Aer Lingus threat - A symptom of a crisis we can’t dodge

The assertive if increasingly desperate position taken by Aer Lingus workers over their €930m pension scheme deficit is entirely understandable.

It more accurately reflects the feelings of the tens of thousands of people in a similar position than official Ireland would immediately recognise or care to acknowledge.

What strike action might achieve is, however, another matter entirely. The Aer Lingus workers’ dilemma is not unique but a solution, even a proposal, to the pensions’ time bomb seems as remote as ever. In a functioning society, one with the good sense to plan for the inevitable, that would not be the case.