9 September 1999 Edition
The law of homelessness
Here's a new economic law that should concentrate minds. If you double the price of housing, it will double housing waiting lists and double the amount of homeless people in your urban centres.
A survey commissioned by the Homeless Initiative and carried out by the ESRI found that in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow there are over 2,900 adults without a home. This is double the previous estimate of 1,447. The report also found that ``for a significant number of people homelessness is not a transitory state but something of a permanent condition''.
Where is the ICTU?
Serious industrial unrest is looming across the Irish workplace. Nurses, bus and train drivers, guards and others are all in dispute with employers. Add to this a growing number of voices against another Partnership wage agreement. As one SIPTU union official said this week: ``The Celtic Tiger is here and people are only asking when they get their share''.
Enterprise and Employment minister Mary Harney has intervened to give the workers-must-help-keep-the-economy-competitive line this week when she launched the annual reports of the Labour Court and the Labour Relations Commission.
Where though, in all of this, is the actual leadership of the Irish trade union movement, the ICTU? Why are they silent? Workers' interests are under threat and are being marginalised continually in the media. The ICTU needs to break radio silence and get the message out there that Irish workers want their share of the benefits of economic growth.
The second economic law at work this week is the one where things that were once for free now have to be paid for. The actions of BSkyB and Scottish Media this week have made it more likely that more pay-per-view soccer is on the way.
It seems that the spread of the tentancles of big business into sport run ever deeper. BSkyB's attempts to buy Manchester United may have failed but they still own an 11 % share in United.
Now they have bought a 9.1% stake in Leeds United for £9.2 million sterling. BSkyB will also pay an additional £4.6 million for exclusive rights to be Leeds media agent.
Scottish Media, which owns commercial TV stations in Scotland as well as the Glasgow Daily Herald has bought nearly 20% of Hearts. Add this to Granada Television's £22 million investment in Liverpool and you have the initial installments in a long-term trend which will inevitably mean less free soccer on TV and more money being paid by fans. How is this good for football?
A survey commissioned by the Homeless Initiative and carried out by the ESRI found that in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow there are over 2,900 adults without a home. This is double the previous estimate of 1,447. The report also found that ``for a significant number of people homelessness is not a transitory state but something of a permanent condition''.
Where is the ICTU?
Serious industrial unrest is looming across the Irish workplace. Nurses, bus and train drivers, guards and others are all in dispute with employers. Add to this a growing number of voices against another Partnership wage agreement. As one SIPTU union official said this week: ``The Celtic Tiger is here and people are only asking when they get their share''.
Enterprise and Employment minister Mary Harney has intervened to give the workers-must-help-keep-the-economy-competitive line this week when she launched the annual reports of the Labour Court and the Labour Relations Commission.
Where though, in all of this, is the actual leadership of the Irish trade union movement, the ICTU? Why are they silent? Workers' interests are under threat and are being marginalised continually in the media. The ICTU needs to break radio silence and get the message out there that Irish workers want their share of the benefits of economic growth.
Sell-out at Leeds and Hearts
The second economic law at work this week is the one where things that were once for free now have to be paid for. The actions of BSkyB and Scottish Media this week have made it more likely that more pay-per-view soccer is on the way.
It seems that the spread of the tentancles of big business into sport run ever deeper. BSkyB's attempts to buy Manchester United may have failed but they still own an 11 % share in United.
Now they have bought a 9.1% stake in Leeds United for £9.2 million sterling. BSkyB will also pay an additional £4.6 million for exclusive rights to be Leeds media agent.
Scottish Media, which owns commercial TV stations in Scotland as well as the Glasgow Daily Herald has bought nearly 20% of Hearts. Add this to Granada Television's £22 million investment in Liverpool and you have the initial installments in a long-term trend which will inevitably mean less free soccer on TV and more money being paid by fans. How is this good for football?