******************* TRADE UNIONS told to prepare for strike ballot as no basis for public sector pay talks in place Preliminary meetings fail to find common ground, with current deal set to expire on 1st July 2026. (Irish Times, 18.6.2026) Exploratory meetings on a new public sector pay deal have concluded, with union negotiators telling colleagues … Continue reading ORGANISED LABOUR
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Dublin Central And Galway West – A Tale Of Two By-Elections
By-elections in Dublin Central and Galway West were held on 22nd May 2026. In Dublin Central, the By-Election was to elect a successor to Fine Gael’s (FG) Paschal Donohoe, the former Minister of Finance who had moved westwards to Washington DC on appointment as the Managing Director and Chief Knowledge Officer at the World Bank in November … Continue reading Dublin Central And Galway West – A Tale Of Two By-Elections
Basil Thomson And Maundy Gregory
In previous articles in this series I sketched the personality of Sir Basil Thomson, who was head of Scotland Yard in 1916 and the main interrogator of Roger Casement. He was a man of remarkably wide professional experience and much intellectual curiosity. He was also a gifted writer. Intellectually, Thomson was committed to defending the global power … Continue reading Basil Thomson And Maundy Gregory
They rewarded disruption over need—giving to those who shout the loudest!
ORGANISED LABOUR (Owen Reidy, General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions) THE rules have changed; it is now clear that public spending is based on noise rather than need (Irish Mail on Sunday, 19.4.2026). The past two weeks have felt seismic. With a 20% jump in fuel prices as a result of conflict in … Continue reading They rewarded disruption over need—giving to those who shout the loudest!
The Strait Of Hormuz In Law
Letter to the Editor The sea in the Strait is claimed as the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. The following is from Wikipedia (see below) and it explains the current situation and how it evolved from the 1970s. Iran in 1982 adopted the policy that only shipping related to those States which had signed … Continue reading The Strait Of Hormuz In Law
Venezuela And Other Aggressions
The US regime change or coup d'etat in Venezuela last January made little sense initially. Though the left-leaning, President Maduro had long been a thorn in the side of the US administration and its narrative of how 'things should be done', he was no Fidel Castro and Venezuela was no 1960s Cuba. Why then would … Continue reading Venezuela And Other Aggressions
President Connolly Warns of Global Shift To “Might is Right” In First Overseas Speech
20.4.26 Intro to The Journal's report by a retired Swedish trade union official who worked at the ICTU for a while and is now living in Ireland: "Irish President Catherine Connolly met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. She attended the important international meeting in Barcelona to defend democracy. A meeting in which Mexican President … Continue reading President Connolly Warns of Global Shift To “Might is Right” In First Overseas Speech
Organised Labour
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE GENERAL STRIKE (UK) The General Strike of 1926 In 1925, the year before the General Strike, the Conservative Party—led by Stanley Baldwin—replaced the Labour Government. That had been the first ever Labour Government in the UK: it was a minority administration holding less than 200 seats in a 700 seat … Continue reading Organised Labour
Concerning the Black Diaries
The book, “Anatomy of Lie – Decoding Casement” by Paul R. Hyde published last year creates a new paradigm for assessing the infamous case of the alleged Black Diaries of Roger Casement; it establishes the case that there is no verifiable evidence that these diaries existed in 1916 before Casement’s execution. Hyde makes a convincing … Continue reading Concerning the Black Diaries
ORGANISED LABOUR
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% April 2026 @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ NATIONAL TRAINING FUND—Near €1.4bn surplus in State training fund is ‘ridiculous’ and ‘outrageous’. Accumulated surplus in National Training Fund now stands at €1.37bn, Dail's Public Accounts Committee is told. A near €1.4 billion surplus in a key State training fund has been criticised as 'outrageous' at the Public Accounts Committee. … Continue reading ORGANISED LABOUR
