The April budget - We need to prepare for a challenge

HEAVY indeed is the head that wears the crown and there’s no sign that the load will get any lighter any time soon — for the head wearing the crown or the rest of us.

Just yesterday a series of skirmishes showed how our economic crisis is eating at the fabric of Irish life.

A Health Service Executive directive to all hospitals and community health facilities decreed they must not renew temporary workers’ contracts unless they have explicit approval. Impact, the largest health union, claims the edict will affect 14,000 workers — about one in eight HSE employees. This will have an impact on services and on the lives of the workers involved.