Irish Examiner view: Workplace survey and debt settlement offer a glimpse into the two Irelands
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This week we had a glimpse of the two Irelands, the way in which groups of people live in parallel existences without ever appearing to encounter each other’s reality.
A report issued in recent days outlined the struggles of many of today’s workers: The Laya Healthcare Workplace Wellbeing Index 2024 surveyed 1,000 employees and 200 human resources leaders and yielded some shocking results. Almost one in five employees in Ireland said they were addicted to or have an unhealthy relationship with Class A or illicit drugs, while two in five workers reported an addiction or an unhealthy relationship with at least one substance.
One challenge for many workers is the 'always-on' culture, with 37% of employees reporting they are regularly contacted outside of work hours via email and WhatsApp, on personal numbers and personal phones.
As luck would have it, this report was widely publicised the same day we learned that a publican and property investor in Cork had debts of more than €58m written off as part of a High Court-approved personal insolvency arrangement.
He and his family can continue to live in the family home while paying a restructured mortgage of €4,500 per month, while some €6,000 will be given to unsecured creditors as part of the arrangement in settlement of the €58m unsecured debt.
The extraordinary generosity of that arrangement is difficult to believe.
It achieves the near-impossible feat of almost arousing sympathy for the financial institutions left unpaid.
Of course, the loss felt by those institutions can always be made up by increased charges being imposed on other customers, such as the workers in the Laya reported cited above.
Those workers would be forgiven for believing that the system is biased against their interests based on the evidence of this and similar cases. When such vast debts can vanish with the stroke of a pen it is hard to blame them.
The warning could hardly be starker.
The Garda Representative Association, the staff body for frontline members of the force, has told this newspaper that a “substantial increase” in personnel — of up to 2,000 more members — would be required to police the extended pub and club opening hours which are being proposed under Government legislation.
That legislation would allow nightclubs to open until 6am and pubs to extend trading until 2.30 am.
These measures should be considered in the context of a growing sense of unease about the safety of our streets, particularly at night.
Last week, the Dublin night-time economy strategy said a survey conducted in late 2023 found that 47% of respondents (50% of females) felt unsafe in Dublin at night, up from 21% in 2020.
That sense of unease is hardly confined to the capital.
In meetings with Justice Minister Helen McEntee and her officials, the gardaí have made their feelings known, stating “that more public order and associated issues will be an inevitable consequence of this proposed change”, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Gardaí also told officials that staggering closing times will “merely prolong” rather than reduce the need for garda resources and result in their “not being available to undertake other policing duties at those times”.
The creation of a continental-type café culture in Ireland, one without the antisocial scenes often associated with closing time in pubs and clubs, has been the dream of several different governments. It is a worthwhile aspiration, even if it stands in sharp contrast with an inherent binge-drinking culture on these islands.
It should also be considered in the context of acknowledged pressure on Garda numbers, pressure which has had a clear impact on the force’s ability to fulfil its existing duties.
It makes little sense to implement legislation which is likely to create a specific need for extra policing as well as drawing Garda resources from other areas.
Postponing the introduction of longer opening hours until there are sufficient gardaí to deal with the consequences seems an obvious step.
There was a time Ireland dominated the Eurovision — in one five-year spell 30 years ago we won four times, and that is to reckon without Riverdance, the intermission act of which went on to overshadow the competition itself.
Nowadays, Ireland rarely figures at the top of the leader board, with the notable exception of Macroom’s Bambie Thug, who achieved 6th place in last year’s event. However news of Ireland’s inclusion in the EU Songbook is very welcome. It may not have the kitsch appeal of the Eurovision, but at least it has plenty of room for entries from Ireland.
It may not have the kitsch appeal of the Eurovision, but at least it has plenty of room for entries from Ireland.
A Danish non-profit project with no financial ties to the EU, the EU Songbook’s various categories were decided by members of 17 music academies from 14 EU member states, with the Cork School of Music and Sing Ireland as the Irish contributors.
The six Irish songs selected were: Freedom & Peace: ‘The Fields of Athenry’ by Pete St John; Love Songs: ‘Grace’ by Frank and Sean O’Meara; Nature & Seasons: ‘Song for Ireland’ by June and Phil Colclough; Folk Songs & Traditionals: ‘Whiskey in The Jar (traditional)’; Faith & Spirituality: ‘Ag Críost an Síol’ (Father Michael Sheehan/Seán O Ríada); and Children’s Songs: ‘I’ll Tell Me Ma’ (traditional).
Some may question a few of the entries, but we’ll take it as a win until the good times return at Eurovision.