Irish public sector trade unions suspend second day of strikes

Irish public sector trade unions suspended a second day of widespread strikes planned for next week after they agreed on Friday to begin mediated discussions with the government this weekend on the terms for new pay talks. Much of Ireland’s public sector including teachers, health workers and civil servants on Wednesday staged the country’s first major strike in almost two decades after failing for months to agree with ministers on the basis for negotiations on pay rises. The two sides agreed on Friday to begin a process aimed at finding a basis for formal negotiations to commence. “I believe that there is now a prospect of progress in the process that has been established. Obviously we will need to see the government’s words backed up in practice,” Kevin Callinan, chair of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions public services committee, told national broadcaster RTE.