Work & Life - Issue No 2 by Roisin nolan

work &life THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

ISSUE 2 • SUMMER/AUTUMN 2008

SKINT!

MONEY AND HAPPINESS EAT ON THE CHEAP HELPING THE POOREST SET BOOKS FREE AND GET FREE BOOKS LOOK GOOD ON A BUDGET CUT YOUR HOUSEHOLD BILLS

PLUS

Surviving the economic downturn.

STAY CALM IN TRAFFIC. CARERS’ RIGHTS. ROME. BATMAN. THE PREMIERSHIP. GAA. GARDENS. FOOD. MUSE MUSIC. COMPETITIONS. AND THE REST… www.impact.ie

Inside this issue

work &life – The SKINT issue. Summer/Autumn 2008 COVER FEATURES

REGULARS

DOES MONEY MEAN HAPPINESS? It turns out that money can’t buy you happiness. But it helps when you’re down on your luck, says BERNARD HARBOR.

POVERTY FRONTLINE

DRESS TO IMPRESS (on a budget) You don’t have to spend a fortune to look good at work. TRISH O’MAHONY on how to make your wardrobe work for your career.

FREE BOOKS Book-crossing could save you cash and enrich your reading.

CUT YOUR BILLS COLM RAPPLE advises on how to cut those rising household bills.

PAY TALKS LATEST

CIVIL SERVANTS CHASE LABOUR COURT

21 22

LETTERS

RIGHTS AT WORK

38 39 39

A new European legal opinion could herald improved rights for working carers.

BE GOOD TO YOURSELF Tense in traffic? KAREN WARD says the car can be a good place to wind down.

28 30

JIMI BLAKE on how grasses can enrich your garden, big or small.

40 40 40

AT THE MOVIES

GARDENS

SCHOOL SECRETARIES

RECRUITMENT PLANS BENCHMARKING IS DEAD BOSSES’ DOUBLE STANDARDS PENSIONS GREED NEW OFFICERS ELECTED EU AGENCY DEAL HEALTH CAMPAIGN

MORGAN O’BRIEN on the real Batman.

RECIPE FOR SAVINGS We’re throwing away about a third of the food we buy. MARGARET HANNIGAN advises on your shift to kitchen thrift.

IMPACT’s new president takes time off from CSI Dublin. Really!

LUNCH MONEY It’s time to reclaim the disappearing Irish lunch break says NIALL SHANAHAN. And it needn’t cost a fortune.

IMPACT PEOPLE

Win €50. We talk to the IMPACT members who tackled poverty and exclusion throughout the boom.

NEWS

MUSIC RAYMOND CONNOLLY finds his Muse. And all the best gigs for this season.

TRAVEL AND TRIPS Discover “la dolce vita” in Rome.

SPORT KEVIN NOLAN on GAA and the looming premiership race.

Win a weekend break.

Crossword and Sodoku.

Win €50.

Win €100.

Win a €150 hamper from Nutralife.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 3

work&life

Big kiss in Kay’s kitchen

That was then Photo: Conor

THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS

20 years ago Dublin celebrates its 1,000th birthday in July 1988. The same month, Nelson Mandela is awarded the freedom of Dublin City, two years before his release from prison.

30 years ago

Hard Times JUST OUR luck! The first issue of Work & Life hit the streets in May and the economic downturn starts to bite the following month. It wasn’t us who put the brakes on the economy. Honest! But this special ‘SKINT’ issue is going out of the way to help you through the crisis. We have loads of ways to stop spending your hard earned dough. There’s the reassuring news that happiness doesn’t cost money, and Margaret Hannigan tells you how to save a fortune by cutting out kitchen waste. Colm Rapple has advice on cutting those household bills, while Trish O’Mahony reveals how you can look good at work without breaking the bank. Niall Shanahan meets a couple of community welfare officers as they help some of the poorest in our society, while Martina O’Leary catches up with IMPACT’s new president. And our regular books column explains how you can enrich your reading with free books.

Front cover photography by Conor Healy. Celtic tiger poster by Luke Shanahan. Contact IMPACT at: Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1. Phone: 01-817-1500. Email: rnolan@impact.ie. Designed by: O’Brien Design & Print Management Phone: 01-864-1920 Email: nikiobrien@eircom.net. Printed by: Boylan Print Group. Advertising sales: Frank Bambrick Phone: 01-453-4011. Unless otherwise stated, the views contained in Work & Life do not necessarily reflect the policy of IMPACT trade union.

And we’ve got all our usual features like sport, music, gardens, health and wellbeing, films, workplace rights and all the union news.

Work & Life is printed on environmentally friendly paper, certified by the European Eco Label. This magazine is 100% recyclable.

Thanks for all your encouraging comments on our first issue. It seems like you’re really enjoying Work & Life. Don’t forget to tell your colleagues to get on the mailing list. And do keep contacting us to tell us what you think.

All suppliers to Work & Life recognise ICTU-affiliated trade unions.

IMPACT is Ireland’s fastest growing trade union with over 58,000 members in the public services and elsewhere. We represent staff in the health services, local authorities, education, the civil service, the community sector, aviation, telecommunications and commercial and non-commercial semi-state organisations.

summer/AUTUMN 2008

Kay (centre) gets a big kiss goodbye from colleagues Margaret Jackson and Ann Tiernan.

ALMOST EVERYONE who’s visited IMPACT’s Dublin office knows Kay Hannigan, who retired from the union in June. The ground floor canteen, where visitors are shown for a cup of tea or coffee as they wait for their meetings, gradually came to be known as ‘Kay’s kitchen’ during her 13 years in Nerney’s Court. Kay looked after the first floor and the people who use it. But she’ll always be best remembered for the fantastic welcome she extended to all our visitors. You might not have got a latte or cappuccino when you landed in Kay’s kitchen, but you were always greeted with a big smile and a great chat. If you were lucky, you might get a biscuit from the secret stash thrown in for good measure! Scores of staff turned out for her retirement do at the end of June, where many IMPACT branches sent their greetings and gifts. New union president John Power also made a presentation on behalf of the central executive committee. IMPACT general secretary Peter McLoone spoke for us all when he said how much Kay was loved by her colleagues, and the hundreds of activists and members who came to know her over the years. “Kay’s extraordinary gift of connecting with everyone who used this building will long be remembered. She has made many, many friends here and we look forward to making tea for her next time she’s in,” he said.

40 years ago In September 1968, George Best is the star attraction as Manchester United beat Waterford City 3-1 at Lansdowne Road, two months after Saddam Hussein becomes Iraq’s Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Council after a coup d’état.

80 years ago In Britain, the first ever issue of the Beano goes on sale in July 1938. Meanwhile, Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan lands at Baldonnel airfield, Dublin, after a 28hour non-stop solo Atlantic flight. He was supposed to be going to California. The following month Dublin Corporation buys 16 sets of traffic lights.

90 years ago On 10th September 1928 the Saorstát Pound, or Free State Pound, goes into circulation. It is the first Irish banknote to circulate for over a century. That July the Irish Tricolour is raised at the Olympic games in Amsterdam for the first time. Pat O’Callaghan from Kanturk, Co. Cork wins a gold medal for hammer throwing. Women in the United Kingdom are finally given full voting rights on 2nd July. Voting rights for Irish women were extended the same year, but it would be 1945 before they achieved full suffrage.

IMPACT trade union

Find out more about IMPACT on

Dublin Institute of Technology is created on an “ad-hoc basis” by the City of Dublin VEC in September 1978.

Work & Life is produced by IMPACT trade union’s Communications Unit and edited by Bernard Harbor.

www.impact.ie.

140 years ago On 5th June 1868, socialist and trade unionist James Connolly is born to Irish immigrant parents in Edinburgh.

Work & Life: The magazine for IMPACT members

IMPACT people

President who? IMPACT’S PRESIDENT is elected for a two-year term at the union’s biennial delegate conference. It’s the highest elected position in the union and paid union staff are not eligible to run for the job.

An eye for detail John Power at home with David (left), Daragh and Philomena.

Forensic scientist John Power was elected union president at IMPACT’s biennial delegate conference in May. Work & Life decided it was time to dust for finger prints and find out what really makes him tick. How would you describe yourself? Big and friendly. Is forensic science really like CSI Miami? Of course. We are all beautiful people and drink coffee at any time. We call it the CSI effect. Sometimes people are shocked that we’re so good looking! But seriously, our function is to evaluate evidence. We’re independent of the police, and although you are often called as a prosecution witness, you are actually acting on behalf of the State to testify about the evidence. What are your interests? My family. My union. People. I used to do a lot of DIY and have quite a lot of 95% finished projects and a very tolerant wife. What’s your favourite book? A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It’s lovely and you can read it in one sitting. I read it every Christmas. I love that book. What item can you not leave home without? My car keys.

summer/AUTUMN 2008

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? I’d like to go to Iceland. I’m fascinated by the natural springs and geysers, I’d love to be where the environment is so fresh and see something on the edge of change up close. It might not be there for too much longer. Who’d be your ideal lunch partner? This is going to sound really corny but I’d choose a guy called Frederick Douglas, who visited Ireland in the mid-eighteenth century. He was a former slave and he talked about the emancipation of the slaves. He was a fascinating character who spoke about the welcome he received in Ireland. I wonder what he’d make of our country now.

Who or what’s the greatest love of your life? My best friend and wife Philomena.

That means each president is an ordinary union member with a ‘proper’ job. New president John Power works in the State’s forensic science lab. His predecessor worked for Cork county council and other recent presidents have worked for Eircom and the HSE.

Any pet hates? I really hate stupid form-filling. Red tape for the sake of red tape. That doesn’t mean administration isn’t important, but it isn’t the almighty in everything.

The president represents the union at a lot of meetings and events and chairs IMPACT’s biennial conference. It’s an influential position that also involves chairing the monthly meetings of the union’s central exectutive committee (often called the CEC).

How did you get involved in IMPACT? My dad was a life-long trade unionist and I helped replace a staff organisation with a proper union in my first job in Trinity College’s forensic unit of pharmacology, where I met my wife. I’ve been involved with IMPACT since I started in forensic science 18 years ago. The best thing about being involved in the union is the diversity of the people you meet. Working with different groups is tremendously challenging and usually rewarding.

This elected committee – also made up of ordinary union members – is effectively the ‘board’ of the union. It’s responsible for implementing policies agreed at union conference and managing the union’s resources and ongoing work.

Why did you run for president? It’s a tremendous honour to have been elected President. I think it’s tremendously important that people see members being involved at the highest Photo: Conor Healy levels of decision making and IMPACT’s structures allow that. I ran for president to influence some of the key decisions that affect our members and the people who use the services they provide. I want to get ordinary members’ views and explain what we are doing. What was your most embarrassing experience? Doing this interview.

“No one ever stamped your backside and said life was going to be easy. Sometimes you have to deal with that.”

What animal would you compare yourself to? A giraffe. I’m always reaching for something slightly beyond my reach. And sometimes I get it.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Be true to yourself. We all have an innate sense of what’s right and wrong. If you follow that you won’t go too far wrong. My dad gave me that advice.

Who inspires you? On a personal basis I have been inspired by my parents. In a wider view, people like Nelson Mandela and Bob Geldof. People who have very strong personal beliefs and convictions, even if I don’t always agree with them.

What would you like to be remembered for? Being a decent human being, or at least trying to be a decent human being. I don’t see any difference between my trade unionism and myself as a person, I try to be the same person all the time. Then I don’t have to remember who I am!

What helps you when the going gets tough? Looking at how people dealt with adversity in the past and showed that you still have possibilities even when life is difficult. No one ever stamped your backside and said life was going to be easy. Sometimes you have to deal with that.

I’d also like to be rememberd for my two boys. I’m tremendously proud of them. David (15), who’s just finished his junior cert, is into drama and computers and loves games. My older son Daragh’s into magic. He sits his leaving cert in 2009. I think Daragh could make a career out of magic l

The CEC has a president, four vice presidents, a treasurer, a secretary and an equal opportunites officer. These people, also elected at the main biennial union conference, are joined by representatives of each of the union’s five divisions – health and welfare, local government and education, civil service, municipal employees and services and enterprises. That ensures that the specific needs and interests of staff in each sector are factored in to the CEC’s decision making. All IMPACT branches are entitled to nominate candidates for the CEC positions. This is usually done at branch annual general meetings, most of which take place between January and March. You should contact your branch secretary if you want to attend the meeting and be a part of the democratic process.

Money and happiness

Yes, but are you happy? Money may be too tight to mention, but does that mean a miserable time ahead for Irish workers? BERNARD HARBOR looks at the relationship between money and happiness. I NEARLY laughed out loud when I read that the National Health Service plans to rate nurses on how smiley they are. British health minister Alan Johnson reckons smiling, empathetic nurses are as important to patients’ recovery as skilled surgeons and he’s piloting patient surveys to draw up a “compassion index.”

In true New Labour style, Johnson says he wants to encourage rivalry between wards over who can look happiest. Picture the scene as health professionals tell their immediate colleagues jokes to broaden their grins, and spread rumours of redundancy to wipe smiles off faces in the next ward! It’s all be part of a trend as more and more businesses promote the idea that happy staff are worth more. And companies as diverse as Ben and Jerry’s, Starbucks, Orange, Innocent Drinks and Google are marketing themselves to prospective employees as fun places to work. McDonald’s cinema ads portray its fast food joints as social networks where staff can meet interesting people of all nationalities. HewlettPackard has gone as far as hiring a “chief happiness officer” to give businesses advice on improving office happiness (apparently the main solution to gloominess is to buy more laptops from Hewlett-Packard). Needless to say, this idea has form. Ten years after The Beatles released Can’t Buy Me Love in 1964, an American

called Richard Easterlin published the earliest economic study to conclude that economic growth doesn’t necessarily lead to more happiness. Although the ‘Easterlin Paradox’ was about national economic growth rather than individual organisations, HR professionals loved it. Evidence that happiness was not about money could usefully be applied to the workplace where managers could be encouraged to tinker with all kinds of things (except the pay slip) to raise morale and, thus, productivity. Nice try! The fact is that happiness at work is about money too. As far back as the 1960s a now-classic study on job motivation by another American, Frederick Herzberg, that, although good pay and conditions don’t necessarily motivate staff, a bad package will cause dissatisfaction. So bosses write pay out of the happiness script at their peril. A growing number of convincing studies are analysing the link between wealth and happiness. And most conclude that, once a nation gets beyond abject poverty, economic growth stops increasing our sense of well-being. Despite massive increases in wealth over the last half century, for instance, measurable happiness has not increased in the western world.

Nobel Prize winning economist Daniel Kahneman specialises in ‘hedonic psychology,’ or the study of what makes life either pleasant or unpleasant. He says it’s now easy to accurately measure happiness levels through brains scans. He also agrees that people are no happier than they were in the past, despite huge economic growth. But money does matter in three important ways. First, the very low paid are measurably and permanently happier when paid more. Secondly, people are always unhappy when their income drops. And, most important of all, people are dissatisfied when their income compares badly with others. So how could these findings inform happiness prospects in Ireland as the economy slows? First of all, it’s unhappiness all round for the growing number of people who lose their jobs or fear they might. Unemployment means low and falling incomes, and wealth levels that compare badly with others – even relatively low paid workers who keep their jobs. For those in work, the likely final score is 2-1 to misery. Trade unions have successfully negotiated the second highest minimum wage in Europe, and most workers earn more than that. So, although some are struggling, there aren’t that many employees on rock bottom wages. But if the Government, employers and most economic commentators get their way on pay, growing inflation could gobble up pay increases, leaving most of us with less wealth. One-all at half time. And if income ‘rivalry’ is the biggest cause of moneyrelated unhappiness, as Kahneman suggests, the growing gap between Ireland’s high and middle incomes guarantees a strong second-half comeback for misery. The economic slowdown has made little impact on huge private sector executive pay packages, boosted by sham ‘performancerelated’ share deals and princely pensions. In the public service, top earners’ pay has been boosted by the higher remuneration body while low and middle earners have been pegged back by benchmarking. Kahneman says that richer people are happier because they have more than the rest of us, rather than because of the size of their pile itself. So a widening wealth gap makes them no happier, but it does mean measurably more misery for those left behind.

Photo: Conor Healy

There’s a simple way of dealing with this conundrum: Tax the rich more. It won’t cause them any grief, but it will make most of us happier by narrowing the wealth gap. And it would help the Government to deal with falling tax revenues that are about to translate into reduced spending on schools, hospitals roads, parks and other public services that can make us happier.

SUMMER/autumn 2008

Work & Life: The magazine for IMPACT members

Money and happiness

When money matters Evidence shows that pay affects workers’ happiness in three ways:

• • •

Very low paid workers are always happier when they get a rise

People are always unhappy when their income drops

advised the British Labour Party on labour market issues. He argues that an unhealthy pursuit of higher incomes puts our happiness at risk, especially when it affects our important human relationships with family and friends. It makes sense. More money doesn’t necessarily make us happy; time spent with family and friends does. Yet we’re spending more and more precious time at work (or getting there) in order to get more dough, albeit badly needed in many cases.

People are dissatisfied when their income

compares badly with others

An Irish problem Labour peer Richard Layard is the director of economic performance at the London School of Economics and has

In his book Happiness: Lessons From A New Science Layard also argues that more individualistic and competitive societies can increase personal unhappiness. No soft touch, Layard has called on European governments to be tougher on the unemployed (on the basis that unemployment makes you unhappy). But he supports strong employment protections and better job security and argues against downsizing

and increased labour mobility, which he blames for destroying secure communities and families. To paraphrase: “Berlin, not Boston.” But there’s a paradox. Workers in Ireland put in longer hours than most Europeans, yet we tend to rate well in international happiness leagues. In 2006, a study of 80,000 people placed us 11th in the “first ever world map of happiness.” Last August, a report into workplace happiness by a London market research company placed us third, after Holland and Thailand. A ‘happiness at work index’ compiled by human resource consultants Chiumento in 2007 put salaries in tenth place in a league of workplace happiness factors. It reckons the biggest determinants of contentment are friendly supportive colleagues, enjoyable work, a good boss or manager, good work-life balance, and varied work. It’s hard to believe that workers in Ireland have better experiences than other Europeans in all these categories. For instance, work-life balance is placed at number four in the Chiumento index, yet it’s a huge problem here where we work very long hours and spend so much time commuting between home, crèche and work.

Age of discontent? One interesting recent study of 500,000 people in Europe and the USA found that happiness is agerelated. On average, it says, we’re happy when young, gloomy in middle age, and happiest of all after we top 50. (A 2006 Irish Times poll supports this. It found that nine out of ten over-50s were happy with life). The researchers speculate that this may reflect a link between happiness and expectations. Young people are confidently looking forward to a successful life. The middle-aged are grappling with the realities of unfulfilled hopes and aspirations. And older people started out with lower expectations which, for many or most, have been outstripped. A strong link between happiness and material expectations could herald bad news for a large chunk of what is a relatively young Irish workforce. For many who entered the workforce in the last ten or 15 years, the experience has been one of massive economic growth, full employment, material plenty and lots of opportunities. We might find it hard to keep smiling through a time of uncertainty, unemployment and possible recession l

summer/AUTUMN 2008

Is happiness overrated? “ALL HAPPY families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Opening his masterpiece Anna Karenina Tolstoy might just as well have written: “Happiness is boring. I wouldn’t bother writing this, and you wouldn’t bother reading it, if the 1,000-page book was about a happy family.” Count Tolstoy went on to reject fame, though not fortune, to lead a simple life impersonating peasants on his county estate. But the idea that interesting and successful people aren’t necessarily happy lives on. History is littered with miserable geniuses. Vincent Van Gogh The unhappy Dutch painter suffered mental illness throughout adulthood and never sold a painting in his life. Arguably the most famous artist of all time, his works now attract top dollar. Sylvia Plath ‘Not waving but drowning,’ this American poetic genius suffered deep depression and (allegedly) from married life with more-famous Yorkshire rhymster Ted Hughes. Now rated among the top poets of the 20th century. Doctor Johnson He spent eight years compiling the first English dictionary (well after the French and Italians had finished theirs). But Doctor Samuel Johnson’s middle age was blighted by profound melancholy, which sometimes bordered on madness. Marilyn Monroe The screen goddess and fine actress spent her early years in children’s homes because of her mother’s mental illness. Monroe went on to suffer from depression, extreme highs and lows, and lasting insecurity. Ian Curtis A recent biopic brought this Macclesfield lad back into welldeserved limelight. Curtis changed the course of modern music with his band Joy Division in the late 1970’s. But epilepsy and a complicated love life fed the depression that led to disaster. Tony Hancock Hard drinking, and wracked with self-doubt and depression, this son of an entertainer overcame stage fright to become a comic genius. The brilliant Hancock’s Half Hour attracted record TV audiences in the 1960s.

Work & Life: The magazine for IMPACT members

Win! Win! Win!

Community welfare officers

a family break at the

Tullamore Court Hotel LOCATED in the heart of the midlands, just 90 minutes from Dublin, Galway and Limerick is the four-star Tullamore Court Hotel, the ideal location for a well earned break for you and your family. And there’s no need to worry about the kids as Harry the Hedgehog Kids Club will take care of the little guests so you can just relax, chill out and enjoy your

When the tide is always out

break. The hotel’s leisure centre is one of the midlands’ top leisure centres, including a 20 metre swimming pool, kid’s pool, sauna, jacuzzi, steam room and fitness suite. Tullamore Court Hotel is offering one lucky reader a fantastic weekend family break for two nights bed and breakfast and one evening meal for two adults

To be in with a chance to win simply answer this question and return to Roisin Nolan, Work & Life Tullamore Competition, IMPACT trade union, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1 by 10th August 2008: Who will entertain the children at the Tullamore Court Hotel’s Kids Club? A: Harry the Hedgehog B: Barry the Bear C: Larry the Llama

Work & Life readers can avail of a 10% discount on the following special offers • Mid week breaks - two nights, bed and breakfast and one evening meal, €150 per person sharing • Weekend breaks - two nights, bed and breakfast and one evening meal, €175 per person sharing Children aged 12 and under are complimentary when sharing with 2 adults. Children’s meals are charged for as taken. To make your reservation please call 057 934 6666 or email and quote PSTU TCH. Offer ends 31st August and is subject to availability. Terms and Conditions apply. 12

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2008

Photo: Conor Healy

and two children (sharing family room).

HERE TO HELP: Carl O’Rourke in Damastown, North County Dublin.

“Recession: A period of economic contraction, sometimes limited in scope or duration.” THE WORD ‘recession’ makes us all highly excitable, sometimes even nostalgic. In the last few weeks, there has been much open speculation about whether or not we’re returning to the bad old days of the 1980s. For most of us, it was a dark decade. It holds distant memories of friends leaving for London, Munich, New York and Boston, or mornings spent in the dole queue. It was a time when workers gave up a sizable chunk of their

income in tax, while being told that the country was virtually bankrupt. Years later, we discovered there was plenty of money around, but most of it was ‘resting’ offshore, much like Father Ted’s ‘Lourdes stash’ in Las Vegas. In brighter years, we were told that, in

“I had a case today where a woman sought help because she was experiencing domestic violence. She had no idea of what services were available to her or what support organisations exist. We were able to do that for her.”

the words of former Taoiseach Sean Lemass, “a rising tide lifts all boats.” The soundbite depends on the convenient assumption that everyone has a boat ready to catch that rising tide. But that has never been the case. Throughout the lean years that preceded the recent boom, and through the boom years themselves, community welfare officers (CWOs) have been at the frontline of helping people marginalised by poverty, debt, addiction and mere circumstance. CWOs are, as the name implies, community based, working from your local health centre. They take care of the day-to-day running of community welfare services, including schemes like medical cards and nursing home subventions. ®

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 13

Community welfare officers much-publicised queues out the door. It was very pressurised and regimented work. The sheer volume was staggering,” says Carl.

“We’re seeing a surge of people who have recently lost their jobs. There’s been a sharp increase in the numbers looking for help with their mortgage repayments.”

He enjoys the work, particularly when he can do more than just write a cheque to solve someone’s problem. “I had a case today where a woman sought help because she was experiencing domestic violence. Coming out of that situation, she had no idea what services or support organisations were available to her. We were able to do that for her. With other clients, it might be about referrals to drug addiction treatment or re-training for employment after that experience.”

There’s never been a better time to

Join IMPACT

Carl says the biggest challenge is not knowing what will happen next. “On any given day, we have no idea who will present to us or why. It accounts for some of the stress of the job, but it’s a challenge, its part of the buzz.” Government plans to transfer responsibility for community welfare services from the HSE to the Department of Social and Family Affairs have raised concerns among CWOs.

Photo: Conor Healy

In evidence to an Oireachtas committee, IMPACT and SIPTU said that the promise of discretionary community welfare payments gives marginalised people an incentive to access health and personal social services, which they are often unlikely to seek through formal channels. CWOs are able to assess their needs and put them in touch with health services. Managing the supplementary welfare allowance scheme is a central part of the work, which includes welfare allowance payments, rent, mortgage interest and diet and heating supplements, back-to-school clothing and footwear schemes, and exceptional needs payments. And from here, they are able to put clients in touch with a wide range of health and social services. Louth-based Ann Matthews has worked in community welfare for the last ten years. She’s seen a lot of changes in that time. “For a number of years a lot of our work was with people who had recently arrived from other countries. This ranged from people trying to find work to those awaiting a decision on their refugee status. It meant dealing with a very broad range of needs and circumstances, and sometimes dealing with translators,” she says. But the trend is changing again. “Now we’re seeing a surge in the number of 14

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2008

Irish people, and other nationalities, who have recently lost their jobs and who need help. There has been a sharp increase in the number of applicants looking for help with their mortgage repayments.” Like all parts of the public service and caring professions, the volume of work is a constant challenge. “Some days are stressful, but that’s part of the job. Unfortunately there will always be a need for this type of work because, no matter how good our economy might be, there will always be people facing a crisis, for whatever reason,” she says. A bit further south, her colleague Carl O’Rourke has been working as a CWO since 1999. He’s worked in a variety of locations, eventually settling in Damastown, north county Dublin. He seen it all? “I’ve certainly seen a huge diversity in the kind of clients I’ve worked with over the years. My time in Mount Street included the period of

Carl feels that the proposed move to Social and Family Affairs places a huge question mark over the future of the work. “We really don’t know what’s coming. CWOs don’t want to lose the flexibility and discretion they can exercise in helping people. Will our role be reduced to just writing cheques? I hope not.” Ann is also keen to see the service stay in health. “Ours is a frontline health service. If our jobs are moved into social welfare we will lose the link with other health disciplines,” she says. Carl adds, “We work with Public health nurses, GPs, hospital staff, addiction and psychiatric services, which covers a lot of needs. This is just as well, because every problem presents as a financial problem, and when you dig a little deeper, you realise that is just the tip of the iceberg.” Niall Shanahan.

Living standards threatened More than ever, you need the protection of Public service cuts your union. Pensions under attack www.impact.ie Economy slowing Dublin: Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1. Tel: 01-817-1500. Email: info@impact.ie Cork: Father Matthew Quay, Cork. Tel: 021-425-5210. Email: impactcork@impact.ie Galway: Unit 23, Sean Mulvoy Business Park, Sean Mulvoy Road, Galway. Tel: 091-778-031. Email: impactgalway@impact.ie Sligo: 51 John Street, Sligo. Tel: 071-914-2400. Email: impactsligo@impact.ie

Your career

Turning rags to riches To be hard up is unfortunate, to look it could hurt your career. But TRISH O’MAHONY says you can dress to impress at work without spending a fortune.

Photo: dreamstime.com

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2008

Colour counts We don’t impress ourselves, never mind anybody else, by wearing colours that do nothing for us. But, thankfully, the opposite is equally true and wearing colours that are kind to your skin tone and hair will leave you feeling upbeat and impressive.

THE MOST attractive thing you can wear is a smile, and it doesn’t cost a thing. But you need to go to a bit more trouble if you don’t want to cause a workplace incident!

The colours we wear should flatter and complement our skin tone, especially those closest to our face. Wearing the right colours gives a younger, healthier appearance that will get you noticed.

Some think that spending a lot of money on clothes, and following the latest trends, will ensure they’re well dressed for work. But it ain’t necessarily so. Other things are way more important if you want to dress to impress.

Also, think about the image you want to project. If you’re going for promotion, or attending an important event or meeting, you should err on the conservative side. Research shows that darker suits make us look more professional and authoritative.

Getting to know your own body is the first step. Accepting it is a very important second.

Getting the basics right – like skirt shape and length, trousers, neckline, even shoe style – all help to boost confidence and prevent costly mistakes.

Dressing to enhance your best features, and downplay the ones you don’t want noticed, is the key. All our bodies have positives and negatives and books like Trinny and Susannah’s The Body Shape Bible will help you identify your body type and the clothes that best suit it.

It’s equally important to feel comfortable. Clothes and shoes that are too tight, or too loose for that matter, leave you feeling uncomfortable and affect your self-image. Avoid extremes - heels too high, skirts too short - as this will only contribute to making you feel less confident. It makes financial sense too. When I feel comfortable in something I find I get endless wear from it. If I don’t, it just gets pushed to the back of the wardrobe or consigned to the recycling.

Budget buying Buying clothes isn’t always easy, but I find keeping it simple is more effective than trying too hard. It’s better to have one good quality suit than several cheap-looking ones. My advice is to buy the best quality you can afford. It will repay you, not just in appearance and cut, but also in durability. Remember, if you buy a dearer suit that costs more than you planned to spend, you can economise by buying cheaper shirts, blouses and accessories. We all like to be fashionable and we can dispose of cheaper extras more easily, replacing them with the newest look on the high street without breaking the bank. The sales are a great time to invest in a suit, coat or other key pieces for work. Look for classic styles that won’t date and good tailoring in neutral, timeless colours that suit your skin. Try not to be too influenced by the latest styles or colours as they date more quickly. Make your basics work harder for you by creating a daytime look, maybe with a collared blouse, and an evening look with a strappy top or casual t-shirt. You can wear the same dress with strappy sandals in the evening and boots to create a casual, daytime look.

Cheap skate? Lovin’ it! Recycling is a buzz word these days and where better to start than with your clothes? Organise a group of friends who have similar tastes, gather a small amount of the clothes you don’t wear, and have a swop party. If you’re like me and not sure about parting with your pieces forever, swop for a season. You’ll probably never want them back but at least the safety option is there.

Organise yourself Clear the wardrobe of things you just don’t wear. They’re taking up space and making you feel guilty. Then organise your wardrobe by putting all jackets, coats and suits together, skirts, trousers, tops, blouses, and so on. Then group in colours, say all white shirts together. This really helps when you are in a hurry. Invest in a full length mirror if you don’t already have one. And make sure the last thing you do before you leave

home each day is throw a critical eye over your ensemble. Pay attention to detail – choosing a nice tie pays off.

Scrub up well!

Choosing your clothes the night before is a good way of preparing and you sometimes find things you’d forgotten about. It gives you a little extra time in bed in the morning too. If you have a little spare time, and even less spare money, it’s worth spending an evening ‘trying on’. You’d be surprised what you might find in that wardrobe. One golden rule – there’s no excuse for carelessness. Torn hems, missing buttons and stains will spoil what could have been a very impressive outfit.

It’s expensive being a slave to fashion and disheartening when you end up looking like everyone else on the high street. Choose clothes that express your own individuality and reflect your personality. It’s expensive being a slave to fashion and disheartening when you end up looking like everyone else on the high street. Don’t be a clone. Develop your own personal sense of style. A habit I’ve developed is to investigate boutique bargain bins. Rococo (Galway and Dublin) is a must during the sales. It might involve asking a sales advisor what it is or how to wear it. But that’s okay because it’s guaranteed to be unusual. Items like these aren’t just bargains, they’re little investments. You’ll find interesting and unusual pieces that enhance your individuality, and maybe put that finishing touch to something you haven’t worn for ages. Another recent discovery was the Saturday morning market in Cow’s Lane, Temple Bar. You’ll find lots of one-off designer pieces at very affordable prices. I bought a dress for €90, which I tried on in a boutique the previous day for €250. The only downside is there’s no fitting room. Which is roughly where this article began! G

Photo: dreamstime.com

Stick to styles that best suit your body shape Choose colours that compliment your skin tone Dress for comfort Scour bargain bins in boutiques for unusual pieces Buy good quality key pieces, especially in sales Swop clothes with friends Enhance your outfit with lowcost accessories

Don’t

Be careless. Torn hems, missing buttons and stains are unacceptable Go for extremes. Heels too high, skirts too short Be a slave to fashion. It’s expensive and unimaginative Keep stuff you don’t wear Leave home without using the mirror

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 17

...all 22 minutes of it!

Let’s stop eating to the beat of the time clock and reclaim the disappearing Irish lunch break says NIALL SHANAHAN. GORDON GEKKO rebuffs an invitation to lunch in the film Wall Street with the ferocious line: “Lunch is for wimps!” His power-rebuke suggested that if you stopped to eat you weren’t really working at all. A couple of scenes later, Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) brings his young protégé Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) to an exclusive steakhouse for lunch and orders him a steak tartare (heavily seasoned raw mincemeat topped with a raw egg). Gekko himself doesn’t eat anything and promptly leaves the restaurant. If it teaches us anything, it is that ruthless millionaires are rushed and indecisive when it comes to their food. But so are the rest of us it seems. Research just published by an employment law firm reveals that Irish workers only take an average of 22 minutes for lunch, compared to 45 minutes three years ago. The survey also found that nearly three-quarters of us eat our lunch at our desks. A similar survey in 2005 found that the pub lunch was the second most popular choice for workers. Three years on, this habit has been phased out entirely in favour of the deskbound lunch. In some European countries, eating at your desk is contrary to health and safety regulations. Now, before any of you have time to shout ‘Nanny State,’ consider the fact that our desks, workstations and computer keyboards are a veritable petri-dish of bacteria. Recent studies suggest a toilet seat would be a more sanitary surface from which to scoff a tuna melt panini.

follow, it’s not hard to understand how these radical changes in lunchtime habits have come about. But we are not alone in this shifting trend. Take the Italians. Lunch was traditionally the biggest meal of the day and all work ceased for two hours while people went home for a big meal. But even they are now having shorter, lighter, lunches in order to meet work and family commitments. Four out of ten Italians still eat lunch as their main meal of the day, but it’s a sharp decline in traditional habits. Many Irish workers are already eating breakfast in the workplace or on our way to work, thanks to those long

“We’ve halved our lunch breaks in Ireland over the last three years. Are we facing the prospect of having to multi-task lunch?” But far more worrying is the fact that 63% of employees believe their boss discourages them from taking a full lunch break. Alan Price of Peninsula explains: “People have become a lot busier and they are choosing to use their free time to catch up on work.” He says this is counter-productive because it makes staff tired at the end of the day and leads to poorer quality work.

World trend Given that so many of us have to choose between catching up during lunch or working a bit later with a long commute to

summer/AUTUMN 2008

commutes and early morning crèche runs. How else do you explain the market dominance (and alleged political influence) of the breakfast roll? But none of this is quite as depressing as the experience in the USA where, in a recent survey, a third of urban workers admitted to having to eat lunch in their car. Given that we’ve halved our lunch breaks in Ireland over the last three years, are we facing the prospect of having to multi-task lunch? This raises questions of weight gain and obesity, which, we are constantly being reminded, have reached epidemic

proportions. If workers are in a hurry, they’re more likely to grab a high-calorie quick-fix meal or just skip lunch entirely. So what is the time-poor Irish worker opting for? According to Peninsula, the top five workplace lunch choices are jacket potatoes (favoured by a whopping 72%), fruit, pre-packed salads, pre-packed sandwiches and chips. These are largely healthy choices (with the honourable exception of chips – how can something so good really be so bad?). But the real concern is the growing trend of skipping lunch altogether. The short-term effects of skipping mealtimes include mood swings, headaches, mental and physical fatigue and loss of concentration. We are more likely to indulge in unhealthy habits, like snacks between meals, in order to boost our depleted blood sugar. We are also far more likely to over eat in the evening if we skip lunch.

Social rituals But lunchtime is not just about food. Lunchtime rituals play an important part in our social behaviour too. It’s an opportunity for colleagues to take time out and talk about anything other than work. But we’re not going to the pub together for lunch anymore, so that rules that out. Well, if your colleagues are driving you crazy, it’s an opportunity for some quality time with yourself. But preferably away from your desk. Either way, if this social time is limited to 22 minutes or less, the process of reparation before the afternoon workload means that you’re likely to find yourself running on empty before the working day is over. Happily, some people are bucking the trend. Social networking websites devoted to meeting someone for lunch have sprung up across the globe. Lunch.ie offers a free subscription and an opportunity to display your own personalised invitation to a new lunch companion. Subscribers are attracted by the potential for professional mentoring, networking, friendship or even romance (it says here).

Spend Less Believe it or not, we’re spending over €17 an hour on midday meals! WE ARE officially heading for recession after almost a decade worrying about the possibility of a slowdown. Probably time to start thinking about how much money we spend on lunch. Food prices have rocketed this year as grain and fuel prices have soared. A modest lunch of a freshly made sandwich, a piece of fruit, a drink and a packet of crisps costs anywhere between €5.50 and €7 a day. That means that, assuming we work about 250 days each year, our annual lunch bill is somewhere between €1,375 and €1,750. So with average lunch breaks now limited to 22 minutes long, the cost of the food we eat now averages €17.05 per hour. Perhaps its time to start packing last night’s left over stews, curries or stir-fry into a Tupperware box and bringing them into work? After all, it will save time, money, and ensure that we are more likely to eat something nutritious. American ‘etiquette expert’ Beverly Langford says that bringing in leftovers is like wearing an old cardigan to work: There’s nothing wrong with it, but it doesn’t project power and success. In her book, The Etiquette Edge: The Unspoken Rules for Business Success, she says: “Your lunch is part of your nonverbal communication, just like your jewellery.” Well Beverly, I don’t wear any jewelry and my non-verbal communication skills are limited. So, if it’s all the same with you, I’m on a much needed economy drive. Break out the Tupperware. Niall Shanahan l

Perhaps the most telling offer came from Roberta, based in south Dublin. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a euro menu at McDonalds; I just want to meet new people who I can have a nice chat with. Please, save me from my staff room and all that small talk.” Photo: dreamstime.com

Lunch is for wimps

Photo: dreamstime.com

Lunchtime and money

As with all things in the Irish workplace, the lunch break has radically changed shape during the years of rapid economic growth. Perhaps it is time to reclaim it and value that pause in the middle of the day. Reclaiming your lunch break might just be a crucial first step in surviving recession and a general decline in the champagne lifestyle we’ve allegedly been living l

Work & Life: The magazine for IMPACT members

Your say With friends like these

R A ST TER T 0 E L €5

You never write, you never phone... Work & Life pays €50 for the best letter published each month and €30 for the rest. Let us know what you think about the magazine or the issues it’s covered. Come to think of it, let us know your views on anything at all! Get out your pen and paper today. And don’t forget to keep it nice and short. Write to Roisin Nolan, Work & Life, IMPACT Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1. Or email rnolan@impact.ie.

I note the Friends of the Elderly have launched a competition to find Ireland’s oldest worker, with two individuals currently tied at an obscene 88 years each. Does this organisation think this is desirable, that there is some kind of dignity in this? I bet IBEC, what is left of the PDs and a certain airline boss are laughing at the good of it all. William Martin Murphy is also, no doubt, enjoying a rare chuckle from his fireside seat in Hell. Committed trade unionists fought bitter battles for the right of workers to retire with dignity and pensions in their mid-sixties. They also fought for many public servants, like myself, to be able to retire at 60, and some significantly earlier. I salute them all! Imagine their feelings at seeing their endeavours perniciously rolled back until people, once more, work until they drop.

We only publish signed letters. Work & Life may edit your letter for size.

As a reader of social history, and an observer of working life for many years, I have noticed many workers fail to get the time to enjoy their pension entitlements. The Friends of the Elderly would be much better ‘employed’ in seeking the best possible pensions at an appropriate age for the people they purport to represent. Most of us enjoy our work, but we also realise a time comes when we have done enough. Even old horses get put out to grass. Yes, there is dignity in work! But there is I believe, even more dignity, following 40 years of such work, in having the time to enjoy hobbies, family and friends, and an adequate income on which to live. The choice of working for life is fine, but there is something not quite right about this. Colleagues, this kind of competition is wrong, especially when public service pensions are under threat like never before. With friends like these…

Work & Life Work & Life is the magazine for members of IMPACT trade union. IMPACT members can have it mailed to them by contacting Work & Life at IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1 or by emailing rnolan@impact.ie. Or call Roisin Nolan on 01-817-1544. IMPACT also produces a monthly e-bulletin with more detailed information about the union’s activities and campaigns, and developments in your workplace. Sign up via the website on www.impact.ie. IMPACT is Ireland’s largest public sector union with members in health, local government, the civil service, education, the community sector, semi-state organisations, aviation and telecommunications.

Jerry King, Mayo branch

Summer/Autumn Soduko Solutions

Summer Crossword Solutions

(From page 46.) 6

Easy

Difficult

Across: 1. Devoted 5. Accra 8. Tenet 9. Private 10. Disdain 11. Alpha 12. Venial 14. Carafe 17. Sioux 19. Almeria 22. Taffeta 23. Order 24. Rally 25. Naivete. Down: 1. Dated 2. Venison 3. Tetra 4. Depend 5. Alibaba 6. Camp 7. Average 12. Visitor 13. Anxiety 15. Abridge 16. Bataan 18. Offal 20. Maori 21. Agree. See page 46 for the competition winners from Issue 1 WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 21

Pagerights title at work Your

EU could bolster

carers’ rights

More info

“

The ECJ itself could take a different view, so the case is not won yet. But, if the court accepts the legal opinion, it means laws barring disability discrimination will also cover employees who need to care for a disabled person. This would provide immediate protection for millions of workers who juggle jobs with full-time care.

The case was taken by British woman Sharon Coleman, a former legal secretary whose employers allegedly harassed her out of her job after she requested leave to care for her son Oliver. She claimed her managers branded her as ‘lazy’ when she requested time off to look after Oliver, who suffers from a rare respiratory order. A ruling is expected later this year, after which the case will be referred back to a London employment tri-

I did all the legwork

SARAH MCNALLY* works for the HSE in the west. She recently took carers’ leave for 18 months to look after her two teenage children, who are both diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). “It got to a point where I really needed to take the time out to care for my children, who were both experiencing behavioural problems. I was trying to cope on my own while working full time. The leave allowed me to concentrate on their needs and organise appropriate support for them as they were at a crucial stage in their development,” she says. Sarah’s son Michael* is now 14 and her daughter Rebecca* is 16. When she first raised the idea, her employer wasn’t that familiar with her right to take carers’ leave to look after children. “That was the first hurdle I had to pass. A lot of people avail of it

to look after an older relative, so my situation was relatively unheard of. And I was the first person in my area to apply for carers’ leave. “I had to refer my manager to the website and I did all the legwork as far as the application process and gathering information was concerned. But once local management was aware of the process they gave every assistance.” Although carers’ leave is a legal entitlement, Sarah thinks the process was easier for her because there was no HSE recruitment embargo in place when she took the leave two years ago. “It was less of a problem than it might be now. The current situation makes it far more difficult to avail of any kind of leave of absence. Term-time is practically non-existent now,” she says. But it’s worth pointing out that, in the case of carers’ leave, employers are

”

legally obliged to hold your job open or provide suitable alternative work on pay and conditions no less favourable than you had in your previous role. “I will probably take carers’ leave again in the future, so the fact that we have been through it once already might make the process a bit easier. I can’t consider it now because I cannot afford the drop in income,” says Sarah. Like thousands of others, Sarah struggled with the obvious problem: Carers’ leave is unpaid. “It is difficult. There’s no point denying it. I was entitled to carers’ benefit, and I was able to apply for respite grants for both children during that period. That helped enormously,” she says. * Real names have not been used.

This article is for information only and is not a legal interpretation. Find out more on www.impact.ie 22

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2008

“The bad news is that the leave is unpaid. But you may be entitled to carers’ benefit.”

You must have worked for your employer for a continuous period of 12 months to be eligible and you have to give a social welfare officer at least eight weeks notice before you intend to take the leave. You must also give your employer six weeks written notice and details of the welfare officer’s decision. The bad news is that the leave is unpaid. But you may be entitled to carers’ benefit. The Department of Social and Family Affairs (DFSA) has details of eligibility. Photo: dreamstime.com

More detailed guidance is available on the rights at work section of our website www.impact.ie. You can also get a booklet from the DSFA. Or you can contact the Carers’ Association at info@carersireland.com.

CARERS THROUGHOUT Europe got a potential boost recently when the top legal advisor to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said they should get the same legal protection against discrimination as people with disabilities.

bunal. Meanwhile, Irish workers are entitled to take temporary carers’ leave to look after someone who is medically certified as needing full-time care and attention. You can apply to take carers’ leave in one continuous period of 104 weeks, or for a number of periods not exceeding a total of 104 weeks. If you don’t take the leave in one continuous period, there must be a gap of at least six weeks between each leave period.

You can work for up to 15 hours a week while taking carers’ leave, provided your employment income is less than a weekly limit set by the DSFA. Alternatively you can undertake education or training, or do voluntary work, for a maximum of 15 hours a week. Most of your employment rights are protected. But you are not entitled to pay, certain annual leave and public holidays, or superannuation contributions and benefits. Continuity of service is preserved and a worker is entitled to return to the same work or, if this is not ‘reasonably practicable’, suitable alternative work on terms and conditions no less favourable than they had in their previous role. That means, for example, that the HSE couldn’t refuse to take you back because of its staffing restrictions, as it has done with some staff who took career breaks. Employers can refuse you leave if it is less than 13 weeks, but this has to be based on ‘reasonable’ grounds and your boss must specify the reasons in writing. You can’t take carers’ leave in respect of more than one person at the same time, unless they live together. And this exception can only be exercised once. Disputes between you and your boss can be referred to a Rights Commissioner, with a right of appeal to the Employment Appeals Tribunal within 21 days of the decision. The Carers’ Leave Act protects you against victimisation for taking or applying for carers’ leave G

Dare to care.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 23

Be good to yourself Four ways to wind down Don’t let commuting drive you round the bend when your daily journey offers great opportunites to chill out. KAREN WARD explains.

Traffic calming measures MOST OF us think of travel time as dead time, frequently becoming frustrated and stressed over traffic jams and the increasing amount of time we waste in the car. But here’s a radical thought. Instead of travelling from A to B exhausted and tense, why not use your drive time to relax and calm a little? Imagine the car (or bus, train or bike) as your very own private relaxation space. Here are a few simple and highly effective ideas to try out when your vehicle is stationary. BREATHING. At traffic lights and in traffic jams (and with your eyes open for safety) breathing very slowly is a very easy way to calm the body and mind. It’s the basis of Yoga, T’ai Chi and Pilates and it works very effectively. First, sit up straight in the seat, and then exhale deeply and slowly. Pause for a few seconds, and then inhale slowly. Do this five times to send a simple ‘I want to be relaxed right now’ message to the brain, via the nervous system. If done regularly on the way into work this technique will set you up for a calm, relaxed day. And it will help you wind down on the way home, especially after a busy day. It’s the regularity of the technique that works the magic – the breathing itself is simple to do. You will be amazed at how 15-20 breaths once a day can change your world. EYE EXERCISES can relieve eye strain and potential headaches before or after a long journey. Sit up straight

summer/AUTUMN 2008

and keep your head still. Move your eyes up and down, then right and left and back to centre. Now slowly circle your eyes to the right, pause, and then left. Finally rub your hands vigorously together to generate some natural heat. Then cup them over each eye to help ease any tiredness. STRETCHES can ease neck and shoulder tension. Circle your shoulders forward five times, then backwards five times. Then slowly bring your chin to your chest stretching the back of the neck. Next, hold one arm at shoulder height over the steering wheel or handlebars and grasp at the wrist pulling away from the body to ease out the mid back and shoulders. POSTURE. Most of us wish our posture was better and, as we get older, our postural bad habits can contribute to back, neck and shoulder problems. If you can use your daily travel time as a way to correct this you’ll see results quite quickly. This will then become a new healthy habit, which will have benefits in all aspects of your life as you walk tall without tension in your body. First check your seat is at the proper angle. Your head should lean against the head rest and your back should be straight. Then tone your abdomen when you are sitting at traffic lights by pulling in the abdominal muscles and gently pulsing them in and out for a few seconds. Don’t grip the steering wheel too tightly – relax your shoulders.

PSYCH DOWN to leave either work or home life worries behind you and enjoy the day or evening in peace. Before your journey sit in the car and breathe slowly. Consciously leave any problems or worries behind you. And, as you start the car, imagine your worries getting smaller and smaller the further you drive away. This should leave you calm yet alert, and it works very well whether you’re travelling home-to-work or vice versa. MUSIC is a great way to soothe you on your journeys, especially long trips. How about either Lyric FM or a relaxing CD? Sing along to your heart’s content as you release tension, letting your soul soar after your busy day. CAR AROMATHERAPY Why not use the art and science of plant, tree and flower oils to relax, renew and uplift? It’s a completely holistic treatment that takes account of your mind, body and spirit, as well as your busy lifestyle. There’s a wide range of wonderful oils to use to help de-stress, relax, revitalise and rejuvenate. Make your own car freshener by placing 2-3 drops on a hankie, dashboard or upholstery. You can use relaxing and calming oils like lavender and camomile, uplifting oils like bergamot or grapefruit, or good health oils like eucalyptus, tea tree or olbas oil to boost your immune system. Next time you go to the Body Shop, try out the various smells and let your nose decide which you prefer. Then check the instructions for their benefits and use accordingly. A few drops are all that is needed, as they are very concentrated and highly effective. HYDRATION. Our bodies are nearly 70% water and we need to replenish this amount daily. Drinks like tea, coffee and soft drinks are all diuretics and deplete your body’s supply. Still water, herbal teas and juices hydrate and, on average, you should be drinking approximately 1–1.5 litres of these each day. Use your travel time to make sure you’re getting enough water in your system. Keep it very simple. The equivalent of one small bottle of water on the way into work, the same again on the way home with another during your day will be sufficient. On a long journey you will have to budget time for a toilet stop depending on how much you drink. There are a myriad of little stress busters to keep your physical, mental and emotional health in good shape. The idea is to keep it simple, enjoyable and regular l

KAREN WARD suggests some ways to relax through meditation. Don’t try these in the car!

1. VISUALISATION

Sit or lie somewhere comfortable and close your eyes. Imagine your favourite place in nature (a forest, the garden, a paradise island). Go through your five senses and really imagine you’re there. What do you see, hear, feel, taste and smell? Lose yourself for five minutes in a total fantasy while you escape from reality.

2. MEDITATION

Meditation is simply a technique to bring your mind from a busy state to a relaxed one. In India, where chanting is part of the culture, people get up at 5am and chant cross-legged. You might like to try focusing you mind on one thing to the exclusion of everything else for 2-3 minutes. Your mind will wander away, that is only natural. Gently keep bringing it back to the focus you have chosen.

HOLIDAY SCENE

Sit or lie down and visualise a scene from a favourite holiday. You may choose the same image or find that you choose a different holiday or scene each time you do this meditation. As you think about where you were and what you were doing, your body will start to remember how relaxed it felt then and so will relax you now.

4. HOBBY HORSE

Focusing on a hobby or interest is active meditation Irish style. Make sure you do your favourite pastime at least once a week as part of your relaxation ‘tool kit’. You’ll feel the benefits in a short period of time.

Karen Ward, holistic therapist from RTE’s Health Squad, is co-author of The Health Squad Guide to Health and Fitness. She runs her clinic in Smithfield, Dublin, treating her treasured clients from a mind, body, spirit and energetic perspective.

www.karenwardholistictherapist.com.

Work & Life: The magazine for IMPACT members

From the kitchen

Thrifty to the power of 10

The holiday in your kitchen bin Most of us throw away about a third of the food we buy. But now we’re in the middle of a food crisis, MARGARET HANNIGAN advises on your shift to thrift. UNTIL RECENTLY we in the west were busily reaping the benefits of trade globalisation, enjoying cheap food, cheap consumer products and all the goodies our ‘because-we’re-worth-it’ little hearts desired. Meanwhile, Asian workers paid buttons made all our consumer durables, and lived on rice and the promise of a car some day. While we were happily upgrading our TVs and buying another patio heater, we were putting money into those same Asian economies, making them boom. This has created a new middleclass in China and India, who now have cars and want all the rest of the toys. They’re now competing with us for all the scarce resources like energy (ie,

1. Get a FREEZER.You can freeze almost anything except milk, cream and most uncooked fruit, berries being the exception. 2. Learn to COOK. It really helps! 3. READ your cookery books, don’t just look at the pictures. 4. Get OPPORTUNISTIC. Visit friends with orchards with empty bags in your hands, admire your father’s vegetable garden, tell your Mam she’s the world’s best baker.

oil) and water. And even food, because rich people eat more than poor people. This is helping force prices upwards, and contributing to a global food crisis. You didn’t know there was a food crisis? Have you checked your grocery bill lately? Food production is a very hot topic right now with chronic shortages in Asia sparking riots and serious political unrest, and prompting a dedicated UN summit. In the year to March 2008, the price of flour has risen by 42%, bread has risen by 20% and milk, cheese and eggs have gone up by 13%.

Step up to the plate!

Photo: dreamstime.com

Use your public library for free internet access and free books about cooking, nutrition, growing your own, foraging – you name it.

Add to this the fact that most of us waste up to a third of the food we buy and the real cost becomes apparent. It’s all led to what observers are calling a shift to thrift, which includes stretching every meal, and reducing waste as far as possible. So, what can you do?

For the cook, it starts with the shopping list. Plan your meals for the week, or longer if you can. Avoid processed foods. You’re paying for every part of the process, from the electricity used in the factory to the inks used in the packaging. Read your cookery books and put dishes together that piggy back on each other. Like roast chicken on Sunday, curried leftovers on Monday, and freeze any leftover vegetables or sauces.

Well first of all, inform yourself. It’s all about preparation and planning. There are scores of blogs on the internet devoted to thrift. Check them out and take whatever you need from them.

If making spaghetti bolognaise, make a really big one, and use half of it for a lasagne. In fact, always cook more than you need of anything, and always fill the oven, and freeze half. If you

Ham and mushroom en croute (serves 4) THERE’S A wealth of dishes based on the idea of putting a mixture of simple ingredients into a pastry case to make them look more attractive. The same principle works for ravioli in Italy. We shy away from leftovers, but essentially this dish extends ham into something very attractive. You can also use Gruyere, thinly sliced leeks, or turkey for a change. Or try couscous, root veg, 26

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2008

goat’s cheese and cranberry sauce for a vegetarian version. INGREDIENTS: 200g mushrooms, sliced • 50g butter • 50g flour • 300ml milk • 300ml double cream • 450g diced ham • 2 rectangular sheets puff pastry • 1 egg, lightly beaten • 1tsp onion seeds. Preheat oven to 220C/gas 7. Gently sauté mushrooms in the butter until wilted. Keep heat low to prevent butter burning. Remove mushrooms with a

slotted spoon and add the flour to the pan. Cook on a low heat for 5 mins, stirring continually. Add milk and cream, and cook for another 5 mins, still stirring. Allow to cool, then combine with the ham and mushrooms. It’s important to have a thick mixture, or it will run out of the pastry. Check seasoning. Grease and line a flat baking tray with baking parchment. Lay over one sheet of pastry. Leaving a gap of 5cm around

the side, spoon the mix into the middle and brush the sides with beaten egg. Run a knife down the middle of the second pastry sheet, and place on top, sealing the edges, trim down with a sharp knife to get a good clean edge. Egg wash the top, then score with a sharp knife, and sprinkle over the onion seeds. Transfer to oven, turn down heat to 200C/gas 6 and bake for 20-25 mins or until golden brown.

haven’t got a freezer, buy one now. You’re not just freezing food, you’re freezing time. Time spent shopping, cooking, and clearing up afterwards, plus the cost of your petrol for that extra supermarket trip.

the broccoli before it goes yellow, and put those plums in a crumble before they become wrinkled and mouldy.

6. Eat with the SEASONS. Remember, it can’t stay summer forever.

Try to think of it not just as a mushy piece of fruit, but as a handful of euro coins going in the bin.

7. BAN food in boxes. You’re paying for the paper and plastic it’s wrapped in.

Sit down and think carefully about what you use and throw out, and try to be disciplined about it. When you come home from the supermarket or the grower’s market, or wherever, sort your food into categories of cooking – immediate, tomorrow, and over the week.

So you have to become canny when you buy, and canny when you cook. A friend of mine, who attended a cookery course run by a very well-known chef, recalls being rebuked for throwing half a lemon in the bin “That’s your holiday you’re throwing away,” she was told. Remember that.

8. PLAN ahead. Make shopping lists and plan meals that piggy back on each other.

Don’t just bung the vegetables in the bottom of the fridge, give them a purpose. For instance, a cut pineapple will deteriorate overnight, so don’t buy it unless you’re going eat it all in one go, or use it in a dish. Similarly, cook

On a personal level, it’s about making the most of our own scarce resources – our salaries! And on a global level, it’s about helping the planet avert a crisis. If we in the first world use less, they in the third world can have more G

9. Stock your cupboards with VERSATILE ingredients. Always have tins of tomatoes, olive oil, pasta, cheese, eggs and milk. 10. Shop as INFREQUENTLY as possible. Supermarkets invest millions on new ways to make you spend money even though you only came in for milk.

Cheap plonk KEEPING WITH the theme of thrift, I’m encouraging you to look for wine promotions and special offers. Remember, the retailers are suffering too and they’re setting out loss leaders every week. Photo: dreamstime.com

The case for thrift

5. Track down FREE STUFF. Blackberries, hazelnuts, sloes, mussels.

To the uninitiated, loss leaders are special offers designed to lure you into the shop. The retailer makes a loss on these items, but recoups a profit on

all the other stuff you buy while you’re there. So buyer beware. Ignore offers on loyalty cards as they cost you money in the long run. But offers for 25-30% off if you buy six bottles can work as wine has quite a long shelf life. As a general rule, match the wine to the main ingredient in the main course. Beef thus goes with claret, salmon with

crisp white semillion, and so on. It’s also a good idea to look to the region that inspired the dish, Italian Chianti and Sangiovese will happily accompany pasta dishes with rich sauces. French casseroles, or cousins thereof, will be complemented by wines from Bordeaux and the Langue D’Oc region, but will overwhelm a Beaujolais. Similarly, with Indian and Chinese food – beer or cider, not wine. As to what goes with bacon and cabbage, your guess is as good as mine!

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 27

Green fingers

PART OF the fun is choosing quality over quantity when you plan and plant small gardens. Forget the old rule about planting in groups of three or more. When space is at a premium it’s far more rewarding to grow six different grasses than to have six identical ones.

I’D LIKE to share my passion for ornamental grasses with you! The aesthetic appeal of grasses is unique. Their colour, though often less saturated than those of traditional garden plants, are softly sophisticated and remarkably varied.

Keep in mind that each plant in a small garden should earn its keep by looking good for as many months of the year as possible.

Elegant, eclectic, translucent, visually stunning and extremely versatile – just some of the many adjectives I could use to describe the wide variety of ornamental grasses available on the market today.

When you’re shopping for a pot, make sure you buy a decent sized one rather than a collection of tiny, silly looking things. Fill the pot with John Innes compost as this has added soil which will not dry out so quickly.

My love affair with this fascinating group of plants started while working in Airfield Gardens in Dundrum and has continued at Hunting Brook, my own garden near Blessington. In late summer and early autumn, my grasses take centre stage, creating a stunning finale to the gardening year and extending the interest into winter and spring by providing structure, movement, muted colours and an architectural base accentuated by occasional light snowfalls in the Wicklow mountains.

Single grass plants look wonderful in a container without cluttering it with other plants. The three grasses mentioned below all need to be planted in full sun and will survive dryer conditions than most plants. I recommend these grasses for small gardens and containers: Stipa tennusima. If you dream of having a pony but only have a window box or container, how about trying this ‘pony tail’ grass which resembles a pony’s tail growing out of the soil. This stunning grass with its silken inflorescence shimmers with the slightest breeze and is one of the easiest plants to grow and source.

Jimi Blake owns Hunting Brook Gardens near Blessington, Co Wicklow and runs 35 weekend courses through the year in gardening, cookery, art, complementary health & craft. www.huntingbrook.com

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The majority of grasses need full sun and soil which is not enriched with manure or artificial fertilizers. Shady sites and rich soil cause the grasses to grow leggy and become a floppy mess in late summer. I try to avoid planting them too close together, which causes them to lose the beautiful fountain effect that so many grasses have. From early summer through to spring their gentle movement and soft whispering sounds can bring your garden alive like no other plants. Then, when you have had enough of the brown winter look, cut the grasses to the ground, and the cycle of growth quickly starts again. Grass species are propagated by division or seed, division taking place in late spring just as the plants are starting to grow. It can be risky to divide or transplant grasses in the autumn or any other time of year as they seem to dehydrate and die. Believe me, I have learned by my mistakes!

Elymus magellanica. This has the most intense blue foliage of any grass and it’s the most talked about grass in my own garden. It’s a stunning addition to any garden. Stipa gigantean. The golden oat grass is one of the most elegant and stately of all. The foliage is evergreen and flowers from early summer through autumn with golden oats on the top of each stem. The inflorescences are especially radiant when lit by the summer sun. This grass looks wonderful in a large container with verbena bonariensis growing with it.

Grasses are among the easiest plants to grow and they’re perfect for those who think their fingers are not so very green. And ignore the misconception that they will spread all around your garden; there are a few thugs, but don’t let them give the others a bad name.

The divisions should be potted into a weak compost mixture (50:50 potting compost and garden soil) which prevents the roots from getting burned. After potting, they should be placed under clear plastic to stop them drying out until the little divisions burst into growth and begin pushing up the plastic. Then you can remove the plastic and, when the plant has formed a good root system, it’s time to plant. This process might only take 4–6 weeks. Grass seeds are sown in the spring in a warm room or glass house and do take at least a year to form sizable plants for planting in the garden. Go on, give it a try. It’s great fun l.

As the name suggests this grass is very like sugar cane and can grow up to a height of ten feet. With strong bamboo like stems, it’s an excellent plant for structure and giving you that tropical effect. Don’t cut them back until April. Instead, strip back the dead leaves from the stems in early winter, revealing the amazing colours from orange to purple and yellow. Any Miscanthus is worth getting. It’s the type of grass I would most recommend. 2. Calamagrostis x acutiflora (Karl Foerster). This is a wonderful architectural plant that begins flowering in early summer with a thin, slightly purple inflorescence. It should stay upright with dried inflorescences until spring. 3. Calamagrostis brachytricha. Inflorescences begin with a strong reddish purple tint fading to silvery-grey and remaining open and feathery well into winter. I combined it to great effect with verbena bonariensis, thalictrum delavayi and echinacea purpureum. This is most suitable for dried or fresh arrangements and as an extremely stylish container plant. 4. Cordaderia richardii (type of Pampass grass). This is native to most areas of New Zealand and can grow up to ten feet with its off-white inflorescences making wonderful food for finches in the spring. It blooms from midsummer until autumn. I suggest you give them plenty of room and keep them uncongested by cutting them back every spring. 5. Pennisetum macrourum. This is native to the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa but, unfortunately, I did not get to see it growing wild when I travelled there. It has greyish blue leaves and an inflorescence like a cross between a Siamese cat’s tail and a pipe cleaner. They can grow to about five feet and look so graceful swaying in even the slightest breeze.

Find out more

The very best book on grasses is ‘The Colour Encyclopaedia of Ornamental Grasses’ by Rick Darke (Timber Press). Other helpful guides include ‘The Encyclopaedia of Grasses for Liveable Landscapes’ (Rick Darke, Timber Press), ‘Planting the Natural Garden’ (Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen, Timber Press), ‘Dream Plants for the Natural Garden’ (Piet Oudolf & Henk Gerritsen, Frances Lincoln), ‘Designing with Plants’ (Piet Oudolf, Conran) and ‘Gardening with Nature’ (James Van Sweden and Wolfgang Oehme, Random House).

Work & Life: The magazine for IMPACT members

Photo: dreamstime.com

Ornamental grasses can give your garden that added edge. And, says JIMI BLAKE, they are surprisingly easy to handle.

Photo: dreamstime.com

Stuck for space

Photo: dreamstime.com

Super grass!

My top 5

At the movies

Dark Knight Vision Christopher Nolan’s Batman leaves others hanging.

Rollercoaster action, careful characterisation and respect for the original comic books make director Christopher Nolan’s Batman darker and more satisfying than the rest. MORGAN O’BRIEN looks forward to the second instalment. AFTER A summer of so far underwhelming cinema releases, 25th July sees the eagerly awaited release of The Dark Knight, the second instalment, after 2005’s Batman Begins, of Christopher Nolan’s retooled Batman series. Anyone fortunate enough to have gotten a glimpse of the bank heist scene leaked onto the internet earlier in the year will have felt a suitable frisson of excitement. With Batman Begins Nolan breathed new life into the iconic figure of Batman after film studio Warner Brothers had earlier initiated a number of ultimately failed projects, most notably a proposed collaboration between director Darren Aronofsky and comic book veteran Frank Miller.

Nolan’s film successfully combined a sophisticated dramatic narrative with rollercoaster action and, more importantly, developed a more coherent and faithful representation of the Batman than was witnessed in the initial run of films, which were beset with problems of style, continuity and characterisation. For all Tim Burton’s panache behind the camera, Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) displayed a general lack of fidelity to its comic book source material. This tendency was worsened by director Joel Schumacher, who allowed the tone of the films to become inflected with the heavily camp sensibility of the 1960s television series, especially in the risible Batman and Robin (1997).

Earlier Batman films afforded the villains an excessive primacy that effectively sidelined the title character himself. In contrast, Nolan and his script collaborator David S Goyer have explicitly drawn from both the character’s early incarnation in the Detective Comics series of the 1930s and 40s and more recent interpretations found in, for example, Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One and Jeph Loeb’s The Long Halloween.

Bat boys and girls Bruce Wayne Christian Bale returns to play wealthy businessman Bruce Wayne and his crime fighting alter ego Batman. In Batman Begins Bale exhibited the right blend of charm and intensity. He’s been consistently excellent since his breakthrough performance in American Psycho.

The Joker

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The late Heath Ledger was reportedly keen to develop a distinctive interpretation of Batman’s most notable adversary and advance clips would suggest the creation of a darker and more malevolent character than Jack Nicholson’s comic jester.

Harvey Dent/Two-Face Aaron Eckhart, a proven versatile character actor, is district attorney Harvey Dent, an ally of Batman and friend to Bruce Wayne, who is disfigured by the Joker. Reports suggest that Nolan has chosen to make Two-Face a rival vigilante rather than a villain.

Lt. James Gordon Nolan’s desire to establish strong characters in the series is evident in the selection of the always watchable Gary Oldman as Lt. Gordon. Despite limited screen time in Batman Begins

This basis has imbued Nolan’s work with a darker and more satisfying tone, which remains truer to the original spirit of the character. Nolan’s appreciation of comic books as source material, and by implication as a legitimate form of culture rather than a mere preserve of childhood, has also allowed him to build a far more interesting and consistent sense of story and character. Concentrating on the genesis of the Batman in Batman Begins strongly established the character for the audience. This was largely absent from the earlier films, where Batman was often thinly sketched with little or any gesturing towards his motivations or psychology, and usually overshadowed by the villains he faced. Earlier Batman films afforded the villains an excessive primacy that effectively sidelined the title character himself. For example, Jack Nicholson’s Joker and Tommy Lee Jones’ Harvey Dent were given prominence in Batman (1989) and Batman Forever (1995) respectively. In maintaining Batman as the centre of the story, Nolan provides space for the introduction of new characters Harvey Dent/Two-Face and, of course, the Joker without having them overwhelm proceedings. The early indications are of a film of both style and substance that continues the themes developed in the first instalment, suggesting that Nolan may once again have raised the bar for superhero films G

MORGAN O’BRIEN outlines the main characters. the character was established as an honest cop, who’s sympathetic to Batman.

Alfred Pennyworth Veteran actor Michael Caine returns with the required level of gravitas to portray Bruce Wayne’s trusted butler Alfred.

Rachel Dawes As a love interest in Batman Begins Rachel was largely considered the weakest element in the film. Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes in The Dark Knight, where she is the subject of a rivalry between Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne.

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 31

Play it loud

Picnic basket DUST DOWN those battery-powered teddy bears. It’s August, and that means it’s Electric Picnic time. The annual dad-rock fest takes place at Stradbally Hall, Laois, from 29th to 31st August. Since its 2004 inception, the Picnic has grown from a one-day outing to a full three-day endurance test. This indiealternative-dance fest boasts a more eclectic line up than mainstream events. Develop your yoga stance and savour some sushi as the party rolls on. On the listing is Young Hearts, Run Free legend Candi Staton (unfortunately listed as Candi Station, an error which could provoke wildcat industrial action as it clearly indicates a unilateral change to the schedule). There are many stand out acts at this year’s event including Franz Ferdinand, the magnificent Goldfrapp, Elbow, Gomez, Tinariwen, Tindersticks, Cathy Davey and - wait for it - the Sex Pistols. Something for everyone.

10 Electric Shockers To celebrate this year’s electric picnic, RAYMOND CONNOLLY sifts through the archives to find some truly electrifying hits. 1. Are Friends Electric? by Tubeway Army: Gary Numan gets his name in lights with this 1979 monster hit. Absolute classic. 2. Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant: You watt? Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse than I Don’t Wanna Dance. 3. Together in Electric Dreams by Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder: No charge in this grim effort from an even worse film. 4. She’s Electric by Oasis: “She’s got one in the oven, and it’s nothing to do with me.” Life’s a gas when the Gallagher boys discover their feminine side. 5. Electric Guitar by Talking Heads: David Byrne and friends unplugged. 6. Electric Lady by Geordie: 1973 thunderbolt from Newcastle. Brian Johnson roars loudly. Seven years later he’s hired by AC/DC. 7. Electricity by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: OMD’s 1979 post-punk synthesized debut failed to light up the charts (hit No.99 in the UK). 8. Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix: Delight in this AMPle 1968 classic from guitar’s tormentor-in-chief. 9. Electric Landlady by Kirsty McColl: Kirsty loves Jimi. Socket to me! 10. Greased Lighting from Grease: Desperation stakes. But this despicable effort always gets a run out at weddings and Christmas parties. 32

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2008

Strutting through some hairy moments Late summer’s gig scene is a mixed bag says RAYMOND CONNOLLY. DEPENDING ON which way you look at it, this gig season is either ‘return of the legends’ or ‘they haven’t gone away, you know’, albeit dotted with the odd spot of new and emerged talent. August kicks off with Tom Waits (I can’t wait) in Dublin. Meanwhile down in Waterford the unmissable Cathy Davey marks the release of her new album Tales of Silversleeve (recommended) with what’s sure to be a compelling performance. The only way to hear Nanci Griffith is from a distance, so avoid the Letterkenny area on 6th August. Belfast’s Custom House Square has a busy middle week in August with its own trilogy comprising of Oklahoma psychedelics The Flaming Lips, The Enemy, and Scouse indie rockers The Zutons (of Valerie fame). But the gig of the year looms when Muse storm into Dublin’s Marlay park on 13th August (see box). Park fare continues the following week with an odd combination of Lenny Kravitz, Lena Zavaroni and Alanis Morissette. Ironic, don’t you think? In case you thought nostalgia was all about the 1970s (of course, it should be!) Latin pop princess Gloria Estefan provides some early nineties nostalgia in Belfast in early September. Nickleback demonstrate several versions of their one and only idea shortly afterwards. Blue Kentucky girl of folk-country, Emmylou Harris, bounds into Dublin’s National Stadium for her next bout on 12th September, while her senior contemporary Joan Baez plays Vicar Street at the end of that month. Forty years from Woodstock to Thomas Street. That’s some journey. There’s a little treasure hidden between these two legends as Brian Setzer’s Stray Cats strut into Vicar Street. October promises some turbulence in a battle of the barnets. Art Garfunkel is up first (Vicar Street again). Mr and Mrs G had amazing foresight when they named their boy all those years ago. His hairstyle is, indeed, a work of art (barnet rating 9/10). Gilbert O’Sullivan has a whole week to himself at the Olympia (barnet rating 10/10). And then hail soft-rock ballad concoctionist Michael Bolton (barnet rating 1/10). Some hairy moments indeed G

MUSE: Gig of the season.

Dubs due Devon’s delight

Gig night out Date

DEVON HAS waited and waited. All these years clinging on to the success of Ambrosia creamed rice must have been tough. But these days there’s something else to brag about. Come forth Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard, collectively known as Muse, the first band to sell out the newly-built Wembley Stadium. Wolstenholme? Wembley? There’s some people on the pitch, they think it’s all over… Picking up the NME’s best live band award plus the Irish Meteor award for best international live performance for their Oxegen 2007 outing, this band are a scintillating live act. It has been said (wrongly) that Muse are a poor man’s Radiohead, an observation that’s unfair to both bands. While they share a love of all things grim, their respective repertoires demonstrate only the most incidental of similarities. A glance at HARRP, the recently released live DVD of the Wembley gigs, should do enough to convince that this is a must see show. If it doesn’t there may be help available. STAR TURN: Muse, Marley Park, Dublin, 13th August.

Artist

Venue

July 30/31 Aug 1 Tom Waits Aug 1 Cathy Davey Aug 6 Nanci Griffith Aug 11 The Flaming Lips Aug 13 Muse/Kasabian Aug 14 The Enemy Aug 15 The Zutons Aug 19 Lenny Kravitz/Alanis Morissette Aug 20 Metallica/Tenacious D Aug 21 The Killers/Bloc Party Aug 29-31 Electric Picnic Aug 30 Shayne Ward Sept 8 Gloria Estefan Sept 12 Emmylou Harris Sept 12 Nickelback Sept 13 Nickelback Sept 14 Stray Cats Sept 24 Snoop Dog Sept 26/27 Joan Baez Oct 3/4 Art Garfunkel Oct 13-14/17-19 Gilbert O’Sullivan Oct 13 The Stranglers Oct 20 Michael Bolton Oct 22 Stephen Stills

Ratcellar Theatre, Dublin Electric Avenue, Waterford Mount Errigal Hotel, Letterkenny Custom House Sq., Belfast Marlay Park, Dublin Custom House Sq., Belfast Custom House Sq., Belfast Marlay Park, Dublin Marlay Park, Dublin Marlay Park, Dublin Stradbally Hall, Laois Royal Theatre, Co Mayo Odyssey Arena, Belfast National Stadium, Dublin Odyssey Arena, Belfast RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin Vicar Street, Dublin RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin Vicar Street, Dublin Vicar Street, Dublin Olympia Theatre, Dublin Ambassador, Dublin Vicar Street, Dublin Vicar Street, Dublin

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 33

Book reviews

MARGARET HANNIGAN reveals a new world of free books.

ALFRED AND EMILY Doris Lessing (4th Estate, £16.99). DORIS LESSING won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007 so a new book from her is something to look forward to, although I found her last novel, The Cleft, somewhat implausible. Alfred and Emily is the story of the lives and times of Lessing’s parents, who were seriously traumatised by World War 1.

MOST OF us who love reading have a personal relationship with our books. We love the look of them lined up on our shelves like colouring pencils in a box, each one full of its own story. On a day when we forget to put out the bins or put petrol in the car, we can look at them fondly and feel at least a little bit clever.

He was a soldier fighting in the trenches, where he was shot and subsequently lost a leg. She was a nurse working in a large London hospital, caring for the maimed and dying. Neither of them could ever shake off the pain they carried from what they witnessed and what was lost. After the war they went to live in Rhodesia, in the hope of making a fortune and returning to buy a farm in England. This dream never came true as Alfred’s health deteriorated and Emily nursed him. The cover shows photos of two very handsome people and their beautiful children who should have been happy. The first part of the book is a short novel of the lives these two beautiful people might have led had the war not intervened. A loving, yet sad gift from their daughter.

We also love the feeling of being the first reader of a new book, and that heady smell of fresh paper and new ink that promises adventure. For some of us it’s close to an addiction. We can’t go anywhere from the bath to the back end of Ulan Batar, without having a book within arm’s reach.

Kathryn Smith

Most of all, we love it when we stumble upon a new book, whether begged, borrowed, or recommended by a friend. So, for us compulsive readers, the arrival of bookcrossing.com is a really exciting development.

THE SECRET OF LOST THINGS Sheridan Hay (Harper, £7.99).

To put it simply, bookcrossing is the act of releasing books you have read “into the wild,” by leaving them in random, or sometimes predesignated spots for others to pick up, read, and leave down again for another passer-by. The website offers an opportunity to track your book, read other people’s comments and generally share in an online debate. To track your book you need to register, which is free.

Passing the book

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In a rather nifty bit of publicity, O’Brien Press also left copies of The Most Beautiful Letter in the World on park

benches around the city. The book, written by Karl O’Neill, is about a girl who finds a magic letter in a red envelope marked “To You.” Naturally, each book was packaged in a red envelope, with a gold stamp, marked “To You.” Who could resist? Another one you may have missed is when the National Library liberated 250 anthologies of WB Yeats poetry in July 2007. So, you see, it’s not just seals, dolphins and hand-reared lion cubs that can be set free, it’s books too! G

By the book’s conclusion, all is changed, changed utterly, but unfortunately for the reader, a terrible beauty has not been born. Because among the other lost things in this book are pace, plot, climax, and credibility, making it a would-be literary thriller that is often the former but never the latter. Margaret Hannigan

THE PLAGUE OF DOVES Louise Erdrich (Harper Perennial, £7.99). LOUISE ERDRICH is an American writer in the truest sense, being part native American herself. This book tells stories from the lives of the inhabitants of a small North Dakota town and Erdrich knows these people very well. The first voice we hear is from a young girl growing up on a nearby reservation. From her grandfather, she hears tales of the bad old days when being an ‘Indian’ was enough to get you hung.

Newly born to a family of German-Jewish refugees, Rebecca Schwart enters America in 1936. The only job her father can find is as a gravedigger and cemetery caretaker. Haunted by Nazi demons and subject to prejudice and humiliation in his new life, his brutal treatment of his family erupts in an appalling act of violence. While traumatic, this gives Rebecca a new lease of life, bringing marriage, motherhood, and a surreptitious change of identity. As post-war America blossoms into the prosperous 1950s, her life becomes one of personal re-invention, opportunities grasped, and secrets. Oates is too intellectual a writer to deliver a neat and tidy ending, but she does allow for a conclusion happier than the beginning. While this is quite a literary book, Oates has a tendency to overwrite, and doesn’t stint on the melodrama. The characters rollercoaster between archetype and stereotype in quite an alarming manner, and overall it’s a cluttered and exasperating read that would cloud even the sunniest day. Margaret Hannigan

The thread runs through the book as we hear from each speaker weaving a picture of life that is at once specific and at the same time universal; stories of family, community, violence and love. This is lyrical, atmospheric and descriptive writing, creating images and delivering thoughts directly from the hearts and minds of the characters. It takes a little effort so it’s not ideal for a holiday read on a noisy beach. More for a hotel balcony overlooking a scenic lake.

Fortuitously, as often happens in fiction, she finds a job fairly easily in the Arcade bookshop, joining a staff of misfits in the employ of George Pike, who reads like a cross between Silas Marner, and Count Olaf from the Lemony Snicket stories. Overseeing all is the manager, Walter Geist, a sad and lonely man. He pursues Rosemary with a vehemence born of certain failure, while she has a crush on the unavailable Oscar.

Kathryn Smith

Walter is stumbling into blindness, and enlists Rosemary’s help in reading a fateful letter offering the lost Melville manuscript for sale. Anxious to impress Oscar, she shares the details with him, and in doing so becomes lost herself.

WITH A title like that it can go two ways. A doom and gloom saga or a brisk run through hilarious adventures with our heroine overcoming all sorts of adversity, and coming up trumps in the end. Sadly, it’s the former.

THE GRAVEDIGGER’S DAUGHTER Joyce Carol Oates (Harper Perennial, £7.99).

WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 35

Photo: dreamstime.com

The site was founded by Ron Hornbaker in 2001. He got the notion from sites like Photo.Tag.org, which tracks disposable cameras let loose, and WheresGeorge.com (no, not Clooney, Washington) which tracks US currency by serial number, and may very well be the cyber equivalent of train-spotting without the high anorak replacement costs.

Bookcrossing.com has a phenomenal 603,449 members in 130 countries, and has won a couple of website design awards. Although relatively slow to take off in Ireland, there are bookcrossers among us, with even a couple of official book-crossing events taking place. The most recent of these was the release of 100 books by French and Irish authors into the public domain during the Franco-Irish Literary Festival in Dublin last April.

ONE OF the lost things referred to in the title is a missing novel by Herman Melville. But mainly it’s Rosemary’s life that has disappeared. Having lost her mother, country, and culture she steps off the plane in New York with one suitcase, 300 dollars, and her mother’s ashes in a pine box, and sets about finding out what happens next.

Rosemary, a naïve foil for confidences, quests and betrayals, unwittingly becomes a lightning rod for change and cataclysm.

Photo: dreamstime.com

Brought to book

Travel and trips Photo: dreamstime.com

As one of the few major European cities that escaped World War II relatively unscathed, central Rome remains essentially renaissance and baroque in character. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site. Campidoglio Museum.

Photo: dreamstime.com

Trevi Fountain.

NIALL SHANAHAN spent a few days in Rome where the ancient merges effortlessly with the modern.

The city has inspired several iconic and lasting cinematic moments (Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn at the Spanish Steps in Roman Holiday, Anita Ekberg splashing around the Trevi Fountain in La Dolce Vita, Russell Crowe entering the Colosseum in Gladiator). But none quite captures the 36

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La Città Eterna (The Eternal City) was once the centre of the known world. The heart of the Roman Empire, its influence was felt as far south and east as North Africa and Asia, and as far northwest as the border between Scotland and England. But for our weather, the Romans would have pitched their tents on the banks of the Liffey too. Instead, they named our island Hibernia (‘land of winter’) and moved on. There’s no pleasing some people.

Easy charm A trip to Rome will certainly satisfy your cultural, historical and gastronomic appetites. This is a city that charms with an ease and sophistication, and sets the standard for other European cities. Not surprisingly, it is

the third most-visited tourist destination in the EU. We traveled there in May when late spring is tolerably warm for walking, the best way to explore this wonderful city where the ancient merges effortlessly with the modern. We chose the early morning Aer Lingus flight from Dublin, flying into Da Vinci airport. It has the advantage of arriving at a reasonable time, but we hadn’t counted on Dublin airport being quite so busy at five in the morning. Something of a challenge when you’re travelling with two children. A friend recently missed his early morning Rome flight with another airline, and took the train to Cork for the afternoon Aer Lingus outing. He insists it was hassle-free and a quick spot check on the Aer Lingus website suggests that advance booking makes it cheaper than flying from Dublin. Worth considering if Cork is convenient to you.

Pantheon.

The densely populated city is built around apartment living. The most obvious advantage of this is that everything you need, from shopping and food, to essentials like espresso (coffee), gelato (ice cream), and aperitivo (booze) are within walking distance. Navigating the city from our base in San Giovanni proved to be less of a challenge than we expected, and the city is very child-friendly and accessible. ®

Take the time to tour Palatine Hill, down to the Forum, then skip those long queues at the Colosseum and go straight in. After all that, make your way across to the various cafes and informal trattorias of the Monti district. Despite being a tourist quarter, the wealth of eateries are generally very good value.

Other highlights of the city included the Trevi fountain (remember to flip a coin in if you want to return to Rome) and the wonderful Pantheon, built by the Emperor Agrippa. The Campidoglio museum, overlooking the Forum, is home to some of Rome’s greatest antiquities, including the famous bronze depiction of the She-Wolf nursing Romulus and Remus, the founders of the city. Colosseum.

Photo: dreamstime.com

“IT ALWAYS makes me think of Rome. The way the sun hits the buildings in the afternoon.” So said Phil Connors, aka Bill Murray, as he attempted to woo Andie McDowell in Groundhog Day.

way that ordinary things Roman take on a mystical quality quite so well as Murray’s lumbering tribute.

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La Dolce Vita

Stepping off the ‘B’ line at Colosseo, one of Rome’s most famous sites greets you as you exit the station. However, don’t be tempted to join the queue (and there always is one) straight away. The Colosseum is adjacent to the ancient Forum and Palatine Hill. Purchasing a ticket for any one of these gains you admission to all three sites. The queues are shortest at the Palatine, which also affords the best views of the ancient city.

Photo: dreamstime.com

Rennaissance

Sistine Chapel. and 1512. After all his hard work it would be a shame not to marvel at it. One of the lesser known attractions is the beautifully preserved ruins of Ostia, which lie 20 miles from Rome in the meadows between the Tiber river and the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was founded in the fourth century BC as a military colony and by the second century AD it had become a flourishing commercial centre inhabited by over 100,000 people, whose apartment buildings, taverns, and grocery shops are still intact. Less well known than the ruins of Pompeii, Ostia is a 20 minute train ride out of the city, and well worth the trip. The conclusion of my traveling companions was that Rome was spectacular, and all are keen to return for another visit. The city can be explored at whatever pace you like, so take your time, and experience la dolce vita (‘the sweet life’) for yourself. As for the way the sun hits the buildings in the afternoon, it’s that intense buttery Mediterranean sunlight reflecting off all that marble and sandstone. Have a look; you’ll see what I mean G Modern Roman passions: football and graffiti.

A trip to Vatican City (Ottaviano stop on the ‘A’ line) is worthwhile, but expect to queue to gain entry to St Peter’s basilica. One stop further will take you to Cipro and the Vatican museum. You could spend a whole day here and still not see everything, but all rooms lead you to the Sistine Chapel eventually. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 12,000 feet of the chapel ceiling between 1508 WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 37

union business

Towards 2016

Labour Court sought

Cowen wants pay deal

Recruitment focus IMPACT PLANS to arrange meetings with branches in the different regions and sectors over the coming months to discuss recruitment, organisation, training and communications. “We intend to have a more detailed discussion on what we need to do next to help build a stronger IMPACT and improve support for our volunteers, branch officers and branch committee members,” according to general secretary Peter McLoone.

Task force named A GOVERNMENT ‘task force’ charged with advising on how the recent OECD study of Irish public services can be implemented is expected to report by the end of the summer. It is to consult with public service unions. The Government has said it will implement some, but not all, of the OECD recommendations.

Schools action THE FIRST in a series of one-day regional protests at the continuing inequalities in school secretaries’ pay and working conditions was staged successfully in Donegal in June. More are planned for September.

Find out more on these and other stories from www.impact.ie

summer/AUTUMN 2008

Last rites for benchmarking

TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen says he wants a deal to follow the first phase of Towards 2016. He attended a special session of the pay talks on 2nd July, along with the Tánaiste and finance minister, after IMPACT urged the Government to inject new momentum into the negotiations. Mr Cowen told unions and employers that a new pay deal would “send out a very strong signal of stability, competence and confidence” to the international community during difficult economic times. “I believe that puts a high value on a new national agreement, on pay and other issues,” he said. Peter McLoone. But he said a deal could not come at any price, for any of the partners. He did not endorse a public service pay freeze, which had previously been dismissed as “an absurd proposition” by IMPACT general secretary Peter McLoone after it was proposed by employers’ group IBEC in June. “The interests of the parties have to be reflected in the outcome. The imperative to seek agreed solutions through social partnership is stronger than ever,” according to the Taoiseach. Mr Cowen’s intervention came after IMPACT called on the Government to give a clear political signal that it wanted social partnership to continue. After two months of talks, with little progress, the two interventions are expected to inject a new momentum into the process. McLoone dismissed employer suggestions of a pay freeze as “neither sensible nor acceptable” and said no union would ask its members to vote for zero increases, particularly at a time when inflation remained stubbornly high. But talk of deep public expenditure cuts was equally worrying. The Taoiseach’s intervention in the talks also addressed this point when he indicated that the social partners, including unions, had a role to play in dealing with the downturn. So far the negotiations have mainly focused on workers’ rights, including union calls for a deal on agency workers and measures to strengthen representation rights, which have been seriously weakened by the Supreme Court’s judgement in the Ryanair case. But there has been little meeting of minds on these issues either. On pay, unions want to protect living standards against inflation, particularly for the low paid who are hit hardest by rising food, fuel and other prices. In urging the Government to engage in the talks, McLoone highlighted social partnership’s track record of delivering modernisation in the economy, society and public services. “If we fail to reinvigorate social partnership, with all its proven mechanisms for participation, shared analysis and problem-solving, I believe public service reform faces a very uncertain future for workers, managers, and users alike,” he said.

BENCHMARKING IS dead. That was the message from IMPACT’s biennial conference, which took place in Kilkenny in May. Over 550 delegates took part in the event, which elects the union’s officers and sets policy and priorities for the next two years.

Photo : Dylan Vaughan

CIVIL SERVICE unions have voted to abandon the existing conciliation and arbitration scheme and seek access to the Labour Court and Labour Relations Commission. The Department of Finance has agreed to establish a subcommittee to examine how the change can be implemented. IMPACT says it would bring faster resolutions for individual claims.

PAY

IMPACT general secretary Peter McLoone told delegates that public servants accepted that their salaries should reflect pay in the private sector. But he said they were convinced that the benchmarking body had deliberately changed its methodology to ensure a ‘zero’ outcome for most in its second report. This had enraged public servants who had bought into what they believed was a fair system of comparison with the private sector. “Benchmarking is dead in the water if anyone thinks public servants will ever sign up to a pre-determined outcome again,” said McLoone. Conference delegates endorsed a motion from the union’s executive, which called for a genuine review of the public service pay determination system to ensure pay comparisons are made with good private sector employers, and that genuine reforms of public services are rewarded. The union also says a new pay system should be capable of protecting pensions and “stemming the widening gap between high and low paid workers.” Mr McLoone said the executive motion clarified the approach that public service unions were taking in the current pay

Photo : Dylan Vaughan

IN SHORT

Donal Douglas and Niamh Moore of IMPACT’s Dublin Hospitals branch enjoy take a break during conference.

negotiations. “We need to jointly review the methodologies, not just the outcomes, of the two benchmarking reports. It’s utterly unacceptable that any review body should adopt a ‘let’s make it up as we go along’ attitude in order to achieve a certain outcome,” he said. IMPACT says the methodology of the second benchmarking report exaggerated the value of public service pay and minimised the value of private sector incomes, partly by including a disproportionate number of small and medium companies, which tend to pay less, in its private sector survey. McLoone said IMPACT didn’t want a return to the chaotic pre-benchmarking system of cross-sectoral pay links. “But fairness, in terms of process and outcomes, is key to securing and sustaining support for an alternative to the old system of pay links. Public servants no longer believe the system is fair and we now need a new system that everyone can buy into,” he said.

Bosses blasted for pay double standards OUTGOING IMPACT president Finbarr O’Driscoll has accused employers of reaching “new standards of double standards” in calling for wage restraint while top people’s pay is soaring. Opening IMPACT’s biennial delegate conference in May, the Cork man called on business leaders to show “some glimmer of understanding of the rage and frustration felt by ordinary people when top earners award themselves huge pay increases, while telling ‘the little people’ to tighten their belts.” Speaking before business organisation IBEC called for a public service pay freeze, Finbarr said emboldened employers seemed determined to row back on workers’ rights and living standards.

“These are the same employers who, without embarrassment, set out to reduce pension provision for private and public service staff alike. Needless to say, most of them enjoy expensive pension cushions, even as they preach to ordinary workers who just want a bit of security in their old age,” he said. He said unions had delivered wage restraint and industrial peace during 21 years of social partnership. Referring to the recent OECD report on Ireland’s public services, he said public servants had also delivered “a high quality and cost effective public service that has contributed strongly to Ireland’s economic competitiveness.”

Work & Life: The magazine for IMPACT members

union business

EU agency deal IRISH TRADE unions have welcomed agreement on a new European Union directive, which will protect pay and working conditions for temporary staff employed by agencies. The deal, which had previously been blocked by a minority of EU states including Ireland, is seen as a major step towards the protections currently being sought by ICTU in the national pay talks. Up to 30,000 Irish workers could benefit directly when the legislation comes into force. But unions also believe protections are necessary to stop employers using agencies to drive down pay and conditions for all. There’s more on this in IMPACT’s July e-bulletin. Visit www. impact.ie to sign up for a copy.

UNION OFFICERS

IMPACT team elected REPRESENTATIVES OF IMPACT branches elected a new team of national union officers at the union’s recent biennial conference. New president John Power takes over from Finbarr O’Driscoll, who remains on the union’s central executive committee as immediate past president. The new senior vice president is Charlie Gantry from the Dublin Hospitals branch. Three other vice presidents were also elected: Margaret Coughlan (Wicklow branch), Isabell Murphy (Louth) and Kevin O’Malley (Kerry). James Monaghan of IMPACT’s Laois branch retained his position as equal opportunities officer, while Alice Hennessy (Limerick branch) and Billy Gallagher (Driver Testers branch) were elected honorary secretary and honorary treasurer respectively.

PENSIONS

Pension greed attacked IMPACT DEPUTY general Secretary Shay Cody has launched a scathing attack on employers for seeking to pass all pension costs onto workers and taxpayers. He said business leaders jealously guarded their own generous pension packages while imposing cuts for everyone else. Mr Cody, who is a member of ICTU’s pensions team in the current national pay talks, said the business community was solely interested in keeping down business costs and shoving all the responsibility onto workers and taxpayers. “They’re not concerned with the security of the hundreds of thousands of people, predominantly women, who currently have no pension provision,” he said. He said the entire focus was on cutting the benefits and entitlements of workers who do have contributory pension schemes. “They attack public service pensions to make it easier for them to cut private sector benefits too. They want to level down until no one expects their employer to contribute to a pension at all. Except, of course, the top earners who jealously guard their own very generous pension packages,” he said. With pensions now being discussed in the national pay talks, the recent IMPACT conference considered ten pension motions. The union criticised last year’s green paper on pensions for including “a shopping list of dangerous proposals for eroding public service pensions” but few concrete proposals to improve pensions in the private sector. Public service pensions are under attack from many commentators and politicians, while recent figures show that more than half of private sector workers have no pension provision at all. The number of people aged over 65 is expected to more than double by the middle of the century. This means the ratio of working-aged people to over-65s will fall from almost 6-1 in 2006 to just under 2-1 in 2061, creating “a challenge for the sustainability of the pension system,” according to the recent green paper.

All the officer positions are unpaid and IMPACT staff members are not eligible to run for them. Photo : Dylan Vaughan

Incoming president John Power said a big ‘thank you’ to outgoing vice presidents Stella Griffin and Brian Horgan, and outgoing honorary secretary Nora O’Reilly. What’s the executive? See page 7. Shay Cody

summer/AUTUMN 2008

Photo : Conor Healy

INTERNATIONAL

HEALTH CAMPAIGN

Dublin’s Dr Steeven’s saw one of the 28 protests nationwide.

HSE responds to protests THE HSE agreed to a number of high-level meetings about staffing policy and working conditions after thousands of IMPACT members took part in lunchtime demonstrations across Ireland on 11th June. The union also increased the heat on senior HSE managers by escalating its industrial action to block the collation of crucial financial and staff data.

industrial action while talks got underway, saying it would continue until tangible progress was made.

IMPACT estimates that up to 6,000 people took part in the protests, which were part of the union’s ongoing campaign against cuts in health jobs and services and the HSE’s refusal to honour over 40 agreements about working conditions.

The situation is not helped by increased pressure to make cuts because of worsening public finances this year and a further projected downturn in 2009. Rumours of more Government cuts were circulating as Work & Life went to press.

Following the protests, which attracted widespread coverage in the national and local media, the HSE announced that it would meet the union to discuss the issues raised in the dispute. A number of meetings took place in the second half of June.

Nevertheless, Callinan said the HSE’s invitation to talks, and an earlier threat to discipline IMPACT members involved in industrial action, showed that the union’s campaign was hurting top management. “I urge all IMPACT members to continue to give their full support to the industrial action. It’s vital that we now keep the pressure up, even if the HSE tries to bully staff into breaching the industrial action,” he said.

IMPACT national secretary Kevin Callinan said there was a need to rebuild trust. But he refused to lift the union’s

The union warned that it would react if rumours that temporary staff were to be let go, even where crucial work exists, turned into real job losses. “If that happens we will review further industrial action options,” said Callinan.

Work & Life: The magazine for IMPACT members

SMALL CHANGE

Feeling the pinch? COLM RAPPLE outlines some simple and painless ways of cutting back on those rising household bills.

But there is no doubt that, in the short-term, money is going to be scarce. Not only for government departments and businesses but also for many individuals whose budgets are, at best, being hit by spiralling fuel, food and housing costs and, at worst, by unemployment. So what can be done to redress an unbalanced household budget? For those who are not of a penny-pinching nature, the best approach is to concentrate on making a small number of big savings instead of a large number of small savings. A penny-pinching approach may eventually provide substantial savings, but at a cost in time and effort. By its very nature it is only going to save you pennies and it takes a lot of those to make a pound. So what about some suggestions? These may seem like penny-pinching ideas but some of them can yield significant savings. They are not listed in any particular order of importance.

Save on insurance Most people can save a few hundred euro on their car and household insurance. Don’t accept the renewal quote offered to you. Get quotes from other providers and also look for

summer/AUTUMN 2008

heat your house an extra one degree Fahrenheit. So imagine what you could save by pushing the thermostat down a full five degrees.

Would you credit it?

You don’t have to admit you’re doing it to save money. Bask in the glory of doing something to save the polar bears! And you can always wear a pullover or cardigan.

You don’t need a credit card to buy on the web.

You can save a lot of money in the longer run by insulating your home, of course, if it’s not already up to standard. The capital investment can yield a good return but it does require cash up front.

NOT HAVING a credit card or simply being fearful of sending your card details over the web doesn’t preclude you from buying goods or services on the internet. There is another option. You can make use of a prepaid virtual credit card.

Save on travel This can also add to your green credentials and there are plenty of options. Hold onto your car for another year and you save significantly, not only on the actual outlay but also in depreciation costs.

BELT TIGHTENING is the order of the day. The number crunchers preparing next year’s budgets have been told that money is scarce and the message is more believable this year than in the recent past. But let’s not get overawed by portents of doom and gloom. The outlook is not as bad as some of the more pessimistic economists and commentators would have us believe. For instance, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, in its latest economic outlook, expects a recovery in both global and Irish economic fortunes next year.

Photo: dreamstime.com

Your money

Drive a little slower. Cutting an average of 5km an hour off your speed can improve fuel efficiency by about 10%. In other words, you get 10% more kilometres to your litre. a quote from your existing provider as if you were a new customer. If you’re using the internet, the easiest way to renew, give a different version of your name or address in case the computer is programmed to automatically link you up with the existing renewal quote. Also make sure to check the cover you have. Don’t overvalue your car, house or contents. Can you live with a higher excess, the amount of each claim that isn’t covered? Do you need cover for accidental damage to household items? Have a look at the exclusions before answering “yes.”

Cut your mortgage repayments With greatly reduced demand for mortgages, lenders are not overly keen to lose customers, particularly the very low-risk

You can also improve fuel efficiency by taking off the roof rack, not driving with a window open, and trying to avoid short runs. Even an empty roof rack can increase fuel consumption by 5%. And use more public transport. You can give up part of your salary for a monthly or annual bus or train ticket and effectively get it paid for out of pre-tax income. It is not considered a taxable benefit-in-kind even when the cost is covered by what the Revenue like to call ‘salary sacrifice’.

One such card is offered by Permanent TSB in association with 3V. Black cards are available at participating local convenience stores showing a Payzone logo or at Permanent TSB branches. You can also order one online. The card itself is free. You only pay when you pre-load it with funds. First you have to register the card with the bank, providing personal details. Once that’s done you can pre-load the card with up to €350 at any of the outlets that provide the cards themselves. You get a voucher with a 16-digit number, which can be used in the same way as a credit card number. Security details including a PIN and expiry date are emailed to you or can be obtained over the phone. A flat charge of €5 is levied for each top-up while any funds left on the card can be redeemed for a flat charge of €1.50.

Improve your cash flow You don’t need to increase your income to improve your cash flow. Do what many businesses do. Slow down on the payment of bills. It’s a strategy that needs to be carefully managed, to avoid real debt problems, but it can provide a significant

Grow some veg Gardening is good exercise and a few square metres of ground can provide a good array of fresh vegetables. Start

“You don’t have to increase your income to increase your cash-flow” ones whose loans represent a relatively small proportion of the property value. If your loan is down below say 80%, or better still 50%, of the value of your home, look for a cut in the interest rate.

once-off boost to income. Simply cancel the direct debits and standing orders and then pay your utility and other regular bills a few weeks later than you have been doing.

The threat to switch may be enough to secure the saving but don’t hesitate to actually switch if it isn’t. It’s not too much of a hassle and the savings over a few years can be significant.

The communications regulator ComReg runs an interactive website callcosts.ie that can help identify the best and cheapest landline and mobile services based on your particular usage patterns and preferences. It only takes a few minutes and can highlight options that could yield significant savings.

Reduce your carbon footprint According to one source, it can require up to 3% more fuel to

Get the best telephone deals

planning for next year. Easily grown crops, not too prone to pests, include peas and broad beans (surpluses can be frozen), kale (picked as you need it), swede turnips (hardy and slug resistant), and Jerusalem artichokes (will grow anywhere).

Get those tax rebates You should know all about them but have you claimed relief for medical expenses, your IMPACT subs, and waste disposal charges? Remember you can go back four years l

Work & Life: The magazine for IMPACT members

Sport

Reds strike three? THE PREMIER league is set for kick-off and Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United will begin the new season on the scent of a hat-trick of titles and the successful defence of their champions league crown.

Photo: sportsfile.com

A cat among the pigeons

KEVIN NOLAN says there’s plenty of life in the provincial championships yet. And the provincial councils will ensure that they stay.

Sligo proved that Goliath can still be slain.

THE BALL had only been thrown in to start the summer’s senior football championship when the naysayers were out in force.Because the championship had been a slow-burner, with no headline-grabbing battle of the titans in the opening clashes, the critics of the traditional provincial-based format loudly expressed the view that the structure of the competition was tired and outdated. They reckon we’ve been held hostage to both history (tradition) and geography (provincial championships) for far too long. “Scrap the provincial championships and replace them with an open-draw across the entire nation,” they bellowed. Volume was added to their cries when Wicklow boss Mick O’Dwyer, the man who managed Kerry to eight all-Irelands, said that he had no interest in steering the garden county to the Tommy Murphy cup. Wicklow were last year’s Tommy Murphy winners when they defeated Antrim in a thrilling finish. And their Leinster senior football championship victory over Kildare this year showed that the secondary competition had served them well. But

summer/AUTUMN 2008

the boss clearly felt it was a competition that had already served its purpose from their perspective.

Crescendo The nature of the championship is such that, surely, you don’t want to see it open with a bang and then whimper out. The ideal situation is that it builds to a crescendo, with the best eight teams progressing to the all-Ireland quarter-finals. The victory of O’Dwyer’s Wicklow over Kildare, Fermanagh over Monaghan (all-Ireland quarter-finalists last year) and Down’s win at the expense of Tyrone (all-Ireland Champions in 2003 and 2005) has surely highlighted the fact that the provincial championships still throw up shocks. In fact, it’s arguable that Wicklow could have eliminated Laois from the Leinster championship had they shown more tactical nous on the line in order to curtail the O’Moore county’s match-winner Ross Munnelly. Last year Sligo claimed their first Connacht senior football championship title since 1975, proving that Goliath can

In an attempt to fill the sizeable boots of Peter Schmeichel, goalkeeper Mark Bosnich came on a free transfer from Aston Villa while Massimo Taibi cost £4.5 million from Venezia. He also attracted Inter Milan’s Mikael Silvestere on board (£4 million) while Quinton Fortune (£2 million) came from Atletico Madrid. But the good times failed to roll. This time around the bling, bling of their champions league success will be used more aggressively on a shopping spree with world-class strikers on the top of Ferguson’s wanted list. He will need it as Roman Abramovich, now with world cup winning boss Luiz Felipe Scolari as his Chelsea manager, will be driven not only to repeat the feats of the Mourinho era but also to ensure glory in Europe. Man United will open the defence of their premier league title with a home match against Newcastle on 16th August. But Fergie will be concerned over several fixture clashes. They face tough games after every European tie. They open their European campaign in the middle of visits to Liverpool and Chelsea, the first head-to-head duel between

still be slain. This happened despite the belief that the current provincial system, coupled with the qualifiers, only sees the strong get stronger and the weak become even more puny.

Dream There are several borders that any campaign for the elimination of the provincial format would have to cross before their dream could ever become reality. The toughest of these would be the power wielded by the four provincial councils. If Rule 21 and Rule 42, regarding the use of Croke Park for ‘foreign games’, can be relaxed perhaps anything is possible. But it is extremely difficult to envisage the provincial councils voting for a new structure that would see them losing a lot of political as well as financial clout.

Photo: gettyimages.com

After becoming champions league winners back in 1999, the Reds’ boss spent a meagre £10 million on transfers and ended up paying a heavy price as the minor alterations he made to his squad did not work the trick.

Rooney seeks third title.

Ferguson and Scolari, while journeys to Blackburn Rovers, Everton, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham follow champions league outings two, three, four, five and six. It is a testing opening schedule for United as they attempt to repeat the heroics of last season. The conclusion to their season could have been kinder with the home leg of the Manchester derby, which they lost to City. It promises to be another exciting premier league - for those involved at the business end, that is. But few will back against the Manchester Reds considering the mettle they showed on two fronts last term l

Perhaps the best solution could be an open draw ‘round-robin’ format within each of the provinces. In such an experiment Munster would see each county playing five championship games (one group), with the top two contesting their final. Leinster would be divided into two groups, likewise Connacht and Ulster, resulting in the eight provincial finalists progressing to the all-Ireland quarter-finals. A county’s final position within their own provincial roundrobin would then decide what division of the national football league they were placed in for the following season. Perhaps this approach would create a greater dynamic and synergy l Kevin Nolan is a journalist and production editor for the sports section of the Evening Herald. He is also editor of Dublin County Board Gaelic games website www.hill16.ie.

Work & Life: The magazine for IMPACT members

S UD OKU

Win Win Win

WIN €50

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A He’s a detective B He’s a forensic scientist C He’s a desperate househusband 2 Leaving your books in public places for others to enjoy is called: A Book crossing B Cross referencing C Littering 3 On average, how much of the food we buy is thrown away? A Most of it – we’re on a diet! B A tenth C A third 4 Community welfare services are being transferred from the HSE to: A The private sector B Dundalk C The Department of Social and Family Affairs 5 The rock band Muse comes from: A Devon B Dallas C Drogheda 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 Monday 15th September 2008. The editor’s decision is final. That’s it! 46

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2008

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

1 What does new IMPACT president John Power do for a living?

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YOU COULD win €50 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 a hat.* You’ll find all the answers in this issue of Work & Life.

HOW TO PLAY:

7 3

Across 1. Adage or seanfhocal (7) 5. A town in southern Italy (5) 8. Meagre (5) 9. Ancient Assyrian city (7) 10. Ancient Roman official with responsibilities in Asia (7) 11. Of oats or oatmeal (5) 12. North American country (6) 14. Large Asian sheep with long curving horns (7) 17. Flowers for the ladies, particularly in Tralee (5) 19. Relating to ages long past (7) 22. South Western state of the US bordering on Mexico (7) 23. Greek island (5) 24. Assessed (5) 25. Accumulated (7)

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13. 15. 16. 18. 20. 21.

Lack of agreement; contention Never to grow old (7) Fruit (6) Item of male attire (5) Bedtime drink (5) General course or direction (5)

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

The winners from competitions in the first issue of Work & Life were:

Weekend break in Rathmullen: Vansessa Doyle, Carlow branch.

€50 prize quiz: Gregory Friston, Dublin City branch.

€100 Work & Life survey: Siobhán Ní Ghríofa, State Laboratories branch.

Dublin-Liverpool return trip: Anne Healy, Cork branch.

Lots more competitions to enter in this issue!

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Udo's Oil

10th Anniversary in Ireland

WE HOPE you enjoyed this issue of Work & Life, the new 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.

An All Round Healthy Choice Udo’s Oil, one of the best selling health care products on the market, celebrates 10 years in Ireland this year. The unique blend of ingredients in Udo’s Oil, (Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fatty acids (EFAs) extracted from cold pressed certified organic flax, sesame, sunflower, evening primrose seeds, rice and oat germ), help with a number of ailments, disorders and complaints, as well as helping to improve skin before a big event, aid the tanning process on holidays, increase energy levels, lower cholesterol and help with the symptoms of the menopause.

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. We’ll send €100 to the first completed entry pulled from a hat.* And don’t forget, we’re also giving prizes for letters published in the next issue. See page 21.

The survey

4. What were your least favourite articles? 1 __________________________________________________ 2 __________________________________________________

1. What did you think of the articles in the summer/autumn 2008 issue of Work & Life ? Excellent

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Comments ________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ 2. What did you think of the layout, style and pictures in the summer/autumn 2008 issue of Work & Life?

3 __________________________________________________ 5. What subjects would you like to see in future issues of Work & Life ? 1 __________________________________________________ 2 __________________________________________________ 3 __________________________________________________ 6. What did you think of the balance between union news and other articles? The balance is about right

I want more union news

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Comments ________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ 3. What were your favourite three articles?

Name ________________________________________________ Address ______________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

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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 Monday 15th September 2008. The editor’s decision is final. That’s it!

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2008

Stress Especially for Brides-to-be: Preparing for a wedding can be tiring and stressful and, at a time when brides should feel on top of the world, they often end up feeling run down and less than enthusiastic about their big day. Dress fittings, dealing with family, attending pre-wedding celebrations and planning all the finer details on top of the usual daily chores, can really wear out the bride-to-be and, all too often, brides end up looking forward to taking a good rest on honeymoon more than the big day itself! To combat the effects of pre-wedding burnout, Naturalife recommends taking Udo’s Oil, which will help with skin tone, energy levels and weight loss. High Cholesterol: Increasingly hectic lifestyles, diet, gender, age and family history are all key factors affecting cholesterol. However, the good news is that there are simple lifestyle changes that we can all make to help reduce our cholesterol. As well as eating a healthier diet and exercising regularly, a daily intake of Udo’s Oil lowers “bad” cholesterol (Low Density Lipoproteins, LDL) and increases beneficial HDL (High Density Lipoproteins) known as “good” cholesterol. Lack of Energy: In an increasingly demanding world, more and more people are suffering from decreased energy levels and fatigue. Coupled with stress and poor diets, this ongoing onslaught can lead to complete burn-out! However, the good news is that by taking Udo’s Oil every day, we can boost our energy reserves, decrease recovery time and inflammation after exercise, improve circulation and elevate our mood, resulting in an overall feeling of increased well being and vitality. Menopause: The menopause can be a harrowing experience for many women, with a wide range of uncomfortable side effects. During menopause, oestrogen production decreases, giving rise to the common symptoms associated with this often turbulent life change. As oestrogen levels decrease, there is an increased risk of raised cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, heart attacks, embolisms and a list of various other conditions. However, the good news is that simple lifestyle changes, such as taking Udo’s Oil on a regular basis, can help ease this period of transition for many women. Skin: As the summer season fast approaches, savvy ladies are preparing their bodies for the sun from the inside out! A poor diet and our hectic lifestyles can contribute to dry skin, uneven skin tone, spots, aging and weather damage. However, the unique blend of ingredients in Udo’s Oil helps make skin soft, velvety and supple. Working from the inside out, it evens out skin tone, reduces age and weather marks and gives your skin an all over glow.

Win a hamper of Udo’s Oil & Supplementary Health Products worth

150

€

Udo’s Oil, one of the best selling natural health care products on the market, celebrates 10 years in Ireland this year. The unique blend of ingredients in Udo’s Oil, (Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fatty acids (EFAs) extracted from cold pressed certified organic flax, sesame, sunflower, evening primrose seeds, rice and oat germ), help with a wide range of ailments, disorders and complaints. Udo’s Oil helps to improve dry and scaly skin, aid the tanning process on holidays, increase energy levels, lower cholesterol and help with the symptoms of the menopause and PMS. Naturalife is delighted to offer one lucky reader a hamper of Udo’s Oil and supplementary natural health products worth €150. To be in with a chance to win, just answer the following question:

How many years has Udo’s Oil been on sale in Ireland? Simply answer this question and return to Roisin Nolan, Work & Life Udo’s Oil Competition, IMPACT trade union, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1 by 10th August 2008. WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 49

Get the confidence to smile! NEW FOR 2008 FREE INVISALIGN ASSESSMENTS (normally €70) Cosmetic: White Fillings • Smile Design • Porcelain Veneers • Metal Free Crowns & Bridges • Implants • Predictable Whitening

133 St Peter’s Road, Walkinstown, Dublin 12.

PH:

01 450 6373

Invisalign: Invisible Braces for all Ages. Wireless, Removable and Hygienic. Can treat most orthodontic problems. Hygienist: Benefit from expert advice and cleaning with our accomplished hygienist.

FINANCE: Costs can now be spread to make your smile much more affordable.

www.walkinstowndentalcare.com

Commercial membership services DISCLAIMER (Approved by CEC 10th December 2004) 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.

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: Brassington & Co. Ltd. Travel Insurance – all Divisions.

Cornmarket Group Financial Services Ltd. Car Insurance – all Divisions. Salary Protection and Life Assurance – Local Government and Health Divisions only.

Group Insurance Services (GIS) Car Insurance – all Divisions. House Insurance – all Divisions.

Marsh Financial Services Ltd. AVC Schemes – all Divisions excluding Municipal Employees. Salary Protection and Life Assurance – Civil Service and Services & Enterprises Divisions only.

Countdown Discount Cards Discount cards-All Divisions December 2004

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2008