. Movement up the salary bands is by reference to individually measured performance, which also attracts an annual bonus based on individual and company targets.

Since 2012 this mechanism has yielded three annual cost of living salary increases of just over 2 per cent, with average performance pay of around 2-2.5 per cent of salary per year.

The reward element of the agreement has yielded payments for members of between 2.5 and 22 per cent of annual salary, based on individual performance results. IMPACT represents 282 members in the clerical, administrative, professional, technical and management grades at Coillte.

Homeless crisis A lengthy process in 2014 produced an agreement for four years with a 1.5 per cent cost of living increase applied to salaries each year up to 2020. This will mean a cumulative rise of 6.3 per cent in base pay and allowances. The number of points on the pay scale will be reduced, giving new employees an opportunity to reach lifetime earnings in line with existing staff. Overall the agreement offers the potential of a 6 to 12 per cent increase over four years.

Dublin Airport Authority IMPACT and the DAA begin negotiations this month on a new pay determination mechanism. A recent Labour Court decision recommended a 2 per cent increase to salaries from 1st July 2014, and a 2 per cent increase in salaries from 1st July 2015, which were applied in September. Similar discussions are due to commence shortly with the Shannon Airport Authority. Staff in both companies are performance managed and can achieve annual bonuses of up to 10 per cent of salary.

CHC Helicopters Vodafone IMPACT represents 79 members in Vodafone working in the professional and technical management area of the company.

The company operates a market based salary system, and awards pay increases in line with the market average. Since 2008 the average pay increase – which is performance based – has been around 1.5 to 2 per cent with annual bonuses of up to 10 per cent of salary. The current mechanism is restrictive as pay increases based on performance are only given to staff who are deemed to be in a salary range lower than the market average. IMPACT has lodged a claim to introduce a collective pay agreement for all members at the company.

Netshare Limited is a subsidiary of Vodafone and IMPACT represents professional and technical staff. A referral to the LRC on a backdated pay claim produced a recommendation to increase salaries by 1.5 per cent, backdated to 1st June 2013. Negotiations on a new pay determination mechanism are due to get underway.

P&O Maritime Ltd P&O Maritime operates two research ships for the Marine Institute. IMPACT referred the matter of a long standing pay freeze to the LRC which produced a recommendation for a 2 per cent increase from 1st July 2015 and 2 per cent from 1st July 2016.

Irish Aviation Authority There are three IMPACT branches in the IAA representing members in air traffic control, radio officers and aviation safety. A pay freeze has been in operation to June 2015 and the company imposed an aggressive policy of salary reduction for new employees of between 10 and 40 per cent.

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CHC Helicopters operate the search and rescue service for the Irish State. A four year agreement is now in place for pilot crews, yielding three increases of over 2 per cent. Winch crews have entered an agreement which will see a total of 5 per cent paid in two phases over 28 months. Both agreements also produced positive changes to sick leave entitlements, private health insurance and retirement age. For the winch crews negotiations on a new pay determination model are to be concluded before August next year.

Rent certainty must be part of the solution to homelessness IMPACT represents people working in homeless services and is actively campaigning with them to achieve practical solutions to the current homelessness crisis.

LAST YEAR, the key theme which emerged from the IMPACT-organised homelessness conference, A Roof Is a Right, was the need for Government intervention through emergency rent controls in order to provide greater security for private tenants, and a sense of stability to an oversubscribed and chaotic private rental market.

IMPACT joined a large number of other stakeholders at the Homelessness Summit last year and called for market interventions to prevent the continued escalation of people being made homeless.

At this year’s ICTU Congress, IMPACT proposed a motion which called for the regulation of rents through an indexation system, similar to those in European countries with

progressive policies that guarantee fairness and stability to tenant and landlord alike.

Since then, rental prices have continued to surge and the homeless crisis gets worse.

Short-term efforts to deal with the crisis have proved insufficient on their own.

Increasing supply through building social housing is the best way to deal with this issue in the long-term, but other measures are needed urgently.

IMPACT has advocated that rent increases should be linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in order to achieve rent certainty for tenants. Similar regulatory models operate successfully in other European countries such as Germany, Denmark and Belgium.

Those affected should not be expected to wait any longer. IMPACT will continue to campaign with our members working in homeless services to achieve solutions.

Joe O’Connor, IMPACT organiser l

Irish Water Irish Water operates a pay and reward structure which moved away from the more traditional increment-based pay model to a market and performance based model. Under this model annual pay is determined by benchmarking to agreed external companies, and annual movement within salary ranges is aligned to performance. This effectively means that the percentage of pay involved is ‘at risk’ and PRAs are only paid if certain performance targets are met. Under this pay model there is also a pay freeze until 2016.

A decision by management not to pay the PRAs to Irish Water staff last year was in breach of agreement and the trade union group at Irish Water (SIPTU, IMPACT, Unite) referred the matter to the LRC (see union business, page 38).

A recent independent review of the Ervia Group’s pay model found that, contrary to perceptions, there is “no evidence that a so-called richly rewarded ‘bonus culture’ is in operation.”

Among its conclusions the review also found that the pay model does not encourage or enable excessively high levels of pay and that, in most cases, actual individual pay levels at Ervia are lower than typical market rates. IMPACT has been organising workers in Irish Water since 2014, and is now in the process of lodging a claim with the company to address the low pay issue identified in the independent report l WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 11

Work and life Photo: Conor Healy Photography.

promoted to tax officer, and became an IMPACT member with the Tax Officials branch. In the meantime, her daughter Aishling was born in 1992.

“Dave Hughes was my IMPACT official, we had previously worked together in the CPSU, and he encouraged me to get active in the union again. I joined the DEC in 1995 and I became the CEC Equality Officer in 1997.”

Later the same year Louise joined the staff as a temporary industrial relations officer (IRO), working with the Dublin Health Services branch, then later with the three Dublin local authorities and a number of civil service branches, becoming an assistant general secretary in 2000.

National secretary In 2005, Louise became national secretary for the Civil Service division, and sat on the board of the Health and Safety Authority for two terms (six years). She also served on the board of the Equality Authority, from which she resigned in 2009, along with five other board members, in support of outgoing CEO Niall Crowley, and in opposition to the direction being taken by the authority “away from its role as advocate for those who cannot represent themselves.”

European Court of Justice win

Holding Court IMPACT national secretary Louise O’Donnell will take up her new post at the Labour Court in November. Louise’s selection for the position of worker member of the newly created division of the Labour Court, from a field of very strong industrial relations candidates, was announced last July. She talks to NIALL SHANAHAN about her unintentional career path.

LOUISE O’DONNELL has been part of IMPACT’s senior management team since 2005 and has been national secretary for IMPACT’s largest division, Health and Welfare, since 2010.

Louise started her career at an early age. “I started work when I was 17 in the Revenue Commissioners in Dublin Castle, the day my Leaving Cert results came out. I got involved in the union almost straight away. In those days you joined your union pretty much immediately, and I was encouraged to get more involved by some of the local reps not long after that.”

It was, arguably, a less enlightened time, and Louise discovered a few male executive officers in the revenue commissioners who mistakenly thought her role was to make tea for them. “I grew up with four brothers, so that wasn’t going to happen, and I got into a bit of a spat with them about three weeks in. I don’t think I drank tea for about two years because I wouldn’t make it for them!”

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IMPACT national secretary Louise O’Donnell with her daughter Aishling, October 2015.

Dispute Louise transferred into taxes into 1985, and became embroiled in a dispute over pay differentials for clerical assistants. “At that time we didn’t have a pay differential. We were in the CPSU, but other grades were in taxes unions.

Myself and Geraldine O’Brien (now an assistant general secretary with IMPACT) led a large group out of the CPSU, and we joined the Tax Officials Union, one of the unions that merged to form IMPACT.” Following an intervention from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) Louise returned to the CPSU. “We then took the claim to arbitration and we won the pay differential.” Louise took a seat on the CPSU’s executive, before being seconded full time to the union in the early 90s. In 1993 Louise was

In 2008 Louise made the case on behalf of 91 civil servants working on fixed term contracts which resulted in securing a successful legal opinion from the European Court of Justice Advocate General, which supported IMPACT’s position on behalf of the workers.

Louise explains, “IMPACT had argued that, under a 2001 EU directive, the 91 civil servants were entitled to the same benefits as permanent staff, such as pay increases, pensions and access to promotions. The civil service had seen itself as exempt from the legislation.

"The most important element of that was that the directive was found to apply to fixed-term public servants' pay and pensions. It was an important victory, and clarified that public servants, on fixed-term contracts, are entitled to have their pay and pensions aligned with those of their permanent colleagues. It was one of the first big European cases on fixed term workers and it’s cited all the time now in case law.”

Health, welfare and myth Louise transferred to IMPACT’s largest division, Health & Welfare, in 2010, at a time when Louise says the health service was facing huge challenges. “The Croke Park agreement had just come into existence, while the HSE was still only just becoming a body, still dealing with huge structural changes, and there was, I suppose, lots of uncertainty among members in the sector.”

Louise describes how practically all of the focus of the recruitment moratorium tended to be on particular frontline posts. “Clerical and admin staff were regularly publicly denigrated, with media commentators pouring scorn and insult on them on a weekly basis.”

Louise worked with head of communications Bernard Harbor to develop a briefing document to challenge the myths that persisted around clerical and admin workers in the health service. Their research showed that administrative and management staff numbers fell by more than any other

Louise and Bernard Harbor (pictured) produced the briefing document that helped to change perceptions of clerical admin staff working in health services.

category of health staff, apart from ‘general support staff’ between 2009 and 2013, and that well over 85% of clerical, administrative and managerial staff provide direct support to those performing ‘front-line’ roles.

“We sent that document out to all TDs, senators and councillors, and I think we’ve killed that myth that there’s a warehouse full of HSE staff somewhere waiting for someone to find them and give them something to do.” Louise says their role is better recognised and valued now. “Over the last five years that has changed which I regard as very positive step. Only this year the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, talked about the value of clerical admin staff in the health service at our conference. That’s a measure of far we’ve moved on.”

Studies Louise has seized the opportunity to develop her skills and qualifications along the way, and is quick to acknowledge IMPACT’s support in this. She’s completed a Bachelor in Business Studies degree (honours) at UCD in 2005, followed by a post graduate diploma in employment law at UCD in 2008, as well as a certificate in health and safety and a diploma in learning and development.

Passions A huge fan of Dublin GAA, Louise is a regular supporter at Hill 16, and home life revolves around Aishling and her granddaughter Ella (4). Louise has also developed a formidable set of skills in martial arts, holding a black belt in jujitsu and brown belt in kickboxing. She won a bronze medal in the World Kickboxing championships in 2011, and a silver medal in 2014. She also teaches kickboxing once a week at Martial Arts Incorporated in Blanchardstown, Dublin, in addition to her own training.

Louise says that she never had designs on the career she’s followed. “There’s a part of me that thinks that, left to my own devices, I might’ve been very happy to continue working in revenue, but the experience of being an active trade union member threw up challenges which I was happy to take on, and I’ve really enjoyed the path it has taken me on.

“I’ve had the opportunity to take a couple of legally significant cases as a union official and I’ve really developed an interest in that side of the work, so it will be interesting to be more involved in employment law,” she says l WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 13

Housing crisis

authorities should implement the levy, including in relation to its own land.

Kieran Rose

A levy on public and private vacant land has the potential to release badly needed vacant sites for housing construction, creating an unprecedented incentive to activate urban sites that have remained vacant for years. KIERAN ROSE, a planner and member of the Dublin City branch, drafted the vacant land taskforce submission to the Government in 2013.

Here he explains the thinking behind the levy, and how it’s one of the most powerful pieces of planning and development legislation introduced in recent years.

Photo: dreamstime.com

THERE HAS been a lot of discussion in the media about the need to increase housing supply, and the supply of office space, with concerns expressed about rapidly rising rents and negative impacts on our international competitiveness. One of the key delivery agents is a properly functioning, competitive and fair development land market, and concerns have been expressed that we do not have such a market.

In a recent report, Housing Supply and Land: Driving Public Action for the Common Good, the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) made an interesting and powerful statement: “Well before the crisis and current logjam, Ireland’s system of land allocation and housing supply was dysfunctional.

Ownership of large amounts of building land in some areas was very concentrated, and these landowners cooperated rather than competed, contributing to poor land market performance.”

NESC concluded by saying that public action is needed to reduce the price of land for development. This is a bracing 14

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analysis and recommendation from NESC, one of the key bodies advising the Government and chaired by Martin Fraser, Secretary General to the Government.

Supply The NESC analysis is shared by some private sector developers. According to a report in the Sunday Business Post last July, one proposal to boost the supply of student accommodation is to introduce a zero VAT rate for the construction of student accommodation. However, Matthew McAdden of the student accommodation investors Ziggurat, suggested such a move could push up land prices. He said that tax breaks are not the solution, and what was really needed was an increase the supply of land to the market.

As regards Dublin, the strange thing is that there are significant amounts of vacant land in the inner city that have remained vacant and undeveloped despite fifteen years of economic boom and tax incentives. A Dublin City Council audit puts this at 60 hectares. Many of our towns and cities have similar problems with vacant sites.

The submission also highlighted that vacant development land is the only property category that is not subject to rates or levies of any kind. Because there is no disincentive to a landowner for leaving a site vacant for many years, the taskforce recommended a levy that would incentivise and accelerate its development. Alternatively, the levy would foster the sale of a vacant site to those who have the interest, and access to resources, to develop it. The levy would therefore increase the supply of development land on to the market and help to moderate price increases in development land and prices to end users.

Legislation It is most welcome that the Government has included a vacant land levy in the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015.

The commencement order was signed quickly by Minister Alan Kelly bringing the Act into force on September 1st.

“The vacant land levy could be a real ‘game changer’ in achieving a cultural or ‘mind-set’ shift.”

The levy was strongly resisted by powerful vested interests so it has achieved remarkably rapid progress from policy proposal in 2013 to enactment in 2015. Now every planning authority must, beginning on 1st January 2017, establish and maintain a vacant sites register and make it publicly available, and establish the market value of the land.

As a planner with a particular interest in the inner city, I was fascinated by this paradox and thought that a levy on vacant land might be the way forward. As he was about to be elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 2013 I suggested this to Oisín Quinn.

He agreed and set up a vacant land taskforce. The taskforce made a detailed submission to Government calling for a vacant land levy.

Provision is made for appeals by the landowner. The levy is set at 3% of the market value, with the levy payable from January 2019.

The submission noted that vacant sites damage the economic potential and general attractiveness of an area for residents, workers, businesses, investors, and tourists. Vacant sites are magnets for anti-social behaviour, vandalism, and illegal dumping, all of which place costs on the local authority and community.

One very innovative feature of the Act is that any money received by a planning authority arising from the levy must be spent on the provision of housing, or on the development and renewal of regeneration land, in the vicinity of the site. I understand that the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government is preparing guidelines on how local

The Bill initially excluded vacant land owned by housing authorities. However, the minister introduced an amendment to omit this exemption and said this would ensure that all owners of vacant sites will be treated equally. This means that local authorities will have the same responsibilities under this legislation as private land owners. The Act also amends the Planning and Development Act in relation to objectives that a Development Plan must include.

Efficiencies There are a range of other ways to make the development land market more efficient, such as increasing the availability of public information on the ownership and location of vacant sites, providing data on market valuations and making all this information available on-line.

In its recent report, NESC referred to the 1973 Kenny Report on the price of building land which advocated measures to capture the land value uplift, or betterment, arising from economic and social development. In one of the great ‘what ifs’ of contemporary Irish history, the Kenny report recommendations were never implemented. As NESC puts it: “To some degree, we are facing the same issues and challenges within the housing market over forty years later.”

I think the vacant land levy could be a real ‘game changer’ in achieving a cultural or ‘mind-set’ shift that says it is not acceptable for owners to leave their properties vacant and so damaging to the common good. Good practice and corporate governance will mean that private and public organisations will have to justify why they are paying the levy and placing a cost on the organisation, what practical proposals they have for developing the site/s, and if there are none, why the site/s are not being disposed of.

One can imagine, for example, audit committees asking searching questions. The vacant land levy has huge potential to significantly improve our towns and cities and, as such, this Act is a one of the most powerful pieces of planning and development legislation introduced in recent years.

The vacant land taskforce submission is available at: dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/content/Planning/ Documents/Vacant%20Land%20Memorandum.pdf l WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 15

Public service

The Way Forward

IMPACT members working in the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) are preparing to launch a campaign publication outlining both the vital work that NEPS provides in our schools and the urgent need for more staff to equip the service to meet the demands of a growing school population.

MARTINA O’LEARY reports.

Sorcha O’Toole, branch secretary of IMPACT’s NEPS branch captures the intensity of the working day within the school environment. “The day could include a series of meetings, an observation or assessment with a child as well as a couple of hours after-school training with the staff to make the most of your time, particularly if you have to travel long distances,” says Sorcha.

Resources Educational psychologists based in rural areas may have to cover 30 to 40 schools, which creates a challenge for both the schools and the psychologists. “It all eats into the available time of the individual psychologist and ultimately the time the school has access to the service,” says Sorcha.

The waiting list for psychological assessment is well documented, but accounts only for a small part of the work programme, but it demonstrates the lack of resources within the service. “Each school has a time allocation. The problem is the school can do anything with the time, as long as they can justify it is appropriate. It could be training, a phone call looking for advice about wellbeing, a conversation about a critical incident, research for a particular school or just travelling between different schools,” explains Sorcha.

International standards The Department of Education is currently limited to 173 psychologist posts. The target of 200 psychologists, based on a student population of 814,800 set out in 1998, was never achieved. Ireland’s current school population has increased

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Educational psychologist Sorcha O’Toole, with Eaven Griffin, Learning Support Resource Teacher.

by 8.3% since 1998. This is expected to grow to 934,200 by 2021, an increase of 15%.

their first or second psychological assessment. Many families in the school are not in a position to have children assessed privately,” she said.

In 2009, Ireland was ranked 26th in an international study of the ratio of school psychologists, with an overall ratio of one psychologist to 5,298 students. The NEPS branch booklet will be published later this month. A School Psychological Service for all Children & Young People – the Way Forward argues “for Ireland to deliver a school psychological service, which is in keeping with international standards, a ratio of one school psychologist to 3,500 students is recommended. This would require the immediate employment of at least 250 psychologists in the national educational psychological service in 2015, and 267 psychologists by 2021.”

IMPACT industrial relations officer Ian Mc Donnell, who is working with the branch on their campaign, says the current number of psychologists in NEPS is far below what is required to ensure service delivery to a growing population. “The NEPS branch has taken a proactive approach by developing a quality publication that highlights the increase in student numbers and the importance that adequate psychologist-to-student ratios are achieved and maintained,” says Ian.

Making a difference “The NEPS service makes a huge difference to children in our school who are in need of support and we would love to be able to offer support to all who need it. Two to three NEPS assessments a year is not enough for a school this size. They are like gold dust to us,” says Áine Fitzpatrick, deputy principal of the senior national school in Mary Mother of Hope, Dublin.

“Every year we have our list of children who are in need of X

Áine explains that NEPS has been a great help in addressing the growing problem of children presenting with emotional and behavioural difficulties. “In recent years we have seen an increase in the number of children presenting with emotional and behavioural difficulties in particular anxiety and low selfesteem. With Sorcha, our educational psychologist, we would have worked quite closely with NEPS on cognitive behaviour training programmes, such as Friends for Life ,” explains Áine.

Alma Moran is the school principal at Mary Mother of Hope junior national school and explains the difference made

by NEPS. “The teachers gain a reassurance, a confidence around their own ability to deal with the more challenging areas of literacy and numeracy for the children, plus the social and emotional side of things. For the children it means they are functioning better in school, they are coping better in terms of the school day, for the very young that can be very stressful, they are succeeding and able to move forward to the next stage,” says Alma.

Sorcha explains that NEPS ability to deliver programmes like these depends on the level of staffing and resources in particular areas. “If we had the required level of psychologists, we could do more of these things more consistently. We are dipping in to so many different things, but we can’t do them all,” she says.

Campaign IMPACT national secretary Andy Pike praises the campaign by the educational psychologists. “The research carried out by our NEPS branch highlights the damage wrought by the moratorium within our key public services. The failure to recruit new staff continues to damage service provision for some of the most vulnerable children in the State.

“The refusal to replace professional and technical staff across the civil service is fast becoming a crisis. Within every department, office or laboratory we find professional and technical staff providing an ever expanding range of complex services whilst struggling to maintain professional standards. Staff numbers have significantly reduced over the last seven years, but as the work done by NEPS demonstrates, the demands on specialist services continue to increase.

Photo by Michael Crean Photography.

The educational psychologist provides support to address problems with literacy and numeracy, social interaction, as well as emotional, behavioural, language, communication and physical problems.

“We would love to have more access to NEPS services. Due to their limited resources teachers in classrooms often don’t have access to the NEPS psychologist unless a child is referred,” says Áine.

Photo by Michael Crean Photography.

SINCE THE establishment of NEPS, in 1999, educational psychology practise in Ireland has evolved considerably. NEPS provides a psychological service to the country’s primary and post-primary schools with a focus on preventation and early intervention. The educational psychologist can introduce programmes that help teachers to identify problems children may be having early on, and to manage them in an informed way within the school environment.

The ‘Friends’ programmes are evidence-based for pupils aged 4–16+ which are designed to reduce and prevent anxiety, as well as to promote resilience through teaching coping and problem solving skills. Approximately 1,000 primary and post-primary teachers have accessed this two-day training provided by NEPS. The publication points out that with increased staffing, NEPS would aim to deliver 40 programmes annually, reaching 1,000 teachers and 25,000 pupils, of which it’s estimated that 20% have a lifetime risk of anxiety.

Áine Fitzpatrick, Deputy Principal, “We have a huge need for more NEPS services.

“This is why IMPACT is developing a civil service recruitment campaign to apply maximum pressure on all Government departments to recruit sufficient numbers of professional and technical staff. If the Government is keen to promote civil service renewal then it is about time the depleted ranks of IMPACT specialist grades were subject to this renewal through proper workforce planning and fresh recruitment,” says Andy O

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

17

Trade unions

Tory attempts to bust unions must fail In the immediate aftermath of the UK general election in May, the new Tory government launched its latest attempt to impair the strength of trade unions. The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) is one of the largest unions in the UK, with around 220,000 members. PCS group president Lorna Merry writes about the new bill and the campaign to oppose it.

These hypocritical proposals are designed to tie fighting unions up in bureaucracy, setting a bar for union democracy that they themselves would fail to meet.

TWO MONTHS on from a surprise election victory, David Cameron’s government has launched an all out attack on the most vocal, and most effective, opponents of their policies, the trade union movement.

We have proved to be far more resilient than they expected but this remains a significant attack that will hit our ability to organise, campaign and fight for members’ interests at a time when we face further cuts of between 25-40% and another four years of a virtual pay freeze.

Freed from the constraints of coalition, the Tories are seeking to finish off what they started before the election. In my union, PCS, this started with the withdrawal of check-off from those departments where Liberal Democrats had previously been able to resist this blatant union busting strategy. ‰

These hypocritical proposals are designed to tie fighting unions up in bureaucracy, setting a bar for union democracy that they themselves would fail to meet. Out of the Conservatives' 330 MPs elected in May, 274 failed to win the support of at least 40% of their electorates.

Lorna Merry

Under the proposals put forward the Tories plan to: l Impose a minimum 50% turnout in strike ballots l Insist public sector strikes have the backing of at least 40% of those eligible to vote – doubling the threshold that would have to be met in any strike called in health, education, fire, transport, border security and energy sectors l Force unions to give employers 14 days notice of strike action l Allow employers to bring in agency staff to cover for striking workers l Impose a four-month time limit for industrial action mandates l Criminalise 'unlawful' pickets – this would apply to everyone on a picket line with more than six people Main photo: Gettyimages.ie

In my department, Revenue and Customs, check-off was withdrawn in December and we have been working flat out to sign every member up to a direct debit system. By late summer, when membership ended for all those who have not completed a direct debit, we had signed up 82% of existing members, and more than 50% of all staff to secure ongoing union recognition, but we still stand to lose 18% of our members, and 18% of our income.

l Require union members to opt-in to pay the political levy and then repeat the question every five years

At the same time, they refuse our requests to work with us to make it easier for people to vote in workplaces by using technology. This is not about democracy, it’s about denying a voice to the movement that has made the case for tax justice and the living wage at a time when the British Labour party has failed to offer any real opposition which means that this is not just an attack on trade unions, it is an attack on society as a whole. Weaker unions mean greater inequality.

As the government intensifies the attack on us, our members are standing firm to defend their pay, conditions and service standards. In January this year, 94% of our National Gallery members voted for action on a turnout of 62% in a dispute over privatisation. In April, 84% of our members working at Windsor Castle voted for action on a turnout of 82%, getting international press coverage and winning concessions on pay.

In July, members at the Department for Work and Pensions voted to take strike action with 89.7% voting to take action in a dispute over working conditions on a 55.8% turnout.

The Tories will try to use their wafer thin majority to force through the biggest attack on unions since the days of Thatcher, but they have no legitimacy and their attempts to bust us will fail l

l Compel unions to appoint a person to supervise picketing l Empower the government to set a limit on the proportion of working time any public sector worker can spend on union duties l Give the government certification officer powers to fine trade unions as much as £20,000 for breaches of reporting rules, including an annual audit on its protests and pickets.

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This article was first published in the July/August edition of Public Service Review magazine, the journal of the Public Service Executive Union (PSEU) and is reproduced with kind permission.

PSI and TUC highlight new Bill’s attack on human and trade union rights PUBLIC SERVICES International has said that the UK’s Trade Union Bill will severely undermine fundamental human and trade union rights, such as freedom of association and the right to strike in the UK. In a recent statement, PSI said “These fundamental rights have been enshrined and acknowledged in international human rights’ treaties and jurisprudence since 1948 in the UN, ILO and EU human rights instruments and are cornerstones of all free democratic societies.

“We believe it will cripple the UK’s industrial relations system, curtail the social and civil rights of UK people, dramatically erode workplace democracy and set a very dangerous precedent for the European Union and the rest of the world. We also share the view of the UK Regulatory Policy Committee that the whole Bill is ‘not fit for purpose’.”

PSI has urged the UK Government to withdraw the draft Bill because it breaches fundamental human and labour rights “and would place the UK among the ranks of human rights offender countries.”

The Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons in September drawing criticism from both the Opposition and from some Conservative MPs. It was described by Shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle as “an attack on the rights of working people across the UK.” She added that the bill saddled unions with "draconian" restrictions, noting that the days lost to strike action had fallen by 90 per cent in two decades.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said the campaign against the legislation was far from over. “The record books will show that this government’s first major act in office has been to attack the right to strike – a fundamental British liberty. We will continue to oppose it at each stage through Parliament.

Ministers have underestimated the public,” she said. Ms O’Grady added Frances O’Grady that it was good to hear MPs from across the house recognise the huge threat the bill poses to civil liberties and fair treatment at work.

Conservative MP David Davis said that the inclusion of a requirement for picketing workers to give their names to the police violated the principle of freedom of association and could lead to a "slippery slope”. Davis said he would vote against the bill at its third reading if these measures were still included.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 19

Your career

Get organised The old saying ‘A place for everything, and everything in its place’ rings true for ISOBEL BUTLER as she writes how good organisational skills are crucial to your work and career.

PUTTING YOUR organisational skills into practice in your workplace will improve your efficiency and productivity, help you feel less stressed and more satisfied and increase the likelihood that you will be successful if you are applying for new roles in your current workplace.

As well as causing inefficiency and stress, being disorganised contributes to poor work life balance as people stay late or take work home to finish and meet deadlines. Time is lost looking for misplaced materials, information or tools and mistakes are made because people are working under pressure or become flustered.

Often people who start to practice the art of organisation at work or home report feeling more motivated and energised, less sluggish and overwhelmed and find that they have more time available for the activities that are most important to them.

Make a list Start each day by developing a plan and schedule based on a prioritised ‘to do’ list. Plan to invest most time and effort into those tasks that deliver the most benefits. Schedule tasks to allow for variety as this can be more energizing. A sedentary and focused activity, such as writing a document, could be followed by an activity that requires talking to others or moving around.

Often people require a task to be done immediately but tasks may not always be as urgent as they are being presented.

Sometimes we’re being presented with false deadlines. Spend time discussing the real importance of the task, explain your current timelines and priorities and get the most accurate picture of how important the task is and strive to establish realistic deadlines. Obviously do adjust your schedule if the task is genuinely high priority.

Always take your lunch break and try and schedule some exercise into that break. A short walk around the block can clear the head, reduce the stress and tensions that can accumulate while boosting energy levels.

Photo: dreamstime.com

Work/life balance Keeping your schedule on a calendar reduces the need to rely solely on memory, ensuring nothing is forgotten. By including home priorities such as dental check-ups, parent–teacher meetings or planned exercise activities helps maintain our work life balance allowing us to organise our time, and ensuring we have enough energy and attention left to attend to family, personal and work priorities without anything clashing.

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Look at the work space and declutter as much as is possible.

An ordered and less chaotic workspace saves time looking for misplaced items or information and reduces stress levels by giving a greater sense of control.

e saying, Remember the old Roy Kean l. Here are fail to prepare, prepare to fai ised. some top tips for being organ Prioritise

Focus and avoid distraction

Have a schedule

Don’t multitask

Use to do lists Treat phone calls as ild short meetings and bu ule ed sch r you o int m the Don’t procrastinate Make sure deadlines are realistic

Organise

Declutter

Organise the work space so that there is a place for everything that is needed and then develop the habit of returning things to that place when you are finished with them. During the working day keep the next task to do out of your sight line as this helps us to stay calm and focused. At the end of each day return the work area back to its decluttered state so that the next day starts with a clear ordered work space with everything at hand.

Have a place for everything and everything in its place

Avoid multitasking – it doesn’t save time. In effect, we’re just switching back and forth between tasks and often one task will interfere with the other leading to mistakes. Frequently neither task gets the full attention it deserves, neither may get finished on time or to the desired standard. Once a task arrives to your desk assess its importance, decide what to do with it and schedule the time to deal with it. Once it is completed file it away, tick it off your list or dispose of it.

Managing emails Email has become a source of stress in the modern work place and also requires a systematic approach. Delete all emails that you do not need. If you find yourself regularly deleting emails unopened because they are simply updates or offers then unsubscribe from them.

Set up email auto-filters to help you deal with the emails more time efficiently so those related to specific projects or activities are automatically directed to project or task folders.

You can then decide when to access these depending on their priority and your schedule. Create a folder ‘for action’ and move priority emails there. Once the item has been dealt with save it to your hard drive, archive it or delete it as appropriate.

Opening each email as it arrives is distracting and overwhelming (avoid it). Set aside specific times during the day for dealing with email and stick to those times.

As the workday draws to a close, take out that morning’s ‘to do’ list. A good way to declutter the mind at the end of the day is to take a few minutes to write up the next day’s list. This will calm the mind before a relaxing evening, and stops work interfering with our rest and sleep l

Manage your email don’t let it rule your life Plan important tasks for those parts of the day when you have most energy Do easier tasks when energy is lower like early afternoon At the end of the day leave your work space in order

“Organise the work space so that there is a place for everything that is needed and then develop the habit of returning things to that place when you are finished with them.”

Isobel Butler is an independent organisational psychologist who works with people on a wide range of workplace issues including conflict management, dealing with change and solving problems. If there are specific issues you’d like her to tackle in these articles send them in via the editor, Work & Life magazine, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1 or info@impact.ie.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 21

Looking good

A selection of Ailbhe Doyle’s LimbO collection.

Irish fashion design graduates are turning heads and getting attention as their work continues to propel Irish talent into the limelight. TRISH O’MAHONY looks at how graduate Ailbhe Doyle is redefining Irish fashion as part of a new generation of talented designers.

IT’S HARD to imagine how technology will influence fashion but research tells us wearable technology will be a part of all our wardrobes in the not too distant future. Google Glass flopped as a concept, but fashionable wearable tech, in the form of the coveted Apple Watch, has ushered in a new phase.

If tech is the new black, then it’s going to take talent and vision to make it all work.

Which brings me to Ailbhe Doyle. There is something fresh, modern, yet classical about Ailbhe’s designs that assures me we’ll be seeing plenty more of her in the years ahead. Ailbhe graduated from NCAD this year with the second highest grade in her year. Breaking onto the international stage of fashion, and establishing yourself, is every designer’s dream. Ailbhe has had a promising start when she scored a place on the shortlist of the Dublin Fashion Festival Young Designer of the Year 2015.

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One of ten finalists, selected from all around Ireland, for the festival’s prestigious title of Young Designer of the Year 2015, Ailbhe says “It’s a great opportunity for designers to highlight us to some of the most influential people in the industry. This includes great press exposure and an experience to work with industry experts.”

Each finalists’ chosen piece featured on TV3’s Exposé, with themes varying from victorian to boho, Ailbhe’s own theme was techno. She was also chosen to represent her college in the Irish Innovation Awards earlier this year. Her designs have featured in the Irish Independent weekend magazine.

Ailbhe is aware of the importance of the commercial side to her career and was fortunate to be chosen to design a capsule collection for River Island for Spring/Summer 2015. Ailbhe explains, “The competition encouraged us to push design boundaries while remaining commercial and wearable”. This is the magic formula required to be a designer that stands the test of time.

She aspires to create classic clothes that are unique, individual, one-off pieces that will be timeless, interesting and beautifully constructed. What struck me when I saw them was how wearable her designs are. Personally I think the addition of the sheer long sleeve undergarments, while creating a ‰

minimalist approach, gives the wearer more versatility and comfort. Fussy accessories are unnecessary, simplicity is the key.

space. This led her to create structures that floated away from the body. Fabric choices have the same techno-digital influence, such as latex, rubber and flesh tone latex.

I asked Ailbhe if she’d recommend the NCAD course to aspiring young designers? “For leaving certificate students I would encourage them to do a summer course in dressmaking to gain technical skills and that will help them

For as long as I can remember black and white colour combinations feature prominently every season. It’s timeless. Ailbhe has very cleverly taken this one step further by simply developing a double sided approach. The result is quite dramatic and is enhanced even further by the fabric being cut on the bias. The bias cut allows the fabric to drape softly, as if floating.

“Breaking into the international stage of fashion, and establishing yourself there, is every designer’s dream.” throughout the course. The course is very competitive and requires long hours, determination and ambition. I would have been in college from nine in the morning to nine at night.”

Ailbhe’s class consisted of only fifteen students, who developed and grew together through team projects. Elements of the course included visual research, drawing, the design process, fashion design, knitwear design, pattern cutting, garment construction, illustration presentation, manufacturing techniques and market research.

LimbO Ailbhe’s collection is called LimbO. Her designs have a futuristic, contemporary influence. She believes smart techno digital has become an extension of the body, such as smart phones, cyber space and wires. Her collection evolves around creating the illusion of structures floating through cyber-

Ailbhe’s inspirations come from well-known Japanese designers such as Comme de Garcon, Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Rei Kawa Kubo. These leading designers are at the forefront of today’s fashion.

Winners Irish designers traditionally have a more individualistic appeal than international designers and the fact that the numbers showcasing at the likes of London Fashion Week are growing each year is a testament to the professionalism and skill of the designers this country continues to produce.

Ailbhe’s current collection is not for sale because she’s working on collaborations to promote herself as a young designer. But she will create bespoke special occasion pieces for you, including consultation and fittings. Her intention is to design a refined range of more commercial pieces. Contact her by email at ailbhedoyle@hotmail.com.

LimbO is on exhibition as part of the Irish Designer Emporium ‘Shimmering Beginnings’ in Powerscourt Design Centre, South William Street, running Monday to Saturday l WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 23

In the kitchen WHEN I was growing up in Dublin the only spices and herbs in our house were parsley in parsley sauce, thyme in stuffing at Christmas, and cloves in the occasional hot whiskey, purely for ‘medicinal purposes’.

My mother was a conservative cook for sure, but not that much out of step with her peers. Spices like chillies, turmeric, cardamom, coriander and allspice might as well never have made it across the Indian Ocean, and Vasco de Gama and Christopher Columbus could have stayed at home eating olives for all the difference it made to Irish kitchens.

Now I find my daughter regularly texting me lists of new ingredients she needs for her self-catering adventures. I scour the shops for items like sumac, ras-al-hanout, juniper berries and quinoa. My mother wouldn’t know what to make of it.

More flavour than heat

We can be cautious on how we use spices and herbs. MARGARET HANNIGAN gives some tips to spice up your cooking.

Spices in particular, tend to make people nervous, but not all spices are “hot”. Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cardamom are all sweet, while coriander, turmeric, star anise and fennel provide savoury notes.

Chillies, cayenne pepper, ginger, cumin and paprika generate different kinds of heat. With herbs, there can be confusion over what exactly it is they do, apart from put a bit of green on the plate? The purpose of adding spices and herbs is to complement the ingredients, and enhance the flavours.

There are some health benefits as well. Many herbs contain folic acid, iron, and vitamin B, while chillies are high in vitamin C, and said to be good for arthritis, but these are only supplementary for nutritional purposes. Spices are aromatic seasonings that come from the bark (cinnamon), buds (cloves), fruit (paprika), roots (ginger) or seeds (nutmeg) of plants.

Makes 6-8 jars

Spices are dried and sold whole or ground, and need heat and moisture to release their essential oils and flavour. They should be stored in airtight containers, in a cool, dark place, and discarded after six months – health food shops sell smaller amounts at reasonable prices.

l 225g raisins or currants or a mixture

Herbs Herbs are the leafy parts of plants such as basil, mint, oregano, parsley, sage and thyme. They are best bought fresh and used quickly, and can be stored wrapped in a damp paper towel in a plastic bag in the fridge, or stripped into individual leaves, and frozen.

They should be added at the end of cooking, or at the start of noncooked items like dressings, marinades, and dips. Finely chopping parsley or rosemary may seem off putting, but a sharp scissors can snip them up pretty well. Basil, which has the most fantastic aroma, and loves anything tomato-based, is a tender thing, and leaves should be torn with the fingers, as chopping makes it taste bitter. Similarly with thyme, strip the leaves by running your fingers against the stalk, or put the sprigs in whole, and remove after cooking.

Ideas

Photos: dreamstime.com

Here’s a recipe for a chutney, to take advantage of the autumn harvest, and as a handy gift idea, should the season demand it l 24

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l 450g onions l 450g apples l 2 x fresh green chillies l 1 level tsp salt l 450g brown sugar l 6 cloves garlic l 5cm piece fresh ginger l 2 x cinnamon sticks l 10 cloves l 1.2 litres malt or any other vinegar Finely chop the tomatoes and onions, core the apples and chop finely, deseed and chop the chillies. Put the chopped fruit, veg and chillies into a large pan, add the raisins, salt and sugar, crush and add the garlic and stir well. Wrap the ginger and spices in a muslin square, or piece of old clean tea towel, and tie with string to the pot handle. Add to the pot with the vinegar. Bring to the boil, then simmer very gently for two to three hours, stirring occasionally.

This is like a savoury jam, so the consistency is right when you drag a spoon through the mixture and the trail doesn’t immediately fill up with vinegar. Pour the hot chutney into hot/warm, sterilised jars, cover with a circle of baking paper, and seal tightly with the lid. Label when cold, and leave it alone for four to eight weeks to allow the flavours mellow.

Unopened it should keep for six to eight months, once opened, store in the fridge. Serve with curries as a condiment along with yogurt, or have a spoonful with some good quality bread and a strong cheese like Gubeen, Durrus, a quality cheddar or Red Leicester.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 25

Photos: dreamstime.com

There are as many ways to use herbs and spices as there are recipes, but for starters you can sprinkle cinnamon on apples in tarts, crumbles or on your morning porridge; stick sprigs of rosemary and slivers of garlic into lamb for roasting; bake salmon with slices of lemon and some dill, stir chopped mint through hot peas; use a half teaspoon of turmeric to colour rice a deep yellow, and give it a mild aromatic taste; make a spicy rub for chicken breasts or steaks; and tear basil leaves over ripe tomatoes and mozzarella, with a drizzle of olive oil for unctuous perfection. The main thing is to have fun with it, and if you do go overboard with the chillies, yogurt or milk are the best coolers.

l 2kg green or ripe red tomatoes

Green fingers

There’s more to pumpkins than pie Why not try to grow your own pumpkins for next Halloween says our gardening expert ITA PATTON. wants to produce a crop of large pumpkins, such as those which are displayed at the Virginia Pumpkin Festival in County Cavan (23rd to 27th October).

When it comes to pumpkins of the culinary kind, small is better.

So why not try to grow a few of them for a bit of fun?

The American custom of carving out spooky-looking pumpkins is well established in Ireland now. Try telling your children that the festival of all hallows night began with our pagan ancestors who carved out turnips, and we as kids considered ducking for apples as the highlight of our Halloween nights!

In the National Botanic Gardens we grow ten different varieties outdoors, and despite that nasty summer, there is a very healthy colourful crop growing at the time of writing this article. This harvest will be artfully displayed for our Annual Pumpkin Festival starting on 10th October. Children will bring in their decorated pumpkins on Saturday 17th and prizes will be awarded to the most imaginative entries in the various age groups. Sunday 18th will be Halloween in The Botanics, which is always a great family fun day.

Growing pumpkins in our Irish climate would appear to be challenging and especially so with the particularly cold wet summer we just endured this year. It is often written that a poly tunnel is required, but this really only applies if the grower

Courtesy of the National Botanic Gardens.

Grow your own

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IF YOU want to have beautiful blossoms in spring now is the time to do the ground work.

Annual pumpkin festival

Pumpkins, both big and small, belong to the Cucumber family, which not only includes cucumbers, but gourds, marrows and squash and are amongst the oldest food plants. They originate from Central America, where they were valued for their seeds which are high in protein and oil content. However, pumpkins weren’t greatly liked upon first arrival in Europe, and in England they were originally fed to cattle.

Dublin’s Botanic Gardens have a great display of pumkins each year.

Gardening jobs this season

For your 2016 crop sow the seeds in April under protection of a heated glasshouse or warm window sill. They should be sown about 1cm deep into pots with 2/3 seeds per pot using ordinary potting compost. Germination will take place within a few days. After two weeks you can start to harden off the seedlings, by putting them outside during the daytime and bringing back in at night to protect from frost damage.

Alternatively, seeds can be sown directly into the ground, compost or on X

• After removing old spent summer bedding in October, dig over the soil, incorporating good compost and rake in fertiliser at 70grams per square metre.

Plant spring bedding, such as violas, polyanthus and bellis at about 30cm apart and larger plants such as ornamental cabbage, wallflowers and stock at 50cm apart. These spring bedding plants grow very happily in pots/window boxes in a good all-purpose compost.

Pumpkin patch ready for annual festival in Half Moon Bay, California.

a well-rotted manure heap, at the end of May or early June.

At Glasnevin our pumpkin seedlings are transplanted outdoors in early June to well manured soil and later we add chicken manure to the soil during the growing period. Pumpkins love feeding and watering. Frequent applications of ordinary tomato feed will do for the average gardener. At this early stage the thin stems of the young plants can sometimes get whipped around and broken by strong winds, so it’s best to plant in a sheltered spot. Pumpkins are martyrs to mildew so we spray our crops with fungicide. The pumpkins have more or less stopped growing by mid-September, but can be left sitting on the ground for up to four weeks. For the extra-large specimens we grow the varieties ‘Atlantic Giant’ and ‘Jack O’Lantern’.

So given the fact that there are almost as many ways to cook squash and pumpkins as there are varieties to grow, they are definitely worth a try, despite the vagaries of Irish weather O

• Plant spring flowering bulbs, such as daffodils, crocus and hyacinths by mid-October. Plant tulips in November. Most bulbs prefer a warm sunny site with good drainage. Roughly measure the bulb from base to tip and double or treble this measurement for planting depth. Cover with soil and avoid treading on soil as this can damage bulbs.

• Prune back tall deciduous shrubs, e.g. roses, lavatera, and buddleia by about a third to prevent wind rocking.

• Wash the glasshouse panes to allow the meagre winter sun through O

Photos by dreamstime.com

THE FIRST time I saw pumpkins growing outdoors was 25 years ago in the picturesque area of Half Moon Bay, 40 kilometres south of San Francisco.

There, in sun drenched fields, overlooking the Pacific Ocean these beautiful golden goliaths of the vegetable world wait to be harvested for Halloween.

Ita Patton is a craft gardener in the National Botanic Gardens O

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

27

At the movies

FORTHCOMING RELEASES

a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away

The Walk (October 9) Already the subject of the Oscar winning documentary Man on Wire, Robert Zemeckis directs this fictionalised version of Philippe Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk between the towers of the World Trade Center; with Joseph Gordon-Levitt starring.

Sicario (October 9) Having shown her action chops in Edge of Tomorrow, Emily Blunt stars with Benecio del Toro and Josh Brolin as FBI agents on the trail of a Mexican druglord.

Almost forty years after the first Star Wars movie hit our screens, fans eagerly await Star Wars: The Force Awakens, says MORGAN O’BRIEN. THE STAR Wars franchise returns to our screens this December with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The series as a whole neatly brackets the period from the mid-1970s, when modern blockbuster movies were born, to the current age of recycling and rebooting familiar characters and stories. While expectations are high for the film to match the high water marks of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, the franchise has often come laden with some disquieting elements.

Growing up in the 1980s Star Wars was pretty much required viewing and I was definitely a fan. One of my earliest memories is of my dad, for no particular reason, arriving home one day with a Darth Vader action figure for my burgeoning collection. I still have the figure, albeit sans cape and a little the worse for wear after a series of back garden adventures.

But the series hasn’t got stuck as the preserve of geekdom, nor remained hermetically sealed in the amber of late 70s/early 80s nostalgia, Star Wars is very much part of the contemporary cultural firmament. The franchise has become a touchstone and a common language that has colonised successive generations. It has done this as much through its ability to harness rapacious consumer desires as its strong and simple artistic vision of a ‘space western’ populated by (mostly) great archetypal characters.

In the intervening period, however, my affection for Star Wars shows signs of similar wear and tear. If anything the interminably dull mid-noughties prequels, along with the clunky and mechanical Clone Wars animated movie and TV series detracted from the franchise. While the relentless merchandising sapped the spirits by monetising our memories of childhood. In these Star Wars, the financial empire crushed the cultural rebel alliance.

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Spectre (October 26) The Bond series is a franchise to rival Star Wars for its sense of bombast and self-regard. Daniel Craig returns as 007 and is up against the shadowy organisation SPECTRE; with the excellent Christophe Waltz as villain-in-chief.

Well-kept secret It is little wonder then that JJ Abrams film, set 30 years after Return of the Jedi, is possibly the most eagerly awaited film of the year. While the plot has remained something of a well-kept secret, the brief trailers indicate that the film at least marks a welcome return to traditional special effects, deliberately avoiding the glossy patina of CGI that George Lucas lacquered onto his poorly regarded prequel trilogy and the reissues of the original series.

The first of a scheduled trilogy of sequels carries with it a significant pedigree. The casting brings well regarded up and coming actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver along with a clarion call to the original series with the return of Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.

Prequels

Crimson Peak (October 16) Period horror from Guillermo del Toro featuring Tom Hiddleston and his new bride (Mia Wasikowska) returning to his family home, which houses some dark secrets.

Equally, director JJ Abrams successfully revised the flagging reputation of Star Trek among mainstream audiences.

Subsequent instalments will be handled by Rian Johnson and Colin Treverow – both of whom have made the Abrams-like transition from directing small scale films to big budget movies – from Brick and Safety Not Guaranteed to Looper and Jurassic World respectively.

Skellig Michael Ireland, of course, has played its own peculiar role in the production of The Force Awakens, with much comment being made on the use of Skellig Michael in filming. The Irish Navy sent a boat (free of charge) along the shores of Kerry, apparently to repel potential onlookers from gleaning any plot details. For some this use of state apparatus to protect ‰

Suffragette (October 30) Scripted by Abi Morgan (Shame & The Iron Lady), this drama follows the travails of the early suffragettes as they engage in necessary direct action. The strong cast includes Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep as Emily Pankhurst. corporate interests can be viewed as troubling, particularly as it is not necessarily a unique example in Irish history.

Of greater concern to others is that our collective memory of monks who bore the relentlessly harsh terrain of the island will be wiped clean and replaced by a line of tourists seeking out the place where, apparently, Luke Skywalker sought refuge.

But in spite of these misgivings we should prepare for a ‘Star Wars’ Christmas, although possibly one more palatable than risible 1978 The Star Wars Holiday Special (available on YouTube but not recommended) with merchandising galore.

Disney’s marketing division went into overdrive in early September, with ‘Force Friday’ acting as the launching pad for excavating space on the Christmas lists of children young and old. It would seem neither the average citizen nor indeed the average state is able to resist l

Brooklyn (November 6) Nick Hornby adapts Colm Toibin’s bestselling novel with John Crowley directing. Saoirse Ronan stars as Ellis Lacey torn between loves in Ireland and America in the 1950s.

Black Mass (November 13) After a series of missteps this gangland saga looks like a return to form for Johnny Depp, who stars as crime boss/FBI informant “Whitey” Bulger.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 29

Play it loud night in a Dublin bar until somebody spills a drink and things are far from happy.

A fairly recent survey of lyrical negativity found that Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan topped the poll with a whopping 67.8% negativity, which is convincingly more miserable than Leonard Cohen. Gillan is from Hounslow in South West London… which explains everything really l

HAPPY FACE/ SAD FACE TOP TEN

In his latest column RAYMOND CONNOLLY considers the relative happiness of the musical output of London and Manchester, getting behind the stereotyped miserabalist Mancunians and under the skin of those chirpy Londoners. Hounslow, as it turns out, has so much to answer for.

5 from Happy Street

THERE’S NO excuse for happiness. We all know that. As the great Woody Allen once said “life is full of misery, loneliness and suffering. And it’s over all too soon.” Paul Merton weighed in with “school days were the happiest of my life which should give you some indication of the misery I have endured over the past 25 years.”

1 We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off (to have a good time) – Jermaine Stewart (1986)… yes, but it helps!

2 I’m Into Something Good – Herman’s Hermits (1964)… See? Manchester was once a happy place.

An unattributed quote asserts “I didn’t find out what happiness means until I got married and then it was too late.” Arnold Schwarzenegger is explicably more upbeat, “Money doesn’t make you happy. I now have 50 million dollars but I was just as happy when I had 48 million.”

My editor (yes one exists) put it to me recently that there was a significant comparison to be made between miserable, albeit brilliant, Manchester bands and their chirpy London counterparts. He obviously hadn’t factored John Lydon into the equation. I reckon my editor’s motive for this provocation was to again attempt to dupe me into talking about Joy Division and New Order (yawn).

Joyous guitars and bleakly funny prose – The Smiths.

I think he spends most of his weekends trying to reach into the deep and meaningful message of indie album covers from the 1980s with a Rubik’s Cube and a mug of Horlicks perched on his bedside locker. Incidentally he may be heartened to hear that New Order’s brand new Music Complete album is being widely hailed as the band’s best work since 1989’s Technique. He’ll know what that means (It’s true – Ed).

Photos: gettyimages.ie

Different London and Manchester are two completely different cities.

Oscar Wilde said of London “The man that can dominate a London dinner table can dominate the world… Oh I love London society. It is entirely composed of beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics. The way society should be.” London is a world class city surrounded by mad villages and Manchester is a much smaller, much wetter place.

But the wet weather doesn’t necessarily make people miserable. Ask the good people of Limerick… okay, maybe not. My first thought when the editor lobbed this regional grenade of the miserable Manc versus the chirpy cockney was… mmm… Manchester… The Smiths… grim 80s…

London… The Kinks… swinging 60s!

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More miserable than Morrissey – Deep Purple's Ian Gillan.

It’s an easy trap to fall into but as futile as the 1990’s phoney war between Oasis and Blur, who should never have been compared as they are two entirely different products. One was a sneering rehash of Slade and the other a bit of pop art frivolity.

Anyway, the 1960s music scene in Manchester was lively enough with the advent of bands like The Hollies, 10CC, Herman’s Hermits and The Bee Gees. Mind you, had the Bee Gees been writing Staying Alive in a post-Smiths era they would’ve had to call it Staying Alive (but it’s hard).

Kinks The thing about The Smiths is that they carried off a miserable demeanour with wonderfully sharp humour and Johnny Marr’s guitar lines fizzed with energy and creativity.

The Kinks may have been all colour, dazzle and swinging ‘60s frippery but remain the greatest creators of the pop song in my view. Much of it was melancholic and thought provoking.

This dissuades me from buying into this miserable Manc/chirpy Londoner thing.‰

Upbeat pop tunes with a dark underbelly – The Kinks.

3 Dancing On The Ceiling – Lionel Ritchie (1986)… Morris dancing on my eardrums.

I spend a lot of time in North London watching The Arsenal.

I used to think my travel companion was grim until I met the community of Finsbury Park, many of whom are second and third generation Irish. As soon as they twig my D11 accent they want to disrupt my recreational howling to talk to me about Robert Emmet and other Irish historical heroes before turning on Arsene Wenger (who they say should be burned at the stake and that the club should go after Russian oil money… sorry but we have standards at The Arsenal).

4 Dedicated Follower Of Fashion – The Kinks (1966)… “There’s one thing that he loves and that is flattery. One week he’s in polka dots the next week he’s in stripes.” Absolute genius.

It must be miserable living in those brains though. Even the old happy slappy London pub standard Knees up Mother Brown contains the line “If I catch you bending I’ll saw your legs right off.” You can begin to see where those chirpy Kray Twins might have got their ideas from.

5

5 from Misery Hill 1

Music can capture the sad things in life – and how they affect us – more powerfully than any other art form. It’s all very well merrily dancing around to Pharrell Williams’ Happy late at

Autumn-Winter 2015 solutions (From page 42)

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8 6 3 4 9 1 7 2 5

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Difficult

She’s Lost Control – Joy Division (1979)… Totally appeasing my editor with this one (Noted – Ed.) 2 Sweetest Smile – Black (1987)… “I just wish I was made of wood”. Colin Vearncombe auditions for Toy Story.

The thing is though, music has always been a vehicle for expressing the difficult travails of life. I’m pretty certain that Mozart wasn’t feeling too chipper when he created his Requiem mass in D minor.

There’s a whole genre of music that gives its title to that underlying sense of doom in the human condition – The Blues. And as for Country & Western, it’s a soundtrack for the terminally broken (when it’s done properly).

Congratulations – Cliff Richard (1970)… Heaven knows I’m miserable now.

3 There’s A Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths (1986)…

“And if a double decker bus crashes into us… to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die”… You just can’t beat that kind of optimism.

4

Sylvia’s Mother – Dr. Hook (1972)… Ah go on Mrs. Avery, let him talk to her.

5

The entire Dido catalogue – That’s the effect following The Arsenal can have.

Summer-Autumn 2015 Crossword Solutions See page 42 for the competition winners from issue 30.

ACROSS: 1. Italy 5. Eight 8. Agendum 9. Doter 10. Igloo 11. Newport 14. Acres 17. Smyth 20. Pawning 21. Area 22. Date 23. Neophobia 24. Sense 27. Terse 30. Eases 33. Upper 34. Amusing 35. Noddy 36. Aired.

DOWN: 1. India 2. After 3. Yarns 4. Snap 5. Emits 6. Gully 7. Tooth 12. When Split 13. Open House 15. Charlie 16. Expands 18. Mandate 19. Tactics 24. Sheen 25. Nosed 26. Eassay 27. Tsuga 28. Riper 29. Erred 31. Tush WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 31

Travel and trips There’s also a really good exhibition about volcanoes and earthquakes just inside the entrance on Exhibition Road, which is also the best way to leave the museum if you want to go to the Science Museum because they’re right beside each other.

The Science Museum is amazing. There’s huge displays about the history of energy and space travel and flight and it’s even got loads of real aeroplanes in the flight exhibition on the third floor.

There’s also loads of places to eat and, if you’re with an adult, some of the food areas have free food for children which is good because of that whole Sterling thing.

Work & Life’s youngest ever correspondent writes about his first trip to London, offering his initial impressions of the city. Ten-yearold Fiontán Ó Seanacháin walks through miles of sights and museums and samples the local hospitality along the way.

SO THE only things about London I’d seen before were old Danger Mouse cartoons and some photographs my older brother took when he was there a few years ago.

The thing I’ve noticed is that everybody seems to have a London story, so I wanted to go over there and create a few of my own.

Take a break There’s some really cool stuff like the Marvel Superheroes experience and a 4D movie where a giant robot tries to attack Buckingham Palace. Best of all is the Star Wars exhibition, and I got to fly the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca and chat to Han Solo, great guy.

Marmalade

Photos: IMPACT communications unit.

There were no marmalade sandwiches on the menu, so I had an orange juice and some crisps. Everything looks as though it is the same price as at home, but because of something called Sterling it’s actually much, much more expensive.

A lovely lady called Stacie had given me a free pass to visit Madame Tussauds so I went there first. You take the London Underground to Baker Street where Sherlock Holmes used to live (there’s a statue of him smoking his pipe) and there are long queues, so go early in the morning or late in the afternoon.

Madame Tussauds is full of some really cool people and some people I’ve never heard of. The movie characters are the best, I really liked The Terminator and Barack Obama. The Chamber of Horrors is not so much fun, and you can skip it if you like…

I wish I did.

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l Heathrow express – heathrowexpress.com l Madame Tussauds – Marylebone Rd, London NW1 5LR l Natural History Museum – nhm.ac.uk – Landmark museum of animals and natural phenomena, with hands-on exhibits and animatronic dinosaurs. l Science Museum – sciencemuseum.org.uk – London museum and library of science. Exhibitions cover all areas of science and technology. l Rembrandt Hotel – 11 Thurloe Place, opposite the Victoria and Albert museum, a short walk from South Kensington tube station. l Market restaurant – 43 Parkway, Camden, NW1 7PN – “Quality, wholesome food in informal, relaxed surroundings, using the freshest, seasonal produce.” l London Zoo, Regent’s Park, London – zsl.org/zsl-londonzoo – World’s oldest scientific zoo, opened 1828, research centre helping to conserve numerous species in naturalistic habitats.

Hanging out with London’s lemurs at the zoo.

Camden On Saturday night I went to a restaurant called ‘Market’ in Camden town. It has really nice food, and I had lovely sausages and chips. My friend Billy had a steak called an ‘onglet' and they also had things like pork belly with crispy pig’s ear. They had lovely ice cream too and the people who worked there were really friendly and nice.

My chance came when my friends Joseph (11), Billy (9) and Daniel (6) invited me to Paddington Bear at Paddington Station. stay for a weekend at the end of September. I flew over on a Friday afternoon with Aer Lingus and took the amazingly fast Heathrow express train into Paddington station. It only took 15 minutes!

Arriving at Paddington, I couldn’t help thinking about the famous bear from Peru who arrived at the same station on his first visit. It got me thinking about marmalade sandwiches and I realised I was hungry, so I stopped at a café beside the Paddington Bear gift shop at the station.

All the London museums are really big and you will be walking a lot and it’s probably a The Natural History good idea to take lots of Museum. breaks, especially if you have kids with you. I went down to Thurloe Place in Knightsbridge and met my friend Ava (7) for an orange juice at the Rembrandt Hotel. It was nice and quiet and relaxing after walking around with all those people in the museum.

FIONTÁN’S TOP LONDON TIPS

On the flight deck with Chewbacca.

After that I walked down the South Bank where loads of people were enjoying the sunshine and lots of street performers. I saw the London Eye but the queues were massive and I reckoned it would take about a year to get on it. I also saw Big Ben and heard its bells chime at six o’clock.

On Friday night I had dinner with the boys and on Saturday their dad Séan drove me to the Natural History Museum. We drove past Buckingham Palace where he said the Queen lived.

It’s a big ugly boring house and I’d say it takes a long time to keep it clean, so the Queen must be a very busy woman.

Dinosaurs London has loads of brilliant museums and I had just learned in school about the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum. But the thing I really wanted to see was the dinosaur exhibition in the Natural History Museum. Séan told me the best way in to the museum is by the side entrance on Exhibition Road. The queues are much shorter and save you lots of time. The dinosaur exhibition is really, really good and there were loads of families and children there as soon as the museum opened.

But there is plenty of space and it’s lots of fun to walk around. ‰

That night the boys watched the rugby and they were all very sad because Australia beat England. I didn’t say anything.

Zoo In the morning after breakfast I went to London Zoo in Regent’s Park. It’s really good. It is equally as good as Dublin Zoo but it also has some other things like a komodo dragon and a huge aquarium. I saw the penguins (there are 78 of them) having their dinner and I got to see my favourite animal, the ring-tailed lemur, up really close. Dublin Zoo has great lemurs but I liked the way I could be inside the enclosure with them in London. It was exciting and great.

I got the Heathrow express back to the airport and it made the whole journey seem really quick. My adventure in London was the best l WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 33

From the author

Book reviews

A rebel’s plot Dan’s activities draw the attention of a sinister British spy and he and Molly are forced to flee Dublin. On the run, they meet flying columns and narrowly escape death as Cork burns.

Unknown to Dan, he holds the key to an evil plot to derail any chance for peace. And his enemy will stop at nothing to track him down.

As the rebel Irish leaders try to reach a deal with the British government, Dan is forced into deadly games with his dangerous enemy. Will Dan and Molly save the day and can the leaders bring peace to Ireland?

History As a Trinity College history graduate Patricia has been praised for her extensive research. “I loved looking up the census. You discover amazing things, particularly about O’Connell Street, then named Sackville Street. Lots of people living on the street were of mixed marriage. I made Molly’s family a mixed marriage, those kind of things make the book come alive,” she said. Within both books the historical facts of that era are woven into the narrative.

“The thing with history is you try to get it as accurate as you can, exciting children with the story of our heritage. I enjoy the challenge of giving them a pulse. It’s not the dead hand of history,” says Patricia. She is thrilled that so many teachers are now using it in the classroom for fifth and sixth class and the early years of secondary school.

Children’s author PATRICIA MURPHY, has just published her new children’s book Deadly Shot – Dan’s Diary – War of Independence 1920-22, the thrilling follow up to Easter week 1916 – Molloy’s Diary.

PATRICIA is a native Dubliner now living in Oxford. “I loved growing up in Dublin. It came alive for me when I went to secondary school, close to the city centre. Once the school bell went, I’d be out the door like a shot. Being really nosy, I knew every square inch of Dublin city, even though I lived in Glasnevin,” says Patricia. She has used her intimidate knowledge of Dublin’s city centre in her new book Deadly Shot, and the Easter Rising 1916 – Molly’s Diary, the first in the series.

Deadly plot So what is Deadly Shot about? It’s 1920 and as the Irish War of Independence rages, ace schoolboy footballer Dan becomes a trusted messenger for rebel leader Michael Collins.

But despite a promise to his cousin Molly to never fire a gun, he is pulled deeper into the struggle.

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“I had a brilliant history and english teacher at school and it makes me feel I’ve come full circle if I can inspire the interest of the younger generation,” she said. ‰

Why the 10 years plus market? “I suppose I naturally attuned to that age group. I’ve a lot of nieces and nephews aged 10 to 12 and I’ve been involved in a lot of television programmes about young people. It’s a fascinating age, they are very much themselves at that age, before they are influenced by peers.

It can be a golden age. Before the turmoil of adolescence.

They still have new eyes. It’s a very nice lens to look at history, they don’t carry the baggage, or prejudice,” says Patricia.

Documentary

for people. Some of the jobs were unusual to say the least, be it the keeper of Henry the Eights stool; or a hermit who is kept like a pet on a eighteenth century estate; or how they treated cloth, stamping on wee, is involved. It was the vividness which is the key, engaging people, pulling them into the story. You make people think. What is worrying is there are people still engaged in some terrible jobs, particularly in the developing world, working in in sweat shops,” says Patricia.

Patricia is also an award-winning producer/director of documentaries for BBC and Channel 4 including Children of Helen House about the Oxford children’s hospice for BBC. She created and filmed the launch programmes of the Channel 4 flagship series following six children with disabilities through the 21st century. Other films include Behind the Crime and Raised by the State on growing up in care. She has also made Worst Jobs in History with Tony Robinson.

Which came first producing/directing or writing? “I was working in television when I got published. I always hoped I would get published. Yet I’ve always felt it was a real privileged to work in TV to make programmes that were close to my heart.

Documentaries are a great way of engaging people, even issues, through personal stories, is a very strong way of engaging sympathy and empathy. You can get millions of people to watch a programme” says Patricia.

Working on the on the documentary Worst jobs in History must have been great? “It was hilarious, it was making history fun

Deadly Shot – Dan’s Diary – War of Independence 1920-22, published by Poolbeg Press is available from all good book shops l

On the path to Citizen Kane Young Orson Patrick McGilligan (Harper, release date November 2015).

Win a copy Poolbeg Press have kindly given Work & Life readers a copy of Molly’s Diary – The Easter Rising 1916 and Deadly Shot – Dan’s Diary – Dan’s War of Independence 1920 – 22 to win.

To be in with a chance of winning, send the answer to this question to: Book competition, Work & Life magazine, IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1. Make sure it reaches us before Thursday 10th December 2015.

What city is author Patricia Murphy a native of?

Only one entry per person. Multiple entries will not be considered.

THE FULL title of this book is Young Orson – The Years of Luck and Genius on the path to Citizen Kane, and runs to 747 pages (in an uncorrected proof edition).

Mr McGilligan has previously proven himself a keen film historian and cineaste, with books on Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Altman, Jack Nicholson and most controversially, Clint Eastwood. Just so you know, Clint doesn’t just pick arguments with empty chairs at Republican Party Conventions. As a result of his legal action, some parts of McGilligan’s book were cut out, or rewritten for any new print run, but interestingly, existing copies were left unaltered, (so we all want to read that edition).

The author is tenacious and diligent in his research, and were he alive, Orson would have nothing to quibble about. It feels like no letter, or conversation, (surely imagined, in some instances) has been left unrecorded.

I was particularly interested in the chapter ‘Travels in Ireland, 1931-1932’. Did you know, for example, that Orson made his professional theatre debut at age sixteen at the Gate Theatre

in Dublin? Or that he travelled around Connemara, in a donkey and cart, sketching and painting? At the Gate, he worked under the direction of its founders, Micheal MacLiammoir and Hilton Edwards, both at the height of their powers, and of whom he said regularly “My debt to them can never be measured”.

Welles’s greatest work was his first movie, Citizen Kane. It’s the story of a self-made millionaire newspaper mogul whose success ends in hubris and tragedy. It was thought to be loosely based on the life of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, who in his day wielded significant influence over the lives of politicians, movie stars, and other industrialists. Orson was a precocious talent, albeit one whose reach frequently exceeded his grasp. He left a legacy of unfinished projects, and a lingering air of unfulfilled greatness.

A great book for serious movie buffs, but not for the casual reader.

Margaret Hannigan.

more reviews on page 36 ‰

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 35

Book reviews

International

A history of violence

Trade union efforts central to solidarity with refugees

A City in Civil War: Dublin 1921-24 Pádraig Yeates (Gill & Macmillan, €27.99).

PÁDRAIG YEATES is a distinguished journalist, trade union activist, and social and labour historian. He’s the author of Lockout, the definitive work on the most significant dispute in Irish modern history.

My Sister’s Child Caroline Finnerty (Poolbeg Press, €16.99).

THIS IS Caroline Finnerty’s fourth book and she’s well established in the Poolbeg stable of light fiction writers. It’s the story of two sisters, Isla and Jo, who have kind of a complicated back story, and an extremely complicated current story, and how they try to work it out. The characters are drawn with pretty broad strokes; Isla is the irresponsible, hippy-dippy one, while Jo is the sensible, strait-laced one, with husband, child, and career, all carefully slotted into place.

The male characters are little more than window-dressing.

Ryan is the devoted husband of Jo – he drifts in and out, and has occasional bouts of dialogue when the plot demands it, and Greg is Isla’s kind, steadfast co-worker/almost boyfriend, who manages to seem more real than Ryan, perhaps because Ryan drifts a little too close to cliché for comfort.

A series of complicated relationships invoke Murphy’s Law (“Whatever can go wrong, does go wrong”) and there’s a fair amount of emotional upheaval. The author tackles some extremely complex issues in a very light, breezy style, that some may find predictable and a little shallow, and others a gentle introduction to important topics.

The writing is lively and energetic, but the characters all a little obvious. At times the story gets too busy and in the way of the central issues of infertility, loyalty, and who or what makes a parent. There are also too many sub-plots to sit comfortably in one story. Of course, in real life, we all have unlimited stories to tell, but we tell the really important ones just one at a time, or otherwise the message gets too crowded.

Margaret Hannigan.

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Yeates focuses his efforts on how the revolution affected the everyday lives of individual civilians, unearthing fascinating stories of lesser known heroes of the conflict and identifying how the disruption sowed the seeds of problems that plagued the city for years after the war had ended.

Some of the lesser known stories included in the book are Jim Larkin’s return to Ireland in 1923 and how it came to split the union he had founded, the horrific gang rape of Harriet Biggs by a group of anti-Treaty IRA volunteers and how the Catholic Church colonised Dublin’s social services and its long-term disastrous consequences for unmarried mothers and young offenders.

Yeates combines his meticulous research with well crafted and vivid prose that helps bring the turmoil of the period to life. The detail is rich as well as unflinching, and Yeates does justice to telling the story of this bitter conflict with honesty and accuracy. If you’ve read any of his other books you’ll already know that this is essential reading.

Niall Shanahan.

Beneath the surface A Letter from America Geraldine O’Neill (Poolbeg Press, €16.99).

SET IN Ireland in the late 1960s, A Letter from America paints a picture of life at that time, told through the lives of the Tracey sisters from Tullamore. It is an exciting time for Fiona, the eldest, who has just received a letter from her best friend Elizabeth, who lives in New York.

Elizabeth works for a wealthy family in Manhattan and they have asked Fiona to work for them as well. The second sister Angela, lives an independent life in Dublin, having spent most of her childhood in a hospital there due to polio. Bridget, the youngest, is intent on becoming a nun and is in a convent boarding school.

The Traceys own a shop and pub and Fiona helps to run both with her parents. The period is brought vividly to life, while the influence of religion and convention on people’s lives is also very well depicted.

Kathryn Smith.

As hundreds of thousands flee violent conflict across the world, the EU is slow to agree on a response and KEIVAN JACKSON says that trade unions have a role in promoting an understanding that workers and their families fleeing war and persecution are ‘our own’.

IN RECENT weeks European assistance to refugees fleeing war zones in the Middle East has increased significantly. The Irish government announced that it will accept at least 2,900 more refugees. This will take the total figure up to approximately 4,000. The Irish strategy will promote family reunification, prioritising children who arrive unaccompanied by a parent or guardian. The plan will also encourage integration and offer English lessons for the new arrivals.

This move was part of a European Commission initiative to shelter 120,000 refugees across EU states. It has been a controversial proposal, with several European leaders objecting to the plan. Those who have opposed the move, like the British Prime Minister David Cameron, have agreed to increase their support for refugees by other means, despite initial opposition. The day after EU ministers backed the plan, Britain announced that they would take 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020.

The shift towards helping more refugees wasn’t a spontaneous one. It was hard fought by supporters of a progressive policy response to the refugee crisis. This pressure had been applied to varying degrees over the previous four years, but it was arguably the appearance of a single photograph that ultimately inspired the change in approach.

Heartbreaking When a photograph of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, drowned at sea and washed up on a Turkish beach along with his fiveyear-old brother Galip, began to circulate around the world, pressure began to mount on European leaders. Printed press, TV news and social media outlets featured the images of his lifeless body repeatedly and prominently as global outrage grew. As the response escalated, we were reminded that a single image can not only provoke a huge emotional response, but actually galvanise practical support ranging from grassroots solidarity right up to EU-wide multilateral action.

Migrants prepare to disembark from the Irish Military ship L.E. Niamh upon its arrival in the port of Messina on July 29, 2015.

Online campaigns to lift restrictions on asylum laws and welcome refugees quickly spread after the photo appeared.

Citizens organised protests challenging the restrictive policies of European governments and solidarity inspired a wave of humanitarian trips to destinations throughout Europe where refugees had amassed. Trade unions were centrally involved in this surge of support and had in fact been active long before it.

IMPACT has been outspoken over the past year about the need for progressive solutions to the refugee issue. IMPACT’s deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan expressed IMPACT’s concern about the evolving crisis to Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan back in May and called for a comprehensive pan-European humanitarian response.

A trade union’s core mission is to ‘look after our own’ but they also carry an obligation to look beyond our own borders.

Human suffering does not recognise such boundaries and we must raise our voices on behalf of those who need our solidarity the most.

Reprisals These people are ‘our own’. The conflict in Syria has made it impossible for workers to live in safety or enjoy their rights.

Trade union activists were among the first to be hit with violent reprisals. They are workers and their families trying desperately to escape war and reach safety with their loved ones.

The ITUC Global Rights Index 2015 identifies the world’s worst countries for workers. Syria is categorised with a 5+ rating, reserved for counties where workers have ‘no guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law’.

Widespread attacks on civilians have seen more than three million people flee the country and a huge refugee crisis in countries neighbouring Syria has forced people to seek refuge further afield. A fraction of those have arrived in Europe.

Meanwhile, 11 million are internally displaced within Syria itself.

They are part of a global crisis and as such it is our responsibility to do our fair share along with the other nations of the world. Creating calm and genuine security in their countries of origin is a long-term goal, but in the meantime we can play a vital role in helping these people exercise their human rights and escape from danger and persecution l WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 37

Photo: Gettyimages.ie

The gift of life

In A City in Civil War Yeates completes his critically acclaimed ‘Dublin at War’ trilogy. Previous books in the trilogy concentrated on Dublin during World War I and the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence and, in the final part, Yeates turns his attention to the Civil War years, 1921-24.

Union business

Section 39 funding model ‘out of date’

Lansdowne Road approved NEW LEGISLATION to enact the terms of the agreement has been published by Government.

The Public Services Committee (PSC) of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has voted to approve the Lansdowne Road Agreement. The deal was approved by an aggregate ballot of the PSC in September.

The Lansdowne Road Agreement extends the main provisions of the Haddington Road Agreement until September 2018, and restores around €2,000 to the pay of most public servants in three phases between January 2016 and September 2017. The pay restoration will be achieved through a combination of adjustments to the public service pension levy and a partial reversal of the 2010 public service pay cuts. The Government published new FEMPI legislation to enact the terms of the agreement at the beginning of October.

Individual unions balloted their members on the terms of the agreement through the summer months. The agreement was endorsed by members of the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (INMO), Siptu, the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), MLSA, TEEU, BATU, CPSU, IFUT, PSEU, UCATT and IMPACT.

Shay Cody, general secretary of IMPACT and chair of the PSC, said that the Lansdowne Road Agreement marked a significant step forward for workers after seven years of pay cuts, and reflected a growing trend for wage improvements across many sectors of the economy since 2014.

“Workers in the public and private sectors have faced huge challenges during the economic crisis. Pay improvements across all sectors are a crucial element of the country’s continuing economic recovery. More money in workers hands will largely be spent in the local economy, improving living standards and, most importantly, contributing to the job growth which has now developed,” he said.

Public sector pensions were the subject of a separate engagement with the ICTU Public Services Committee and the Alliance of Retired Public Servants during Lansdowne Road talks last May, as pensions are not directly covered by the agreement. Pensions will be increased by way of a reduction in the pensions related deduction (Public Service Pension Reduction – PSPR) made from pensions in payment.

Carmel Kirwan commemoration

IMPACT HAS said that the existing statutory funding structures – for organisations delivering care services in the community and voluntary sector – lack credibility and are out of date.

IMPACT said that state funding for these organisations, known as ‘Section 39’ funded agencies, need to be restored in order to ensure the sustainability of care services to people who are homeless, older people in care, people with disabilities, young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and those dealing with drug and addiction issues. The union also said that the terms and conditions of staff in Section 39 agencies should be moved onto terms comparable with their public service counterparts.

The findings are included in a report launched in September which was commissioned by IMPACT’s Health & Welfare division. The report Caring – At What Cost? – Rebuilding and refinancing the community and voluntary sector was researched and written by Dr Chris McInerney of the University of Limerick.

Photo: Jim Campbell Photography Wexford.

A COMMEMORATION to remember union activist Carmel Kirwan was organised in September by IMPACT’s school secretaries’ branch. A stone bench in Carmel’s honour was unveiled at the Three Sisters marina in New Ross, County Wexford, attended by Carmel’s family and colleagues.

Patricia Whelan, a long term colleague of Carmel’s in the vocational group and the school secretaries’ branch paid tribute.

“Carmel was a true champion for school secretaries. She was a strong advocate for continuous up skilling and constantly campaigned for training to be provided and funded centrally for all school secretaries.”

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Cut backs The chair of IMPACT’s Health & Welfare division, Tony Martin, said that the capacity of the sector to play a strong and progressive role in service delivery had been severely tested in recent years. “Sustained cutbacks have been accompanied by an increased demand to deliver. Employees are increasingly expected to do more with less and for less. This presents challenges both in terms of service delivery, as well as the retention of experienced and committed staff,” he said.

Details and a full copy of the report can be downloaded at impact.ie.

School Completion Programme praised IMPACT TRADE union’s School Completion Programme (SCP) branch has welcomed the study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) into the SCP which was published in October.

The SCP was established in 2002 and provides strategic support to vulnerable children, enabling them to complete their second level education. The programme is made up of 124 local projects, which work in 470 primary schools and 224 secondary schools nationwide.

IMPACT’s SCP branch chair, Cáit Ni Mhurchu, said that that the ESRI report clearly states the success of the programme.

“This report highlights, as one of our strengths, that SCP has added a whole new dimension to the way schools operate, and

acknowledges this new dimension of community that the service provides to schools.”

Ms Ni Mhurchu, who works with the programme in Kilkenny, said that the ESRI’s findings were an important milestone for SCP, as the programme had suffered very significant cuts since 2009. The ESRI study found that expenditure cuts have curtailed SCP provision at a time of growing need at school level. The study states that this pattern was at odds with international evidence that early intervention is likely to have a greater impact, and be more cost effective, than remedial intervention after disengagement and drop-out from school.

The report can be accessed at esri.ie/publications/.

IMPACT questions Irish Water plan IMPACT TRADE union, which represents local authority staff providing services to Irish Water, has said that the Irish Water business plan, which was published in early October, raises a number of questions as to how the national water utility can continue to operate following the elimination of 1200 posts over the next five years.

Left to right: Dessie Robinson, Patricia Whelan, Eileen Barry, Kathleen Doherty, Jerry King, Katherine Redmond, Frank Kirwan, Jane Lynch, Shay Cody, Maire Naughton Donoghue.

IMPACT organiser Joe O’Connor said the research showed the current funding structures are no longer fit for purpose. “We need a revised funding model in order to ensure agencies in the community and voluntary sector can continue to meet modern service delivery demands in a sustainable way.”

IMPACT national secretary Peter Nolan said that the plan does not indicate how Irish Water proposes to maintain its operational capacity following the shedding of a significant amount of the workforce, and rejected claims that the utility is overstaffed.

Peter said “What is not yet clear is how Irish Water will continue to meet the demand to provide a service, including the continuing upgrading and integration of the water network.

The absence of information raises concerns that it would look to outsource or privatise some elements of its operation in order to boost its capacity.

He said that the key issue for staff and for the union is that the workforce arrangements would be managed through ex-

isting service level agreements, as well as the protections against compulsory redundancy contained in the Lansdowne Road agreement.

Peter added that existing service level agreements require that staffing levels have to be agreed each year, and that there are now 356 fewer staff working under the service level agreements than two years ago. “We have worked closely with the employer to ensure that the skill and expertise of local authority staff would be fully utilised under these agreements, in order to meet the substantial challenge of integrating and upgrading a national water network.

“Over the lifetime of these agreements it is envisaged that the number of staff required would be reduced, but this latest plan seeks to arbitrarily reduce the number without considering the operational issues that are likely to emerge.

“We do not see how the proposed level of staff reductions can be achieved within existing agreements. We will engage with the employer but we cannot rule out industrial action if agreement can’t be reached,” he said.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 39

Sport Golf enjoys a following that borders on the obsessive, and so it is with the sport’s new young Irish talent. KEVIN NOLAN looks at the young men and women blazing in the wake of Rory McIlroy’s global success, and the college programme that’s developing the talents of the next generation.

WITH HOLLYWOOD as his home address it was always written in the stars that Rory McIlroy was destined for celebrity and global acclaim. The County Down seaside town, where the young Rory picked up his first golf club as a two-year-old, is a world apart from the the dizzy heights of Beverly Hills but the McIlroy advertising billboards that light up Rodeo Drive is proof that the Northern Irishman is the poster boy of the post Tiger Woods’ golf era.

Driving ambition His fame transcends golf and he’s now one of the world’s most marketable sportsmen. McIlroy’s exploits and winnings – he’s amassed over $50 million in prize money alone – has spawned a new generation of young Irish golfers eager to follow in the footsteps of the World’s top golfer.

turned professional after his heroics at the Walker Cup, as did West Waterford’s and Maynooth scholar Gary Hurley. Earlier this year Hurley had to settle for the European Amateur Championship silver medal for the second successive year when he just fell short in Slovakia.

Harrington Scholarship

Ardglass golfer Cormac Sharvin booked his Walker Cup place after victory in the English Strokeplay title during the summer and became the first Irishman since McIlroy in 2006 to win the famous Brabazon Trophy.

Prior to the establishment of the Paddy Harrington Scholarship programme at Maynooth University, many of the top young amateurs looked west towards the collegiate system in the United States in a bid to realise their potential and improve their chances of making the jump to the professional ranks.

Named in honour of Pádraig Harrington’s father, Paddy, and backed by big sponsors like JP McManus and the Oceanico Group, the Harrington scholarships were introduced in 2006.

Maynooth’s elite golfers have access to the Golfing Union of Ireland’s national academy facilities at Carton House, as well as coaching from the GUI’s Neil Manchip and an annual warm weather training trip to Oceanico in Portugal. The Harrington scholars have access to the best an elite coaching programme can offer on either side of the Atlantic.

The recent victorious GB&I Walker Cup team featured a record five Irishmen. Paul Dunne, Gavin Moynihan, Cormac Sharvin, Jack Hume, and Gary Hurley. The deciding point at Royal Lytham was secured, appropriately enough, by the 22-year-old Greystones golfer Dunne.

Dunne grabbed headlines around the world during the summer by becoming the first amateur since 1927 to lead the Open Championship and set a tournament record for the lowest 54-hole score by an amateur. He made the final pairing on the last day at St Andrew’s.

Naas star Hume came to prominence back in 2010 when, as a 16-year-old, he captured all four boys’ provincial championships, becoming only the second player to achieve that feat and the first since Raymie Burns in 1989. He subsequently won his first domestic ‘Major’ in the West of Ireland in 2010. He has yet to turn professional.

Like Rory McIlroy, the Maguire twins from Cavan, Leona and Lisa, were touted as the next big

Leona & Lisa Maguire

names in the women’s game ever since they both decided to give up on promising swimming careers to concentrate on golf at the age of nine!

At the age of 11, Lisa beat off more than 800 competitors from 30 countries to win the under-12 World Golf Championship at Pinehurst, North Carolina while her sister Leona finished third.

They both subsequently represented Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup and are currently on scholarship at Duke University in North Carolina. Leona is ranked the number one women’s amateur golfer in the world.

Three to watch Stuart Grehan The 22-year old Irish international from Tullamore became the first man since Jim Carvill to capture both the East and South of Ireland Championships in the same year. A business student at Maynooth University, he is the first member of the Paddy Harrington Golf Scholarship programme to win a major provincial championship.

Paul McBride

McIlroy was also a precocious talent and, as a nine-year-old, won the World Junior Open in Florida and subsequently made his television debut chipping balls into his mother’s washing machine. His exploits on UTV’s Gerry Kelly Show subsequently became a YouTube sensation and even then he was earmarked for stardom. As Kelly said at the time: “American might have Tiger Woods but we have wee Rory McIlroy.” Some pressure for a nine-year-old!

Pádraig Harrington and Darren Clarke were his role models and, true to form, McIlroy won all around him on the Irish amateur circuit. Unlike Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell and Clarke, he declined offers of golf scholarships in America, and turned professional at eighteen.

He recently graduated from the famed University of Alabama (which includes McDowell among its alumni) with an honours degree in Business and Finance. He was the number one ranked golfer at Alabama and finished fifth in the American Collegiate championship. He turned professional after the Walker Cup. Malahide native Moynihan made a name for himself representing his home club The Island and achieved something McIlroy never did by becoming the youngest winner of the Irish Amateur championship in 2012 at the age of 17 and won Walker Cup honours the following year.

Sweet Home Alabama Along with Dunne, he was awarded a scholarship at Graeme McDowell’s alma mater University of Alabama. Moynihan X

Malahide born McBride is not only an Irish international golfer but he’s also an accomplished hurler, winning a Dublin minor championship with St Sylvester’s. A student at Wake Forest, Darren Clarke’s old stomping ground in North Carolina, McBride played a starring role for Ireland in this year’s victorious Home Internationals at Royal Portrush.

Robin Dawson Another member of the Paddy Harrington Golf Scholarship programme, the Waterford student won the prestigious Irish Boys title in 2013 and has made his mark at international level, adding to his reputation during Ireland’s win in the Home Internationals earlier this year O

County Down man Rory McIlroy.

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Photos: SPORTSFILE.com

Paul Dunne

Win Win Win

win

S UD OKU

HOW TO PLAY: Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains the digits 1–9.

There is no maths involved. You solve it with reasoning and logic.

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YOU COULD have an extra €50 to spend by answering five easy questions and sending your entry, name and address to Roisin Nolan, Work & Life prize quiz, IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1. We’ll send €50 to the first completed entry pulled from the hat.* You’ll find the answers in this issue of Work & Life.

In September 3,000 cyclists, from over 28 countries, took part in?

1. The great escape 2. The great British bake off 3. The great Dublin bike ride.

The UK’s Trade Union Bill proposes to?

1. Criminalise ‘unlawful’ pickets – this would apply to everyone on a picket line with more than six people 2. Legally increase trade union subscriptions by 50% 3. Remove the need for strike ballots.

Chidren’s author Patricia Murphy’s new book is called?

1. Deadly party 2. Deadly stuff 3. Deadly Shot.

Which block buster movie franchise is set to return to our screens in December?

1. Stars in their Eyes 2. Star signs 3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Who is ranked the number one women’s amateur golfer in the world?

1. Jerry Maguire 2. Leona Lewis 3. Leona Maguire.

The small print* You must be a paid-up IMPACT member to win.

Only one entry per person (multiple entries will not be considered). Entries must reach us by Thursday 10th December 2015. The editor’s decision is final.

That’s it!

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win

DOWN 1. Cloven-hoofed long-haired animals (5) 2. Make use of (5) 3. Flower, effeminate man (5) 4. Scottish highland town (4) 5. German night (5) 6. “The Felon’s .....”, by the Tipperary patriot Michael Doheny (5)

The survey

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7. Senior member of a group, profession or society (5) 12. Deer-like African and Asian animals remarkable for their speed and grace (9) 13. Scottish city (9) 15. They pursue and obtain revenge (9) 16. Cowboys’ ropes in the old wild west (7) 19. Hug, Clasp, include (7) 24. Woven fabric (5) 25. Occurence, occasion (5) 26. Rubbish, refuse, nonsense (5) 27. Extremely pale (5) 28. Person or animal who plunges into or under water (5) 29. Damhsa, rince: Irish girls and boys will gladly step it out in this (5) 31. Julius Caesar foolishly ignored them in the fateful month or March (4)

Win €50 by completing the crossword and sending your entry, name and address to Roisin Nolan, Work & Life crossword, IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1, by Thursday 10th December 2015.

We’ll send €50 to the first correct entry pulled from a hat.

Winners!

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The winners from competitions in the summer-autumn issue were:

Crossword: Pamela Ryan, Kerry. Survey: Andrew Higgins – Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown.

Quiz: Eugene Boyle, Dublin Hospitals.

Lots more competitions to enter in this issue!

3 __________________________________________________ 5. What subjects would you like to see in future issues of Work & Life?

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4. What were your least favourite articles?

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WE HOPE you enjoyed this issue of Work & Life, the magazine for IMPACT members. We want to hear your views, and we’re offering a €100 prize to one lucky winner who completes this questionnaire.

We’ll send €100 to the first completed entry pulled from a hat.*

Difficult

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How do you like Work & Life?

Simply complete this short survey and send it to Roisin Nolan, Work & Life survey, IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1. You can also send your views by email to rnolan@impact.ie.

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Crossword composed by Sean Ua Cearnaigh

The Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015 calls for?

1. A vacant land levy 2. Ice cream for all 3. Building houses on golf courses.

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Easy

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Prize quiz Just answer five easy questions and you could win €50.

Your view

Comments ________________________________________

6. What did you think of the balance between union news and other articles?

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The balance is about right

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I want more union news

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I want less union news

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2. What did you think of the layout, style and pictures in the autumn-winter 2015 issue of Work & Life?

Excellent

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Good

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Okay

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Bad

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Awful

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7. Any other comments? ______________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

Comments ________________________________________

Name ________________________________________________

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Address ______________________________________________

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3. What were your favourite three articles?

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Email ________________________________________________

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Phone ________________________________________________

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IMPACT branch ______________________________________

The small print* You must be a paid-up IMPACT member to win. Only one entry per person (multiple entries will not be considered).

Entries must reach us by Thursday 10th December 2015. The editor’s decision is final. That’s it!

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 43