Society

The Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland (MRCI) held a protest in Galway this afternoon against what it sees as attempts to cut the minimum wage in the catering industry. 

The protest, which was organised by the MRCI founded Restaurant Workers Action Group, was held at 1pm outside Supermacs restaurant in Galway's Eyre Square. It follows on from the launch of the MRCI's campaign for the reform of Ireland's work permit system earlier this week. 

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is the 2010 Dublin: One City, One Book. As a citywide celebration of the novel begins, Politico spoke to Trinity College English Literature lecturer and Wilde expert, Dr. Jarlath Killeen about its origins, reception and the hidden sides of its author it reveals. By Edward O’Hare.

The Picture of Dorian Gray must be the only novel in English with its own rules. The first chapter is preceded by a set of aphorisms which tell the reader as much about the mind of its author, Oscar Wilde, as they could want to know. No true artist, Wilde insists, has ethical sympathies as they are ‘an unpardonable mannerism of style’ There can be ‘no such thing as a moral or immoral book,’ because for a real artist vice and virtue are merely artistic materials. In this way, Wilde believes that all art is useless and yet we admire it intensely. But our love of art comes with danger.

A new live/work housing project in Kerry aims to give people a better balance between their life and their work.

A book launched today by Amnesty Ireland offers teachers and students an opportunity to learn about human rights by taking part in artistic activities.

Voice Our Concern is a project being run by Amnesty Ireland since 2004. It is a human rights education project that targets secondary school children to engage with Irish artists.

The south-east stand off is symptomatic of public-private mix. By Sara Burke.

On Thursday’s Morning Ireland programme, there was a very public stand-off between the HSE and Whitfield Cancer Centre (run by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre [UPMC]). UPMC threatened to withdraw radiotherapy services for cancer patients in the south-east from the beginning of May next.

Ireland's current work permit system is unjust and needs urgent reform, according to the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland (MRCI).

Speaking at the launch of a new campaign, the deputy director of MRCI, Bill Abom, said that "the restriction of movement [in employment]...is the primary factor in employment exploitation". The MRCI is calling for the reform of the current work permit system in order to allow permit holders to change employers within a particular industry.

“Astonishing and yet ordinary”. These are the words Joe Meno uses to describe Thisbe Casper’s music in The Great Perhaps. He could just as well say the same for family.

(Interview with Joe Meno on Politico here)

The Great Perhaps is an adventure told through the eyes and lives of the Caspers.

In an interview with Shane Creevy on 10 April 2010, Joe Meno discussed American politics, his opinion on Sarah Palin and Barack Obama, the creative process, and his love for The White Album, Kurt Vonnegut and Thorton Wilder.

The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) recently launched a report that critiques Ireland’s political leadership on migration, and its commitment to equality in the current recession.