Work&lifeissue29

THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

ISSUE 29 • SPRING-SUMMER 2015

THE POWER OF LOVE

A vote WEATHER WATCHERS SOCIAL HOUSING ECONOMY HOPES EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

to live as equals ALSO INSIDE

LEONA’S MERCY MISSION. LIBRARIES CAMPAIGN. COMMUNITY SECTOR UNDER SIEGE. GALLIPOLI SCENES. SUITS YOU SIR. ELDERFLOWER SPRITZ. JOB SEEKING SKILLS. DEL TORRO’S GOTHIC CHARMS. MUSIC’S WINGS. THE HANDKERCHIEF TREE. GAA TALENT. BOOKS. NEWS. PRIZES AND MORE.

www.impact.ie

In this issue

work& & life Spring-Summer 2015 WORK

LIFE

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THE POWER OF LOVE

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GALLIPOLI SCENES Award winning ANU productions take us to the Dardanelles at the National Museum.

WEATHER BEACON

Discipline in the Clare hurling camp, and Galway’s football prospects.

Campaigners and members tell us why the vote on marriage equality matters.

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NEWS

CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM As recovery takes hold, the debate takes off.

A SECTOR UNDER SIEGE New funding mechanisms create a challenge for leader development companies.

EARLY CHILDHOOD IS THE KEY Why investment and training are vital to all our futures.

A ROOF IS A RIGHT Why social housing, rent costs and housing supply have taken centre stage.

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INTERNATIONAL Keivan Jackson reports on the growing opposition to EU/US trade deal.

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Front cover: IMPACT officers join the campaign supporting a YES vote in the marriage equality referendum on 22nd May. Photo by Conor Healy.

Contact IMPACT at: Nerney's Court, Dublin 1.

Phone: 01-817-1500.

Email: info@impact.ie

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Life inside Met Eireann.

YOUR CAREER How to tackle the application form.

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

SPORT

FASHION – SUIT UP! Suits and how to wear them to best effect.

FOOD Elderflower bids spring a cordial welcome.

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GARDENS The handkerchief tree.

MOVIES The dark charms of Guillermo Del Torro’s gothic vision.

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IMPACT LIBRARIES CAMPAIGN GRACE PERIOD AND RETIREMENTS SNA BALLOT FOR ACTION NEW SOUTH TIPP BRANCHES LARGE NUMBERS ON LOW PAY – NEVIN WEST CAMPAIGNS FOR TWILIGHT ARREARS NEW ICTU BOSS MEETS IMPACT CEC

PRIZES

MUSIC Has music’s left wing outflanked the right?

TRAVEL Dining and dancing in the City of the Tribes.

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Poolbeg Press children’s book competition.

Win €50 in our prize quiz.

Rate Work & Life and win €100.

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Unless otherwise stated, the views contained in Work & LIfe do not necessarily reflect the policy of IMPACT trade union.

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WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 1

INSPIRING PUBLIC SERVANTS

THE BIG PICTURE

Patrick Sheahan

“1915, GALLIPOLI. Amidst the heat and smell of the trenches, with No Mans Land on the horizon, the men of the newly formed 7th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers stand shoulder to shoulder. These are a team of rugby legends built from the strongest and bravest athletes in Ireland. And they are about to play a deadly end-game.”

If you were lucky enough to have seen ANU’s Dublin Tenement Experience in 2013, you’ll recognise the intensity and intimacy of this unique company’s work. PALS

STRANGE WORLD

Through a glass darkly

packs the same emotional punch, with an outstanding cast.

Lar Joye is curator of Irish Military History at the National Museum, and developed the idea of telling the story of the 7th Battalion with historian Catriona Crowe and ANU Productions. “We had the right building and an amazing story to tell. Audiences are engaging with this at an emotional level, it has really caught their imaginations” he says.

Jason Clarke Photographyunit

AN ORIGINAL stained glass artwork by Harry Clarke, which outraged the Irish Government in 1930, has gone on public display at Dublin City’s Hugh Lane Gallery.

The work depicts a scene from Liam O’Flaherty’s novel Mr Gilhooley and was commissioned by the Irish Government for Geneva headquarters of the League of Nations (which later became the UN) in the late 1920s. It was part of a series of eight panels, including 15 pieces inspired by the literature of Yeats, Shaw and O’Casey.

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Sheahan, originally from Limerick, was a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) force. The 29 year-old lost his life in May 1905 as he attempted to rescue unconscious workmen who had been overcome by deadly fumes in the sewers at Burgh Quay. Sheahan successfully rescued two municipal workers, John Coleman and Tom Rochford, but was fatally overcome himself when he went back to rescue 42 year-old John Fleming, who also lost his life.

Dubliners were touched by his bravery and sacrifice, and a monument (pictured) was erected in 1906, paid for by public subscription. The celtic cross and fountain was placed at the site of the tragedy with inscriptions in both Irish and English.

Lar says visitor numbers have soared. The museum welcomed more than 23,000 visitors in February, a 42% increase in visitors compared to last year.

There are five performances of PALS each day until the end of April, and booking is essential. See pals-theirishatgallipoli.com for more O

The scene depicts a partially nude dancer, Nelly. Although completed, it was never displayed at its intended home as it was deemed to be unsuitable by the Government of the day. Instead it was installed in Government Buildings, Merrion Square.

The pane acquired by the gallery was Clarke’s original attempt to create the scene, but during its final firing it developed a hairline crack. The later Mr Gilhooley pane, along with the full set of panels known as the Geneva Window, is on display in the Wolfsonian Museum in Miami, Florida. It was on loan to the Gallery between 1963 and 1980, after the Government had rejected it.

Harry Clarke’s depiction from Mr Gilhooley, pictured with Barbara Dawson, Director, Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane.

IMPACT communications unit

The award-winning ANU Productions have staged another of their astounding immersive adventures at the National Museum at Collins Barracks. Running until the end of April, and based on the events surrounding the First World War in Ireland, PALS – The Irish at Gallipoli is inspired by the previously untold stories of the 7th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Young men who swapped the rugby field for the battlefield, PALS gives audiences a vivid glimpse into the life and death of a brotherhood of players who were wiped out in the devastating trenches and the reality of those left behind.

DURING THE construction of the Rosie Hackett bridge many Dubliners were left wondering what had happened to the memorial to Constable Patrick Sheahan, whose monument stood at the junction of Hawkins Street and Burgh Quay. It disappeared during the new bridge’s construction.

Barbara Dawson, Director of the Gallery said “Harry Clarke was Ireland’s greatest stained glass artist. His marvellous imagination, his originality in depicting his subject matter and command of the stained glass technique makes him one of the greatest stained glass artists of all time. By acquiring Mr Gilhooley we have ensured that a rare and valuable Harry Clarke original is available for the Irish public to view freely at Dublin’s Municipal Gallery”.

This latest addition to the city gallery will take pride of place next to Clarke’s Eve of St. Agnes Window in Hugh Lane’s stained glass room.

Clarke is said to have chosen the image because of it’s quintessentially Dublin setting, unconcerned that both O’Flaherty and James Joyce (also represented by Clarke) were banned authors at the time. Until his death in January 1931, Clarke was mystified by the “grave offence” it caused O

The monument on Hawkins Street, Dublin

That was then…

100 years ago On Sunday 4th April, 25,000 National Volunteers assemble at the Phoenix Park, Dublin. John Redmond takes the salute from under the statue of Charles Stewart Parnell on Sackville Street.

The next day, at a National Volunteers convention at the Mansion House, Dublin, Redmond praises their response to World War I. Redmond remains a controversial figure in Irish history, blamed by many for the deaths of thousands of Irish soldiers he urged to join the British war effort.

The RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner, is sunk

by Imperial German Navy U-boat on Wednesday 7th April about 11 miles (18 km) off Old Head of Kinsale, County Cork, killing 1,198 civilians en route from New York to Liverpool. Among those on board are the Irish-born art dealer and benefactor Sir Hugh Lane.

On Sunday, 11th April, The Tramp motion picture is released. Written, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin as the iconic tramp of the film’s title.

Sheahan was already something of a local hero in the city, having saved the lives of an elderly couple whom he carried from a falling building, and an incident in which he and other officers successfully captured a bull on Grafton Street in March 1904. The bull had escaped from its keeper in Harcourt Street, creating widespread panic and injuring two young children.

The Gallipoli Campaign commences on April 25th and lasts until January 1916. Australian, New Zealand, British and French troops begin the Allied invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire. Among the troops are the men of the 7th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, who landed at Suvla Bay on 7th August.

When the construction of the Rosie Hackett Bridge was completed, the memorial was returned to Hawkins Street, not far from its original location O

They arrived in Gallipoli without any maps or any orders. They were without artillery as the 10th (Irish) Division’s artillery pieces had been sent to France instead of Gallipoli. Water was in very short supply. When the fight did begin, they even ran out of ammunition and resorted to throwing stones at the Turkish soldiers. See ‘The Big Picture’ on opposite page.

22 years ago The first Irish ascent of Mount Everest is completed on the 27th May, 1993 and Dawson Stelfox becomes the first Irish person to stand on the summit of Mount Everest. The expedition climbs the North Ridge and the climbing party consists of eight climbers led

by Stelfox; Frank Nugent (deputy leader); Dermot Somers; Robbie Fenlon; Mike Barry; Richard O’Neill Dean; Mick Murphy and Tony Burke.

This was the first Irish attempt on Everest.

Members were from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and the trip was supported

by Mountaineering Ireland, the Sports Councils in Dublin and Belfast, and through fundraising and private sponsorship.

With thanks to John McCullough in Forensic Science Ireland.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

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Impact people Galway’s County Vet Rita Gately made the news last year when she accompanied a loggerhead turtle, nicknamed Leona, to a rehab centre for turtles in Gran Canaria. Leona had been washed-up on a beach in County Clare in very poor condition, and Rita made the trip with her following her rehabilitation and recovery.

You have been involved in IMPACT? I’ve been in IMPACT since 1998, and an active member of the local authority veterinary service vocational group for some time. I’ve been the chairperson and secretary of the group. Because we are such a small service, it’s important for us to have the support of the vocational group.

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

Access to advice, you may not need them, but it is great to know they are there. The union’s staff are brilliant and so supportive.

What’s your favourite book?

I enjoy reading Michael Connolly’s stories, plus I like humorous writing.

What are your interests?

My family, gardening, DIY, knitting and any handcrafting, such as making Christmas decorations.

Describe yourself I’m a working mother, with four children. Like most public servants I’m juggling career and family commitments. I consider myself enthusiastic and upbeat.

Do you like sport?

I’m a big soccer fan and we follow Fermanagh GAA in every competition.

Tell me about the loggerhead turtle The turtle washed up in Clare, she was in a bad way.

The Atlantaquaria in Galway had agreed to take her in. I had never worked on a turtle before but as a vet you work on first principles. She was cold, starved and dehydrated. She survived the initial four week period which is critical. She had pneumonia, and didn’t eat for that period. She did well to survive, having travelled, we think, from the Florida coastline. She had to go back into warm water; we made contact with a rehab centre in Gran Canaria, who agreed to take her.

How is Leona doing?

I’m very proud of the fact that she survived. It’s probably a once in a life time experience to be involved with Leona’s recovery and transportation. Once we got to Gran Canaria we fitted the satellite tag to her, to see what happens once she returned to the water. Every few hours she is tracked on Leona’s tracking map, which you can view online (enter ‘Leona’s tracking map’ into Google).

What’s it like working as the county vet in Galway?

I love my work, it’s varied and challenging, but enjoyable. It involves applying veterinary science for the betterment of people’s health, by ensuring food we get from animals is safe and produced under high standards of welfare. We also deal with diseases that can spread from animals to humans. We are

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What item can you not leave home without?

A book. I have a kindle, but love the feel of the paper. The local library is a great resource and I use it a lot.

Leona’s rescue Galway county vet Rita Gately (right) with Edel Staunton, Aer Lingus, Matt Hawkins and Joanne Casserley from Atlantaquria, Galway in Dublin airport just before Leona the loggerhead turtle flew to Gran Canaria.

involved in dog and horse control, organising the dog warden service, advising them, plus we deal with stray and abandoned horses. Galway County Council have always been supportive.

You work on environmental issues?

Yes. We deal with dead animals, how to trace, dispose and scan them. We liaise with farmers in relation to building new premises in an advisory role, plus we have an advisory role in relation to horse bylaws. The work is far more complex than you would think.

Has the work changed much over the years?

There are current change proposals for the shared services X

for our veterinary service which are quite challenging. This would involve working towards a central region, with a changed role, funding and focus which will alter our service significantly.

We carry out a lot of work for small local food businesses, integrating with the local enterprise officers. Under these proposals we won’t be able to continue this.

Have you any other unusual work stories?

One of the funniest was a man who had two emus turn up in his front garden. They were there for a few days. The question was what were we to do with them? Two days later the owner turned up. The emus had escaped, the owner had been away, not realising they were out. In another incident, we were asked by public health doctors to takes samples from a ladies snake, as they felt it might have been the source of her infection.

Photo : Robbie Reynolds.

Was it difficult to organise this?

The only problem was she had to be flown in the main cabin of a plane, as the hold would be too cold for her. I wrote to Christophe Mueller (former CEO) of Aer Lingus, having read a story on BA helping turtles in the West Indies. Aer Lingus responded immediately.

She had to go as a passenger with her own seat. They made arrangements for me, Leona and Joanna from the aquarium to travel. They were brilliant. Leona was great too.

What’s your favourite meal?

Anything organic, free range and locally grown or produced. I buy locally produced meat, as there are no welfare issues because the animals haven’t travelled far.

If you could have a drink with anyone alive or dead who would you choose?

Aleen Cust, who was the first female veterinary surgeon to qualify in Britain and Ireland. She finished her studies in 1897 but the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons didn’t acknowledge her qualifications until 1922 at which time she was employed by Galway County Council as the County Vet.

What inspires you when the going gets tough?

My husband Tony, he is always calm, level headed and supportive. I’m inspired more by principles than individuals.

What are your pet hates?

Animal cruelty. I see it in my job all the time.

Have you any annoying habits?

I drink too much coffee and I’m not fond of housework.

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

Take each day as it comes, enjoy it as you are.

What would you like to be remembered for?

Being a good wife and mother; and a committed vet O Interview by Martina O’Leary.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

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Public service

Aviation Forecaster Michelle Dillon.

traffic controllers and airport duty managers, plus we have a scheduled conference call at 1am every morning with Dublin airport stakeholders, including the Dublin Airport Authority(DAA) duty manager, ATC, Aer Lingus and Ryanair”.

The information provided allows for planning for the busy early morning rotation.

Come rain or shine SOME OF you will be familiar with the voice of weather forecaster and IMPACT member, Deirdre Lowe, based in Met Éireann’s Glasnevin headquarters in Dublin. Deirdre, a meteorologist for 20 years, takes the busy work schedule in her stride. “We cover 24/7, everyday of the year, from morning to night. We have a schedule of work to do, customers to speak to, specific forecasts to do. There could be a lot of media calls if the weather is extreme. We have a standard forecast, such as the sea air forecast, four times a day,” says Deirdre.

So what is the job? A meteorologist is concerned with the assessment and analysis of weather information. Their duties include investigation and research into the physical nature of the laws governing air movement, pressure, and temperature changes to determine the causes which bring about the various atmospheric conditions.

Weather stations You will recognise Belmullet and Roches Point from weather warnings, but did you know Met Eireann has 25 weather stations around the country from the most northerly point at Malin Head, to Sherkin Island at the furthest point south on the island.

models are right a lot of the time, but not all of the time. “It often needs to be tweaked” she reveals.

is one of Met Eireann’s largest customers and servicing the needs of this sector is one of its most important tasks.

Met Éireann has a large number of clients who depend on the information they provide. County councils nationwide rely on flood, ice and snow warnings in order to ensure they can respond with the necessary measures, from road gritters to sand bags.

The aviation forecaster’s work must go out on time and accuracy is critical for the safest, most efficient and most cost effective operation of airports and aircraft, explains Michelle. “We issue forecasts and warnings of any aviation hazards in Irish airspace, which extends out west into the Atlantic; this could be turbulence at low and high levels in the atmosphere, thunderstorms, an approaching storm or fog, or hazards on the ground such as snow and ice,” says Michelle.

Other clients include the fun fair company, Funderland, who depend on wind warnings, as does the ESB. The onset of very cold weather would mean issuing a warning to the Simon Community. “We could get a call from a film crew, wanting to know the cloud amount for the following day, or race courses are interested in the amount of rainfall for the coming week. They need to know if they need to water the grass or not, or if the ice is going to clear for the race meeting,” says Deirdre.

The service provides information vital to the operation of airports. They issue forecasts to the main airports; Shannon, Dublin, Cork and Knock, plus the regional airports, and to the army at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel. They look at things like wind speed and direction, visibility, the cloud amount and cloud level.

Aviation

The information provided needs to be very specific and accurate in the values forecast and to the time and location.

It’s mostly short term forecasting, looking out to 24 hours, and aviation users will make planning decisions based on the decisions taken by the aviation forecaster. Different airports, aircraft and pilots have different minimum visibility capabilities and some airports have specific problems dependent on the type of weather situation. For instance, some are more prone to fog than others and fog is a big problem for aviation due to low visibility. “Accurate and timely forecasts of this hazard allows for safeguarding procedures to be put in place at the airports before its onset”; says Michelle. “Forecasting fog is particularly challenging” says Michelle.

Aviation forecaster and IMPACT member Michelle Dillon works at Shannon airport and Glasnevin, Dublin. The aviation sector X

It is this information, together with satellite images, radar information and observations from around the country, that are fed into computer models. This will analyse the data and give results which the meteorologist must interpret. Deirdre explains the computer

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Photo by Conor Healy

Different stations record different data, for instance the weather station in the Phoenix Park collects information on air, soil, earth and grass temperatures, rainfall, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity and global radiation.

This is highly pressurised work. They issue the forecasts for the air search and rescue helicopter service and these forecasts take prioirity. General aviation pilots call us for en-route weather briefings. “We are available to talk to air

“If the conditions are optimal Dublin will use both runways, or if conditions are poor they may decide to use only one runway, or they may have to close or divert flights e.g. in the case when the crosswinds are too high to use either runway” Michelle explains.

“The information we provide is distributed, so, for instance, if we issue a frost warning, the runways and taxiways will be treated with anti-icing chemicals and the braking action on the runways will be tested. If we issue a warning of snow, the airports will plan to have the relevant snow clearing teams in place, dependent on the amounts forecast. Thus, there’s a cost implication to the customer, so again accuracy is key.

Airlines also make decisions based on the information we provide. Will the plane need to be de-iced, or will a plane need to carry extra fuel in case of delayed landing at an airport or a possible diversion, due to poor forecast weather conditions?”

Media Dealing with the media is just part of the job for Deirdre. “The morning Ireland slot is done live, as are all our broadcasts, just before 8 in the morning. Throughout the day we are updating the information to RTE 1 and other media outlets, we do lunchtime, Ronan Collins, Drivetime and a report just before midnight,” says Deirdre.

How do you take the criticism, when the forecast isn’t a hundred percent accurate? “It is fair enough. It is not right all the time. It’s not an exact science but it is improving all the time. Criticism in some ways is welcome,” says Deirdre.

Is it a job you would recommend? “I love it. I’m making critical decisions which feed into the decisions taken by aviation users. These decisions allow for safey at airports and in our skies and helps in ensuring as little delay as possible for passengers. It’s very challenging and dynamic, everyday is different,” says Michelle.

“I find the work satisfying. Public safety is so important, particularly as Ireland has a very exposed coastline, people can be prepared if there is a storm on the way. It could be fishermen or sailors who must know if there is a gale warning in force, to the basics of telling people not to visit the cliffs of Moher, or simply what to wear that day, or what should they bring with them,” explains Deirdre.

So the next time you are flying, or when you are wondering to hang out the washing or not, bear a thought for your fellow IMPACT members working in the met service O

Meteorologist, Deirdre Lowe WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

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Photo by Conor Healy

Photo by Conor Healy

The Irish national preoccupation with the weather is something we all joke about. It’s too wet, too cold, too hot, or it’s lovely and it won’t last. When the high temperatures hit last summer there wasn’t a lunchtime conversation without someone mentioning the soaring temperatures outside. MARTINA O’LEARY talked with some members of IMPACT’s meteorological branch, to see how they cope with the atmospheric pressure of this vital job.

Campaigns Campa p igns g The referendum on marriage equality is taking place on Friday 22nd May. IMPACT is campaigning for a YES vote in the referendum, following the unanimous support for a conference motion put forward by the union’s Sligo branch last year.

HELENA CLARKE E speaks tto campaigners and IMPACT members about what voting for marriage equality means to them.

A vote for equality Jerry King, IMP MP PACT president, librarian, Mayo Branch This referendum is simply about equality, about the rights of men and women in our countr y to get married if they so choose.

It’s the basic tenet of what we should believe in as trade unionists, that all people are equal. It comes back to the fact that just because things were a cer tain way for centuries doesn’ t mean they were right and it doesn’ t mean they should continue that way. Things change and evolve, and this is the right and fair thing to do.

If passed we will finally have a society where citizens will no longer have to hide their relationships, where people will be regarded for their character and not defined by whom they choose to share their lives with.

IMPACT is a campaigning union and I urge our members to vote YES and encoura ge your families, friends and work collea gues as well. I will be doing so. Bew are of complacency.

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Philippa Ryder, Proper ty Registration Authority Technical and Surveying branch IMP PACT and Helen Ryder, Siptu member at St James Hospital, Dublin Helen: Philippa and I met when she wasn’t Phillippa, we met back in 1980, fell in love and got married in 1986. I always knew that Phillippa was a very loving, gentle and kind person but during our first years of marriage, and even before that, I also knew there was something special and different about herr.

Phillippa: In the early par t of the marriage I star ted exploring the feminine feelings I was having, which I had been having since about aged ten, knowing then that I wasn’t a typical boy.

There was very little information around at the time though so I found it very difficult. Then as we got to the mid-1980s, I’d go through phases of buying quite a few women’s clothes, and then get totally frustrated and guilty and throw them out, and then feel the need to buy more. We had our wonderful daughter in 1995 and via the internet I began to find out more information about being transgenderr. I started chatting to people online and then I started to meet people like myself.

Helen: After our daughter was born I was focused on our home life and our child. I felt a little left behind and a little shocked at the speed things were going, and obviously being a young mum I was going ‘Hang on, Where is my husband gone?’ I was fighting every step of the way, and yet still wanting to hold onto

g y to terms with at first, but we both knew we had to keep going. We had a daughterr, we had a life, and we didn’t want to give up on that life.

Phillippa: At that time – when our daughter was born – I was dressing up at home maybe one evening a week, but I just had to do it.

I had to try and experience the feelings of who I thought I was. So I star ted to dress more, and I began to go outside dressed as a woman. It took eleven years from the first time I walked outside as a woman to when I came out of the hospital having completed my medical and legal transition. That is, all except for my bir th cer tificate.

Helen: And this is one of the many reasons that we urge people to vote Ye es in the upcoming marriage referendum.

For Philippa to have her true gender shown on her bir th cer tificate we would have to divorce, which we don’t want to do, as otherwise it could be argued that we have a same-sex marriage.

Phillppa: So a yes vote would finally mean I could get my revised bir th cer tificate, which would be the final hurdle in this jour ney which has taken me 45 years to this point. So please vote yes on May 22nd!

Seamus Dooley, chair, Trade Unionists for Civil Marriage Equality A yes vote would send the signal that homophobia is not acceptable. In canteens, offices, shops, or wherever IMPACT members gatherr, there are routine discussions about what you

even about wedding g plans. A yes vote on May 22nd would mean that everyone was talking about the same kind of wedding and the same type of weekend.

As long as marriage remains a touchstone of our society it should be open to everyone who wishes to marry.

My mother died when I was thir teen months, I am a twin and the joint youngest of nine children. My father reared us. Not on his own, as I have seven sisters, but between them they looked after us. But he was a single fatherr, and there were many more like him.

I believe there is more than one type of valid family, and I will be voting yes on May 22nd.

Sinead Costello, branch secretary, Sligo branch and medical secretary, Sligo Regional Hospital I have a number of gay friends, but some of them haven’t openly come out because they’re afraid of how people will judge them.

Last May, when I proposed the motion to suppor t the yes vote in the marriage equality referendum, a guy from one of the branches came up to me afterward. He was an older man and he turned to me and said “thank you X

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

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Axxxxxx Campaigns

The economy

Cautious optimism

for that. I can now come out and say that I’m gay. I used to be afraid to say anything for fear that people might judge me and it might make a difference to our relationship, that because I’m gay you might feel differently about me.”

This referendum relates to everyone, whether you’re straight or gay, because in the future it could be your brother or sister, you child or grandchild, next door neighbour or best friend and you will always want to be there to support this person in your life and this is the chance to do that.

I’m from Ballyvourney, a Gaeltacht village in southwest county Cork, the eldest of five children and I went to university in UCC. I came out in college, but I always knew I was gay.

I came out on my 20th birthday when I decided to go to an LGBT coffee event as a birthday present to myself, because I knew I was gay and that I needed to meet people and deal with it. It was probably one of the best things I’ve ever done. I remember leaving that meeting feeling so positive. I left the room thinking oh my god there are so many other gay people out there, and they’re all normal people.

If the referendum doesn’t pass, there will be a huge sense of rejection within the LGBT community, to think that the majority of the country voted against us having the same rights as every one else. For me personally, it’s not that I really want to get married, but it’s about having the choice, that if one day I meet someone that I love we could make that commitment to one another.

Kieran Rose, Dublin City branch and co-chair of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) This is a fantastic opportunity for Ireland, as we’re coming up to the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of our democratic republic, to finally deliver full and equal citizenship for lesbian and gay citizens of Ireland. It’s like renewing the republic.

Marriage is a critical recognition of people’s intimate relationship. It’s something that you enter into for life. Its one of the most important things individuals can enter into, and currently lesbian and gay couples are excluded and therefore we are not full and equal citizens.

Trade unions were the first major institution in the

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country that came out wholeheartedly in support of lesbians and gay men, in the 1980s, when nearly every other institution in the state and of the state rejected us. I call on that spirit of decency and solidarity again for this referendum.

“For me personally, it’s not that I really want to get married, but it’s about having the choice, that if one day I meet someone that I love we could make that commitment to one another.”

Patricia Fanning, IMPACT’s equality officer, SNA Branch North Dublin North/ Leinster I am married for 29 years and the mother of three children.

I started work in the civil service in the 1970s. I was one of the first not to have to leave after getting married. I could stay for two years after I married and then either leave or take the marriage gratuity. It was also hard to get a promotion at that time. We were asked how we could expect to be promoted when a married man, with a wife and children to support, was in line for the same promotion.

It’s hard to believe today that such discrimination against married women existed and was accepted as the norm.

Hopefully a time will come when we look back with disbelief at our current situation, where there isn’t marriage equality for everyone. We need to put an end to this discrimination O

Photo:Dreamstime

Laura Harmon, president, Union of Students in Ireland

The Nevin Institute has expressed concern that the latest employment growth is confined largely to Dublin, with “stagnation or decline in the western and northern counties.”

After a very long period of recession, the worst financial crisis in the history of the state, prolonged austerity measures, unemployment and emigration, the economic indicators are starting to glow a little more positively. Almost every economic analysis contains cautious optimism and warnings about not repeating the mistakes of the past. With economic growth, falling unemployment, and the prospect of pay improvements for many workers on the horizon, NIALL SHANAHAN considers the more confident mood and the factors underlying it.

THE RESPECTED journal Industrial Relations News (IRN) holds an annual conference in March each year, drawing together an impressive network of industrial relations and human resources professionals from a wide variety of sectors. It’s the only event of its kind on the calendar, and offers a unique opportunity to observe the mood and emerging patterns of the industrial relations landscape.

theme of “What’s the deal? Managing expectations beyond the crisis”, the conference looked at the prospects for pay recovery in an economy in the early stages of a return to health.

Survey

In recent years, when the Irish economic crisis was at its deepest, the conference offered the only real forum for many to consider the world beyond the crisis. It has often been the only forum capable of dismissing some of the more aggravating myths of the crisis, such as the claims of widespread pay cuts in the private sector, when in fact job cuts prevailed as the cost cutting measure of choice.

The conference featured the results of a joint private sector pay survey carried out by IRN and CIPD (the representative body for HR professionals) which looked at wage bargaining trends through last year and then assessed the immediate outlook for pay in the private sector. The survey revealed that around 45% of firms are planning a pay rise this year with the average increase for all firms expected to be around 2.8%.

Last year, just 33% of firms surveyed planned to increase pay, but 45% of firms actually did it.

This year’s conference was equally forward looking. Under the

By this measure, assuming the pattern of growth remains, X

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

11

The economy

Cautious optimism

Local Development Companies

A sector under siege Ireland’s community sector was often held up as a model of good practice in Europe, despite huge resource challenges and a genuine concern that the sector was exploited to deliver public services on the cheap. With a new funding model further diluting resources in the sector, IMPACT members, and the communities they serve, are hurting. tendering process, and they are now facing at least twelve staff redundancies as a result of the outcome. We now have to cover a much greater geographical area with fewer resources.

Photo:Dreamstime

FOR MORE than twenty years Local Development Companies (LDCs) have provided services to marginalised communities and vulnerable people throughout the country.

LDCs have developed a wealth of knowledge and exper tise working alongside community projects and providing excellent services to marginalised communities. In football terms, these are community networks in the premier league.

After a very long period of recession, the worst financial crisis in the history of the state, prolonged austerity measures, unemployment and emigration, the economic indicators are starting to glow a little more positively. Almost every economic analysis contains cautious optimism and warnings about not repeating the mistakes of the past. With economic growth, falling unemployment, and the prospect of pay improvements for many workers on the horizon, NIALL SHANAHAN considers the more confident mood and the factors underlying it. theme of “What’s the deal? Managing expectations beyond the crisis”, the conference looked at the prospects for pay recovery in an economy in the early stages of a return to health.

Survey

In recent years, when the Irish economic crisis was at its deepest, the conference offered the only real forum for many to consider the world beyond the crisis. It has often been the only forum capable of dismissing some of the more aggravating myths of the crisis, such as the claims of widespread pay cuts in the private sector, when in fact job cuts prevailed as the cost cutting measure of choice.

The conference featured the results of a joint private sector pay survey carried out by IRN and CIPD (the representative body for HR professionals) which looked at wage bargaining trends through last year and then assessed the immediate outlook for pay in the private sector. The survey revealed that around 45% of firms are planning a pay rise this year with the average increase for all firms expected to be around 2.8%.

Last year, just 33% of firms surveyed planned to increase pay, but 45% of firms actually did it.

This year’s conference was equally forward looking. Under the

By this measure, assuming the pattern of growth remains, X

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

11

But a recent decision by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to change how LDCs are funded, has delivered a further blow.

Tendering The Social Inclusion and Activation Programme (SICAP) is the successor programme to the Local Community and Development Programme (LCDP). LDCs had to tender for funding under the new scheme, instead of an allocation.

IMPACT members supported February’s day of action to highlight the refusal of the Department of Environment to accept a Labour Court recommendation, issued last December, to enter into meaningful discussions with community workers and their union representatives, about changes to their conditions of employment and threatened job losses.

David explains that the Tolka partnership helped 250 previously unemployed people to become self employed last year. He said “the area we cover is now larger, the target has been increased to approximately 400 people and we only have a slight increase in resources. This is right across the board, not just for self employment.”

David explains that staff have been anxious about the changes. “We’ve all been very worried about the future. There’s been a lot of uncertainty. We knew there would be redundancies, and staff morale has declined, which is understandable. It’s been a huge shock to staff in the companies that have not been successful that they are facing liquidation after 20 years of service” he says.

David Orford

Photo: Domnick Walsh

THE RESPECTED journal Industrial Relations News (IRN) holds an annual conference in March each year, drawing together an impressive network of industrial relations and human resources professionals from a wide variety of sectors. It’s the only event of its kind on the calendar, and offers a unique opportunity to observe the mood and emerging patterns of the industrial relations landscape.

The sector was rocked by the devastation of Ireland’s economic crisis. Workers in the sector have endured pay freezes and shortterm contracts as organisations struggled to maintain services with reduced funds each year. IMPACT has prioritised the restoration of terms right across the community and voluntary sector, as the union continues to pursue pay recovery.

Photo: Conor Healy

The Nevin Institute has expressed concern that the latest employment growth is confined largely to Dublin, with “stagnation or decline in the western and northern counties.”

“There won’t be the same level of service. Both partnerships always worked very closely with local community groups. We provided advice, training programmes and a small number of grants and this level of support will now be seriously reduced” he explains.

David believes the Department has put economic savings ahead of what the LDCs achieve, and there is widespread unhappiness about the redundancy terms offered to LDC workers. “It’s a cost saving exercise. They don’t put a high value on the services the partnerships are providing. They don’t see what we do on the ground and in the community. There is still high poverty and deprivation in the areas the partnerships serve.”

IMPACT assistant general secretary Geraldine O’Brien has been campaigning intensely on the issue. She says IMPACT continues to fight for the rights of its members in the community Tolka Area Partnership gained a contract sector. “We have written to the Labour under the new scheme. David Orford, Tolka’s Geraldine O’Brien Relations Commission and are seeking their Business and Economic Manager, says he is intervention. We continue to try and engage bewildered and dismayed by the actions of the the Department in negotiations and hope to secure a meeting Department. with them shortly.”

“The achievement is bittersweet” says David. “We had to

by Helena Clarke l compete with the Ballymun/Whitehall partnership in the WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 13

Rights at work

Building the right foundations

Patricia Spratt, a childcare professional with IMPACT’s Dublin Care Services branch, has worked in childcare for twelve years. Patricia’s seen massive changes take place. “When we first started out you didn’t know why you were doing the things you did for the children, but now every part of the day has meaning. The Aistear programme (the curriculum framework for all children in Ireland from birth to six years) made a huge difference. We used to just play with the children, but now there are so many activities, and there are defined areas of activity, such as libraries and free-play areas” she says.

Compared to many in the sector, Patricia is fortunate to have a nine-to-five contract, but there is still uncertainty. “I never know where I’ll be working as I’m often moved from crèche to crèche. It’s hard because you build up a bond with parents and children only to be moved on again.”

Four of Patricia’s colleagues left childcare over the last year because the wage couldn't support their families. She said “these are people who had spent the last four years training at night to gain qualifications, and because their wages don’t reflect their skills they’ve had to go elsewhere for jobs.”

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) professionals took to the streets in protest in February, calling for badly needed investment in the sector, improved levels of pay and better terms of employment. HELENA CLARKE looks at the need for the state to play a bigger role in a sector that provides the building blocks for the social and educational development of young children.

Patricia says that the job insecurity is due to the lack of funding in the sector. “It creates the necessity for part-time contracts, shift work and short-term contracts”.

Patricia is currently trying to do the degree (Fetac level 7) qualification but the government won’t provide funding to do it because she’s full-time, and she can’t afford to do it herself.

“I can’t go further in my career without it” she says.

Responsibility of the state There is a growing consensus that the state needs to play a much greater role in building a framework to standardise employment conditions in the sector, and to invest in early childhood care and education in the same way it provides for primary and secondary education.

Photo: Conor Healy

THE EARLY Childhood Care and Education (ECCE ) sector has been hitting the headlines over the last number of years.

Sadly, not for the right reasons. The Prime Time Investigates programme of May 2013 shone a light on a sector that previously had very little media attention. It’s a sector that has grown rapidly in a short space of time, with 5,000 facilities and approximately 25,000 workers.

The reason for this growth is a huge increase in demand for crèche services as our patterns of work, and the complexion of the workforce, has changed utterly over the last 20 years.

The debate rages on about the level of state support and investment needed to reflect this change. More services are needed and the costs for families are enormous. Yet the sector is largely overlooked by policymakers, and suffers from a lack of investment.

Did you know?

Working conditions Many of those who work in early childhood care have been to third level and gained a qualification up to degree level. However, the average rate of pay remains less than €11 per hour.

This reality does not reflect these workers’ investment in their own training and professionalisation.

Workers in early childhood care struggle with a lack of opportunity to continue their professional development, and on top of this generally have to deal with uncertain employment. Basic provisions, such as proper sick pay arrangements, standardised contracts and terms and conditions are a rarity. ‰ 14

SPRING-SUMMER 2015

Protesters called for more investment in the early childhood sector.

l

More than 25,000 people are employed in the Early Childhood sector

l

The average rate of pay in the sector is less than €11

l

48% of all services have a child with additional needs

l

Ireland currently spends just 0.2% of GDP in the Early Childhood sector, this compares to a European average of 0.7%

l

OECD figures in 2014 revealed that Ireland is one of the two most expensive countries in the world for childcare, with the average family of two spending 40% of the average wage on childcare costs.

Ireland doesn't compare well to our European neighbours, spending just 0.2% of GDP in the early childhood sector, compared to a European average of 0.7%. According to OECD figures released last year, Ireland is one of the two most expensive countries in the world for childcare, with the average family of two spending 40% of the average wage on childcare costs.

Growing sector Growth in the sector appears to be built on shaky foundations.

Without proper investment or reliable structures, career progression is limited while responsibilities grow. Una Faulkner, IMPACT organiser with the Dublin Care Services branch says IMPACT members in the sector aren’t sufficiently valued.

“IMPACT wants to see a situation where workers in this sector have a standardised contract with a rate of pay that is appropriate for the essential professional work they do. The national childcare situation has become critical, it has a massive effect on the working lives of parents. The debate has been gaining momentum but so far nobody seems to be listening. This is why IMPACT has joined the call on Government to provide both increased investment and a cohesive early childhood education and care strategy, so that the children of Ireland can receive the best possible foundation in life” she says l WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 15

Housing

ECONOMIC RECOVERY has moved centre stage in the national conversation, as the first signs of positive economic movement begin to displace the trauma of the Ireland’s deep economic crisis. However optimistic the commentary, nobody can deny the legacy issues of the crisis, and nowhere is this more apparent in the explosion of the homelessness crisis.

Photo: Dreamstime.com

The tragic death of John Corrie in Dublin’s Molesworth Street last December, just across the street from Leinster House, brought the depth of the crisis into sharper focus. In the immediate aftermath an emergency summit, arranged by Environment Minister Alan Kelly, saw the provision of additional emergency beds and other measures introduced.

A roof is a right This came shortly after Minister Kelly’s launch of a social housing strategy in November 2014, and both developments reflect the scale and complexity of Ireland’s housing needs as we emerge from a crisis triggered by a property bubble that was as frenzied as it was vulgar.

Strategy The Government’s Social Housing Strategy commits itself to providing 35,000 new social housing units at a cost of €3.8bn up to the year 2020. Minister Kelly described the strategy as a ‘fresh start for social housing’, and said the strategy “restores the State to a central role in the provision of social housing through a resumption of direct building on a significant scale by local authorities and approved housing bodies.”

He said the strategy emphasised the state’s lead role in building partnerships with other public, voluntary and private providers of housing in the development of funding mechanisms that don’t increase government debt.

While the investment commitment was undeniably good news, the expanded role for private finance and indications of an increased role for the private rented sector has raised concerns. In a blog published on the IMPACT website in January, the Cork branch of IMPACT highlighted the strategy’s apparent reliance Peter Nolan on market solutions, as three quarters of the housing target (75,000 households) is to be met through the private rental market.

The branch further noted that the strategy commits itself to an increased reliance on private funding to generate social housing units. “The funds will be used to provide social housing units that will be managed by housing associations.

The reliance on private funding for the provision of social housing through the establishment of a ‘financial vehicle’, set-up to attract investment from the private sector, inserts a fundamental insecurity into the relationship between social housing tenants and their landlord. The need to guarantee an acceptable level of return for private investors may well lead to higher rents for tenants and may jeopardise the security normally associated with social housing.” X

The branch also criticised plans to outsource the processing of payments to landlords to commercial providers. “This will further reduce the accountability of the system to democratic control as well as raise huge questions about data protection for tenants.” The branch has campaigned to highlight the knowledge and expertise of local authorities in the delivery of social housing, and cautions against reducing their involvement.

IMPACT national secretary Peter Nolan says the debate seems to have excluded public housing provision. “We don’t believe this is satisfactory. There will always be people who wish to rely on the public sector for housing, and insufficient attention has been paid to that element of the overall solution” he says.

Security of tenure Peter says that security of tenure is the key question. “Meeting the demand for social housing in the private rental market means tenants will only have the limited security of tenure of that market. The communities that have traditionally relied on local authority housing do so on the basis of complete security of tenure” he says.

“It’s an issue that affects the entire community, not just the people who would usually rely on local authority social housing.

Our unusually high reliance on private ownership is one of the problems that led to the economic collapse, people believing their own welfare was linked to improving house prices. We need a balanced housing policy, one that ensures an adequate supply, the right type of accommodation and proper planning,” says Peter.

SPRING-SUMMER 2015

“These operate successfully in many countries such as Denmark, Belgium and Switzerland, and offer more certainty for tenants.

In Germany, the ‘Mietspiegel’ rent index policy controls rent increases, which saw increases of less than 5% between 2000 and 2012, at the same time as unregulated prices in France doubled during this period.

This type of model would guarantee landlords market rents at the beginning of a new tenancy, and prevent them from exploiting market conditions through proper regulation” he says.

Joe O’Connor

Congress While political resistance to such measures continues, trade unions will need to continue to advocate for sustainable solutions to the country’s housing crisis. IMPACT is uniquely placed to do so.

In addition to representing staff in local authorities delivering social housing, the union also represents members in the various homeless agencies providing vital services to those people most seriously affected by the housing crisis.

Interventions A report published late last year by the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) suggested the introduction of tax reliefs for landlords to encourage investment in the rental market and increase supply.

The report looked at rent control in 11 different countries and six models of rent regulation, and advised against any such policy in Ireland. It claimed that there could be adverse impacts on supply and unintended consequences for tenants.

It also reported an increase in private rents of 10.5% in the year to June 2014.

Speaking at IMPACT’s Roof is a Right seminar on the homelessness crisis last September, IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan said urgent Government intervention, to stem increases in private rents, were necessary. He said these needed to include greater security for private tenants through a legal entitlement to secure-term rental leases, with rent increases linked to the consumer price index.

IMPACT organiser Joe O’Connor explains “There are ways of introducing rent control in a progressive and sustainable way.

16

We need to draw a clear distinction between ‘rent freezes’ or ‘first-generation’ rent controls, which no longer retain economic credibility across Europe, and ‘tenancy’ or ‘second-generation’ rent controls where any increases are linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), inflation, or capped at a percentage above the average of market rent.

Photo by Conor Healy

In the wake of an economic crisis which was rooted in a property bubble, the problem of homelessness has become acute and the demand for housing has soared. The Government launched its social housing policy in November 2014. While the increased level of investment was welcomed, concerns remain about the reliance on both private finance and the private rental market, as well as raising questions on the future role of local authorities in the provision of social housing. NIALL SHANAHAN looks at some of the issues raised.

“There will always be people who wish to rely on the public sector for housing, and insufficient attention has been paid to that element of the overall solution.”

Reflecting this broad range of experience, and the union’s continuing commitment to advocate for solutions to the crisis, IMPACT will bring a motion to the ICTU’s biennial delegate conference in July, calling for a coordinated plan to ensure housing provision, an end to homelessness and to ensure adequate security of tenure for tenants. The IMPACT motion says the plan should include commitments to a building programme to increase the stock of public housing, and regulation of rents through an indexation system, similar to those in European countries with progressive policies guaranteeing fairness and stability to tenant and landlord alike O WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

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Your career

The job application form – tips for success ISOBEL BUTLER advises on how to standout from the crowd, navigating the tough terrain of the job application form.

IF YOU are in job search mode you probably have an updated CV that presents your skills and experiences in the best light.

However, if the job requires the completion of an application form then doing it correctly is a critical step in the application process.

responsibilities of your current or most recent job, keep in mind the post you’re applying for and prioritise specific experience that matches what is required in the job you are applying for.

Employers and recruiters use job applications to gather standardised information from applicants. Comparing likewith-like makes for easier and faster decisions about an applicant’s suitability for the job. The process can also be fairer to applicants.

Give examples

When there are large numbers applying for jobs the application form is used to screen applicants. Only those who meet the job criteria will make it through this initial screening process. Unsuitable candidates can be filtered out quickly.

So, if you want to be called for interview you need to use the application form to describe yourself well. It should demonstrate that you have all the criteria for this job and that your knowledge, skills and experience set you apart from other well qualified applicants.

Failure to be shortlisted and called for interview, on the basis of your application, could mean that you didn’t have the essential criteria for the job and were not as good a fit as you thought you were. But it could mean that you failed to demonstrate your suitability with your answers to the application questions.

Preparation

Photo: dreamstime.com

Before completing the application form find out what this employer needs. Read the form, the job description and the person specification to discover what knowledge, skills and experience they are looking for. Research the organisation to find out what they do, what their organisational culture is like, their current challenges or areas of development. All this information will help you to decide how to sell yourself and demonstrate that you are the best fit for the job in your answers on the application form.

Give yourself plenty of time to complete the application.

Don’t leave it until the last minute. It takes longer than you expect to select the best examples that represent your experience and skills in the best light and to fully address all the questions.

Reflect on your experience and use this to answer the questions. When outlining the main duties and 18

SPRING-SUMMER 2015

Questions that ask you to demonstrate that you have a competency need to be answered with relevant examples. Avoid over-generalised and theoretical statements about what you think is important, better to provide concrete examples.

For instance, a question about your experience of managing people requires you to clearly describe the experience, including the number of people you have been responsible for managing, the size of teams, your approach to team management and what you see as essential aspects of the role. Examples are vital, and should include your approach to motivating people, managing performance, focusing on goals and objectives or dealing with challenges.

Tricky questions Answer all questions leaving no blank spaces, remember this employer has designed the form to gather the information that they see as essential for deciding whom to interview. If the question is genuinely not applicable to you then write that in, as it shows you have thought about it. However, always first reflect and see if there is any relevant information that you can provide.

The question, ‘What additional information can you provide to support your application?’ should always be completed. It is not enough to say ‘see my attached CV’. Use the space to provide additional information that the other questions have not enabled you to provide, or to give additional examples supporting what you have already said. It can be used as a space to summarise why you think you are most suitable for the post.

Online & handwritten forms Online applications should be completed online; don’t print them off to complete by hand. Even if you have limited access to the internet, it’s vital to make the effort to go to a local library or borrow a laptop. Handwritten applications look poor ‰

1.

in comparison to printed forms. Use a font and spacing that makes the form easy to read. Anything smaller than 11 point is a challenge to read. Make sure to use the same font throughout, and give it a thorough proofread before submitting. Some forms have a spell check facility but you shouldn’t rely on this alone. A vigilant proofread will filter out any small errors.

2.

Top Ten Tips

Read any instru ctions, job desc riptions or role specs.

Show you match

the job requirem

ents.

3.

Make your answ ers personal.

4.

Answer questio

5.

Provide exampl es to illustrate your skills and experience.

6.

Do a draft before

Final checks

7.

Fill in all aspect

Always include the names of referees, having checked in advance that they are willing to provide one.

8.

ave no blanks.

Briefly explain any blanks in yo ur employment history.

9.

Proofread and sp

10.

Keep a copy. It will be useful at your interview and for future jo b applications.

If the application is required to be handwritten (rare, but it still happens) then write it out in draft before filling in the form. Write slowly, taking frequent breaks to ensure clear handwriting which doesn’t deteriorate as you tire. Remember, if it can’t be read easily it’s unlikely to get you shortlisted.

Proofread the application (yes, again) before you submit it.

Check that all questions are answered, that you have presented yourself in the best light, and that there are no omissions or spelling errors.

Remember the application form is part of the process. It is your chance to show you have all the necessary skills and qualities for the job and to stand out from the other applicants l

ns fully.

submitting.

s of the form, le

ell check.

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 19

Looking good

Suits every occasion

Blazers with broad shoulders and hip length is good but go longer or shorter depending on your personal preference. Go oversized or slim cut, with long or short collars, tuxedo style, with or without pockets. The choice is endless, and it’s yours.

Mens style trends continue to feature narrow legs and fitted jackets in navy and grey tones.

Colours and fabrics?

Pick the colours that best suit your colouring and the best quality fabric you can afford.

Daring, bold prints are a bigger statement but won’t allow the same versatility as muted colours and plain prints. You also have the option of wearing them separately to create a less formal, less businesslike look.

Every season new trends emerge but it’s the ones that translate into our everyday lives that really count. TRISH O’MAHONY susses out the trends that are relevant as we go to work, on the school run and leisure time with family and friends.

WHEN YOU see celebrities like Emma Stone and Lorde strutting their stuff at the Golden Globes recently in pant suits, you know the trouser suit has made a big comeback.

With numerous interpretations on offer, it really is practical.

Looking smart is easy and convenient, with a go-to piece like this.

Chances are we already own at least one trouser suit that’s worth resurrecting. Inject new life into it, with one or two alterations and a good dry clean. Incorporate a few inexpensive tops and blouses into your collection, a pair of stilettos (or flats if that’s your preference) and you are definitely right on trend for 2015.

House of Fraser

This is a trend way beyond the trouser suit for work though. It taps into, and overlaps, the numerous other current trends, including an increasing flavour for a more androgynous look, which has been around for a few years now.

The convenience of a two piece suit, where the designer has done the colour/cut coordination for you, is not to be sniffed at. It’s hard enough sometimes to find the time, or the cash, to purchase the necessary accessories to complete the outfit, never mind trying to coordinate separate pieces.

Formal occasions, business events, casual, sport, evening wear, even holidays; this is the season for the two piece pant suit, because there is literally a style for every occasion. For classic style ideas look to Georgio Armani and Stella McCartney, while

20

SPRING-SUMMER 2015

If black and white suits you, this year’s offerings will make you happy and you can re-use your 2014 staples. If you want a change, blue and white is a fresher option. Pairing the shoes in the same colour blue, as in the House of Fraser image, completes the ensemble. Head to toe white seems to entice every spring. To make it interesting mix textures, wear layers and mix different shades of white. Khaki is king if you’re a fan, but military greens feel newer and less jaded.

pyjama style inspiration can be found with Alberta Ferretti, Giles Spring, Kenzo and Matthew Williamson. Sports suits offer a combination of comfort and trend.

Small amounts of neon or metallic are paired with grey, navy or camel for a sophisticated finish.

Pastel colours are back with a bang, in every shade too; powder blue, baby pink, mint green, soft lilac. Pair with a crisp white shirt or top for a fresh daytime work look. Switch to a one shoulder top for evening. For longevity, and to make it work hard for you, choose neutral or plaid fabric choices, including silks and linens.

Ralph Lauren and Barbara Bui are to the forefront in these designs. Wear with elevated runners for a smarter than gym wear interpretation. For a casual tunic style, top over trousers, look to Loewe, or Ellie Saab for mesh and lace inspiration. Emilio Pucci incorporates the oriental style in her knitted pant suit collection.

The accessories?

Personalise the trends by adding your own favourite pieces. Stilletos, loafers, strappy sandals, or sneakers, depending on the style of suit.

Heels smarten the look but equally, flat brogues work a treat too. Oversized jewellery, especially earrings and bangles are great for occasion wear.

Clutch or box bags work too, bags are large and officious and, thankfully, practical for daytime wear. Rucksacks create a more casual look.

The Styles?

Pick the style that suits your shape and you will have your suit long after the trend passes. Styles range from flowing 1970s inspired styles to skinny and cropped. For night time, tuxedo jackets add sophistication and formality.

Trousers can be high waisted, wide legged, pencil legged or even flared, as culottes feature again this year, worn with strappy sandals, and in my opinion the most flattering length is mid calf.

Head to Penneys for the latest culotte jumpsuit. Gone are the days when these styles lived a generation apart. There’s room for all of them now. ‰

Check racer top: Next.

Cream top: Marks & Spencer. Printed culottes: Pennys. Gold bracelet: Monsoon. Green bag: Next. Black shoe: Office.Silver sandal: Next.

House of Fraser

There’s no shortage of options for Spring Summer 2015. Romantic bohemian, asymmetrical hems, cowboy fringing, gingham (in pastels), suede, sporty chic, apron/ skirt layering, khaki, lace especially white, flare pants, floral ruffles and frills, ponchos, high shine metallics, oriental influences like kimonos, wide obi belts and round shoulders. Some of these can be incorporated into your pant suit ensemble, so long as you enjoy the results l

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 21

In the kitchen Photos: dreamstime.com

What dreams may come You know summer is approaching when MARGARET HANNIGAN is talking about making Elderflower cordial to add to fresh berries.

Pinch or snip the heads away from the stem at the first joint, avoid grey blossoms as they are past their best, and of course, leave enough flowers to make some berries later in the year.

They wilt quickly, so use as soon as possible after picking. Shake gently, to dislodge any insects, but don’t wash. In addition to the cordial, the flowers can be dried by laying them, flowers down, in a warm dry place for 24 hours. When dry, shake to release the stems. The dried petals can be used in an infusion, to make a refreshing herbal tea, and retain much of their flavour kept in an airtight container.

IT’S AT times like this that I wish my laptop were a piano, and I a skilled concert pianist, who could produce a glorious concerto at will, which is quite like wishing that it wasn’t rainy March, but sunny June, in a glorious heatwave. Ah me. But I have faith in the natural world; I do believe that those sunny days will come (unlike the concertos) and even though there are no buds or even leaves on the branches yet, the elderflower trees will bloom again.

Elderflowers are one of the irrefutable signs that summer has actually arrived. Just so you know, the others are Birkenstocks, 99 ice cream cones, outdoor gigs, and drought warnings.

Elderflowers bloom in creamy umbrella sprays of tiny fivepetalled flowers, which have a perfumed, earthy aroma. They appear in early June and continue for about four to five weeks.

From the middle of July onwards they become increasingly difficult to find as they transform into clusters of tart, dark elderberries, which keeps the birds and amateur wine makers happy. But the flowers have their own story to tell, they can be made into a syrupy, tangy cordial that is a fantastic summer drink when diluted with still or sparkling water, or when added to fruit salads or ice creams, a couple of spoonfuls will really bring out the flavours.

Native Now rest assured, you don’t have to be Bear Grylls to find these flowers. They are native to Ireland, and tend to colonise wasteground, hedges, canals, gardens and open spaces in towns. Pick them on a sunny day if possible, as the heat heightens their aroma, and choose a bushy tree away from traffic. ‰

Elderflowers are one of the irrefutable signs that summer has actually arrived. Just so you know, the others are Birkenstocks, 99 ice cream cones, outdoor gigs, and drought warnings.

Before you pick a single head, make sure you have the following pieces of kit. A large clean bowl to steep the flowers, a large saucepan to make the sugar syrup, a clean teatowel or clean pair of tights (bit trickier to use) or a square of clean muslin through which you will sieve the liquid before bottling, and of course three to four clean, thoroughly sterilised glass/plastic containers for storing the cordial. I keep half a dozen posh glass lemonade bottles, with stoppers attached so I never lose them, and I put them through the dishwasher, which is a no fuss way of sterilising them.

Months The cordial keeps for a few months, and will last in a freezer, it doesn’t freeze solid, perhaps because of the high sugar content, but is perfectly fine and makes a lovely winter treat. Two tips: decant into a good pouring jug for filling your bottles, and stand the bottles in the sink when filling them, as any slippage or spills make a very sticky mess. Dilute it as you would shop bought squash, and try it with ice and fizzy water, or add a little to dry white wine instead of cassis. It’s a real crowd-pleaser for summer get togethers and celebrations, just something out of the ordinary l

Elderflower cordial JUST A touch of this cordial with some icing sugar will transform strawberries to accompany vanilla cream and some shortbread, a Jamie Oliver special. l

Makes 3 x 75ml bottles

l

1.2 ltr water

l

20 heads of Elderflowers

l

75g citric acid (buy in a pharmacy)

l

1.5kg sugar

l

2 lemons

Place sugar and water in a large saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved – the water will be clear.

Place the heads in a large bowl and pour over the sugar syrup. Add the citric acid, and zest of the 2 lemons, then slice lemons and add to the mix. Cover the bowl, and leave for 24 hours. Then strain through a tea-towel/muslin in a large sieve, and decant into sterilised bottles, Use straight away!

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WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 23

Green fingers and pioneering plant collector Augustine Henry (18571930) in 1888 in Sichuan Province.

Truly astounding trees can be hard to find as ITA PATTON explains in her examination of the Davidia tree.

This led to Ernest Wilson being sent to China by the most famous nursery firm of the time, Veitch of Chelsea. Wilson eventually met up with Henry, who gave him clear directions to the coveted tree. Imagine Wilson’s horror to find that that single tree had been felled. Howeve,r two years later in 1901 Wilson, with the help of native plant collectors, found a whole grove of Davidias overhanging a mountainside, and he sent over 14,000 seeds back to Veitch Nurseries.

Davidias are medium to large sized deciduous winter-hardy trees with ovate leaves. As mentioned above, the most striking feature of it is its flowers, or more accurately the bracts (i.e. the protective leaves outside the flowers). In May these delicate white bracts, which can be up to 18cm long, flutter in the breeze covering the tree branches. The

Handkerchief tree - an amazing spectacle When I became familiar with the tree in question, I was quite disappointed! Populus candicans ‘Aurora’ is a fast growing medium sized deciduous tree with brightly coloured pink and white heart shaped leaves which exude a pleasant scent in spring. I have to admit that this description sounds appealing, but this tree is (in my opinion) not a good specimen tree. It should never be planted near walls, it has an ugly untidy shape and its leaf colour is quite garish.

The name “handkerchief tree” for this poplar is an example of the pitfalls of using common names for plants. Common names differ from place to place, whereas the scientific names always adhere to a rigid formula and are the same all over the

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world. Scientific names are in latin and are specific to each plant, therefore forming a method of communication between botanists of all nationalities.

The Davidia The true “handkerchief tree”, “ghost tree” or “dove tree” (again confusion with common names) is Davidia involucrata or Davidia involucrata var. vilmoriana, native to central and western China. A Davidia tree in full flower in early May is a truly spectacular sight, and it’s easy to understand why it was once considered “the Holy Grail” of exotic flora.

The first reports of it came from the French missionary and naturalist Father Armand David (18261900). He arrived in China in 1862 and seven years later he found a single isolated Davidia tree. Another one was discovered by the great Irish physician, botanist X

small inconspicuous flowers are dark green in colour, forming a dense globular head about 2cm across. They can take up to 15 years to flower. Later in the season (mid September onwards) the flowers are followed by round green fruits hanging from short stems which ripen to form hard purple-brown nuts.

Difficult to grow Davidias are notoriously difficult to germinate. The Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin has had sporadic success in germination.

The most notable success was when the collected fruits were stripped of their outer flesh, sown into well rotted leafmould and left outside over winter. The following spring, after germination, they were moved indoors to a steady temperature of 13 degrees Celsius. A few months later the seedlings were potted up and grown on. I have heard that in China it is recommended to soak the seeds in urine for 3 weeks before sowing. I’ve yet to meet a member of staff who admits to trying this method!

Early to mid May is the best time to admire and enjoy the breathtaking beauty of a Davidia tree in full flower.

There are specimen trees in Altamont Gardens in Co. Carlow, Emo z in my opinion) probably the two best examples are in Glasnevin – one beside the pond and a slightly younger tree in The Millfield area near the Rose Garden O

The dread ed weed wil bindl be star ti ng to appear above soil level in April, so best to act where poss fast – ib fork rem le dig up with a ga ovin rde possible of g all or as muc n h th as e long Alternati vely it can white roots. be killed systemic with we which ca edkiller like glyph a n be pain osate ted o and leaves . A few a nto the stems pp probably b e necessar lications will y.

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

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

25

Photos by dreamstime.com

OVER TWENTY years ago, while studying horticulture in Kinsealy, I worked part-time in a garden centre.

Plants, like clothes, can go in and out of fashion. Back then ornamental grasses, such as miscanthus, stipa and carex were beginning to become very desirable. However, the most frequently requested plant back then was a variegated poplar tree, Populus candicans ‘Aurora’ which customers referred to as “the handkerchief tree”.

At the movies visually stunning it represents a faultless blending of fantasy horror and emotionally touching drama, which synthesises the focal concerns of the director’s work.

As with The Devil’s Backbone the story is set amidst the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War and again places the views of a child at its heart. Pan’s Labyrinth is influenced by the imagery of fairy tales and follows Ofelia, who encounters a faun that tells her she is a princess and charges her with completing three tasks before she can return to her kingdom. The film weaves fantasy, history and politics; juxtaposing an otherworldly aesthetic with violent depictions of fascist rule.

Subsequently, del Toro was originally poised to direct the adaptation of The Hobbit, however he exited the role amidst ongoing delays in filming, but is credited as screenwriter for the three films directed by Peter Jackson.

In the interim del Toro continued to produce and co-author, with Chuck Hogan, The Strain Trilogy vampire novels, which have subsequently been transposed to television. On the big screen, del Toro turned his attention to Pacific Rim (2013), an old school adventure story that drew on stylistic reference points of Ray Harryhausen and Ishiro Honda.

With Crimson Peak del Toro revisits the horror genre. Set in 19th century England the film tells the story of Edith (Wasikowska) who moves to live with her new husband (Hiddleston) and his sister (Chastain) in a secluded mansion. The film combines del Toro’s fantasy aesthetic with the classic grandeur of the haunted house story. The set-up appears the perfect foil for del Toro to bring to bear his dramatic horror style within an elaborately adorned production l

Forthcom ing releases

Gothic enchantment Guillermo del Toro has built a reputation for extracting magic, beauty and mysticism from the darkest corners of his visual imagination. MORGAN O'BRIEN delves deeper into his unique world.

DIRECTOR GUILLERMO del Toro returns this autumn with Crimson Peak, after a two year absence from the big screen since the monster movie Pacific Rim (2013). The film, which stars Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, and Jessica Chastain, sees del Toro return to his familiar milieu of eerily spooky horror.

Dark fantasy Whether it’s his low budget Spanish language films or the larger studio pictures, del Toro has consistently essayed varied tones of dark fantasy. Crimson Peak appears, on first look, a grand and ominous homage to classic ghost stories such as The Haunting and The Innocents.

Del Toro made his name with his low budget feature debut Cronos (1993), which played with the conventions of vampire films by crafting a haunting fantasy that explores the seductive nature of immortality.

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Well received by critics, Cronos earned del Toro the chance to work with a more substantial budget on the sci-fi/horror Mimic (1997). While the film features characteristic traits of del Toro’s work – a brooding tone, insects and monsters – it was ultimately unsatisfying to audiences and critics. The director himself was equally displeased as he didn’t get to make the final cut of the film. He rectified this with a director’s cut released in 2011.

However, despite the setback, del Toro returned with The Devil’s Backbone in 2001, a richly evocative allegorical ghost story set in an orphanage during the Spanish Civil War. Viewed principally from a child’s perspective the film suffices fantasy and realism; and its themes and tone are similar to those found in del Toro’s best known work Pan’s Labyrinth (2006).

The Water Diviner (3rd April) Dramatic tale set at the end of WWI, with Russell Crowe, who also directs, in serious and emoting mode as an Australian farmer who travels to Gallipoli to find out what happened to his three sons.

The deftness with which del Toro has switched throughout his career, between the minor keys of fantasy horror and the major keys of big budget action, is exemplified by the release of Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) between Hellboy and it’s 2008 sequel. Pan’s Labyrinth remains the finest of del Toro’s films, ‰

The well worn found footage motif frames this supernatural horror about a group of friends, who are mysteriously tormented during an online chat session whereby various secrets from their past are revealed.

Hot Pursuit (8th May) High concept comedy in which a police officer, Reese Witherspoon, must protect the wife of a drug dealer (played by Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara) from corrupt fellow cops and vengeful criminals.

The Longest Ride (10th April) Adaptation of the bestselling novel by Nicholas Sparks, whose previous adaptations includes The Notebook. Similarly, expect a romantic drama in a story about an elderly widower, who, after a crash, becomes involved in the lives of a young college student and her cowboy boyfriend.

Child 44 (17th April) Thriller, based on the novel of the same name, stars Tom Hardy as an MGB Agent in Stalinist era Russia on the trail of a child murderer. The impressive supporting cast features Noomi Rapace, Gary Oldman and Vincent Cassell.

Mainstream recognition Prior to making Pan’s Labyrinth del Toro found mainstream recognition and success with two comic book adaptations, Blade II (2002) and Hellboy (2004), which allowed the director to lattice two essentially mainstream action films with his own blend of gothic fantasy and horror gore.

Unfriended (1st May)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (24th April) Sequel to Marvel’s The Avengers (2012), this film needs little in the way of pre-release hype. Never a dull moment for the superhero collective, including Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, as they do battle with a selfaware AI bent on destroying humanity.

Mad Max: Fury Road (15th May) After a lengthy hiatus director George Miller, who has bided his time with the Babe and Happy Feet films, revives his Mad Max series with Tom Hardy in the title role, with Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult also featuring.

Tomorrowland (22nd May) George Clooney and Britt Robertson stars in this sci-fi adventure that draws its inspiration from the Disney theme park attraction. The film follows a jaded inventor and a young woman travelling to the mysterious Tomorrowland, a place outside of normal space and time.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 27

Play it loud

Music gives you wings

Ted Nugent

Music loving lefties tend to be know-it-all numpties (count me in). The right wingers tend to be unapologetic free market opportunists and “wannabees” who grow old thinking “all my life I wanted to be somebody, now I see I should have been a bit more specific!”

The left side of this musical equation is a journey to infinity.

The American anti-war protest sentiment in the 1960s saw the likes of Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Joan Baez et al demonstrate at a time when the younger generation was becoming tuned in to global problems. In the 1970s The Sex Pistols were famously banned from the BBC for the antiroyalist God Save the Queen which compared the monarchy to a “fascist regime.” Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Rage Against the Machine, The Manic Street Preachers and even Muse frequently had openly “to the left” political messages in their music.

Sex Pistols, 1977

Wings The music discussion was, if you’ll pardon the pun, slightly out of leftfield. One friend defiantly asserted that music history had many champions of left wing ideology and right wing adversaries were nowhere to be found.

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The surface on the right side does take some scratching. But there is a fair old checklist nonetheless. Elvis Presley once wrote to President Nixon expressing concern for his country as he felt he could use his position to help because the “drug culture, hippy elements, SDS, Black Panthers etc do not consider me as their enemy.” I suggest the King of Rock ‘n’

Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, 1964

That lovely man Phil Collins (lifelong Brentford, QPR, Tottenham and Man United supporter) promised to leave the UK if Labour was elected in 1997. He duly upped sticks to Switzerland (result!) where he considered re-releasing “I can feel it coming in the Blair tonight”. In 2005 Noel Gallagher hilariously urged folk to vote Labour for fear that Collins may come back.

M ark Feltham , legend In the w ake ofthe lastedition ofthiscolum n I received correspondence from John in Longford asking m e aboutM ark Felt,the possible subject ofCarly Sim on’sYou’re so Vain.Feltw asthe FBI agentw ho revealed him selfasthe "D eep Throat" w histleblow eroftheW atergate scandal.

H ow everJohn,the M ark Feltham ,harm onica player,to w hom you referseem slike a m uch m ore interesting character.

N otonly did John becom e the firstreaderto ‘fess up to reading thiscolum n he also kindly claim ed to enjoy it.H elp ison the w ay m y friend!

Spring-Summer 2015 solutions (From page 42) Easy

Music does different things to different people. Some feel energy, others get caught up in a particular scene and some just like the groove (Michael Jackson’s father to the BBC orchestra conductor on Top of the Pops… “It’s in the groove man not on the sheet”). I’m not sure it is altogether wise to lock oneself too far into the political messaging of rock stars, many of whom are as changeable as Limerick weather. ‰

American rocker Ted Nugent on Iraq... “Our failure has been not to Nagasaki them!” Oh right Ted? Really? A drunken Eric Clapton at a concert in Birmingham waded in behind Enoch Powell’s “Keep Britain White” philosophy (which probably earned him a Slowhand clap).

Geri Halliwell once gingerly proclaimed of the Spice Girls “We are true Thatcherites” No Geri, that is the ravaging nature of the ageing process. And what of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis? He admitted voting Thatcher in 1979 (He what now? - Ed.)… Hang on, my drinking buddies hero-worship him. I must arrange another pint with them soon l

My immediate reaction was to take the advice of the writer Elbert Hubbard... “do not take life too seriously, you will never get out of it alive”. Then I began to think, always a dangerous manoeuvre. He has a point. Admittedly it is only caring and sharing centre-lefties who would bother with such observations, with an attitude of “people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do” to boot.

I suggest the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll wasn’t the brightest star in the constellation, and obviously he didn’t live long enough to hear what Public Enemy had to say about him in their seminal 1989 hit Fight the Power.

Tony Hadley, head crooner for London’s Blitz-Kid-artrockers-turned-muzak-salesmen Spandau Ballet, and dedicated Tory, reckons that the fabric of society is torn and that Cameron should be more like Thatcher. Apparently he said “I know that much is true!”

9 6 7 2 1 3 8 5 4

4 8 5 7 9 6 1 3 2

Difficult 1 3 2 4 8 5 7 6 9

2 1 6 3 7 9 5 4 8

3 4 8 5 2 1 9 7 6

7 5 9 6 4 8 2 1 3

6 7 3 8 5 2 4 9 1

8 9 4 1 3 7 6 2 5

5 2 1 9 6 4 3 8 7

6 5 2 8 3 1 7 4 9

1 7 4 9 5 6 2 3 8

8 3 9 4 7 2 1 5 6

9 1 5 6 4 3 8 2 7

7 2 6 1 8 5 3 9 4

3 4 8 2 9 7 5 6 1

4 6 1 3 2 8 9 7 5

5 9 3 7 1 4 6 8 2

2 8 7 5 6 9 4 1 3

Winter-Spring 2015 Crossword Solutions

See page 42 for the competition winners from issue 28.

ACROSS: 1. Basic 5. Until 8. Italics 9. Unfit 10. Unite 11. Estonia 14. Tests 17. Leeks 20. Aniseed 21. Eric 22. Argo 23. Torchwood 24. Adore 27. Prime 30. Matilda 32. Satre 33. Rider 34. Reflect 35. Tarry 36. Years. DOWN: 1. Brunt 2. Sifts 3. Cites 4. Alto 5. Usual 6. Trite 7. Leeds 12. Top Secret 13. Never Will 15&31. Emerald Isle 16. Tractor 18. Ecuador 19. Kingdom 24. Asset 25. Outer 26. Emery 27. Party 28. India 29 Warns.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 29

Photos: gettyimages.ie

I had this experience recently. Numbers one and two were easy. We all agreed with Plato “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors”. The discussion on football was relatively straightforward. I pontificated on the subject of how The Arsenal was the club with the most class and best egalitarian value system. The Chelsea man in the group echoed Father Ted repeatedly… “Not a racist.” Nobody else spoke (the editor won’t be drawn on the subject of the beautiful game) and I subsequently woke them all up for the music discussion.

Comedy gold

Protest

RAYMOND CONNOLLY gets to the heart of the question as to whether it’s true that the Devil has all the best tunes. It’s not as simple as that he says. In the battle of the bands, the left wing appears to have outflanked the paltry forces of the right.

THE CLOSE relationship between alcohol consumption and what appears in this column has been mentioned before. Far from being an endorsement of alcohol consumption the message here is “drink responsibly”. But when you do drink, surround yourself with your former left wing (now centre left) mates and place the following items on the conversational agenda. Number one, the wrongs of the world. Number two, a heated discussion about football and number three, an anorak discussion about music.

Roll wasn’t the brightest star in the constellation, and obviously he didn’t live long enough to hear what Public Enemy had to say about him in their seminal 1989 hit Fight the Power.

Travel and trips

What’s on in Galway in 2015

City of the tribes

GALWAY EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL 14th - 17th May Join Galway’s early music. This year’s festival highlights many different angles and sub-themes of time.

Quay Street

GALWAY FILM FLEADH 7th - 12th July

Galway is host to some of IMPACT’s divisional conferences this year. MARTINA O’LEARY investigates this vibrant city.

ONE OF Ireland’s most charming and romantic cities, Galway is known as the City of the Tribes. The name reflects its medieval history when 14 merchant families forged Galway’s foundations.

With its rich Celtic and Spanish heritage, vibrant arts scene and year-round calendar of festivals, the city is a magnet for visitors.

Delightfully compact, most of the city centre streets are pedestrianised and easy to stroll around. Explore the medieval streets, dotted with brightlypainted shop fronts, handsome limestone buildings and the cobblestoned Latin Quarter.

Photos: draeamstime.com

Find out more about Galway’s rich history with a visit to the innovative Galway City Museum, with its eclectic range of Eyre Square exhibits, from medieval artefacts to an original U2 poster from the band’s early Galway gigs.

Also housed in the museum, set a stone’s throw from the former Claddagh fishing village, is the much-loved Pádraic O’Conaire statue. Previous visitors to Galway may remember the statue in its former location on Eyre Square where visitors are often perched around it for souvenir photographs and a selection of these ‘Kodak’ moment photos can also be seen in the museum.

Shopping Side streets are filled with unique craft, book and vintage shops, while shoppers will enjoy some retail therapy in shopping centres, high street stores and chic boutiques.

History is never far away with part of the medieval city wall 30

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now fully preserved within one of the Eyre Square shopping centres. The famous Spanish Arch is set in another remaining section of the wall, beside the City Museum and Corrib River.

The nearby Christopher Columbus statue, presented by the city of Genoa, is a reminder of the famous explorer who is said to have prayed in St Nicholas Church before making one of his voyages to find the New World in the fifteenth century.

Take a riverside stroll along a boardwalk which passes by canals, mills and bridges to another famous city landmark; Galway Cathedral, beside the Salmon Weir Bridge. Or join the locals for a walk along the promenade in the City’s seaside suburb of Salthill, where Galway Atlantiquaria (the National Aquarium) is also located.

Night life Galway is home to GMIT and NUIG, and between the students and the tourists there is a great buzz around the city, with fantastic nightlife to suit all tastes. I was there on a Thursday night and the place was hopping.

There are a vast array of hostelries to choose from, depending on your tastes. The Quays fuses Lydon’s original 19th century pub with a modern and lively venue. A more traditional Irish pub experience can be found at Tig Cóilí, on Mainguard Street, while Naughton’s pub on Cross Street makes it into most guide books on Galway. The well preserved O’Connell’s pub on Eyre Square also boasts a beer garden.

If food is your passion, Galway’s vibrant food scene includes Michelin-starred restaurant Aniar on Lower Dominick Street which gained the prestigious award in 2012 or try the Cava Spanish restaurant and tapas bar, and Eat Gastropub. Kai Cafe and Restaurant specialises in locally sourced food, the daily menu reflects the locally available produce of the season. Ard Bia at Nimmos is right beside the Spanish Arch and serves a seasonal gourmet of dishes that includes mediterranean, Irish mix and Middle Eastern. It’s a funky venue, also great for coffee and pastries, it reflects Galway’s innate bohemian sensibilities, and even has its own excellent cook book. ‰

If we are lucky enough to have another magnificent summer, a visit to the beach is a must. Salthill strand is a number of small beaches set together, some are sandy, while others are pebbly. Silver Strand beach is only two miles from Salthill. If you are prepared to travel out a bit, it is worth the journey. Dogs Bay and Gurteen Bay are situated just outside the picturesque village of Roundstone in Connemara, while Kilmurvey beach is a magnificent sandy beach with blue flag status on Inis Mór, the largest of the Aran Islands.

Galway Cathedral

GALWAY INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL 13th - 26th July

Festival fun

Galway International Arts Festival is a creative collision of performance, music, visual art and discussion.

GALWAY RACES SUMMER FESTIVAL MEETING

Galway is one of the best places in Ireland for windsurfing and attracts enthusiasts of all ages and levels of experience. There are lots of suitable beaches from Salthill to Gurteen, but the most popular is close to the city centre, Rusheen Bay. River or sea kayaking are also an option, along with diving in Galway Bay.

27th July - 2nd August Galway Races Summer Festival is a seven day festival of superb racing, fun and magnificent fashion.

OSCAR WILDE FESTIVAL

Energetic

4th - 6th September The Oscar Wilde Festival Galway is a celebration of the life and works of one of Ireland's greatest writers.

For the very energetic there’s mountain biking on the 16km Derroura Mountain bike trail. And, with Galway as a base, the surfing beaches of Lahinch, Fanore, Doonbeg in county Clare and Carrowinskey in county Mayo are all within striking distance.

BABORÓ INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL FOR CHILDREN

The city’s history is laid out on a number of bus and walking tours. The city is a gateway to the iconic beauty of the Wild Atlantic Way, Connemara and the Gaeltacht region. The Aran islands, the unique landscape of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher are just some of the day trips possible from the city.

Soaked in history, adventure, traditional music and the city’s warm and welcoming nature, Galway offers everything you need for a chilled out city break or an adventurous holiday l

The Galway film fleadh is a six day international film event held every July and welcomes a diversity of filmmaking from around the world.

12th - 18th October Baboró is Ireland's flagship international arts festival for children and families featuring a week of Irish and international work in October.

GALWAY COMEDY FESTIVAL 20th - 26th October Connemara

Annual comedy festival celebrating the very best in the business, both national and international talent.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 31

From the author

Capturing the imagination LIZ MCMANUS may be best known as the former deputy leader of the Labour party, but before she was a politician she was an author, and it is to writing that she has returned since her retirement in 2011.

A Shadow in the Yard is set in Derry and Donegal in 1969, telling the story of Rosaleen McAvady. The story incorporates the violent political undercurrents of the time along with the new women’s rights movement.

“The book starts with a clear image of a young women’s body being found in a river, I didn’t intend to write a thriller. In the Northern Ireland troubles, a lot of people lost their lives, or were damaged or maimed, but this is never well known outside of their family and local community.” She refers to the issue of the ‘disappeared’, “They were not well known people, they weren’t involved in the squalid war, they were bystanders that were affected. The reasons for these things happening were very hard to explain,” says McManus.

“I tried to isolate her story, to create a character that could live, the circumstances that led to her death, and how her death affected her children. There is an over-arching theme, the mother in some way communicates with the daughter, it is a memory that the daughter can get solace from,” she says.

Time She revels in the time that’s now available to write. “Because I don’t have a job anymore I have time, this is the magic of retirement. I keep thinking someone is going to knock on the door and tell me to go to work. Writing is a spooky art, these people start to take over your imagination, I didn’t know how the book was going to end until the last page. If you have the freedom, go with it.”

Liz McManus has returned to writing after 30 years in politics.

LIZ McMANUS describes herself as “old enough to have a free travel pass”. A Shadow in the Yard is her second novel, following her well-received debut, Acts of Subversion in 1992.

McManus was a public representative for almost 30 years between local and national politics. How did it all start? “I had studied as an architect, but wasn’t very good at it. I stayed at home, was a house wife, I raised four kids. I was unemployable, particularly then when things were very difficult. I went out and stood for election, I got this incredible opportunity,” she explains.

“One of the strengths in politics is how open it is. Maybe more women should think about it. It is an open system, democracy at work” she says.

She was a TD for Wicklow, a minister of state and, from 2002 to 2007, deputy leader of the Labour Party. This afforded her, according to the author Q&A at the back of the book, little time to write anything longer than a shopping list.

So what was it like returning to writing? “I really wondered could I write again, or had I moved on? I applied to go to Trinity to study creative writing, it opened up whatever talent I had. I do love coming back to it. I can’t ever say I regret leaving it either,” says McManus.

On the question of whether or not she misses politics, McManus is philosophical. “It’s completely different, in all kinds of ways. I had a wonderful job, emotionally and organisationally. I was out in the public sphere, you were always on show. That is the big difference. The way you had to present yourself, particularly, as a woman. It is very different when you can switch off, I can now choose how my day is being shaped.”

Interview by Martina O’Leary. A Shadow in the Yard is published by Ward River Press and costs €14.99 l

Children’s book competition DUBLIN BASED Rob Smith is writing a series of illustrated books aimed at getting kids to put down the games console or tablet and go outdoors and play, be it GAA, soccer or rugby. Derry Dillon does the wonderful illustrations.

Poolbeg Press have given Work & Life 10 sets of Get Out and Play GAA and Get out and Play Football to give away.

Simply send your answer to the question to Get out and Play competition, Roisin Nolan, IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1. Get it to us by Tuesday, 2nd June 2015 to be in with a chance to win.

Who illustrates Get Out and Play GAA?

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Beautiful beyond description Girl in the Moonlight Charles Dubow (William Morrow, £15.99 in the UK).

WYLIE ROSE is only sixteen years old when he first meets Cesca Bonet at a party in the beautiful Long Island compound owned by her family. She is one of four siblings, their mother an heiress to a fortune and their father a Spanish artist, who eventually returns to live in Spain. The Bonets are stunning. They are beautiful beyond description and talented. Wylie is totally smitten by eighteen year old Cesca and also becomes close friends with the eldest boy, Aurelio. These relationships become the dominating factors of his life.

Up to now, Wylie has been destined for a conventional life.

Harvard and then law or business, but discussing art with Aurelio and watching the wonderful work which he produces, leads Wylie in another direction. Meanwhile no matter where he finds himself in life, everything is dropped when Cesca calls.

There are two problems with this book. The first is that ostensibly, this is Wylie’s story. It opens in the first person and all of his part is told in the first person. However we are also told about Cesca’s free-spirited life. The hippest night-clubs, mingling with the rich and famous, visiting Europe with an English aristocrat, days of passion in a canal-side hotel in Venice, never fulfilling commitments, breaking hearts.

Cesca’s story includes many moments that our narrator cannot possibly know about it. A straightforward tale of two connected lives might have worked better. Then there’s the ‘fabulousness’ of everything. All of the main characters are extraordinarily beautiful and rich, their homes are fabulous, they travel to the world’s most fabulous places, and meet the most fabulous people. Perhaps the idea of wish-fulfilment is what sells books but personally it feels like the writer made a list of everybody’s favourite fantasies and decided to use them all.

Kathryn Smith.

Worth the sadness The Temporary Gentleman Sebastian Barry (Faber & Faber, €11.95).

IN SEBASTIAN Barry’s latest work, we meet yet another member of the McNulty family. Here, we are introduced to Jack, a brother of Eneas from The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty, and brother-in-law to Roseanne McNulty, the central character from The Secret Scripture. In creating these characters, Barry seems to draw heavily on his own roots in Sligo, and reimagines their lives with the intimacy of memory.

Contrary to his previous books, where characters were battered by acts and people outside their control, Jack is largely culpable for the damage that befalls those closest to him. The book unfolds as an examination of his life, with WW2 behind him, and uncertainty before him, as he attempts a kind of memoir, to make himself “a better man, a mended man”. It is a confession of sorts, an acceptance of guilt, and an exploration of the forensics of loss, from a man who has lost everything that brought him joy, entirely through his own fault.

Jack McNulty met Mai Kirwan at university in Galway. She was articulate, beautiful and “clever as a general”, and came to college with a bevy of girls who strode the halls “on fearless feet… with the confidence of Cortez and Magellan”. She was wealthy and well-bred, and way out of his league, but in the immediate aftermath of her father’s sudden death, she agreed to marriage. There was happiness for a time, they had two daughters, but eventually the imbalances in her moods became more extreme, he became more careless and selfish, they both drank to excess, and the centre could not hold.

What’s clear is that he never stopped loving her, it’s just that it was always easier to love himself more. He’s not a cold unfeeling monster, he has deep sincere feelings, he just can’t live up to them, while Mai has too many feelings that oppress her. She is cheerful and competent, organised and energetic, and fearful and lonely, and very, very sad.

Jack becomes a gentleman by virtue of his commission in the army, and remains a “gentleman” by virtue of rank for the duration of the (temporary) war. Fans of Sebastian Barry, and new readers alike, will find much to admire here. There is Barry’s trademark lyrical prose, beautifully written and a healing balm to read. The characters will be familiar to many, but are never stereotypes, and remain authentic on every page. It’s a melancholy book, about lost loves and wasted days, but it’s so beautifully told, it’s worth the sadness.

Margaret Hannigan.

more reviews on page 34 ‰

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 33

Book reviews

Through children’s eyes The Friday Tree Sophia Hillan (Ward River Press, €8.99).

THIS IS one of those slow-moving, lyrical novels that draw the reader deeply into the lives of its characters. Set in Belfast in 1955, the story is told from the perspective of five-year-old Brigid Arthur. As it opens, Brigid’s parents leave the house late at night meaning that Brigid and her elevenyear-old brother, Francis, wake up to their absence. This immediately sets up a sense of the perplexing, unreliable world of adults as seen through the eyes of a child.

Outwardly, Brigid and Francis live a conventional, comfortable life. Their father goes to work, their mother stays home and

has help, other family members and friends drop by regularly.

The ‘Troubles’ haven’t yet started, but there is much quiet talk and it is clear that the best thing to do is keep your head down and give away as little as possible. Francis is hit by a brick on his way home from school one day. The children are forbidden to enter the plot behind their garden. The sense of impending disaster is one of the great strengths of this book and the tension is palpable throughout. Whether it’s Brigid dashing into a busy road, standing on a cliff edge or showing early signs of serious illness, it’s constant.

Brigid is a clever, imaginative child. Through her observations, the reader can piece together the complex feelings and relationships of those around her. Her father is often distant, her mother tired and sad. It is bewildering to a little girl but the reader can soon understand what might lie ahead. There are other finely drawn characters, each with their own story to enrich the tapestry of this place and time.

Although in many ways this is a simple story, the heartbreak, struggle and occasional joys of normal life in troubled times are wonderfully depicted.

Kathryn Smith

Moments of fear Lovely,D ark, D eep Joyce Carol Oates, (Harper Collins, £16.99 in the UK).

JOYCE CAROL Oates is a lady who gives prolific a new meaning. She produces two novels a year, more short stories than you can shake a stick at, plus reviews and academic papers, she teaches at Princeton, where she is a humanities professor and she’s an active Tweeter. She also runs, and she’s 76. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any evidence that she has a weakness for crisps and chocolate, or glossy magazines, or box set binging (for me, that would be the icing on the cake). Anyway, you get the picture, she’s a woman with a lot to say, and she’s very busy saying it.

This is a collection of thirteen short stories, all of which have appeared, often in slightly different forms, in various publications, including The New Yorker and Yale Review. The title Lovely, Dark, Deep, references Robert Frost’s poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, which has the line (still well-remembered from the classroom) “These woods are lovely, dark and deep”. There is also a story Lovely, Dark, Deep, that re-imagines an interview between an English teacher from a private girl’s school in Massachusetts, and the 77 year-old Robert Frost, pre-eminent American poet and literary legend, 34

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and as revealed in the story, a rather nasty little man. Of course he is dead now, and anyone can say pretty much anything about him, because the dead can’t sue for libel. Not that I wish to undermine the version of him that’s presented here. Recent events have too often shown that monsters look like you and me, and sometimes like twinkly old granddads with white hair and little glasses.

Oates writes dark, bitter little stories, built on moments of fear or hurt. They mostly involve women who are unsure how to negotiate life in a particular set of circumstances. She writes in a loose impressionistic style in that the stories are coherent, but not driven by narrative. They are like reflections in broken glass, where all the different pieces, even when taken together, will not give the full picture. Perhaps as an antidote to this, she also writes mystery novels under the pen names Rosamund Smith and Lauren Kelly, how does she find the time? I particularly liked Sex with a Camel, which is about neither camels nor sex, but describes a teenage boy’s trip to the hospital with his grandmother, and manages to be touching and mysterious all at the same time. I also liked A Book of Martyrs, which skillfully examines trust, loyalty and loss, and of course, the eponymous Lovely, Dark, Deep. It’s a book to dip into and savour, think about and enjoy.

Margaret Hannigan.

Resistance follows scepticism on US/EU trade deal The past year has seen initial scepticism about the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), between the USA and Europe, evolve into much more organised political resistance across Europe, including an international day of action last October. KEIVAN JACKSON looks at the growing opposition to the deal.

Last year a host of municipalities in Germany and France declared official opposition to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). This has grown in 2015, as up to thirty Belgian municipalities are now organising to oppose the TTIP negotiations. This could ultimately lead to rejection of the treaty by Belgium as a whole, applying significant pressure on EU policy-makers.

The TTIP is a bi-lateral agreement that aims to eliminate tariffs and cut regulatory barriers to trade between EU countries and the USA. Since negotiations were launched in June 2013 the wideranging deal has been promoted as a means of ending economic stagnation and maximising growth. Supporters have claimed that the agreement could boost the EU’s GDP economy by well over €100bn, but such assertions have been met with deep scepticism from within civil society, not least by trade unions on both sides of the Atlantic.

Trade unions have been central to opposing TTIP’s privatisation agenda, highlighting the threat it poses to workers’ rights, wages and protections. Grassroots activism has also been boosted by a steady flow of leaks from the negotiation process. These have confirmed an apparent prioritisation of corporate interests over the safeguarding of public health and the environment.

The agreement is expected to reduce regulatory barriers in areas like environmental legislation and safety testing for cars, foods and medicines. Concern has grown that the deal would open up the European market to lower standards of production. Regulatory convergence would see EU food safety and environmental standards come closer to those of the 36

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Union business

Protecting our libraries Photo by Dreamstime.com

Image: dreamstime.com

International

United States, which are less strict. GM crops, food additives, pesticides and potentially toxic substances in consumer foods are much less restricted in the US. The most contentious element is the Investor-State Dispute Settlements (ISDS) which has been vigorously opposed by critics in Europe. ISDS could allow corporations to claim billions in compensation from governments if policy decisions were seen to damage company profits. This would inevitably limit government policy options, such as any increase to the minimum wage, and supersede the interests of the citizen with those of big business.

Trade unionists have already spoken out about the secretive ‘trades in services agreement’ (TiSA). Like TTIP, it poses a threat to public services and limits vital regulation of key policy areas.

Treaty negotiators are in the process of devising reforms which they hope will placate critics. After eight rounds of TTIP talks EU officials have conceded that they will not meet the 2015 deadline to agree the deal. The treaty also has to be agreed by both the European Council and Parliament and ratified by all of the EU member states’ national parliaments.

With much negotiating still to be done there is time as well as huge potential for civil society to advance an effective campaign against the transatlantic agreement. Both public and political awareness are growing around the potential dangers of the trade deal. It is now up to citizens and civil society organisations across the EU to develop integrated campaigns that are capable of achieving tangible success at EU level. The future of our safety standards, environmental protections and workers’ rights depends on it l

IMPACT’s local government division has launched a campaign to oppose the amalgamation of libraries and proposals to reduce the number of library services in the country from 32 to 23. HELENA CLARKE looks at the campaign and the proposals behind it.

LIBRARIES ARE the cornerstone of the community, and whilst the world seems to have gone digital, footfall continues to thrive in these literary havens, with seventeen million visits made nationally each year.

Despite such a vibrant library service, Government plans to amalgamate libraries, and reduce the number of library services nationally, are being implemented. IMPACT represents library staff nationwide and the union has been campaigning against what has been described as “a reckless dash towards change for changes sake” with zero cost savings.

The counties set to amalgamate are Cavan/Monaghan, Laois/ Offaly, Longford/Westmeath, Carlow/Kilkenny, Cork City/ County, and Sligo/Leitrim/Roscommon. This would mean that while money is provided for the service by one local authority, another would manage the service.

a reduced service to the public. There are a number of back office solutions which could create cost savings and they need to be explored” he says.

Campaigning In County Laois, senior library assistant and IMPACT member Sinead Holland says that the amalgamation for Laois/Offaly library services will be signed off in June. “There have been no guarantees to staff who naturally have a lot of questions.

IMPACT has been campaigning hard on the issue locally, including lobbying councillors. But it seems that, in Offaly and Laois anyhow, the plans are to go ahead” she says.

While Sinead is concerned for fellow staff and an uncertain future, the service is her main concern. “It’s a downgrading of the service to say that each county doesn’t merit a county librarian.

It’s not going to develop the service in any positive way” she says.

IMPACT national secretary for local government, Peter Nolan, says there are legitimate fears about the future of local library services. “The new governance structure would be outside the remit of public representative advocacy and local authority influence. We do not want to see another service removed, as it would mark further erosion of the responsibilities in local authorities” he says.

Peter says there’s an uneven pattern of implementation of the new proposals. “The chief executive of Westmeath has indicated to us that proposals are at a very early stage in the context of Longford/Westmeath and the chief executive in Cork city has indicated that proposals are not appropriate for Cork local authorities.

Peter explains that the only direct cost saving outlined in the proposals are from the suppression of a county librarian post. “No cost benefit analysis has been carried out, while the merger of two or three library services in this way will result in a loss of expertise at the highest level and, ultimately, lead to

“However, Laois/Offaly steams ahead, with no single date for the amalgamation process laid out, so counties who engage with this process early on may find themselves isolated. County managers who wish to protect their local service would do well to hold back, and watch the space” he says O

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Union business

Less than 650 established civil servants retired in 2013, about one third below the expected figure of 950. The lower than expected number of retirees is attributed to the extension of the grace period for public sector retirement.

It was initially agreed that civil and public servants who retire before August 2014 would receive a pension based on their salary before application of the pay cuts. This ‘grace period’ was designed to incentivise public servants nearing retirement to leave early. However the deadline has now been extended twice, first to 20 June 2015, and more recently, to June 2016.

Welcoming the recent extension, IMPACT general secretary

Shay Cody said that this was a positive response to concerns raised by trade unions about the effect of a sudden loss of many experienced public servants. Shay said “This decision takes some pressure off public services where a mass exodus of experience and expertise could have a negative effect on the delivery of services.

“It also takes pressure off individual workers who are in the process of planning their retirement, and allows them the scope to consider their plans without the threat of a loss of income hanging over them” he said. Minister Howlin said the new expiry date was chosen to minimise the effect on schools and said the revised date also coincides with the expiry of the Haddington Road Agreement.

SNAs vote for industrial action Jerry King (president), Deirdre Whelan (chair) and Jacqui Burton (iPad winner) at the South Tipperary Health branch AGM.

New South Tipp branches IMPACT formed a new South Tipperary Health branch in January at an AGM in Clonmel. The amalgamation of South Tipperary County Council and North Tipperary County Council made it necessary to dissolve the existing branches in South Tipperary and North Tipperary. Two new branches were constituted for local government and health.

Chairperson of the branch Deirdre Whelan said “The branch committee views this as an opportunity to grow and strengthen our branch, uniting under the umbrella of health sector employments.” IMPACT president Jerry King who attended the launch said “It’s a privilege to work in public services and to be helping people and that’s what we do every day.” Jacqui Burton of South Tipperary General Hospital was the lucky winner of an iPad at the AGM.

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Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) represented

by IMPACT voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action over the issue of the reduction of working hours and the fragmentation of SNA posts. IMPACT, which represents approximately 6,000 SNAs nationwide, said that individual SNAs work have been reduced to as little as 10 hours of work spread over a full working week.

The ballot for industrial action was approved at the end of March by a vote of 95% in favour.

IMPACT assistant general secretary Dessie Robinson said loss of working hours and income for SNAs constitutes a breach of the Haddington Road agreement (HRA). Dessie explained that IMPACT has expressed this view to the Department of Education and Skills. “The department continues to avoid getting into a discussion about the problem, and has instead pointed the finger of blame at the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) which oversees the annual allocation of the SNA service,” he said.

The ballot paper motion seeks “A firm commitment from the Department of Education and Skills that no SNA will have their working hours or income reduced once there is work available in the school, as determined by the NCSE allocation, prior to any new member of staff being recruited for that school.”

High numbers on low pay - NERI The Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI) has released its Quarterly Economic Observer for Spring 2015. It outlines latest expectations for the economic outlook in Ireland and provides a profile of earnings distribution and low pay.

Photo: courtesy of IPTU.

Fewer civil service retirements

The report projects strong GDP growth of 3.4% in 2015, declining marginally to 3.1% in 2016, and says consumption will continue its recovery, driven by rises in real disposable income.

NERI also reports that improvements in the economy will improve Exchequer finances with the government deficit falling to 2.7% in 2015 and 1.9% in 2016, alongside a steady decrease in unemployment out to 2016, with the 2015 figure reaching 10%.

In looking at low pay NERI found that 25% of employees earn an hourly wage of less than the Living Wage threshold of €11.45 per hour (approximately 345,000 employees) and that 60% of the low paid are women, with female workers facing a 34% risk of being low paid (one in three).

West campaigns for twilight payments IMPACT is campaigning in Galway and Roscommon over the issue of €7.5 million in unpaid premium payments to 400 social care staff working in the Brothers of Charity and Ability West services in both counties. The arrears date back ten years.

IMPACT assistant general secretary Padraig Mulligan explained that the union had succeeded in securing payment of the twilight premium (time and one sixth between 8pm and midnight) for social care workers and leaders but the arrears payment remains outstanding.

Padraig said the HSE has accepted the legal entitlement of staff to the payments but said the health body “equivocated over their liability to pay the historic arrears accruing to these staff since the entitlement arose. They have told us that they do not have the money to pay these arrears. This is not an acceptable position as far as we are concerned, particularly in light of the fact a number of agencies in Dublin have already paid” he said.

Patricia King

New ICTU boss meets CEC Patricia King has taken up her post as the new general secretary of ICTU, succeeding David Begg who stepped down in March, and addressed IMPACT’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) at its March meeting, outlining what she described as the three principles that underpin her work.

“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” she explained.

IMPACT general secretary, Shay Cody, welcomed Patricia’s appointment. “I have known and worked with Patricia for many years. She is an excellent negotiator, a strong leader, and a fantastic role model for the movement” he said.

Shay and Patricia worked closely during the negotiations to establish both the Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements. Shay said “Patricia is deeply driven by the desire to ensure that workers get a fair deal and she has the experience, skills and knowhow to affect positive change.”

Shay said that there are challenging times ahead for the trade union movement.

“Pay recovery across all sectors of the Irish economy is vital for sustained growth, and that is the goal for all trade unions as Ireland gets on to a path of economic recovery. We are fortunate to have someone of Patricia’s strength and ability to lead the trade union movement in Ireland at this time.”

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Sport

IT WAS hard not to laugh when the former Clare hurling manager recently commented, in relation to the statement released by the Clare hurling panel and management about the controversial departures from the panel of Davy O’Halloran and Nicky O’Connell, that “it was like pouring petrol on to a dying fire.”

When Ger Loughnane was the Banner County boss himself he never shied away from an opportunity to develop a siege mentality among his players.

Brain of the Banner He delivered two All-Ireland senior hurling titles in 1995, when they ended the ‘Curse of Biddy Early’, and again in 1997 with Davy Fitz between the posts on both occasions.

down the thermostat. It’s the type of environment he believes brings out the best in him and Clare hurlers, when their backs are to the wall.

Clare’s only other Liam McCarthy triumph had come in 1914 so the contribution of Loughnane and Fitzgerald cannot be underestimated.

He’ll need results to go his way this summer to keep a hold on the reins though.

In the aftermath of Clare’s league victory over Dublin in March, Fitzgerald insisted that “in Clare, we do things properly. There’s a code of discipline and that’s it”.

In an RTE interview, Fitzgerald rejected the statement that O’Halloran was left humiliated as “untrue”, while the claim that another senior player had escaped disciplinary action after being caught out and breaking their code of discipline was rejected. “I am 110pc certain of that,” declared Fitzgerald.

In the Clare statement they said the panel and management were “united” for the cause but is the exit of O’Halloran and O’Connell the latest sign that fissures are emerging?

Three players have already opted off the senior hurling panel this season. Cathal McInerney and brothers Podge and Seán Collins have gone to play football at inter-county level while it’s expected the talented Colm Galvin will spend the summer in the USA rather than at home.

As far as he was concerned the superpowers in Munster, Cork and Tipperary, looked down their noses at Clare and Loughnane set about building a team that would go above and beyond the call of duty; both physically and mentally, to trump their opponents. And it worked.

In a county that won the Liam McCarthy as recently as last year it’s unusual, to say the least, to see such defections.

At underage level Clare have never been stronger and there are voices of dissent in the county airing their concern that this golden era may not be transferred into further senior glory.

This all adds to the pressure on Davy Fitz’s shoulders.

Clare have won the past three Munster and All-Ireland under-21 hurling titles, an incredible feat not seen since Limerick did the same between 2000 and 2002.

Photos: Sportsfile

Their first Munster under-21 title only came in 2009 and, prior to that, they had been beaten on the previous 12 occasions they had contested a Munster under-21 decider. So the landscape has changed massively in the Banner County since the days when Loughnane took the reins at senior level.

This unprecedented underage glory has raised the bar and the Clare public are likely to demand more. It’s a pressure cooker situation and Fitzgerald will probably do very little to turn X

Storming in from the West Corofin’s impressive All-Ireland club glory on St Patrick’s Day has Galwegians dreaming again.

Their superb run through Galway, when they captured back-toback titles, their steamrolling of all-comers in Connacht, their seven-point victory over last year’s champions St Vincent’s in the All-Ireland semi-final, and their clinical dispatching of Slaughtneil in Croke Park suggest that Galway football is on the rise again.

The conveyor belt at underage level is going better than it has in the recent past but is arguably still not proficient enough to supply the senior ranks with the quality and numbers necessary to capture the Sam Maguire for the first time since 2001.

If you take Tyrone’s three All-Ireland senior successes in the noughties as a barometer for the modern game, they won four All-Ireland under-21 titles in ten years, as well as four minor All-Irelands in the same decade with most of the best of these teams combining for their glories under Mickey Harte in 2003, 2005 and 2008.

So, still a bit of a hill to climb O

We’d like to add a caveat, in fact several of them.

In the aftermath of All-Ireland glory several senior Gaelic football analysts in the country suggested Corofin’s glory could be the springboard to reboot Galway’s senior footballers and one in particular wrote that they could be serious contenders for the Sam Maguire Cup. On a purely scoring statistical level you can see merit in that suggestion. Their nine-point victory over Mayo’s Ballintubber, their 35-point winning margin over Leitrim’s Aughawillan, their 18-point destruction of St Michael’s in the Galway decider, not to mention their convincing displays against the Dublin and Derry representatives, highlighted their scoring prowess.

However, when you drill down a little deeper most of the upsurge in confidence seems to be based on the form of talented forward Michael Lundy.

The 25-year-old speedster had an exceptional championship.

So much so that local scribes were making comparisons with such Galway legends as Pádraic Joyce and Michael Donnellan.

His first half display against Vincent’s, and again on Paddy’s Day, were outstanding but there is a chasm between even top club games and top inter-county action.

Photo: Sportsfile

Discipline is an obsession with the best sporting teams on the planet, and a recent controversy in the Clare hurling squad has prompted much discussion about the intensity of that obsession.

KEVIN NOLAN digs a little deeper and looks at Galway’s prospects following the recent All Ireland club championship victory of Corofin.

Does Galway have the ingredients to really challenge for the Sam Maguire? It’s hard to imagine.

Corofin’s Michael Lundy, a legend in the offing.

Davy Fitzgerald, Clare hurling manager.

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WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

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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 add €50 to your wallet or purse 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.

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Leona was sent to Gran Canaria. Who is Leona?

A A teddy bear B A loggerhead turtle C A cocktail.

Delegates at IMPACT’s 2014 biennial conference voted to: A support the referendum on marriage equality B call for 20 more public holidays C dissolve IMPACT. Who does Raymond Connolly say voted for Margaret Thatcher in 1979?

A Mickey Mouse B Ian Curtis of Joy Division C Barney.

Where can the Spanish Arch be found?

A In Spain B In the Botanic Gardens C Galway city.

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 Friday 12th June 2015. The editor’s decision is final.

That’s it!

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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.

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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Co Meath village (8) 6.

Headgear (3) 9.

Red indian tribe choosing a choice fruit (6) 11. Pound weight, in short (3) 13. Athlete (6) 16. Bondage (7) 17. Mountain gap (4) 18. Picturesque Kerry village (4) 20. Beverage (3) 21. Warship (7) 22. United States of America, in Short (3) 24. Brook (6) 25. False, bogus (4) DOWN 1.

The Irish patriot was styled the blackbird of Avondale (7) 2.

Scheme, small area of land (4) 3.

---- Novello, Welsh music composer (4) 4.

Mouth of a volcano (6) 6.

Ulster county (5) 7.

Account, in short (2)

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Aspect of the moon or a planet, stage of development (5) Red Indian tribe (4) To take a leisurely wash, usually at sea (5) Quack medicine (6) Three-toed ostrich (4) Clergyman (6) Assist, often in dubious circumstances (4) Could be over in attire or under when paining (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 Friday 12th June 2015.

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Winners!

The survey

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The winners from competitions in the winter-spring issue were:

Crossword: Deirdre Gannon, Sligo. Book competition: Helen McLeod, Dublin City and Marie Foley, Dublin Hospitals. Survey: Margarita Kennedy Rohan, Westmeath.

Quiz: Marian Fogarty, Education No.1.

Lots more competitions to enter in this issue!

Crossword composed by Sean Ua Cearnaigh

A piece of stained glass artwork by Harry Clarke was deemed unsuitable by the Government in 1930 because it: A depicted a partially nude dancer B looked like a cartoon C wasn’t nice.

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Your view

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WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 43

Commercial membership services MPACT has facilitated the provision of a number of national membership services and discount schemes on behalf of its members. These include Additional Voluntary Contribution Schemes (Pensions), Life Assurance, Salary Protection in the case of illness and Car, House and Travel Insurance Schemes. A number of local discount schemes are also negotiated by local branches.

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The Union uses the size and composition of its membership base and, where possible, competition between the various service providers, to seek the best possible deals for the widest possible sections of our membership. It is probable that the majority of members will get better value from these schemes than if they sought the same service individually. However, this will not be true in all cases and there will be occasions where individual members may, because of their specific circumstances, be able to get better value elsewhere. It is not possible always to ensure that all schemes will be accessible equally to all members and the scheme underwriters will not depart totally from their normal actuarial or risk assessment procedures and rules.

IMPACT does not make any claims as to the quality or reliability of any of these products/services and while advising members of the availability of the National Membership Services and Discount Schemes does not endorse or recommend any particular product or service. IMPACT's role is that of facilitator to ensure that such schemes are available to its members. All contracts are directly between the product/service provider and the individual member. IMPACT is not in any way a party to these contracts and will not accept any responsibility or liability arising from any act or omission on the part of the product or service provider. Neither IMPACT nor any member of its staff receives any fees or commissions or other rewards from these product or service providers arising from such schemes.

While IMPACT does occasionally provide such product/service providers with limited information regarding IMPACT branch and/or workplace representatives for the purpose of advertising such schemes, the Union does not make any personal data relating to individual Union members available to them for any purpose.

The Union requires that product/service providers agree to ensure that all such schemes comply with all lawful requirements including the Equal Status Act 2000.

Advertisements for agreed membership services will have an

FACILITATED

logo on them.

Some of the companies providing agreed membership services may offer other products or services (that are not as a result of any agreement or arrangement with IMPACT) directly to IMPACT members.

The Union has no role whatsoever in relation to such products or services. Likewise, other product or service providers may make offers directly to IMPACT members through advertisements in the Union newspaper or otherwise. These do not arise as a result of agreements or arrangements with IMPACT and the Union does not ask members to consider availing of such products/services and accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any such offers.

The product/service providers with which IMPACT has agreed the provision of membership services and/or discount schemes are as follows: KennCo Insurance.

Cornmarket Group Financial Services Ltd.

Travel Insurance – all Divisions.

Car Insurance – all Divisions.

AVC Schemes – all Divisions, excluding Municipal Employees.

Salary Protection and Life Assurance – Local Government, Health, Civil Service, Education and Services & Enterprises Divisions.

Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) Ltd. Car Insurance – all Divisions.

House Insurance – all Divisions.

December 2004

DISCLAIMER (Approved by CEC 10th December 2004) 44

SPRING-SUMMER 2015