There are strong structural differences in employment between the public and private sector - a fact that is recognised by some, and ignored by others.
The structural differences relate to the types of occupation, education standards, and length of service - all of which affect wage levels. The length of service of those in the public [...]

If you have not been checking out Progressive Economy for comment on the An Bord Snip Nua report then here is a quick run through, starting with the most recent:
In her post journalist & author on health affairs Sara Burke asks if the government really wants to push more people on social welfare further and [...]

Count Me Out - Take a stand for church/state separation
Cormac Flynn, Gráinne O’Sullivan and Paul Dunbar have set up this site, which helps lapsed Irish Catholics who want nothing more to do with the Church, leave it. The site makes use of existing Church apparatus for defection. Its underlying aim, it says, is to prevent [...]

Gerry Adams outlined Sinn Féin’s new campaign for a united Ireland in the Guardian yesterday. The London launch of the campaign took place on Tuesday evening, following a similar event in New York. If I understand the strategy correctly, SF intends to build a broad campaign in Britain and the USA in order to change [...]

Update: And we’re off — From PE:
Vol. I of the report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes (An Bord Snip Nua) is available for download here, and Vol. II is available here.
Slí Eile’s first post is here, and of course, check PE throughout the day and this evening for more.
*******
Over [...]

Libertarianism is brilliant. Some people think that it is not brilliant, but they are wrong. It is.
What Libertarianism is, is this: It is a philosophy of the world which holds that everyone should be allowed to do what they like without any interference from anyone else and so long as they do not [...]

Although I am not by any stretch of the imagination an urban sophisticate and I always make a point of spitting after I say the word “cosmopolitan,” it has been impossible for me this summer not to notice the significant cultural trend shiftings, particularly while I have been watching the topless beach volleyball through my [...]

Over at Dublin Opinion, Conor McCabe is continuing his excellent analysis of contemporary class relations, this time using the CSO’s new National Employment Survey for 2007. He challenges the sloppy thinking that suggests we have a ‘middle-class’ majority, concluding that nearly two-thirds work in what can be properly called ‘working class’ occupations:
‘From the viewpoint of wages, [...]