All’s quiet on the industrial relations front

The labour-relations architecture... grew bloated and problematic during the bubble years, gorging on its own self-importance... Now, however, it seems to be back doing what it does best — bridging divides, keeping the peace, while acknowledging the state we’re in.

LAST Saturday, as the Angelus tolled, I thought a scoop had landed in my lap. On entering a cheap-and-cheerful restaurant on Dublin’s northside, I saw a familiar, bearded figure tucking into a feed. The realisation that it was none other than Kieran Mulvey hit me like a freight train.

Mulvey is the chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission.