Final nail in partnership process ?

[lifeisagame]

But an extremely well paid game, and you have to act tough to be allowed to play, act being the operative word

True, true

[Clanrickard]

Great news! The sooner this charade called "partnership" is finished the better for us all.

[Schuhart]

Why are Union's still holding on to dear life to the Partnership Process?

It's dead, time to leave it and move on.

I think the reason the Unions cling on is because, without it, they don't see themselves as having any power base. I think they know that a wave of strikes will just push things over the edge. I wouldn't be surprised if picketing workers found themselves being stoned by passers-by. Certainly, the "honk if you back the nurses" world is long behind us.

So the only way Unions can get anything is through the elitist Partnership process, where they get to participate in this pantomime of Meetings Lasting Late Into The Night, Discussing Things That Are Far Too Important To Tell The Public.

the Unions are dying to stay at negotiations, the Govt want them gone though.

I don't think this is a full description of the situation. Biffo has dragged his heels, as if he would welcome the political cover that partnership might give him. I know to many of us we'd say "what cover", as we don't see why an agreement between IBEC, ICTU and sundry hangers-on can be taken as implying our consent. But partnership was an essential part of Bertiewaffle, and I'm not sure Biffo knows what to replace it with.

I think its more that, as Taoiseach-led partnership collapses, the rougher hand of the Department of Finance (in the shape of Bord Snip) is taken control by default - just because no-one else has any plan at all. And that's not to say that Bord Snip was brought down from the mountain on tablets of stone. Its just that its report at least addresses the realities of our position, where the "Smart Economy" sh1te belongs to the Celtic Tiger Tax Incentive Bubble world of "talk it all up, get the PR right and everything else will follow".

[fergalr]

I'm not sure Biffo knows what to replace it with.

Leadership and decision-making, or would that be too much to hope for?

[fiannafailure]

Leadership and decision-making, or would that be too much to hope for?

The last leader FF gave us was Sean Lemass, almost 50 years ago, all since then have been takers and fiddlers and would not know how to lead if their life depended on it.