THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS
ISSUE 26 • SUMMER-AUTUMN 2014
THAT SPECIAL FEELING IMPACT activist Michelle Geraghty was the voice of Ireland’s Special Olympics.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR BOSS GOES BUST? PUBLIC SERVICES UNDER NEW TRADE THREAT PAY PLANS REVEALED A NEW MARSHALL PLAN FOR EUROPE? IMPACT PRESIDENT REVEALS ALL
ALSO INSIDE
TOM BOGUE. SEEING OFF SUGAR. NEW IMPACT OFFICERS. WORLD CUP FASHION. SKIN CANCER. SAY ‘HI’ TO CHANGE. STARVING IN BERLIN. NEW IMPACT BUILDINGS. ALAN BROGAN. DELIGHTFUL DAHLIAS. TIME TRAVELLING TALES. MUSICAL ANIMALS. COLOMBIAN CAMPAIGN. GREAT BOOKS. PRIZES. ALL THE NEWS. AND LOTS MORE…
www.impact.ie
In this issue
work& & life Summer-Autumn 2014 WORK
6.
THE BOSS IS BUST
LIFE
2. 4.
Paris Bakery just the latest scandal.
8. 9. 12. 14. 16. 18. 20. 39.
NEW BUILD New IMPACT offices have opened in Limerick and Sligo.
10. 22.
PAY PLANS Union backs income recovery plan.
24.
UNION RIGHTS New collective bargaining proposals welcomed.
28.
NEWS
40. CLOCK WATCHING French deal bans mobiles after six.
40. 40. 41. 41.
IMPACT PEOPLE We quiz new IMPACT president Jerry King. PUBLIC SERVICE Michelle Geraghty was the voice of Ireland’s Special Olympics. FASHION Football fashion frenzy. FOOD Sugar’s too sweet to be wholesome.
41. 41. 42. 42. 42.
UNIVERSAL HEALTH INSURANCE TAX CUTS NOT ENOUGH GAY MARRIAGE BACKED IMPACT MEMBERSHIP RISES SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL ROW AVIATION PENSIONS CLIMATE CHANGE LOCAL DEMOCRACY UNDER FIRE CABIN CREW ACTION EDUCATION TRAINING BOARDS
OBITUARY
TRAVEL
43.
TOM BOGUE
TRADING SERVICES Secret deal could scupper public services. NEW CREW New IMPACT officers profiled. PLANNING FOR RECOVERY Call for a new European ‘Marshall Plan’. YOUR CAREER Ringing in the changes. INTERNATIONAL Colombian trade deal under fire.
Work & Life is produced by IMPACT trade union's Communications Unit and edited by Bernard Harbor. Front cover: IMPACT activist Michelle Geraghty at Ireland’s Special Olympics in Limerick. Photo by Kieran Clancy. Contact IMPACT at: Nerney's Court, Dublin 1. Phone: 01-817-1500. Email: info@impact.ie
Eat to the Berlin beat.
30. 32. 36. 44.
HEALTH See off skin cancer.
PRIZES AND OFFERS
MOVIES Time travel triumphs.
13. 46. 47.
BOOKS Ghosts of Mayo.
Save money with IMPACT. Win €50 in our prize quiz. Rate Work & Life and win €100.
SPORTS Brogan the hero.
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All suppliers to Work & Life recognise ICTU-affiliated trade unions.
WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 1
Photo by: Conor Healy
THE BIG PICTURE
Happy birthday! IMPACT members marked the twentieth anniversary of South Dublin County Council with a colourful protest against cuts in acting payments. Full story page 41.
STRANGE WORLD
Watching le clock Photos by dreamstime.com
I SPENT a very happy few months working in France in 2007. Among the many things I learned was that they do things differently there. On one occasion, I remember being told by a slightly-abashed colleague that my (bad) habit of eating lunch at my desk was actually illegal under French health and safety laws. I couldn’t help but be impressed, though I continued to recklessly flout the laws of the land that had welcomed me. A few years earlier, the country that gave us liberty, equality and fraternity, celebrated the millennium by introducing a 35-hour legal limit on the working week. Bravo! Now they’ve gone one step further with a new legally-binding agreement that requires staff in the technology and consultancy sectors to turn off their phones after 6pm in the evening. The deal – hammered out by unions and employers – also rules out looking at work-related material on computers and smart phones in the evenings. It’s strangely satisfying to read that the local operations of Facebook, Google, Price Waterhouse and Deloitte are covered by the deal. C’est la vie. While it’s hard to see how modern business can be properly conducted during ‘office hours’ (neither public services nor Irish industrial relations could work on that basis) it’s good to see at least one major European economy clinging to the belief that there can be life outside the office.
ACE PUBLIC SERVANTS
Naive taxman turns heads RIDICULED, KNOWN for a pernickety attention to detail, and successful only after taking early retirement. It may come as no surprise to our critics to learn that postimpressionist painter Henri Rousseau spent much of his life as a public servant. Known witheringly as ‘le dounanier’ (the customs officer), this ex-soldier and tax collector, who painted in his spare time, was ridiculed by the Parisian establishment for “painting like a child.” Lacking formal training, the selftaught artist pioneered Naive or Primitive art with exotic works based on pictures he cut out of magazines. Although he never left France, his most famous works – including his best known painting Surprise, (pictured) which now graces London’s national gallery – were jungle scenes. No doubt his humble roots didn’t help him gain respect among the artistic elite. Unbowed, Rousseau took early retirement at 49 and dedicated himself full-time to his art after 20 years in the Paris customs office. Two years before his death in 1910, a young artist came upon one of his works and recognised its genius. Picasso threw a burlesque banquet in Rousseau’s honour and recognition finally stirred. Matisse, Chagall and Signac formed a growing band of admirers and his works now hang in prestigious museums around the world O
That was then… 100 years ago
The first shots are fired in World War One on 28th July 1914 as the Austro-Hungarians prepare to invade Serbia exactly one month after 19-year-old Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo. Almost 50,000 men from the island of Ireland would die in the four-year conflict that followed.
70 years ago
Anne Frank is arrested in Amsterdam by German security police on 4th August 1944 following a tip-off from an informer who was never identified. On 25th August, General De Gaulle walks the Champs Elysees as Paris is liberated from Nazi occupation.
60 years ago
On 5th July 1954 Elvis Presley records That’s All Right at Sun Studios, Memphis, Tennessee. Two months later on 5th September, New York-bound KLM flight 633 crashes immediately after taking off from Shannon Airport, killing 28 people.
50 years ago
President Lyndon B Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act on 2nd July 1964. It outlaws discrimination based on race, colour, religion, gender or national origin. In his address to the joint session of Congress months earlier, Johnson told legislators: “No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honour President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill for which he fought so long.” Ten years earlier on 17th May 1954 the US Supreme Court decision in the case of Brown v the Board of Education had declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional.
40 years ago
On 9th August 1974 Richard Nixon resigns as US president for the “good of the country” in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
30 years ago
Thursday 19th July 1984 sees Mary Manning, a cashier at Dunnes Stores in Dublin’s Henry Street, refuse to handle any South African produce. It was the beginning of a two-and-a-half-year dispute, which ended after the Irish government prohibited the sale of South African fruit and vegetables.
Bernard Harbor 2
SUMMER-AUTUMN 2014
WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS
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IMPACT people
Working for everyone Library worker JERRY KING of IMPACT’s Mayo branch has just started a twoyear term as the union’s president after being elected at the union’s biennial delegate conference in Killarney in May. How would you describe yourself? I’m a hard-working and loyal person, always trying to do the right thing and failing much of the time. I grew up on a small farm with just my mother, so I worked since I was about eight bringing in the hay and turf, building stone walls, minding cows, weeding, stooking oats and digging potatoes.
What are your hopes as President? To play my part with great colleagues in restoring trust between the membership and the union centrally. To help make IMPACT stronger and grow the union in size and organisation. And to make sure our IMPACT staff realise they are valued.
Does this library worker love books? Absolutely. I’m a voracious reader. As a child my ambition was to join the mobile library in Ballyvary, three miles from my home in Straide. Joining the library was daunting at the time. Now I have the chance, I make sure no child, from any background, lacks reading material.
Who inspires you? IMPACT members I meet, for their patience and courtesy. Branch activists for the time they give selflessly to organise and represent their colleagues and the union movement, which is the only credible democratic force left in society.
What’s your favourite book? Rabbit at Rest by John Updike. It’s just so beautifully written and evocative of family life. For non-fiction it’s Blake Morrison’s memoir of family relationships And When Did You Last See Your Father? Sad but uplifting, and raw in its honesty. Given the choice, who would you have a pint with? My father, who died when I was five. I heard he was a very good man. My mother provided for me so I didn’t miss him too much. He only ever had a bike and it struck me a few years ago that I’d love to bring him in the car to Straide, put a pint in front of him, and ask him about his life. How did you get involved in the union? In time honoured tradition, Mayo branch failed to elect a chairperson at an AGM in the late 1990s. Being a loyal but inactive member, I was asked by a colleague to consider putting myself forward. That suggestion changed my life in so many ways. I forgive you Sean. I think.
What advice would you give your 18-year-old self? Don’t waste your young life being fearful of everything and everybody and suffering from lack of self confidence. Believe in yourself. I wish I’d got that advice, but would I have taken it?
Any pet hates? The national media who attempt to create divisions between public and private sector workers, and the unthinking people who fall for this rubbish. Are you interested in sport? I absolutely love sport. Watching it, reading about it, listening on the wireless while doing jobs around the house and garden. I started supporting a certain team the day they were relegated to then-division two. Many lean years followed, and then came much success. Who or what’s the greatest love of your life? My wife. A truly wonderful person whose advice has never been wrong. And my two sons who constantly amaze me with their principles and strength of character. What would you like to be remembered for? That I proved worthy of those who put their trust in me. That I never let anyone down by being deceitful. That I kept my word to the last O
Interviewed by Martina O’Leary
What inspires you when the going gets tough? Our generation is the first in the history of Ireland where our children will be worse off than their parents – no matter how hard they work or how highly qualified they become. This is shameful and we are all partly to blame for not preventing it. We all need to take a greater interest to make sure we protect terms and conditions at work so they can at least aspire to decent jobs, a house, a car, holidays and a dignified retirement. That inspires me.X
Photo by Donmick Walsh
What’s the best thing about being involved in IMPACT? Being able to quietly assist members and branches. They often don’t even know how much one helped, which is better again.
What are your interests? I love golf but I rarely play nowadays. I once cut my hand badly at work and, as blood spurted on the floor, all I could think of was whether I’d be able to grip the club properly. So, yes, fond of golf.
What’s top of your bucket list? I’d love to drive from Straide to Sicily via the Amalfi coast, and hopefully back again. A few more road trips if I can fit them in. I have simple tastes. I just love seeing new places and things.
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WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS
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Rogue employers
What happens when your boss goes bust? Workers who’ve fought their ground in these situations have relied on the guidance, experience and resources of trade unions to fight their corner. It’s a live issue for IMPACT members in the community and voluntary sector, where funding cuts and falling charity donations have brought the spectre of insolvency to some.
Losing your job is one of the worst things you can face. But it’s worse when your boss disappears owing you money. NIALL SHANAHAN says it’s time to tighten the legal loophole that lets it happen.
The bakery workers had already endured long delays – sometimes several months – getting paid. Now they vowed to stand their ground until they got their wages. Owed over €100,000 between them, they staged a sit-in and called on the Government to intervene when the owners refused to engage.
“We turned up for work on Monday to be told by the administrators that we were being made redundant with immediate effect. All of us were owed wages. It was a huge shock.” Twenty days later, the sit-in protest came to an end when the Revenue Commissioners stepped in to wind the company up, which meant the workers would at least have access to the state’s insolvency fund, and a chance to get back the hardearned money they were owed.
Exasperation Unions welcomed the Revenue Commissioners’ intervention, but expressed exasperation that the legal loophole, which allows employers to leave workers unpaid when a business
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runs into difficulty, is still in place. In recent times workers at Vita Cortex, La Senza, HMV, Game, Thomas Cook and Connolly Shoes have all had to fight to recover wages owed them when their employer pulled the shutters down. At Connolly Shoes the fight has gone on for five years. Tara Keane was one of the 25 La Senza workers who took part in a five day sit-in at the retail chain’s Liffey Valley branch in January 2012. “We turned up for work on Monday to be told by the administrators that we were being made redundant with immediate effect. All of us were owed wages from the Christmas period, including overtime. It was a huge shock and a week full of uncertainty,” she says. Tara now works as an organiser with trade union Mandate, which guided staff through that difficult period and secured payment from the administrators. “We had to barricade ourselves into the store to have our rights vindicated, and things haven’t changed. Paris Bakery staff had to go through an even longer protest to secure the money owed to them,” she says.
Loophole In a 2012 submission to the Government, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) highlighted the increasing frequency of ‘informal’ insolvencies, where employers stop trading but don’t wind the company up or go into liquidation or receivership. X
Photo by Paula Geraghty.
ARRIVING FOR work on the morning of Wednesday 21st May, staff at the Paris Bakery on Dublin’s Moore Street found the shop shut. It was bad enough that the business was scheduled to close in June when the building’s lease expired. Now they had become the latest group of workers to find their boss had disappeared without any notice, and without paying their wages.
Gap IMPACT official Ashley Connolly says discussions with employers have been more intense this year because everything has already been cut to the bone. “There’s still no light at the end of the tunnel and every time we deal with an employer it’s about ensuring there’s money in the bank to pay the salaries and preserve as many jobs and services as possible. Members are always willing to engage, but it’s becoming more difficult. The gap between incomes and outgoings keeps getting wider,” she says.
When the closure of Mount Carmel private maternity hospital was announced in January, staff and Something to celebrate: Paris Bakery workers finally got some joy after a 20-day sit-in, their unions first heard about it on which was supported by IMPACT and other unions. the lunchtime news. Stephen O’Neill was the IMPACT official on site. “The immediate reaction ICTU is demanding that the Government immediately close was a palpable sense of sadness, upset, anxiety and of this legal loophole, which unfairly denies staff who find course anger. We engaged with the liquidators immediately themselves in this awful situation, access to the Department and the process was managed in a way that respected the of Social Protection’s insolvency payment scheme. fact that it was a medical facility with patients relying on its services. It wasn’t like a business closure in that ICTU’s legal affairs officer Esther Lynch says the need for a sense because they couldn’t just lock the place up,” he safety net guaranteeing payment of employees’ remuneration remembers. when their employer is in a state of insolvency is recognised and protected by the European Union. “It’s unacceptable that Stephen said that the phased closure gave IMPACT the employees, through no fault of their own, are denied access opportunity to provide information to staff, ensure they to this essential financial safety net by the inaction of their received all payments due to them, and to facilitate employer,” she says. alternative employment. Congress wants the Government to address the problem by allowing the insolvency payment scheme to operate in a similar way to the redundancy payment scheme, ensuring that employees aren’t left short when a business folds. But, as the Paris Bakery situation shows, nothing has been done to reduce their vulnerability.
“It was one of the saddest situations I’ve dealt with personally. These were people with long service in a workplace where long-lasting friendships were broken up by the closure. Many of them are now working elsewhere, but it doesn’t take away the sadness they felt as their time at Mount Carmel came to a sudden end,” he said O
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Incomes
IMPACT’s new offices open
Union prepares for income recovery IMPACT has listed its priorities for pay and income restoration in a “slow and fragile” economic recovery. IMPACT GENERAL secretary Shay Cody told the union’s May conference that IMPACT would lodge a public service pay claim when the State’s finances improved. He said the claim would go in once it became clear that the Government is on target to achieve the Euro requirement of a deficit of less than 3% of GDP in 2015. “They are predicting that they will,” he said.
The IMPACT president Kevin O’Malley opened the Limerick office in April He’s pictured here with Geraldine McCarthy from the Limerick Health branch, local official Andy Pike and IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody.
Photo: Kieran Clancy
Limerick office
IMPACT’S NEW Limerick office has officially opened in Roxborough Road in the city centre. The new office will provide significant new resources for IMPACT members in the midwest, with training facilities for up to 120 people in five training and meeting rooms. It is expected that the facilities will also be used by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and other unions for training and meetings. IMPACT official Andy Pike, who has overseen the development of the new premises, said the building was becoming derelict before IMPACT redeveloped it. "It's an old building, dating back to the early part of the last century, which reflects the original fabric of Limerick city. It’s been a very satisfying process to breathe new life into the building and hopefully contribute to the continuing regeneration of the city," he said. Last month the union also opened new premises in Sligo. The new city-centre office will provide training and meeting facilities for branches in the north-west and will substantially raise the profile of the union in the town and region.
Sligo office
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Both these new premises are part of IMPACT’s aim of providing top class services and facilities to its members, says Shay Cody, IMPACT general secretary l
to honour the commitment that lower paid workers should be prioritised, but acknowledge that it will be difficult to secure a critical mass of public servants to support a claim that only applied to those who earn less than €35,000.”
The IMPACT conference – attended by representatives of all the union’s branches – adopted motions instructing the union to pursue income recovery in all sectors including public, private, community, and commercial semi-state companies. Shay Cody said the union would:
The union believes there are two obvious ways of approaching this. A flat-rate increase would mean a start to income recovery for all, but with a bigger proportional benefit to the lower paid. Similarly, seeking a reduction in the pension levy rather than increasing gross wages would mean higher incomes for all public servants, but with a bigger proportional benefit to the lower paid.
l Pursue pay increases in the public service once the Government meets its target of bringing the deficit below 3% of GDP, which is predicted to happen in 2015
Shay also reemphasised the union’s commitment to ensuring that pay restoration commitments in the Haddington Road agreement are met l
l Seek the restoration of frozen increments in the community and voluntary sector, and pursue pay increases to match any movement in the public service l Seek and support a continued “successful wage round” in the private sector among companies that can afford to pay l Work with other unions to make the recently re-established Joint Labour Committees effective in protecting pay and working conditions in the economy’s lowest paid sectors, and l Continue to prioritise job creation as the core economic policy “because employment is the biggest determinate of income for most individuals and their families.” Mr Cody said employment “must remain a top priority across the union movement, including among public service unions.”
Increases Also speaking at the conference, the then-Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said rising wages were the sign of a healthy economy. On public service pay, Mr Gilmore said: “Next time the Government and unions sit down to talk, it will be to talk about increasing pay not reducing it.” Referring to the legislation that underpinned pay cuts in the Haddington Road agreement, he said he “looked forward to the day when the FEMPI legislation becomes a thing of the past.” IMPACT is now consulting with other unions on how best to develop a public service pay claim. Cody said: “We need
Living on less Average disposable household income – the amount families have to spend after paying taxes and receiving benefits – fell by just over €8,500 between 2008 and 2012.The stark figures, from the Central Statistics Office, are among the data in an IMPACT report called Living on less: Changes in earnings, incomes and employment during the recession, which was published at IMPACT’s biennial conference in May. Drawing on official figures, Living on less found that average public sector weekly earnings decreased by 5.1% – and average hourly earnings by 5.4% – in the five years to December 2013. These figures do not include the socalled pension levy, which has further reduced public service incomes by 7% on average. In the same period, average weekly private sector earnings fell by 3.4%, while average private sector hourly earnings were stagnant. Although the average effective direct tax rate – the amount households actually pay in tax as a proportion of income – increased from 12.8% to 13.5% between 2007 and 2010, Ireland’s tax-to-GDP ratio is the second lowest in the euro area. Read the report on www.impact.ie WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 9
Photo: Domnick Walsh
New offices
At your service
Everyone should feel special IMPACT member MICHELLE GERAGHTY is bursting with enthusiasm about the Special Olympics. This dental nurse is not so keen on sugar, though.
became involved in the Tipperary North branch about eight years ago.” “It’s very important to be involved in the union. I would like there to be a health rep in each workplace, both in acute and primary care. I think early discussion and negotiation can solve a lot of problems before things get out of hand. Obviously the national things are different, but locally if you tease things out you can solve them before you need to get the heavy guns involved. Obviously there are times we have to go through those channels when we can’t sort things out locally,” she says.
“IT’S AN amazing feeling. The feeling that you’re giving something back. The feeling that you’re part of something really important and beneficial. There were so many young people volunteering, all wanting to do something good and make these Special Olympics athletes feel special.” You can almost touch the energy coming from IMPACT representative Michelle Geraghty when she talks about the recent Special Olympics Ireland games in Limerick. But how did this Nenagh-based senior dental nurse become the sound production co-ordinator for the games?
Challenge Working in the health service is a challenge too. “We are down dentists, nurses and hygienists because of the moratorium. Staff have retired or taken the incentivised retirement package. The population in the schools is increasing. You would love to do more for the children.
“My aim was that every single athlete getting up on the podium would feel special. As they approached, I would get the crowd to applaud and then I would keep the crowd going as we announced the names. The tears of joy and wonderment on their faces are fantastic.” With a team of 12, Michelle was responsible for announcements and music in four locations at the university arena. “My aim was that every single athlete getting up on the podium would feel special. As they approached, I would get the crowd to applaud and then I would keep the crowd going as we announced the names. The tears of joy and wonderment on their faces are fantastic, and it’s great for their families. I hope it worked,” she says.
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Photo: Kieran Clancy.
“I first got involved in 2010 when I saw an ad in the local paper. I mentioned that I do a lot of public speaking and had compared fashion shows and other charity events. Next thing they were setting up the organising committee for Limerick and I became involved with sound production for the University of Limerick University site.”
Michelle Geraghty was the sound production co-ordinator at the Special Olympics Games held in Limerick’s UL Sport Arena.
This year’s games were a huge undertaking with 1,500 athletics taking part. Some 3,000 volunteers and the same number of family and delegation members swelled the numbers. “It’s a huge thing with participants and coaches from the four provinces plus the eastern region. All the Special Olympics athletes are aiming to participate in the world games in Los Angeles next year,” explains Michelle.
Knuckle down The volunteers knuckle down to a huge range of jobs from security, transport, competitions and awards ceremonies. “On my team I had a lady from County Armagh who’d volunteered in 2010 and then went as a volunteer to the world games in Athens. That just shows people’s commitment to the games,” says Michelle. X
As team leader, Michelle coordinated the preparation and delivery of the sound production equipment – a huge task. “It was wonderful meeting the new team and bringing them along. I trained them on how to set up equipment – the large sound deck, mics, radio mics, CD players. They were all volunteers with little or no previous experience in that field. Most hadn’t used a large sound deck or microphone before. You get a sense of achievement when they speak in public without falling apart. You see their inhibitions going in front of your eyes.” Michelle’s organising and team-working skills also come in very handy in her role as rep in IMPACT’s Tipperary North branch. “I would have been involved in IMPACT way back, when I was a young thing with bright eyes. When my girls were small and I was working full-time I backed off for a while, but
Michelle is currently involved in a personal war against sugar. “We’d have six young children with their parents waiting for surgery. I use this as an opportunity to teach them about how much sugar is in the food we eat and the drinks we use.
“I have a pound of sugar. I get all the kids to count the number of spoons of sugar in a glass of coke or Capri Sun. Both parents and the children are taken aback when they see there are approximately 13 spoons of sugar in a 300 millilitre Capri Sun drink. I’d love the HSE to do much more to educate people – parents and children – about this. Parents say they had no idea. ‘We thought we were giving them vitamin C’.” Michelle met Special Olympics Ireland chief executive Matt English during the June games. “He talked with compassion and such heartfelt enthusiasm for the Special Olympics athletes, explaining how they live in the now, and how important these events are to them. It’s so true. You can see the difference it makes,” she says, with the same enthusiasm she brings to the day job and her union work O Interview by Martina O’Leary.
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You’re better off in IMPACT
Your rights at work
The Government has outlined its plan for new laws on collective bargaining, which will help workers and unions. Now we have to make sure it gets on the statute book, says BERNARD HARBOR.
Photo by Dominick Walsh.
ICTU GENERAL secretary David Begg has said proposed new legislation on collective bargaining, published last May, is the “most significant development” in his 35 years as a trade union activist. Speaking at IMPACT’s recent conference, he said it would give unions an opportunity to improve pay and working conditions for thousands of exploited workers who are not now members of unions. But he said this would only happen if unions took the opportunity by recruiting and organising workers who aren’t now members. IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody agreed, saying that the new legislation would allow the Labour Court to impose improved pay and conditions on employers who refuse to recognise unions and pay below the going rate. He also said it contained valuable new safeguards against employer victimisation of those who joined unions. “If we can’t use this legislation to entice people to join unions to improve their terms and conditions, then we’re not doing our job,” he said. Although the legislative proposal is a clear win for workers and their unions, it still has a long way to go before it becomes law. ICTU and its affiliated unions will have to work hard to be sure that the package actually gets onto the statute book.
Balancing act Once they become law, the proposals will meet the Programme for Government commitment to ensure that Ireland complies
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The proposals were finally outlined after a long consultation process with unions and employers, where ICTU worked for the best possible improvements in Irish law within the constitutional limits set by the Supreme Court. Once implemented, a new law will include a definition of collective bargaining – the biggest bone of contention in the Supreme Court case – and empower the Labour Court to help identify whether non-union ‘bargaining’ bodies are genuinely independent of employers.
IMPACT members can save a lot of money from the wide range of financial benefits provided or negotiated by the union. Some of these are free to all IMPACT members. Others are optional benefits, available only to IMPACT members, which can mean savings on insurance, salary protection, additional pension coverage and more. You must be an IMPACT member to avail of these benefits and services.
The court will be able to take account of the method and frequency of election to such bodies, their financing, how long they’ve existed, and the existence of any prior collective bargaining between the body and the employer. If genuine voluntary collective bargaining is found to be absent, the Labour Court will be able to impose improved pay and conditions on employers who pay below the going rate.
IMPACT members are entitled to
Victimisation
l €5,000 specified critical illness or death benefit
The proposal will also halt the ability of employers to offer inducements aimed at encouraging staff to forego collective union representation. And there are enhanced protections for workers who are victimised for exercising their rights to belong to, or be represented by, a union.
l Free legal help in bodily injury cases
David Begg said ICTU would make a detailed response when the draft legislation is published. In the meantime, he said the proposals “appeared to deal with all the key issues from a trade union point of view.”
l Free 24/7 domestic assistance helpline.
JUST INCREAS ED
l Free 24/7 legal advice helpline l Free 24/7 confidential counselling helpline
Members can opt to avail of IMPACTfacilitated financial benefits
“ If we can’t use this legislation to entice people to join unions to improve their terms and conditions, then we are not doing our job”
l Car insurance l Home insurance
COM
OON S G IN
:
E E R Fpersonalt
n e d i c ac a n c e ! insur
l Travel insurance But at IMPACT’s conference he said the potential benefits of new laws depended on trade unions improving their organisation and effectiveness. Union efforts to attract new members were hampered by the complexity of the Irish trade union structure and the number of unions competing for members, he said. Begg outlined ICTU plans to “reimagine” the Irish trade union movement to make it more effective and more attractive to workers. Mr Begg said better structures would also help unions win support for alternatives to austerity. “Our task is to organise people into unions, interpret the world for them, and give them the means to change it,” he said O
l Additional pension benefits l Salary protection and life cover.
Photo by dreamstime.com
New laws can help workers
with recent European court judgements, which effectively put Ireland out of step with legal EU collective bargaining norms. This was a difficult balancing act because a 2007 Supreme Court ruling meant any new law ran the risk of being declared unconstitutional.
FULL DETAIL S ON WWW. IMPAC T.IE
IMPACT members can also apply for l Gaeltacht scholarships for members’ children l Industrial relations scholarships l Benevolent grants for members in financial distress.
IMPACT Trade Union Phone: 01-817-1500 Email: info@impact.ie
www.impact.ie
Public services at risk
The secret future of public services A trade deal now being negotiated could spell the end of public services as we know them. So why the secrecy, asks MARTINA O’LEARY? of health facilities and laboratories, waste disposal centres, power plants, schools, energy, telecommunications, broadcasting and elsewhere.
Earlier this summer Wikileaks released a top secret document that shows the opposite to be the case. It revealed that the financial services element of a proposed new international deal covering trade in services would see further deregulation and a strengthening of the financial multinationals behind the recent crash.
It also warns that TISA could make it impossible for future governments to restore public services to state control even in cases where private sector delivery has failed. Jan Willem Goudrian, deputy general secretary of the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) recently said the agreement would bind future governments regardless of who wins elections and what national courts say.
You probably haven’t heard of the Trade In Services Agreement (TISA). That’s because this proposed deal, which involves 50 countries including Ireland and almost 70% of the world’s trade in services, is being done in secret. So secret that the draft financial annex of the agreement, recently revealed by Wikileaks, is classified. Not just while the negotiations are underway but for five years after the trade deal comes into force.
Scary The implications for the finance sector are scary. So is the revelation that the US is using the talks to push for the uninhibited exchange of (your) personal and financial data. But the news for public services could be even worse.
Pic: www.world-psi.org
YOU MIGHT think the global powers-that-be are quietly working away to improve regulation of the international finance sector. That way we might avoid another global recession triggered by reckless banks, right? Don’t hold your breath.
International trade agreements always cause controversy. Most agree that increased trade – including in services, which now make up so much of economic activity – can raise productivity, create jobs and ultimately improve living standards. But trade liberalisation also means reducing barriers to privatisation and cutting employment, Rosa Pavanelli consumer, safety, environmental and other regulatory standards.
It says the deal would also restrict national governments’ right to strengthen standards in the public interest in the licensing
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PSI general secretary Rosa Pavanelli says even the most ardent supporters of trade agreements admit there are winners and losers. The winners are usually powerful countries, multinational corporations who are best placed to exploit new access to markets, and wealthy consumers who can afford expensive foreign imports. The losers tend to be workers who face job losses and downward pressure on wages, users of public services, and small businesses that can’t compete with the multinationals. ‰
PSI organised protests against the negotiations at the end of April, with actions in countries across the globe. It has called on public service unions to join with civil society allies to campaign on the issue.
Scrutiny Above all, trade unions are calling for texts from the negotiations to be released for public scrutiny. They say the governments of countries participating in the TISA talks (the EU is negotiating on behalf of its 28 members, including Ireland) must be pressed for full consultation and disclosure. “The secrecy surrounding these negotiations is anti-democratic in the extreme. If our governments are doing nothing wrong, why are they hiding these texts?” asks Pavanelli.
Countries that are not participating in the talks also need to be made aware of the dangers. The sheer size of the block of countries involved means that others will immediately be pressurised into signing up if the negotiations succeed. With this in mind, the proposed deal will reportedly be made compatible with current international agreements covering trade in services.
Controversial
International trade union federation Public Services International (PSI) has warned that TISA would put public healthcare, broadcasting, water, transport and many other public services at risk of deregularisation, privatisation and liberalisation on a scale never seen before, with national governments bound by rules drawn up in secret negotiations free from public and political scrutiny.
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The talks are so secret that the draft financial annex of the agreement is classified, not just while the negotiations are underway, but for five years after the deal comes into force.
“The aim of public services should not be to make profits for large multinational corporations. Ensuring that failed privatisations can never be reversed is free market ideology gone mad,” she says.
Wikileaks says a key aim is to corner the ever more powerful BRIC countries– Brazil, Russia, India and China – into a deal fashioned by more traditionally-powerful economies in Europe and North America. The position of the BRICs, who are “conspicuously absent” from the talks would be weakened because the deal would exclude them from trading services with the 50 TISA countries.
A recent PSI report, TISA versus public services, says the excessive breadth of the proposed agreement poses risks to privacy rights and internet freedom. Who in a democratic country would accept their government secretly agreeing to laws that so fundamentally shift power and wealth, bind future governments and restrict their nation’s ability to provide for citizens, it asks?
PSI says the story demonstrates a return to post-crash business as usual for the finance sector and other multinationals. “The attempts by governments still reeling from the global economic crisis to further deregulate the financial system shows that our ministers really have been captured by large corporate interests. When you understand this, you understand why the texts are being kept secret,” says Pavanelli l
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IMPACT officers
New team takes the stage IMPACT’s conference, which is made up of representatives of every branch, elects the union’s officers every two years. Together with representatives from each of the union’s six divisions (civil service, health, education, local government, municipal workers and service and enterprises) they make up the IMPACT central executive committee, which is charged with implementing conference policy and driving union priorities. The CEC, whose members are unpaid, is the most important decision-making body in the union apart from the conference itself. This is the new team of officers elected at the IMPACT conference in May. MARGARET COUGHLAN Officer position: Vice president. Branch: Wicklow HSE. Occupation: HSE catering officer. Years active in IMPACT: 19. Joined IMPACT: In the 1990s.
PAT FALLON Officer position: Senior vice president. Branch: Sligo. Occupation: HSE grade IV in Sligo, Leitrim and West Cavan primary care. Joined IMPACT: I joined the Local Government and Public Service Union (LGPSU) in 1985. Years active in IMPACT: I joined the branch committee around the same time I joined the union and have
PATRICIA FANNING Officer position: Honorary equal opportunities officer. Branch: North Dublin-North Leinster Special Needs Assistants. Occupation: Special needs assistant. Joined IMPACT: I joined the Land Registry branch in the 1970s but retired in 1988. Joined second time in 2003. Years active in IMPACT: I have served as chairperson of Dublin SNA branch, and treasurer of the national SNA branch. I’m currently the chairperson of North Dublin-North Leinster SNA branch. I was a representative on the
JERRY KING Officer position: President. Branch: Mayo. Occupation: Library staff officer. Years active in IMPACT:17. Joined IMPACT: 1982. Inspiration: The commitment, dedication and professionalism of my own work colleagues in Mayo library service and the members I meet throughout the civil and public service.
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Inspiration: Both my family and my husband’s have a long history of trade unionism. IMPACT’s biggest challenge: To retain employment rights and union density and recruit as many members as possible. What do you hope to achieve? To continue developing IMPACT training.
continued to serve ever since. Inspiration: A combination of things including my political views and a family history of trade union service. IMPACT’s biggest challenge: To restore the pay and employment conditions that we had prior to 2008. What do you hope to achieve? A realisation among our members that they need to play their part in making our union stronger through their participation. Anything else to declare? I hope I can deliver on the trust placed in me by the members who elected me to this position. union’s education divisional executive for nearly two years. Inspiration: Special needs assistants often work in isolation and the union is there as a source of advice and support for members, sometimes by just being a sympathetic, listening ear. IMPACT’s biggest challenge: Working towards restoring pay and conditions lost during the recession. To restore confidence and selfesteem in the public service. Having been pilloried by the media for years we need to remind people of the importance of the jobs we do. What do you hope to achieve? I will work to get branches to see the value of having an equal opportunities officer and I’ll provide training. Anything else to declare? I want to thank all the branches who supported me for the position I now hold. Your confidence is appreciated.
MAEVE McCARTHY BARRETT Officer position: Honorary secretary. Branch: Cork. Occupation: Hipe-coder in Mallow General Hospital Years active in IMPACT: 1993-1999 and from 2002 to now. Joined IMPACT: 1992. Inspiration: My inspiration comes from my work colleagues who, even when faced with wage cuts and increased working hours and increased stress, never let patients or
SIOBHÁN Ní GHRíOFA Officer position: Honorary health and safety officer. Branch: Sligo. Occupation: Senior chemist in the State Laboratory. Joined IMPACT: 1980. Years active in IMPACT: Approximately 25 years, initially as grade representative on the branch committee then as branch secretary and subsequently as branch chairperson. I was a member of the civil service divisional executive committee from 2009 to 2014.
PADDY QUINN Officer position: Vice president. Branch: Community Employment Supervisors. Occupation: Community employment supervisor. Years active in IMPACT: Since 1996. Joined IMPACT: 1996 as a member of the Laois branch. I transferred to the CE Supervisors branch on its formation in 1998. Inspiration: Probably got this from my father who was a staunch trade unionist all his working life. He instilled in us a drive to do the right thing for ourselves and by others.
TARA ROBERTSON Officer position: Honorary treasurer. Branch: Dublin City. Joined IMPACT: A long time ago. Years active in IMPACT: I was on the branch executive for 14 years. Active for more years than I’m prepared to admit! Inspiration: The improvement in working conditions that
RUTH ROBINSON IMPACT’s biggest challenge: To protect our members’ interests, pay and employment conditions. To remain relevant in society and to grow our membership. What do you hope to achieve? To work closely with officers, the CEC, IMPACT staff and activists to restore trust between the membership and the union centrally. I’m confident this can be achieved and we’ll emerge stronger. Anything else to declare? See page 4-5.
Officer position: Vice president. Branch: Dublin Care Services. Occupation: Principal social worker. Joined IMPACT: I originally joined the Local Government and Public Service Union (LGPSU) and then became a member of IMPACT after its formation. Years active in IMPACT: Too many to count. I have always been a trade union activist. Inspiration: A sense of justice, fairness and equality for all.
clients down. They remain committed public servants. IMPACT’s biggest challenge: That there continues to be organisation, recruitment, and training of activists. And beginning the process of clawing back what was lost during the recession. What do you hope to achieve? This is my second term as honorary secretary and I hope to put what I learned to good use in representing all members’ interests. Anything else to declare? I look forward to meeting the challenges of the coming two years along with my CEC colleagues for the benefit of all IMPACT members.
Inspiration: My parents are the people who inspired me most. They taught me to question and to think independently and logically. IMPACT’s biggest challenge: Preventing the creeping privatisation of public services. And developing a strategy, in conjunction with other unions, to deal effectively with an employer that has the power to legislate to implement its desired outcomes. What do you hope to achieve? No further reductions in pay, terms and conditions for members and to begin the process of recovery as soon as possible. Developing the capacity of IMPACT to withstand any future threats. Providing high quality services to members. Anything else to declare? I’m an enthusiastic supporter of promoting the Irish language. Feel free to labhair Gaeilge liom.
IMPACT’s biggest challenge: To deliver the quality of service that will help to rebuild the confidence of its members post-Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements. To develop strategies that will prevent further cuts to pay and conditions. To restore what has already been taken from members. To take a leading role in implementing the Irish Congress of Trade Union’s vision for the future of the trade union movement. What do you hope to achieve? To make a contribution in achieving the above. Anything else to declare? I would like to thank those who voted for me.
our reps won for us in the early days, when conditions were dire, made me decide that I couldn’t just expect others to do the work on my behalf. I had to step up to the plate! IMPACT’s biggest challenge: Working to retain and recruit members, organise and develop leaders and grow the organisation in order to continue to deliver the excellent service that we expect and deserve. What do you hope to achieve? To be able to look back and be happy that I did my best on behalf of the members. And to mind the money! Anything else to declare? Excess baggage. IMPACT’s biggest challenge: To organise and rebuild IMPACT so that it is sufficiently prepared to counter the continuing attacks on members’ jobs, pay and conditions. And to win back all that’s been taken from us over the past six years. What do you hope to achieve? To rebuild and change our union at all levels to ensure that it is responsive, respectful and representative of members in all grades. Anything else to declare? It is my opinion that where negotiations have been exhausted or have not occurred in the first place that IMPACT must be ready and prepared in the coming years to take industrial action to achieve our aims.
WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS
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Marshall Plan France 1951: Andre Blondel hydroelectric power plant under construction at Donzere on the Rhone River, part of the Marshall Plan for the rebuilding of Europe.
The proposal, detailed in a new ICTU report called The new Marshall Plan for Europe envisages more cooperation between European countries and jobcreating investment in public services, housing, water, education and training, energy, transport, broadband, industrial capacity and small businesses. The German trade unionist also called on the European Union to reduce Ireland’s bank debt and said efficient public administration should support a strong public service and strengthened social security. “A low tax society is a society for rich people. We need public investment, balanced with private investment, to help reduced debt and encourage growth. Well-resourced public services and economic growth is not a contradiction,” he said.
Any future social partnership arrangement should see unions trade wage restraint for public service investment instead of tax cuts, with employers required to deliver genuine investment. The conference, called ‘a new course for better times,’ was the final major event in the Dublin Lockout centenary commemorations. ICTU was determined that the year’s programme would conclude by looking forward at what workers and citizens needed to create a fair society.
A new Marshall Plan for Europe? SEVENTY YEARS ago this summer, shortly after the D-Day landings, the French wartime leader General De Gaulle walked the Champs Elysees as Paris was liberated from Nazi occupation. Less than a year later the Second World War in Europe was over.
Photos: Gettyimages.ie
As celebrations across the continent died down, a devastated economy was among the many challenges facing Europe’s war-weary citizens. Help came in the form of the Marshall Plan – devised by the then-US secretary of state George Marshall – which pumped $13 billion into rebuilding the continent’s industry and economy between 1948 and 1952. General George Marshall: Named after the US politician who devised it, the ‘Marshall Plan’ rebooted the devastated European economy after World War Two.
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Now, the leader of the German trade union confederation DGB, has called for a new Marshall Plan in the form of a job-creating European investment fund worth 2% of European GDP.
Speaking at an ICTU-organised conference in Dublin in April, Reiner Hoffmann said the plan could be funded through a once-off tax on rich individuals and a small financial transaction tax on the money markets – an innovation now supported by 12 EU countries including Germany and France – which could raise as much as €320 billion a year.
The plan could create 11 million new jobs and generate over €100 billion in tax revenues, €20 billion of savings on social security, and a €300 billion reduction in Europe’s fossil fuel imports.
11 million jobs Reiner said the fund should be controlled by the European Parliament rather than unaccountable bodies like the troika. And, if properly invested, he said it could create 11 million new jobs and generate over €100 billion in tax revenues, €20 billion of savings on social security and a €300 billion reduction in Europe’s fossil fuel imports. ‰
Egalitarian efficiency NUI Maynooth economist Séan Ó Riain told delegates that a more egalitarian economy could also be more efficient, so long as there was sufficient investment. He said the most
consistently successful European economies had higher – but strongly controlled – public spending and “invested more in every aspect of their societies,” including social, business and educational investment. They also had higher levels of union membership and collective bargaining rights. Professor Ó Riain said that, in any future social partnership arrangement, unions should trade wage Reiner Hoffmann: German restraint for public service union leader wants 11 investment rather than tax cuts. million new jobs. And employers should be required to deliver genuine investment. Social protection minister Joan Burton told the conference that increases in public service employment “should be central to our strategy for full employment.” She also argued that the state should in future act as the “employer of last resort,” guaranteeing a job for everyone who wants to work in good times and bad.
‘Real’ full employment She said the state should offer a job guarantee to all workers, including through direct job creation, to secure “real” full employment. “A job guarantee would ultimately secure real full employment at every stage of the economic cycle by making the state the employer of last resort, guaranteeing employment and training opportunities for unemployed people,” she said. A fixed job guarantee wage “would serve as the effective basic living wage in the economy,” she said. If the idea were adopted, future recessions would see workers in active employment and training rather than mass unemployment. “Private employers would then be prepared to hire them once the economy recovered,” she said. Bernard Harbor l
2014 IMPACT Gaeltacht scholarships HUNDREDS OF IMPACT members applied for a grant towards their child’s trip to the Gaeltacht this summer and a draw was held by IMPACT’s membership services committee. These are the lucky members who have each received a scholarship award of €150. John Ahern (Cork), Jessica Bradley O’Malley (Louth), Philippa Brooks (Mayo), Bernadette Byrne (Kerry), Gabriel Byrne (South Dublin), Sarah Casidy (Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown), Aine Caulfield (Ballinasloe), Mary Cherry (Dublin Hospitals), Melanie Clarke (Dublin Hospitals), Bridget Connolly (SNA South Dublin-South Leinster), Geraldine Connolly (Donegal), Edel Crummey (Coillte), Louise Cullen (Donegal), Nora Cunningham (Galway), Eileen Curley (Institutes of Technology), Orla Curran (Cavan), Andrew Davies (Architectural, Engineering & Heritage Services), Josephine Donohoe (Cavan), Lorraine Dorgan (Cork), Noranne Elliott (Institutes of Technology), Caroline Farrell (Laois), Eamon Farrell (Communications), Catherine Fennell (SNA North Dublin-North Leinster), Gerard Flanagan (Agriculture No.1), Nuala Fraher (National Education Training Board), Kieran Gaffney (Longford), Breda Garvey (Ballinasloe), Paula Gormley (Special Education Needs Organiser), Martina Gough (Ballinasloe), Valerie Hand (Longford), Brendan Healy (South Dublin HSE), Bridget Herlihy (Fingal), Kathleen Hoey (Louth), Mary Hughes (Kilkenny), PJ Kelly (Agriculture No.1), Susan Kelly (Dublin Hospitals), Michael Kiernan (Cabin Crew), Josephine Kirwan-Malone (Carlow), Paula Larkin (SNA Munster), Margo Leddy (Meath), Geraldine Mackey (Sligo), Anita Maher (Waterford City), Patricia Masterson (NETB), Petra Matthey (Cabin Crew), Louise McCarthy (SNA North Dublin-North Leinster), Joe McGahan (Dublin North HSE), Kathleen McGowan (Sligo), Lucy McGrath (Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown), Paul McGuinness (Longford), Catherine McHale (Mayo), Anita McLoughlin (Leitrim), Fiona McManus (Longford), Mary McMenamin (Institutes of Technology), Harriet McPartland (Sligo), Denise Miller (National Education Training Board), Fionnuala Mitchelle (Cork), Mary Moloney (Clare), Rory Moore (National Education Training Board), Mary Mooty (National Education Training Board), Fiona Moran (Louth), Regina Mullan (Dublin North HSE), Mary Claire Mullen (Dublin City), Yvonne Nolan (Clare), Michael O’Brien (Ordnance Survey), Mary O’Donoghue (Legal Professional), Anne-Marie O’Dwyer (SNA South Dublin-South Leinster), Deirdre O’Hagan (Sligo), Muriel O’Meara (Clare), Trudy O’Neill (NETB), Tommy O’Sullivan (Health & Safety Authority), Michael Parry (Limerick Health), Patricia Penny (Kildare), AnneMarie Philpott (Dublin City), Alice Redmond (Institutes of Technology), Martin Reid (Architectural, Engineering & Heritage Services), Finoula Reidy (Clare), Mary Reynolds Ryan (Ballinasloe), Antoinette Robinson (Roscommon), Tim Ryan (Agriculture No.1), Elizabeth Sheahan (Offaly), John Sheeran (Health & Safety Authority), Noel Stacey (Wexford), Aileen Sweeney (Dublin Hospitals), Imelda Swords (SNA North Dublin-North Leinster), Marie Tonra (Mayo), Mary Troy-O’Neill (Agri Labs), Marion Walsh (Dublin City), Johnny Watters (Sligo), Eithne White (Sligo), Liam White (Mayo). WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 19
Your career
Whether it’s work or personal life, change doesn’t have to be scary, says ISOBEL BUTLER.
So how can we learn to manage change? How can we embrace it and seek out its potential benefits rather than simply focusing on its costs?
Leaders CHANGE IS a fact of life, and one we can find intimidating, frightening, even threatening. Something to be resisted. Many factors motivate this resistance. Sometimes an unwillingness to try something new arises out of fear that we won’t be as good in the new situation as we were in the safe, familiar one. If the current situation is central to our identity, any change can seem like a threat to our sense of self. Sometimes we resist because we don’t trust those proposing or leading change. This can be particularly true of change in the workplace, where there may be additional fears around job security.
If you’re a leader of change you can help overcome resistance by developing and sharing a clear vision of what it involves at the earliest possible opportunity. Everyone needs to fully understand why the status quo can no longer be sustained. Honesty is essential at this stage. Showing people where the change is taking them helps reduce uncertainty, a major source of resistance. Truthfulness helps build trust and inspire confidence that you do know what you’re doing. Armed with a clearer picture of what the future looks like, people are better placed to relinquish the status quo and can begin to see possible benefits of change. ‰
Let people know how the change will impact on them. If that’s unclear, be honest and commit to finding out. It’s essential to follow through on any commitments to communicate. Avoid cancelling meetings even when there’s no new news. It destroys trust and leads to destructive rumours. Don’t avoid difficult news; be open to discussing problems that the change brings for people. Any plan for change should build in opportunities for staff to shape their own future. Achieving milestones provides opportunities to reflect with the team on the process, celebrate achievements and adapt the next steps of the plan to include the lessons learnt. High levels of involvement enable trust-building, reduce uncertainty and enable the team to own and commit to the new changed situation.
When it happens to you Help yourself by seeking opportunities to ask questions and get involved if change is happening in your organisation. Find out what the change means for you. Getting a clear picture reduces the anxiety associated with uncertainty.
Raise you specific fears and worries, but also make suggestions on how to overcome or resolve difficulties. Seek out and focus on the benefits. Is there an opportunity to retrain? Will your job be more interesting? Will you get to work with different people? Is this an opportunity to progress in your career? Whilst these prospects may take you outside your comfort zone, they present opportunities for growth, personal development and enhanced self-confidence in the long run.
Comfort zone Our comfort zone is an artificial mental space where we feel safe, confident and protected. Where we know what’s expected and how to behave. Staying here is easy but self-limiting and can prevent us achieving our full potential or personal goals. Stepping outside the zone involves taking control of life, changing our attitudes, outlook and behaviour. This can lead to growth, achievement, greater creativity, a better ability to handle change, greater fulfillment and happiness. Optimal anxiety is the anxiety we experience when we first step outside our comfort zone. It is not the all-encompassing panic or anxiety associated with high levels of stress, which can paralyse and negatively impact on performance. Instead optimal anxiety has a positive impact on performance and can actually help us solve problems and find new ways of seeing things. It helps us grow. Stepping outside our comfort zone also helps us develop the ability to handle and embrace change at work or in other aspects of life. Instead of being stressed, paralysed and daunted by change, it means we can take control and cope, choosing how we respond l
G e t o u t of
the zone
ISOBE L BU TLE R’s t o p t ip s o n s t yo u r c om e pp ing o u f o rt zo ne t of and em br ac ing ch a n g e. 4 M a k e s ome
de li b e rate
ch a nge s . Ch a nge y o u r d a il y ro u t ine . F o u ts ide t h e e l w h at e zo ne . it ’s li k e t o s te p 4 Me e t n e w p e o p le . 4 Make a ‘t o - do’ li s t a nd do t h e t h ing s 4 Le ar n a yo u’ve b e e n p u t t ing ne w h o bb o f f. y o r s p o rt. It in c ch a nge a n re a s e s yo d t r y ne w u r a bil it y t h ing s . to 4 Tu r n a r o u n d yo u r n e g at ive t p o s it ive a h in k ing b s p e c ts o f y s e e k ing s it u at io n ou t the s a nd ch a 4 Bre a k t lle nge s . h e ch a nge do w n in t t h e m o ne o sm a lle r at a t ime s te p s a n d . take 4 P ic t u re yo u rs e lf re ach ing t h Re p e ate d e ne x t s te ly do ing t p. h is m a k e s it e a s ie r t 4 Lose t h o take t h e fe a r o f at s te p. f a il u re . N t ime is p a o t g e t t in rt o f le a r g it r ig h t f irs t n ing .
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Isobel Butler is an independent organisational psychologist who works with people on a wide range of workplace issues including conflict management, dealing with change and solving problems. If there are specific issues you’d like her to tackle in these articles send them in via the editor, Work & Life magazine, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1 or info@impact.ie.
WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 21
Image: dreamstime.com
Get into the change zone
Two-way communication is central to creating an environment where people can trust and embrace change. People need to be able to ask questions and see that their concerns are being taken seriously.
Looking good
Football’s fashion fever The world cup is no time to take your eye off the fashion ball, says TRISH O’MAHONY.
The combination of football and fashion is big business and a lot of these women have very successful careers of their own. In order to avoid the limelight some of them have stayed away. But the ones that went to Brazil are providing plenty of fashion ideas and trends. Bear in mind they mingle in a very monied world. The ASOS guide gives the line up of ones to watch. Pop star Mandy Capristo (dating Mezut Ozil), Germany’s next top model Lena Gercke (German midfielder Sami Khedira), supermodel Jourdan Dunn (stuck on England striker Daniel Sturridge), businesswoman Dr Leah Tottan (England goalie Fraser Forster) and former Hollyoaks star Faye Ayers (England midfielder Ross Barkley). And for inspiration from the queen of the WAGS look to Victoria Beckham for her unfalteringly classical, elegant style. Males looking to emulate the footie fashion trends should note that even the pundits have upped their style game with fashion makeovers. And no fashion featuring the people’s game would be complete without a reference to the guru that is David Beckham. He’s been spotted sporting a bandana so expect to see plenty of them about.
THERE’S NEVER been a better time to show your loyalty to the beautiful game, with flamboyant colours based on world cup kits everywhere on the high street. It’s a spectacularly colourful event and there’s a lot more going on than mere football. The multi-million euro fashion business is busy associating itself with the lucrative sporting industry at every opportunity, with specialised Louis Vuitton bags, Nike and Adidas sportswear, and Calvin Klein collections on offer. Although supermarket chain Asda is way offside with its ‘England flag’ poncho, which resembles a Ku Klux Klan outfit. We’ve adopted our favourite teams (thanks to the sweepstake at work or the bookies’ favourite for many of us). So pick your colours based on the team you’re shouting for. Maybe you’ll play the longer game by choosing your own GAA county colours. Those sporting the yellow and blue of Clare or Tipperary could be happy shouting for host country Brazil. Antrim people might have a soft spot for Spain’s yellow, while Waterford fans can align to Italy’s blue. There’s no limit to your summer wardrobe if your favourite colour is all white, you got England in the sweepstake, and you cheer on Kildare in the GAA – although you might find yourself a bit more restricted on the field of play.
Hunks If looking at hunks tearing after the ball in the sweltering heat is tiring you out, you can use your telly time to clock fashion tips from your favourite WAG. Power dressing seems to be the theme of world cup 2014, with attempts at understated elegance rather than the OTT image we’re familiar with from previous tournaments.‰ 22
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Hat: Dorothy Perkins, Red t-shirt: Pennys, Twisted t-shirt: Blue Inc., Red and white dress: East By East West, White sandal: Linzi, Red Hi-Tops: M&Co., Bag: Desa, Striped dress: Accessorize, Blue shirt: Burton Menswear.
Party time Turning to the social side of soccer – in sports bar, home or pub – you might require a different approach than usual. Now’s not the time to shy away from colour. Instead be brave and have garish fun. Active wear and sportswear has become increasingly popular over the last few seasons so don’t hold back. It’s also become much more figure-flattering and shapely and looks great with denims and shorts for a casual occasion. Penneys is a great place to head for colourful, teeshirts, gimmicky headbands, bangles and baseball hats. Go all out and invest in face paints from the Early Learning Centre. If you fancy partaking in the festivities but want to be a little more dressed up, colour blocking is the ontrend solution both on world cup kits and on the high street. Turn this to your advantage. Colour clashing is also in. Try a new formation, mixing vibrant colours that you normally wouldn’t. They’ll give you a lift, even if you back the wrong team. Wear fuchsia pink with any shade of orange, or red with canary yellow. Great with skinny denims, a tailored jacket and ankle boots or platforms.
Dress: Miss Seflridges Mens’s Sport Top: Topman
Peg leg trousers are elegant for night time occasions. Wear in orange silk if you’re supporting the Netherlands. Zara have a clementine orange dress and Jaeger’s new men’s designer offers chinos in tangerine and Kelly green. Even if the Dutch are on the plane home, you’ll still be looking good. Choose something with numerous colours if you want to remain non committal and poised to cash in on the winner. Multi colours are everywhere on the high street. Check out Miss Selfridge. Be prepared in advance if you have the winning team. Zara have simple, but lovely, shift dresses in lime green (the Cameroons won’t mind if it’s not exactly the same shade), orange and blue. River Island has some outlandish colours too. And they will look great in Croke Park come September – so long as you back the right county! l WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 23
In the kitchen
Moroccon spicy beetroot, carrot and mint salad
Too sweet to be wholesome You can find your way out of the sugar-induced obesity epidemic says MARGARET HANNIGAN. I’M GOING to be honest here. I’ve done my fair share of diets. I’ve fretted over every scrap of butter, every nut and every cube of cheese while religiously choosing low-fat yogurts, milk and margarine. I’ve drunk red wine instead of beer in pursuit of weight loss and better health. I’ve had very mixed results and formed some good – and some unfortunately uninformed and ignorant – habits along the way. The general rule of eat less and move around more will always work, particularly in a structured fee-paying group environment. But I’m still looking for that one quick fix, that one golden rule that sheds the pounds and makes me feel in control again. This dilemma places me squarely in the majority of the population, who are overweight and edging ever closer to obesity with all the associated health problems. Let me put it like this. If you’re 20lbs overweight you carry the equivalent of a toddler around with you every day. Why expect your heart and all your other organs to put up with it? In the 1970s many medical experts came to a consensus that fat in foods, specifically saturated fat, was a primary cause of heart disease, obesity, and all the rest. The food industry responded by flooding the market with lowfat processed foods. Yes, they took the fat out. But levels of diabetes, obesity, and associated metabolic disorders continued to rise at unprecedented levels.
Photos: dreamstime.com
Tasteless What happened was that the food was tasteless without fat. So the industry pumped in sugars and corn syrup to give flavour. The current thinking among many medical experts is that sugar, particularly the hidden sugars common in processed food, is the real cause of our obesity epidemic. Dr Robert Lustig, a professor of clinical paediatrics at UCAL and expert on childhood obesity, refers to the addictive power of sugar in his YouTube video Sugar: The Bitter Truth, and says: “The food industry has contaminated the food supply with added sugar to sell more products and increase profits.” 24
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There’s a growing school of thought that regards the Big Sugar as a similar threat to public health as Big Tobacco before it was taken on. It would certainly seem to be similarly addictive, with one study finding rats preferred sugar to cocaine.
Fat So what do we do? Start by reading the labels. Any ingredient that ends in “ose” is a sugar. Like all sugars, it has absolutely no nutritional value. No minerals, vitamins or essential fats. Just empty calories. Either we burn it off as energy or it’s converted into fat by the liver and stored directly in the fat cells. Hello muffin top tummy! Then, do the sums. Most health organisations recommend a limit of ten teaspoons of added sugar per day, though some say as little as six for women and eight for men. Teaspoons are easier to visualise than grams, so divide the number of grams by four to get the equivalent number of teaspoons. A regular can of Coke has 35g or nine teaspoons of sugar, while a Snickers bar has 30g, or about seven teaspoons of sugar. Avoid anything where sugar is listed in the first three ingredients – they’re the biggest components. Check out your kitchen and strip it of as many sources of sugar as possible. Start with the obvious ones: Sauces, ‰
Any r. . s l e lab uga s e h a t ding “ose” is ly no a e r by s in bsolute t r d ins a n t e m a t a “S t a s i h nt t it ha nerals, v ies.” e , i s d r e a i or g l m u a s ingr c o l l N a ty Like al value. ust emp tion al fats. J i r t u n enti s s e or
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1 medium/large cooked beetroot or 2 small raw organic beetroots
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4 carrots
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1 clove garlic, crushed or finely chopped
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1 tbsp organic butter/ghee
cereals, sweets and soft drinks. It’s thought that our hunger mechanisms do not register calories from diluted sugars in the same way as we do from whole foods, which means you can consume hundreds of extra calories without even noticing.
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1 tsp ras el hanout spice mix (available in Tesco or make your own)
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1 tsp cumin seeds
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1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Fruit juices, dried fruit and – yes – even fresh fruit are not exempt. The average glass of orange juice has 21g of sugar, and many fruit smoothies contain between 20g and 35g of sugar. This may sound harsh, but it’s not just giving you empty calories, it’s also reinforcing your sugar habit.
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1 generous handful of fresh mint roughly chopped
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Sea salt and black pepper
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1 small handful of pistachio nuts
All fruit contains fructose, but fruit containing higher amounts of fibre like apples, kiwis, pears, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries are good choices, while bananas, watermelon, grapes, pineapple and mangoes should be avoided. It may be wise to avoid alcohol completely for a while as its sugar content is very variable. Dry wines, beer and spirits are okay in moderation, but avoid champagne, dessert wines, port, liqueurs and mixers. And remember, all alcohol is calorie-dense. So drink as little as possible if you’re trying to lose weight. Finally, remember hunger is your enemy! So eat proper nutritious meals, and stock up on healthy snacks, which you will not be able to buy at a supermarket checkout l
Wash and trim the beetroot then simmer it for an hour in boiling water until cooked through. Allow to cool, and then peel off the outer skin. Chop into 6-8 chunks and put to one side. Wash, trim and peel carrots, steam for 5 mins or boil for 2 so that they’re still firm. Cut into 5-inch batons and put aside. Lightly heat the garlic and spices in the butter for a few minutes, then add the beetroot and carrot and combine. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, mint, salt and pepper and stir through. Divide onto plates and garnish with pistachio (or other) nuts. Serve with a dollop of hummus. WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 25
Green fingers
Delightful dahlias ITA PATTEN says dahlias aren’t that hard to grow. And it’s well worth the effort. I CAN’T think of any group of plants that’s able to surpass dahlias for their flower shape, colour, variations of foliage and vast range of sizes. And, while it may seem that dahlias are a lot of work to the novice gardener, they are actually quite easy plants to grow – and their colourful rewards are truly spectacular. They were introduced into Europe in 1798 when Lady Bute, wife of the then-British Ambassador to Spain Viscount Monstuart, sent some seeds to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. Since then, dahlias have been an unbeatable stalwart of European gardens.
come from the middle altitudes of Mexico, so they do grow best in full sun in a free draining soil that’s sheltered from cold biting winds. The site should be prepared well in advance by digging in farmyard manure or good garden compost.
While most of us just love the display in the garden, and perhaps cutting a few flowers for the vase (that is after a good shake to displace any earwigs!) there are dahlia societies around the world, peopled by passionate, dedicated members who are driven to exhibit the absolute perfect bloom.
Dahlias are what we call ‘heavy feeders,’ so it’s advisable to apply a light dressing of fertiliser a few weeks before planting. They can be planted as pot grown plants (available in most garden centres from spring right through to mid-summer) as dormant tubers, or as rooted cuttings from tubers.
With such an enormous range of dahlias available, from dwarf bedding to impressively large plants with dinner-plate sized blooms, it can be difficult to choose the right one. To make the task easier, dahlias are classed according to the size and shape of their flowers. A few examples are the full flowered anemone class, the simple collerette, and the curl-petalled cactus class.
Mexico
Dahlias are root tubers, with swollen modified plant structures that are used for food and nutrient storage. The dormant tuber can be planted about six weeks before any late frost (March-April) in a hole about 20cm across and 15cm deep. Mark this area with a label or cane just to the side of the tuber, indicating where the support cane will be positioned. Shoots will develop above ground after about five weeks. Be wary of hungry snails at this time! X
Dahlia plants (bought pot plants or rooted cuttings) shouldn’t be planted until late May or early June when the threat of a late frost is over. Approximately 65 varieties of dahlias are displayed in the National Botanic Gardens, all of which are propagated as root cuttings from the tubers which were overwintered in a cool, dry environment.
If you want your dahlia plant to have more spectacular large blooms it is necessary to ‘disbud’ it as it grows. This simply means removing the side shoots below the terminal bud, so that the emerging central bloom has no competition and will be able to grow taller O
“With such an enormous range available, from dwarf bedding to impressively large plants with dinner-plate sized blooms, it can be difficult to choose the right one.”
Dahlia Jim Branigan
The tubers are inspected regularly throughout the winter for mildew or rot, which needs to be cut out. In February the tubers are brought back to growth by gradual watering and then the newly emerging shoots are removed with a sharp knife. The cuttings are inserted into pots of compost and placed in the mist unit propagator. These will root in approximately 2-3 weeks.
Cuttings
On 8th May this year, the president of the Irish Dahlia Society, Alick Brannigan, presented the National Botanic Gardens with six dahlia cultivars, some of which are new, and an old favourite of Irish dahlia growers, dahlia ‘Jim Branigan.’ This magnificent vibrant red large semicactus dahlia is named after the Garda Sergeant Jim ‘Lugs’ Branigan, a man who was famous for his unique way of dealing with petty criminals.
You can make your own mini propagator by putting your potted up dahlia cuttings into a sandwich bag. Once these cuttings are well rooted, they are potted on and hardened off in a cold frame before planting out. When the plants have grown to about 35cm tall, remove the main growing points to encourage side shoots, this is referred to ‘stopping.’ Taller plants will obviously require staking and this is usually done with three bamboo canes with soft twine used to support it.
Dahlias will grow in most soils, but they do thrive when given extra care and attention. They
Ita Patton is a craft gardener in the National Botanic Gardens. O
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Photos by dreamstime.com
Dahlia Jim Branigan
Travel and trips
Berlin wall fragments
Never fed up with Berlin
The city is big on its Communist past too. We stayed just around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie, the main gateway between East and West during the Cold War. It’s turned rather touristtacky now, but with an effort you can just about feel the significance of the spot.
Hymn to capital It’s a city of contrasts. The overwhelming modernity of Potsdamer Platz is an architectural hymn to capitalism. Brash and chillingly impressive. Compare with Alexander Platz across the city centre, with its gigantic communist-era Fernsehturm TV tower, visible across the city. Unreconstructed lefties simply must check out the nearby Marx-Engels Forum, a strangely squat bronze statue of the lads, which has survived the collapse of the wall more or less unscathed. Museum Island
Photos: dreamstime.com
History, culture, shopping, sites, magnificent architecture, nightlife, parks. Berlin’s got it all. But where does a vegetarian go to eat, asks BERNARD HARBOR?
Oberbaum Bridge
AS WE emerged from Mehringhof UBahn (underground) station, the first thing we saw was a long, long queue. Perhaps 150, maybe 200 people waiting patiently in the late afternoon sunshine. Good-natured, chatting, some smoking, some drinking, some scolding the ice cream-wielding kids. All waiting in line at a street-side kebab stand. It was the last day of a long weekend away, and we’d travelled out to the Berlin suburb of Western Kreuzberg in search of pizza at the highly recommended Osteria No.1 restaurant. Tired after cramming far too much into far too short a time. But still looking for a decent vegetarian meal. Germany is known for its heavy cuisine. Lots of meat, tons of sausage known locally as wurst – currywurst is Berlin’s ubiquitous favourite – and little except 28
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big lumps of cheese listed under vegetarian. You won’t starve, but you won’t remember this place for the food either. Sausage aside, Berlin has a refreshingly frank, but still uneasy, relationship with its history. The city was at the centre of European events for much of the twentieth century. Its Nazi past and Communist period – when this was literally a divided city with the ‘iron curtain’ running through it in the form of the Berlin wall – make it a go-to city for modern history and politics freaks. The dramatic Holocaust memorial, close to the historic Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate, is the centrepiece of the city’s commemoration of a shameful and painful period. Its 2,711 tightly-spaced, grey, oblong blocks – inspired by Prague’s Jewish Cemetery
– creates a strangely peaceful and deeply moving space, which must be seen.
Brace yourself Its underground information centre provides an English-speaking tour, which is more like a workshop as the guide extracts your thoughts and impressions rather than telling you what to think. But brace yourself for the exhibition itself, particularly the notes and letters of victims – some thrown from trains on the way to death camps – which hammers home the human reality of the Shoah. ‰
There’s a similarly moving memorial to the 54,000 gays and lesbians persecuted by the Nazis – including an estimated 8,000 who died in concentration camps – across the road on the edge of the beautiful Tiergarten park. Equally thought-provoking is the nearby ‘empty library,’ which commemorates 1933’s infamous Holocaust book-burning in which memorial Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels organised the destruction of 20,000 ‘un-German’ books. It’s best seen at night when a light shines into the square, drawing you to the empty bookshelves in the space below the square.
in the elegant Charlottenburg district. It’s collection of works by Picasso, Matisse, Giacometti and others is unmissable for the art lover.
Elegant I’m told it’s a great city for shopping although, thankfully, we did little of that other than spending a very pleasant Sunday morning in the Hackesche Höfe. This series of nine elegant courtyards, built in the first decade of the nineteenth century, is now restored to its former Art Deco splendour.
The courtyards are typical of the layout of this part of pre-war Berlin – formerly the Jewish quarter. Think Marx-Engels Forum Christopher Isherwood novels, which formed the basis of the movie Cabaret. There are one or two nice enough cafes in the district too, but nothing really to get your teeth into.
Be warned. If it’s art and culture you’re after, a weekend in Berlin is definitely not enough. There are literally scores of top quality museums and galleries, so you’ll have to chose carefully and ration yourself. The best of them are conveniently gathered in two spots – the Kulturforum and Museum Island. Check out the ticket options as entrance to one will often get you into others on the same day as well.
We shamefully missed the worldfamous Pergamon, with its Greek Pergamon Altar and Babylonian Ishtar Gate, opting instead for the impressive European art collection of the Gemäldegalerie and the more modern art of the Neue Nationalgalerie, both in the Kulturforum. Highly recommended too is a trip out to Berggruen museum
Happily, the city’s transport system is excellent, cheap and easy to navigate. So, in no time, we found ourselves in the garden of Osteria No.1 on the other side of town, tucking into the first really decent vegetarian fare of the weekend. Well worth the wait. A leisurely stroll back to the U-Bahn meant chatting about all the things we’d have to do on our next trip to this fantastic city. David Bowie tour anyone? Back at Mehringhof they were still queuing for kebabs, which left me leaving Berlin wondering if there’s something in this meat diet after all l
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Be good to yourself
Be smart about the skin you’re in Skin cancer is the most common cancer in Ireland – and the most preventable – says ROSEMARY SCOTT.
Ireland may not enjoy the sunniest climate in the world, with plenty of cool and cloudy days. But from April to September ultraviolet (UV) levels tend to be strong enough to damage skin and increase skin cancer risk. You can’t see or feel the rays and many of them can pass through light cloud. The 75% of our population who have Celtic skin type are even more at risk. Factors that increase your risk include having: • • • • • • • •
Pale or freckled skin that doesn’t tan, or burns before it tans Naturally red or fair hair Blue, green or grey eyes A large number of moles (50 or more) A history of sunburn Already had skin cancer A close family member who’s had skin cancer Ever used a sun bed.
The good news is that skin cancer can be prevented in nine out of ten cases by protecting the skin from harmful UV rays. The Irish Cancer Society encourages the public to follow the four-step ‘SunSmart Code’ for the best protection. It’s easy: • SEEK SHADE: Between 11am and 3pm when UV rays are generally at their strongest.
• WEAR WRAPAROUND SUNGLASSES: And make sure they give UV protection.
Pay attention lads
• SLOP ON SUNSCREEN: Use sunscreen with SPF 15 (SPF30 for children) or higher and UVA protection. Apply it 20 minutes before going outside and re-apply every two hours, or more often if swimming or perspiring.
“Melanoma affects young and old and your risk is greater if you’ve been sunburnt or have ever used a sun bed. “ You can also check the UV daily index to find out how high UV levels are in your area. It’s available on the Irish Cancer Society website (www.cancer.ie/uvindex) and it enables you to check the UV level in any area in Ireland on any day. If the Index is three or higher, make sure to protect your skin when outdoors by following the SunSmart Code.
Your type? There are two main types of skin cancer – non-melanoma and melanoma. Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common. It tends to grow on areas of the body that have been exposed to the sun over the years and is traditionally more common in older people. X
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Melanoma skin cancer is quite rare, although more people are being diagnosed with it each year. It affects young and old and your risk is greater if you’ve been sunburnt or have ever used a sun bed.
• COVER UP: By wearing a shirt with a collar and long shorts. Also wear a hat that gives shade to your face, neck and ears.
UV index
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• A new growth or sore that doesn’t heal in a few weeks • A spot or sore that continues to itch, hurt, crust, scab or bleed • A skin ulcer not explained by other causes.
Although it’s one of the most serious forms of skin cancer it’s very treatable if spotted early. If it’s not caught in time it can spread to other parts of the body and cause serious medical issues. And – pay attention lads – more men in Ireland die from melanoma, even though more women get it. So start checking your skin today and speak to your doctor if you’re concerned.
SunSmart kids Children’s skin is very sensitive to UV rays and they spend more time outdoors than adults. For this reason it is important to:
• Keep babies under six months in the shade • Keep older children safe with the SunSmart code, even if they tan easily. Be a SunSmart role model and help children learn healthy skin protection habits that will reduce their risk
Melanoma mainly, but not always, develops from a new mole or change to an existing mole. The main changes to watch for are: • Changes in shape – from round and regular to ragged edges • Changes in size – from the size of the top of a pencil and getting bigger • Change in colour – from one colour to many shades of tan, black or brown • It looks red or inflamed around the edges • It is bleeding, oozing or crusting • It starts to feel different, for example, slightly itchy or painful. Not all melanomas develop from moles so it’s important to speak to your doctor if you spot other skin changes that are unusual for you O
of skin cancer throughout their life. Rosemary Scott is health promotion officer with the Irish Cancer Society. If you’re concerned about skin cancer you can get more information from www.cancer.ie or get information and support from a specialist cancer nurse on the National Cancer Helpline (freefone 1800-200-700).
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Photos by dreamstime.com
IRELAND HAS witnessed a significant rise in the number of skin cancer cases in recent years with over 10,000 new cases diagnosed in 2011 – an 81% increase since records began in 1994. The number of cases is expected to double by 2040. The condition affects all age groups and is the most common cancer in 15-44 year olds.
However a recent study from the National Cancer Registry of Ireland found that the largest increase in non-melanoma skin cancer was among young city dwellers who are exposed to repeated sunburn, most likely from leisure activities. When checking your skin look out for:
At the movies
IS THAT THE TIME? MORGAN O’BRIEN traverses Hollywood’s various takes on time travel. WHO AMONG us hasn’t at one point dreamed of being able to travel through time. Perhaps to wind the clock back and undo some embarrassing faux pas or malapropism, or to venture forth and save the girl, kill the baddies or save the planet. The well-worn path of time travel has made an appearance in a couple of recent cinema releases. In X-Men: Days of Future Past, it’s employed as a plot device to allow for various characters from different times to meet, while in Edge of Tomorrow – a sort of mash-up of Groundhog Day and Starship Troopers – Tom Cruise must relive the same battle in order to save the world. Time travel has a lengthy history as a narrative device, with HG Wells’ 1895 novel The Time Machine credited with popularising the genre within literature and film. Indeed Wells’ novel has been filmed three times, with the 1960 Rod Taylor version perhaps the best remembered. A consistent element within science fiction is the use of time travel to alter the past, change the future or reveal a dystopian future. The Planet of the Apes series features multiple uses of time travel, with the first instalment concluding with a brilliantly memorable time travel reveal. The Terminator franchise, while beset with an increasingly impenetrable timeline, is premised
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Transformers: Age of Extinction (11th July) The fourth instalment in the increasingly pointless franchise features Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci, with presumably plenty of explosions and bombast.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (18th July)
on the return to the past to change the future, which establishes a grim backdrop to its action. Similarly, 12 Monkeys plays with notions of memory and reality as Bruce Willis is sent from the future to avert the onset of a deadly virus. Its director Terry Gilliam had previous form in the more light hearted Time Bandits.
Comic Star Trek: The Voyage Home played a little more lightly, with some nicely judged comic moments as the Enterprise crew were dispatched to 1986 San Francisco. Equally, First Contact included an opening in the time-space continuum, which allows Captains Kirk and Picard to rub shoulders. In JJ Abrams rebooted Star Trek, the conceit of time travel neatly allowed for the creation of an alternate timeline from which to start the new series. Time travel has also been employed as a technique in comedy and romance genres. The best regarded time travel comedy, Groundhog Day, casts Bill Murray as an embittered weatherman forced to live through the same day until he gets life right. The comedic potential of time travel was also well served by the Back to the Future films, which allowed for fish-out-of-water humour and cosy nostalgia. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and subsequent Bogus Journey essay a more anarchic tone as the eponymous heroes cross into multiple historical periods. More recently, Hot Tub Time Machine riffs on 1980s culture with its central characters ‰
Following 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the story picks up in a future where evolved apes and humans hold an uneasy truce which, judging from the title, is unlikely to outlast the first act.
transported back to their youth. A sequel is due for release later this year. Equally, films such as The Butterfly Effect, The Jacket, The Time Traveller’s Wife, The Lake House, Premonition, Midnight in Paris and About Time have tended to sift personal drama or romantic storylines through a time travel narrative with varying degrees of success.
Logic In general, it’s best not to get too worried about consistency or continuity when it comes to time travel in the movies. But, in the last decade, a number of films have attempted to grapple with some level of realism or at least internal logic. Shane Carruth’s meticulously complicated Primer follows two amateur inventors, who invent a time machine, and the everyday ethical consequences of altering history. Amongst the most interesting in the genre are Donnie Darko, Source Code and Looper, which, along with Primer, represent more mature and well developed uses of time travel in driving their narrative, rather than as merely an easy way to set up a story. These films explore in different ways broader philosophical and scientific elements of time travel and alternate time. Ultimately, time travel remains a popular way of addressing a multitude of story types. When used well it can be a useful way of bringing drama to the screen or, as has often been the case, of exploring issues relating to our past, present and future l
Jupiter Ascending (25th July) Directed by The Matrix creators, this effects laden, lavish space opera stars Mila Kunis as a woman who is revealed to be heir to the throne of interplanetary royalty.
Guardians of the Galaxy (1st August) The somewhat lesser known Marvel comic book heroes get the now obligatory big screen outing. Ensemble cast features Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper as the voice of a racoon, apparently.
The Inbetweeners 2 (8th August) Anybody even remotely familiar with the series or debut film will know what to expect. The characters are dispatched to Australia, no doubt with the usual results. The Rover (15th August) Set in a dystopian near-future Australia, Guy Pearce is a former soldier in pursuit of a dangerous gang of criminals.
Lucy (22nd August) Judging by its hyperkinetic trailer, Luc Besson’s film promises relentless action with Scarlett Johansson as the titular Lucy who is endowed with superhuman capacity after exposure to a drug. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (29th August) Based on Frank Millers comic book series, Robert Rodriguez returns to direct this sequel, which once again promises the familiar mix of neo-noir visuals and stylised violence. The lengthy cast list features Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis. WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 33
Play it loud The Monkees
The Eagles
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Furry Favourites 1. Stray Cat Strut, The Stray Cats (1981) “I don’t bother chasing mice around” and a guitar solo that purrs. 2. Bring On The Dancing Horses, Echo and the Bunnymen (1985) Nice melody, catchy chorus and altogether Pretty in Pink. 3. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, Arctic Monkeys (2005) The inspiration behind Peter Crouch’s robot dance. When asked what he would be if he wasn’t a footballer, Crouch replied: “A virgin.”
discrimination against marine life and insects, but this short column must have some respect for longevity.)
For the birds RAYMOND CONNOLLY says the Monkees are taking over in the battle of the bands.
Photos: gettyimages.ie
ANIMAL WELFARE can be a thorny subject. Animal rights lobbyists are often harshly accused of prioritising the wellbeing of our furry friends over our fellow humans. They should be aware of the public service policy document called Putting People First, but could reasonably point out that it’s silent on who, or what, comes second or third. Meanwhile, the couldn’t-care-less brigade snidely pokes fun at those in the animal-loving fraternity who choose to eat meat. As Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson would say: “That’s a bit ‘arsh Jeff.” But what’s this got to do with music, I hear you say. We’ll come to that later, I reply irritably. Although Whitney Houston, that terrific singer of terrible songs, once further 34
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complicated the issue by declaring she was “not a vegetarian because I love animals. I’m a vegetarian because I hate plants.” I recall as a curious young boy in nature class – there was plenty of wild life in Finglas – struggling to grasp the concept of the monkey-eating eagle. Having visited Dublin Zoo and seen the size of the respective creatures, I spent a troubled few weeks wondering why the monkey didn’t simply size up the bird and say: “It’s a bang on the beak for you mate.”
Cynicism But with age comes cynicism, accompanied by a more strategic approach. A tactic that would be familiar in Irish
politics might see all monkeys attending a conference and electing a leader brave enough to discard the banana and take up a strict poultry and game diet. A trial-run Supermacs snack box could be arranged, before said chief ape put manners on the eagle. As the French playwright Jacques Deval once said: “God loved birds and invented trees. Man loved birds and invented cages.” But what’s this got to do with music, I hear you say, again. Well, never mind the Eagles, but if you don’t know what the Monkees have to do with music you shouldn’t be reading this column in the first place. Monkees and Eagles bring to mind the vast number of acts named after animals and birds. (I realise this is clear ‰
Face off In a face-off between animal and bird acts, I believe the animals would come out on top. When first discussing the blank team sheet, my editor suggested two acts: Blues legend Howlin’ Wolf, a stark supporter of the modern GAA championship as we discovered in Back Door Man, and Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs, featuring Jona Lewie. Needless to say, the only reason for the latter obscure suggestion is that their one hit, Seaside Shuffle, is the only song in history to mention the town of Crawley. Actually, I object to the inclusion of dinosaurs on the animal team as they are extinct. It would be a bit like Brazil exhuming Garrincha and togging him out in the world cup. Stronger players on the animal team would certainly include Echo and the Bunnymen, who had an unhealthy obsession with all things animal. Debut Summer-Autumn 2014 solutions (From page 46.) Easy
Difficult
9 2 1 6 4 7 3 5 8
8 9 2 1 3 5 4 6 7
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5 7 8 1 3 9 4 2 6
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album Crocodile on the Zoo label. Bring on the Dancing Horses. You get the drift. Being from Liverpool though, it’s good to have a pastime other than window shopping for a new shell-suit. The spine of the animal collective would be made up of the Stray Cats (“If you hold a cat by the tail, you learn things you cannot learn any other way.” Mark Twain), Gorillaz, The Arctic Monkeys and Cat Stevens. More problematic would be where to place weaker squad players like Def Leppard and Johnny Cougar. But never mind: The birds don’t have as much to offer other than a couple of decent wingers, particularly the mercurial Doves (check out Kingdom of Rust and There Goes the Fear), The Housemartins and A Flock of Seagulls. In an individual head-to-head expect to see Sheryl Crow get the better of Samantha Fox. But in the battle of Los Angeles it’s no contest as The Monkees bite back at The Eagles, my natural remedy for insomnia. Aficionados may recall drummer and vocalist Mickey Dolenz describe the Monkees’ conversion from actors to band thus: “Becoming a band was like Leonard Nimoy becoming a Vulcan.” My childhood instinct was right. Monkees win, knuckles down l
Spring-Summer 2014 Crossword Solutions
4. Clint Eastwood, Gorillaz (2001) Go ahead punk make my day. From the world’s most successful virtual band ever. 5. It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way, The Blow Monkeys (1987) Sophisti-pop classic that turned up in Police Academy 4.
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Bird Droppings 1. Tequila Sunrise, The Eagles (1973) Several please. 2. You’re Gorgeous, Baby Bird (1996) Tell me something new. 3. The Birdie Song, The Tweets (1981) Musical version of twitter and replacement for Morris dancing. 4. I Wish I Could Fly, Orville (1982) You can’t. You’re a duck. And not even a real one. 5. I believe I Can Fly, R Kelly (1997) Go on then. Give it a go mate. Start with a 36-storey building.
See page 46 for the competition winners from Issue 25.
ACROSS: 4. Magnet 8. Idea 9. Dustin 10. Answer 11. Clue 13. Alphabet 16. Mean 17. Seat 20. Flat 21. Driven 22. Yarn 24. Spur 25. Idle 26. Onus 27. Attend 28. Resolution. DOWN: 1. Aida 2. Tense 3. Padre Pio 4. Musical 5. Guinness 6. Tailor 7. Novel 12 and 19. Comedy of errors 13. Anne 14. Satirist 15. Orangeade 21. Dorian 23 and 18 Full stop. WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 35
Author interview
Book reviews
The ghost roads of Mayo
These vampires best avoided
IMPACT member KIERAN GINTY has just self-published his second novel. read when they are teenagers,” he says.
MAYO LENDS itself to a story, according to Ballycroy man Kieran Ginty. “You can’t see cars or houses. Can’t see anything except trees, mountains or bog for miles. You could imagine what it was like 100 years ago, during the black and tan war and the civil war. The landscape hasn’t changed that much,” he says.
Mayo Ghosts tells the story of two young guys, Sean 21 and Thomas 25, who meet by chance. Thomas has had a supernatural encounter, which fascinates Sean. What happens in the next four hours shapes the next 17 years and the lives of both their families. The story unfolds as it winds back and forth to and from the original meeting.
His new book Mayo Ghosts is part-inspired by the ghost stories he heard from his grandparents, who came from a generation of storytellers. “As a teenager you’d be coming home in the dark scared stiff. These stories stayed with me.”
“My first novel The Boys of Ballycroy was set in the early 1900s, so I wanted to place this one in a modern setting. It made it easier to write because you can use TV, mobile phones and computers as part of the plot,” says Kieran.
Kieran worked in England and America for a number of years before settling in Limerick with his wife Laura and his two young daughters. He works as a training co-ordinator for childcare in the city’s children and family services, and is a member of IMPACT’s Limerick Health branch committee. Writing has always been a passion. “I always intended to write a few books. When I celebrated my 40th birthday, I took stock, and decided now was the time. Here I am, 43 years old, and I have written two novels. They are my legacy. I think they will come into their own in 10-15 years time. I have parcelled copies of them away for my daughters to
Kieran Ginty with his wife Laura and daughters Leah and Eva at the book launch of Mayo Ghosts.
“Ballycroy is beside Achill, one of the most popular parts of Mayo. We’re set in an enclave, between the sea and mountains. There’s a lot of sea mist and it can be quite eerie, almost like the moors in England. Almost gothic.”
His interest in supernatural plots is grounded in his Mayo roots. “Ballycroy is beside Achill, one of the most popular parts of Mayo. We’re set in an enclave, between the sea and mountains. There’s a lot of sea mist and it can be quite eerie, almost like the moors in England. Almost gothic, like,” he says. The feedback on Mayo Ghosts is good, with people telling him it’s a page-turner that they finish in two nights. Meanwhile, Kieran is thinking about starting his next book in 2015. Interview O’Leary l
You can get a copy of Kieran’s books from: Castle Books (www.mayobooks.ie), O’Mahony’s book shop in Limerick (www.omahonys.ie), Charlie Byrnes in Galway – (www.charliebyrne.com) or Easons in Ballina (www.kennys.ie) 36
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by
Martina
The Arrivals Melissa Marr (Harper Collins, £7.99 in the UK). MELISSA MARR is an established author of young adults’ fiction, writing in the fantasy genre. Her Wicked Lovely series of books deals with fairies and the problems they can cause. These are not the kind of fairies who leave you money every time you lose a tooth. They are the ones who walk unseen among humans, swap their own changelings for babies and lead foolish humans astray.
series, we knew what to expect from vampires and werewolves, and we could accept it when Myers allowed vampires to go out in daylight and sparkle like crystal, because we had a back story going back to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. But this is just a mish-mash of genres: Fantasy meets sci- fi, meets vampires and turns into an outtake from Lost. Best avoided. Margaret Hannigan.
Interconnected lives East End Angel Kay Brelland (Harper, £6.99 in the UK).
If you like these books, be warned. This is not one of those books! There are no fairies. But there are vampires, thinly disguised as bloedzuigers, lizards the size of horses and a few other unnatural forces of nature all thrown together like a badlymade salad.
STORIES ABOUT gutsy midwives living through tough times are quite popular now, so there’s a ready made market for this book. It tells the story of Kathy Finch who’s beautiful and idealistic despite coming from the wrong side of the tracks.
But here I am starting the review in the middle. This should prepare you nicely for the book, which also starts in the middle, explains little or nothing, then circles back on itself leaving the innocent reader very little the wiser.
Kathy is a nurse working for a doctor in the East End of London in the 1930s. Set against an historical background of the aftermath of the First World War and the rise of fascism, poverty is everywhere. Kathy delivers babies to women who often cannot feed themselves and are desperate to care for their children.
It’s presented as the story of Chloe, who wakes to the worst hangover ever in a world completely different from her own. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen until chapter five, which is a little irritating as you’ve been trying quite hard to get some kind of a handle on the characters who’ve been driving the story since page one. Jack and his sister Kit, Edgar, Francis, Melody and Hector, collectively known as The Arrivals. Each one has left the human world at various points in time – the 1800s, the 1920s, the sixties –and arrived in the Wasteland with only one common characteristic –they’ve all killed someone. Some have died again in this other world, and most have woken up no worse for wear after six days. Some former Arrivals have remained permanently dead. No one knows why. For reasons that are a mystery, the Arrivals seek to keep the peace, and prevent other new Arrivals from joining the army of Ajani. He is a bit of a venture capitalist who spends most of his energies taking over the mines and building his army. Ajani and Jack, the de facto leader of the Arrivals, are on a bit of a collision course especially since Ajani has a fancy for his sister Kit and her magical powers. The main difficulty here is a lack of context. We have no clue how or why this world came about, what its rules or purpose are, or what’s expected of our characters. In the Twilight
Many of the fathers of the children are brutal and mean, spending what money they have on their own pursuits. Kathy feels huge anger at the plight of these women and becomes more involved in their lives than she should. Meanwhile she has problems of her own. Her father is a petty criminal and her young brother appears to be following his footsteps. Her twin sister, abused by a local crook at fifteen, has descended into a life of alcohol and prostitution. Kathy despairs of being able to change her sister but tries her best. Boyfriend David is from a comfortable Jewish family who don’t want him involved with Kathy. She thinks this is the cause of David’s recent off-hand behaviour towards her, but the truth is much worse than she imagines. She is also falling in love with handsome Nick Raven, but what secrets are hidden behind his cool exterior? Although there’s nothing original about this book, it is an engaging story of interconnected lives in a harsh and violent environment where innate goodness and idealism can still exist. Kathryn Smith.
More reviews on page 38 ‰
WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 37
More book reviews
International Indigenous people of the Nonam community among those displaced in Colombia’s land grab.
What really matters? This is the Life WHY DO we bother with all of the mundane hassles of life? Why be tied down by commitments, office politics, endless chores, and the rest? We usually answer that these things give us some control over the chaos and allow choices. But the truth is we often don’t know what else to do. There are those who never find their niche. For various reasons they don’t fit in and never climb that ladder. In this book, the unnamed narrator tells a very personal and thoughtful story of his brother Louis, one of life’s such underachievers. Our narrator has travelled to Australia from England to be with his brother who’s been diagnosed with a brain tumour. The story moves back and forth from the weeks the brothers spend together in Australia to memories of their youth and childhood in England. The everyday tasks of dealing with a critical illness, and the quite sad depiction of an ordinary childhood, form the backdrop against which the narrator
explores such themes as the nature of the sibling bond, the inevitability of death and futility of purpose. While he sits at a cafe near his brother’s hospice, he watches people jogging, or rushing to the early morning gym or to work, and wonders why nobody seems to realise where we are all headed. While our initial introduction to Louis paints a picture of a scruffy loser who lives in unsanitary conditions, another picture emerges of a well-educated, well-loved man with very high principles who could never fully abandon his idealism to fit into a compromised world. But the book doesn’t answer any of the very deep questions it poses. Most of us will never realise that we are racing to the edge of the cliff, but it might make you pause and think about the people who matter in your life. By Kathryn Smith.
True grit shines from wonderful reckoning The Road to Reckoning Robert Lautner (Borough Press, £14.99 in the UK). THIS IS the story of 12-year-old Thomas Walker and his spectacle salesman father who, in 1837, elect to leave New York to seek a fortune in the Wild West. Forgoing spectacles, Tom’s father has chosen to invest in Samuel Colt’s newlyinvented revolver, 12 of which he carries with him for sale on the road, along with a blank order book and an impeccable wooden replica gun carried by Tom. Tom’s delighted: “The prospect of the road held no adventure greater than the thought of being arm to arm with my father on the seat of our Brewster wagon. Every word he spoke would be to me.” And so a shy, bookish boy, and a lonely desperate man begin a hopeful odyssey like so many pioneers before them. But the adult Tom, who narrates the book, observes: “I, to this day, hold to only one truth: if a man chooses to carry a gun he will get shot. My father agreed to carry twelve.” The truth of this observation is borne out and Tom is left with a horse, a wagon, and whatever luck his wits and resolve can conjure up to get him home to New York. A chance encounter at a store-keeper’s counter puts him in the path of one Henry Stands, a former Indiana ranger who hunts down outlaws and trades his way across the frontier. 38
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Photo: Courtesy Christian Aid
Alex Shearer (Blue Door, £12.99 in the UK).
Initially dismissive, Stands eventually allows Tom to accompany him as he heads east and slowly a friendship develops between these unlikely companions. It is this loyalty that sustains them through attacks and threats of all kinds, some of the worst of which arise in the most civilised surroundings. It’s hard not to be reminded of True Grit when reading this book. The language is equally poetic and powerful, and true to the formality and manners of the time. It feels completely authentic. While Tom Walker is not as self-assured as Mattie Ross, the relationship he develops with Stands is every bit as moving and life-changing as the one between Mattie and Rooster Cogburn and the writing is a joy to read. Lautner handles the change in narrative tone when switching from the 12-year-old Tom to the mature Tom, with ease and skill, as simply and smoothly as changing gears in a car. His characters are convincing and vivid on the page, and the story holds the reader in its grip right to the end. This is a little masterpiece. The two wonders of it are that it’s the author’s first novel, and that he’s an Englishman who lives in Wales. Far away indeed from the dusty trails of Pennsylvania and beyond. A wonderful book. By Margaret Hannigan.
Colombia must clean up its human rights act as a condition of more trade with Europe, writes SIOBHÁN CURRAN.
IT’S THE most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist, with over 2,500 activists murdered in the last 20 years. And, despite assurances to the contrary, the promise of improved trade with Europe has not improved Colombia’s human rights record. Disappearances, murders and intimidation of trade unionists and other human rights activists provide the background to the forthcoming decision on the ratification of a controversial EU-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Colombian business organisations argue that improved trade will result increase living standards and improve human rights. The evidence suggests the opposite. Due to pressure applied by member states, the proposed FTA does contain a human rights clause based on the UN’s universal declaration of human rights. It sounds positive, but falls way short on monitoring and sanctions in the case of violations. The EU and Colombian authorities have agreed to meet twice a year to discuss these issues and the agreement allows either party to take ‘appropriate measures’ if there are violations. But the ‘appropriate measures’ are open to wide interpretation. In what should be good news for trade union members, the agreement commits parties to promote and effectively implement internationally recognised core labour standards.
But, despite these aspirations, the situation on the ground remains dangerous with thousands of Colombians suffering direct violations of their basic human rights – especially the right to land ownership.
Land grab According to the IMPACT-supported Justice for Colombia Ireland, the root cause of the civil conflict in Colombia is land ownership. And the proposed trade agreement creates an even greater impetus for further land-grabs. Over six million people have been displaced in this conflict, with small farmers violently dispossessed from nearly seven million hectares of their own land. Sensitive peace talks, aimed at addressing the land question, are currently underway between the government and FARC rebels. With so much at stake, trade unions and other campaigners say it’s the wrong time to ratify the trade deal. The united view of the international trade union community is that the land issue and human and labour rights violations must be resolved before – not after – lucrative trade is opened up for Colombian business. Human rights campaigners in Colombia and around the world reject claims that improved trade with the EU will lead to a change in the human rights situation. Instead they believe it will encourage the Government there and possibly undermine peace talks. IMPACT supports this view and the union’s developing world fund is currently giving practical financial support to human rights defenders in the troubled country. The trade treaty can’t be ratified without the say-so of each EU member state. IMPACT, ICTU and many charities and NGOs including Trócaire, Christian Aid and Justice for Colombia have been urging the Irish Government to withhold its consent until robust human rights protections are in place and working l WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 39
Union business
IMPACT WILL campaign for a ‘yes’ vote in any future referendum on gay marriage after delegates at the union’s recent conference unanimously endorsed the stance. Meanwhile, ICTU has linked up with gay rights organisation BeLonGTo, to launch the ‘Stand Up At Work’ campaign to combat workplace homophobia.
Outsourcing code WORKERS’ RIGHTS and union consultation will be protected under a new protocol governing the operations of the Office of Government Procurement, which was established to implement a single procurement approach in the public service. The protocol, issued after negotiations between unions and public service management, says the outsourcing provisions of the Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements must govern any outsourcing.
Grace extended IMPACT WELCOMED a decision to extend the retirement grace period, set out in the Haddington Road agreement, until 30th June 2015. The move means public servants who retire before then will have their pensions based on their pay and incremental status at 30th June 2013, the day before temporary pay reductions were introduced for staff earning over €65,000.
Credit blocked THE LABOUR Court has said it will not award backdated incremental credit in cases where long-term acting positions are regularised. The Court strongly criticised the HSE’s “wholly inconsistent” approach to paying incremental credit, but said it had “no option” but to reject claims for incremental credit because the Haddington Road agreement on regularisation of acting positions said it must be done on a cost-neutral basis.
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Membership on the up IMPACT MEMBERSHIP grew by 2.2% in 2013, the first year-on-year increase since 2009. Over 2,740 new members joined last year, with a net increase of 1,300 bringing the union’s total membership to over 59,000. Delegates at IMPACT’s recent biennial conference backed the campaign against universal health insurance plans.
THE IRISH Congress of Trade Unions has agreed to an IMPACT proposal for a union-wide campaign to oppose Government plans for universal health insurance (UHI) in their current form. IMPACT and other unions are opposed to the ‘competing insurers’ model, which will put huge financial burdens on families without delivering equitable and high quality services.
Membership peaked at 68,400 in 2009 after 18 years of steady growth. It then fell, mainly on foot of staff reductions in the public, private and voluntary sectors. The union had just 23,000 members when it was formed by a merger in 1991. IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan said staffing cuts continued to have an effect on membership potential, but sustained recruitment efforts had helped increase the numbers of people in the union. “We have developed a strategic focus on recruitment and organising, including building branch capacity and identifying and developing leaders. We have also taken steps to manage expenditure while maintaining and expanding services to members despite falling income,” he said.
In its submission to the Government’s consultation on its UHI white paper, IMPACT said the cost to families would vastly exceed the property tax and planned water charges. The union said this would place “an impossible financial burden on families and individuals who don’t currently have private health insurance and don’t qualify for medical cards.”
Some 73% of IMPACT members are women and this percentage is increasing because most new members – 83% in 2013 – are female. You can read more about IMPACT membership, services, recruitment and organisation and other activities in the union’s recently-published 2012-2014 biennial report, which is on the union website.
The union called on the Government not to proceed with UHI until the cost to individuals and families is “assessed, publicised and understood.” It also called for more clarity on what services and procedures will be covered by the basic package, and said safeguards were needed to provide cover, at no additional cost, if a private insurer fails. IMPACT has urged the health minister to examine the merits of alternative approaches like those adopted in France, Germany and Nordic countries. The union has been campaigning on the issue since it published its 2012 report, by Dr Jane Pillinger, on the future of healthcare in Ireland. ICTU’s agreement to get involved – which is backed by other health unions – will strengthen the campaign.
Tax cuts won’t do IMPACT’S OUTGOING president has rejected the idea that tax cuts can be an alternative to pay increases as Ireland comes out of recession. Speaking at the union’s biennial delegate conference in May, Kevin O’Malley said focussing solely on tax reduction would mean more cuts in public services, with taxpayers subsidising profitable employers. Kevin said income restoration was now IMPACT’s first priority after six years of “battered” living standards. “You cannot restore living standards without restoring incomes, and that means pay,” he said. He said Ireland already collected less tax as a proportion of GNP than most EU countries. “Employers’ organisations are telling us that pay must stay static while taxes fall. That would mean working people trading income recovery for worse public services, while profitable businesses and their shareholders make no contribution at all. “It means profitable companies can continue to have their low-pay business model subsidised by taxpayers through the benefits system, which is fast becoming a safety net not for citizens who are down on their luck, but for profitable corporations exploiting the minimum wage and zero-hours contracts. That is not acceptable to us and it should not be acceptable to the politicians who run the country,” he said. Kevin said there was no conflict between workers in the public and private sectors. “Virtually all workers have suffered reduced incomes, but it has happened in different ways. That means income recovery has to happen for all workers across the economy – public, private, voluntary and community – even if it has to happen in different ways,” he said. See page nine for more on income recovery.
IN BRIEF Pension talks AVIATION UNIONS, including IMPACT, have sought talks with Aer Lingus and the Dublin airport authority following the publication of an expert group report on the Irish Aviation Superannuation Scheme (IASS). The union plans information meetings with the members involved in advance of ballots on the report, which the authors describe as the “final opportunity to resolve this very protracted and divisive dispute.”
Review quashed IMPACT WELCOMED Dublin City Council’s decision not to proceed with its proposed review of the city’s ambulance service, pending the outcome of an HSE national review of the service. The news came in April as several hundred firefighters marched on Dublin City Hall, with supporters from their families, trade unions and members of the public.
Deep cuts Photo by Conor Healy.
Gay marriage backed
Congress to campaign on UHI
Photo by Dominick Walsh.
IN BRIEF
South Dublin staff protest.
Hundreds in council protest AROUND 400 people joined a demonstration over unilaterally-imposed cuts to acting payments at South Dublin County Council recently. The demonstration, which was organised by IMPACT to coincide with the council’s twentieth anniversary, attracted support from the public and other council unions. IMPACT branch chair Shane Lambert (pictured at the left of the photo) said the huge turnout demonstrated the strength of feeling among council staff. “Hundreds turned out to express their disgust at the council’s actions and its refusal to use proper, fair procedures to deal with the issue. The support from the public was unprecedented and really encouraging,” he said. IMPACT has been involved in industrial action at the council for three weeks, with preparations for two one-day strikes underway as Work & Life went to press. The dispute was triggered when management axed the acting payments of 13 staff and revealed plans to do the same to another 150. The union got support from most councillors when the council met for the first time since the May local elections.
HEALTH SPENDING fell more in Ireland than in any other European country between 2008 and 2011, with cuts of more than €2.7 billion and 12,000 fewer HSE staff. Research by Trinity College says the health system managed to do more with less until 2012, but was now doing “less with less.” Spending reductions were achieved through staff and pay cuts, lower professional fees, cheaper drugs and new working arrangements.
Climate action THE WORLD’S biggest international union federation says a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change offers renewed confidence that the world can avoid catastrophic climate change with rapid and sustained cuts to carbon emissions. ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow said governments should stop prevaricating. “Unless we are able to stop climate change and create sustainable jobs, the dreams of prosperity of millions around the world are at risk,” she said.
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Obituary
Union business
Tom Bogue
Local Court’s crew ruling democracy thwarted THE IMPACT Cabin Crew branch committee accepted an interim Labour Court recommendation in May and deferred two one-day strikes planned for mid-June. An earlier one-day strike took place on 30th May.
LONG-STANDING IMPACT activist Tom Bogue had so much talent and ability that, had he decided to make the union his career, he would have fulfilled any ambition he set his sights on. Instead he chose to contribute as a volunteer.
Branch chairperson Angela McNeela said the committee believed the recommendation formed “a good basis for the settlement of the issues,” which the union would “pursue vigorously in detailed negotiations with Aer Lingus over the coming weeks.” The Labour Court intervened in the dispute over rosters when IMPACT served notice of more strikes after management walked away from negotiations having issued a take-it-or-leave-it proposal, which was unacceptable to staff because it would have meant hundreds of jobs losses.
Photo: Domnick Walsh.
The Labour Court recommended a trial of a ‘5:3’ short-haul roster on a cost neutral basis and said a process should begin to discuss IMPACT’s claim for improved longhaul rosters too. It reinstated staff travel concessions and recommended a third rest day for crew flying the Dublin-San Francisco route. The dispute was over IMPACT’s call for a roster that spreads existing working hours over five days, followed by three rest days. Current rosters mean staff can work up to 60 hours in a seven-day period, resulting in shift patterns of six working days and one rest day, followed by six more working days.
Speaking at an IMPACT seminar on the future of local government, the union’s national secretary Peter Nolan said new local authority structures offered an opportunity for vibrant local democracy. But he feared the opportunity would be missed because the powers and staffing available to municipal districts would make them even less effective than the current structures. “Far too much power still remains at the centre. No other European country has such weak local democracy where central government determines virtually all local authority funding, staffing levels and responsibility for services. We need real reforms that give local citizens and communities the same level of democracy and decision-making as other Europeans,” he said. Peter also criticised successive governments for stripping local authorities of responsibility for refuse collection, driver licensing, education grants, direct responsibility for water provision, and other services. “Local democracy badly needs some champions in Irish society. If central authorities continue to take away local government responsibilities, councils will become empty shells. It will become impossible to demonstrate the need for local elections – or justify local taxes, including the property tax,” he said. 42
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Photo: IMPACT Communications Unit.
IMPACT HAS urged local government minister Phil Hogan to give real powers and resources to new municipal districts, which are set to replace town councils this year. The union also said the continuing removal of responsibilities from local authorities could eventually make it impossible to justify local taxes, including the property tax.
Cabin crew protest during their recent one-day strike.
Dispute despite praise STAFF IN education and training boards (ETBs) have entered a conciliation process after taking industrial action in a dispute over management’s failure to agree a framework to deal with workloads, the filling of vacancies, the consolidation of longterm acting positions, and the transfer of former FÁS staff into the new bodies. The action started just weeks after a leading educationalist said admin staff would play a crucial role in supporting service delivery in ETBs. Speaking at IMPACT’s education conference in April, SOLAS executive director Fiona Hartley said she “could not speak highly enough” of admin staff, many of whom worked “far above their grade.” Ms Hartley said the new ETBs, which replaced vocational training committees last year, faced huge challenges. “If admin support can be harnessed, ETBs will meet the challenge,” she said. The staff in dispute have cooperated with huge changes arising from the merger of 33 vocational education committees into just 16 ETBS. Around 700 former FÁS staff started to transfer to the ETBs in January. The second phase of their transfer is planned around now. Speaking at the IMPACT conference, ICTU general secretary David Begg also praised admin staff, and particularly school secretaries. “The relationship between schools and their communities is a very sophisticated one and clerical staff have a huge and unrecognised role as gatekeepers of that relationship,” he said.
effectively, could only benefit working people. As a public servant in Cork County Council, Tom’s passion for sustaining quality public services to the community was a foundation stone of his many contributions to political and trade union conferences. He was local government to his core, and his expertise on all aspects of council services, particularly planning, was legendary.
Tom, who died on 16th April, was involved in union affairs almost from the time he attended his first union meeting in March 1962. His was a remarkable 52 years of participation and contribution to the development of IMPACT, the Cork Council of Trade Unions and the wider trade union movement.
He was a father figure to members of IMPACT’s Cork branch and to the Cork Employment Resource Centre, which provides an extensive range of services to the unemployed and others in need of support.
He was elected honorary secretary of the Local Government and Public Services Union (LGPSU), which preceded IMPACT, every year from 1970 until May 1982 when he was elected president for a term. He went on to serve as a trustee from 1984 until his retirement in 2005. In each of these roles, he was recognised by IMPACT branches and members as a true leader, a visionary, and an inspirational figure. Tom played a central role in establishing IMPACT’s Developing World Fund, which has since contributed millions of Euro to support trade union development around the world. It’s a good example of the international solidarity that defined Tom’s values and made him such an exceptional trade unionist. Tom’s active involvement with the Cork Council of Trade Unions started in the early 1960s, and he continued as a member of the council’s executive until November 2013. He served two terms as council president in 1970 and 1990. But he never held any office just for the sake of it. He always strove to achieve for union members, and to bring new values, fresh thinking and sound judgement to every job he took on. His work in the union movement complemented his deep involvement with the Labour Party. Throughout his life he sustained the conviction that moulding the political environment in practical ways, by working co-operatively and
An avid reader and a student of social studies, Tom brought great intelligence to debates. He also possessed the personal credibility to influence people at all levels and on almost any subject. Tom Bogue was one of nature’s gentlemen: A kind, considerate and selfless man. His identity was shaped by his beloved Cork and he always spoke proudly of his city, his county and its many sporting achievements. His great sense of pride in place sharpened his considerable wit and developed him as a great conversationalist and raconteur. Tom’s was a life of selfless dedication. To his family first and foremost, and to his many friends, his community, to public service and to his trade union work. He was an inspiration to those who worked with him and he was known, respected and held in great affection by generations of IMPACT members. All of us who were privileged to have known and worked with Tom will always remember him as a truly great friend and an exceptional, indeed remarkable, trade union leader. May he rest in peace and may his memory and values live on in our memories forever. Peter McLoone WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 43
Sport
Brogan’s heroes help spearhead their national league division one campaign. A campaign that concluded with a 15-point victory over Derry in the final, the first time in history that Dublin have put backto-back league titles together.
Vibrant THE STORY goes that, sometime in the immediate aftermath of last year’s all-Ireland senior football championship final, some of the Dublin players were discussing the successful season just gone. It had seen them capture the national football league division one title for the first time in over 20 years, retain their Leinster crown, and annex the Sam Maguire for the second time in three years. A lot of young tyros had contributed to those victories. Players like Jack McCaffrey (young player of the year), Ciaran Kilkenny and Paul Mannion. But, when the heat was on in the all-Ireland final against Mayo, it was the more experienced players, and the impact of subs off the bench, that finally saw the Dubs past James Horan’s men. As they looked forward to 2014, and the challenge of defending their titles, one player who had his 2013 season destroyed by injury is alleged to have declared that the game was maybe not as much a young man’s game as popular wisdom would now have you believe. Alan Brogan had suffered an osteitis pubis, requiring an operation in London’s Harley Street, and then suffered an ongoing hamstring problem. As the team banter continued, the Saint Oliver Plunkett’s-Eoghan Ruadh man vowed he’d be back in 2014 to conclude his inter-county career on a high.
Blue flame Brogan made his senior championship debut in 2002, aged 20. He has a drawer full of Leinster senior medals from the successful campaigns of 2002, 2005-2009, 2011 and 2012, along with the coveted Celtic Cross (2011), player of the year (2011) and three all stars (2006, 2007 and 2011). He made the subs bench for last year’s all-Ireland final but was not introduced, so he could be forgiven for having his sporting appetite sated at the age of 32. Think again. This year the blue flame burns as brightly as ever. Possibly more brightly than ever. This season Alan, who was Dublin’s first ever all-Ireland winning under-21 captain in 2003, returned to the forward line to
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His performances in the league were encouraging for a player who had effectively been out of inter-county action for almost 18 months. He has illustrated that the old magic is still as vibrant as ever, despite being in the autumn of his playing career. X
He knows he’s part of a Dublin squad that has the manpower to achieve successive all-Ireland glories. And he knows they’re a team that’s got what it takes to leave the kind of legacy last witnessed by the team his father, Bernard, decorated in the 1970s. Retaining the Sam Maguire has become one of the most difficult achievements in Irish sport. Kerry, always fierce and lyrical contenders, last did it in 2007. Before them it was Cork in 1990 and Meath in 1988. It’s not exactly a common occurrence, and the Dubs last achieved the feat in 1977. Whether it’s in the starting 15 or as part of the reinforcements off the bench, only time will tell.
But certainly Alan Brogan can play a role if the current Dublin team leaves its own legacy on the game. That legacy highlights the strengths built by Jim Gavin and Pat Gilroy before him during their tenure as Dublin managers.
High hopes Brogan’s ambitions extend beyond his inter-county career. His club, Saint Oliver Plunkett’s-Eoghan Ruadh, have never won the Dublin senior football championship. But hopes are very high in the Navan Road club that they can set the record straight this year. They’ve gone close in the past, coming within a whisker of defeating Kilmacud Crokes, who eventually prevailed in a replayed final.
“Retaining the Sam Maguire has become one of the most difficult achievements in Irish sport.”
Alan’s younger brothers Bernard and Paul, along with his first cousin James, provide only some of the hallmark names in the Plunkett’s side that overcame Crokes in the first round of this year’s competition. The eldest of the Brogans holds the distinction of leading the Dublin 7 club to their first Dublin division one league title in 2008. This is very much the golden generation of players at the club. One time Dublin footballers Ross McConnell, Declan Lally and Craig Dunleavy, along with emerging talent like brothers Conor and Niall Walsh – an all-Ireland minor winner in 2012 and part of this year’s Dublin under-21 all-Ireland winning panel – are reasons for optimism for Plunketts. They are among the favourites for the blue riband contest and it would be fitting if Alan added it to his considerable haul of achievements before finally hanging up the boots O
WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS
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Photos: Sportsfile
Some of the best stories are part fact and part fiction, says KEVIN NOLAN. Step forward Alan Brogan.
Win Win Win
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IMPACT’s newly elected president is? A Stephen King B Jerry King C Martin Luther King. France has introduced legislation that requires workers to: A Only work two days a week B Have a four hour lunch break C Turn off their work phones after 6pm in the evening. The Dublin GAA football team aims to retain: A The Ryder Cup B The World Cup C The Sam Maguire. Who was the male lead in Groundhog Day? A Bill Clinton B Bill O’Herlihy C Bill Murray. The small print* You must be a paid-up IMPACT member to win. Only one entry per person (multiple entries will not be considered). Entries must reach us by Friday 19th September 2014. The editor’s decision is final. That’s it! 46 46
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ACROSS 1. The unexplained, enchantment PRIZE CROSSWORD (5) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 5/9.Fr Christmas, surname first 8 (5,5) 8. Some pathos annatto for prayer 9 10 (7) 11 12 13 9. See 5 across 14 15 16 17 18 19 10. The norm starts with you and me! (5) 11. NR dress turns into (7) 20 14. Capitulate (5) 17. Y seas form thesis (7) 21 22 20. Ambiguity, secrecy (7) 23 21. Switch paws (4) 22. A linear collection of piles, yarns or strands, twisted or 24 25 26 27 28 29 braided together (4) 30 23. Pertaining to violent inward collapse, the rascal starts it off! 32 33 (9) 34 24. Globs on line! (5) 35 36 27. A warning device could cause fear (5) 12. Melancholy because I got nasal (9) 30. Without any assistance (7) 13. Gripped with 144 in the middle (9) 32. Clips round the ear (5) 33. See the coral reef in LA lot (5) 15. Memory of old school desk pre biros (7) 34. Affirming (7) 16. Walking unevenly (7) 35. Distress signal is risen (5) 18. Bizarre changes to Ra rules (7) 36. Mournful poem shows up the stele 19. Device to connect two non matching gymnastics (5) parts (7) DOWN 24. Spines or defensive players (5) 1. Popular way to serve peas! (5) 25. Tender (5) 2/4.Lady in Yeat’s poetry sound like she 26. First name of star of Britain’s Got Talent has left the building (surname first in 2009 (5) 4,5) 27. Aga with brief Edward causes a maxim 3. A variety of beet (5) (5) 4. See 2 down (4) 28. Higher than (5) 5. Grounds or reason (5) 29. Dublin’s Fair City’s favourite woman (5) 6. Adjacent to a bust! (5) 7. She might venture out (5) 31. Des Monies is this State’s capital city (4) Win €50 by completing the crossword and sending your entry, name and address to Roisin Nolan, Work & Life crossword, IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1, by Friday 19th September 2014. We’ll send €50 to the first correct entry pulled from a hat.
Winners!
WE HOPE you enjoyed this issue of Work & Life, the magazine for IMPACT members. We want to hear your views, and we’re offering a €100 prize to one lucky winner who completes this questionnaire.
Simply complete this short survey and send it to Roisin Nolan, Work & Life survey, IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1. You can also send your views by email to rnolan@impact.ie.
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We’ll send €100 to the first completed entry pulled from a hat.*
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The winners from competitions in the spring-summer issue were:
Crossword: Gerard Smith, Dept. of Foreign Affairs. Survey: Eugene Boyle, Dublin South HSE. Book competition: Olive Healy, Offaly Survey. Quiz: Monica Voignier, Mayo Health. Lots more competitions to enter in this issue!
The survey
4. What were your least favourite articles? 1 __________________________________________________ 2 __________________________________________________
1. What did you think of the articles in the summerautumn 2014 issue of Work & Life?
Crossword composed by Seamus Halpenny
The original Marshall Plan was: A A plan to introduce social welfare for all B The plan to build the English tunnel C An economic plan to boost Europe’s economy.
Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains the digits 1–9. There is no maths involved. You solve it with reasoning and logic.
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Prize quiz
YOU COULD add €50 to your wallet or purse by answering five easy questions and sending your entry, name and address to Roisin Nolan, Work & Life prize quiz, IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1. Get your entry in by Friday 19th September 2014. We’ll send €50 to the first completed entry pulled from the hat.* You’ll find the answers in this issue of Work & Life.
HOW TO PLAY:
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Your view
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6. What did you think of the balance between union news and other articles?
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3. What were your favourite three articles?
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Email ________________________________________________
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IMPACT branch ______________________________________
The small print* You must be a paid-up IMPACT member to win. Only one entry per person (multiple entries will not be considered). Entries must reach us by Friday 19th September 2014. The editor’s decision is final. That’s it!
WORK & LIFE: THE MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT MEMBERS 47
Commercial membership services MPACT has facilitated the provision of a number of national membership services and discount schemes on behalf of its members. These include Additional Voluntary Contribution Schemes (Pensions), Life Assurance, Salary Protection in the case of illness and Car, House and Travel Insurance Schemes. A number of local discount schemes are also negotiated by local branches.
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The Union uses the size and composition of its membership base and, where possible, competition between the various service providers, to seek the best possible deals for the widest possible sections of our membership. It is probable that the majority of members will get better value from these schemes than if they sought the same service individually. However, this will not be true in all cases and there will be occasions where individual members may, because of their specific circumstances, be able to get better value elsewhere. It is not possible always to ensure that all schemes will be accessible equally to all members and the scheme underwriters will not depart totally from their normal actuarial or risk assessment procedures and rules. IMPACT does not make any claims as to the quality or reliability of any of these products/services and while advising members of the availability of the National Membership Services and Discount Schemes does not endorse or recommend any particular product or service. IMPACT's role is that of facilitator to ensure that such schemes are available to its members. All contracts are directly between the product/service provider and the individual member. IMPACT is not in any way a party to these contracts and will not accept any responsibility or liability arising from any act or omission on the part of the product or service provider. Neither IMPACT nor any member of its staff receives any fees or commissions or other rewards from these product or service providers arising from such schemes. While IMPACT does occasionally provide such product/service providers with limited information regarding IMPACT branch and/or workplace representatives for the purpose of advertising such schemes, the Union does not make any personal data relating to individual Union members available to them for any purpose. The Union requires that product/service providers agree to ensure that all such schemes comply with all lawful requirements including the Equal Status Act 2000. Advertisements for agreed membership services will have an
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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.
Cornmarket Group Financial Services Ltd.
Travel Insurance – all Divisions.
Car Insurance – all Divisions. Salary Protection and Life Assurance –
Local Government and Health Divisions only.
Group Insurance Services (GIS)
Marsh Financial Services Ltd.
Car Insurance – all Divisions.
AVC Schemes – all Divisions excluding Municipal Employees.
House Insurance – all Divisions.
Salary Protection and Life Assurance – Civil Service and Services & Enterprises Divisions only.
December 2004
DISCLAIMER (Approved by CEC 10th December 2004) 48
SUMMER-AUTUMN 2014