Irish science achieves high ratings for research

“Measuring the quality of research in different countries can be a complex, controversial exercise, but the widely used bibliometrics system shows that Irish scientists are increasingly influential …” (more)

[Conor O’Carroll, Irish Times, 24 March]

School secretaries vote for industrial action over wage cuts

“Ireland’s school secretaries and caretakers have voted in favour of industrial action, in protest at pay cuts introduced at the start of this year …” (more)

[TheJournal.ie, 5 March]

Science funding: Science for the masses

“The US National Science Foundation’s insistence that every research project addresses ‘broader impacts’ leaves many researchers baffled …” (more)

[Corie Lok, Nature, 26 May]

IMPACT backs deal despite concerns

“The biennial conference of IMPACT trade union has backed the Croke Park deal on public service pay and reform despite a number of delegates criticising those who negotiated its terms …” (more)

[Stephen Rogers, Irish Examiner, 21 May]

Croke Park deal ‘best’ on offer – Impact

“The president of the country’s largest public service union has said that there is little enthusiasm for the Croke Park agreement but that it is a deal for its time. In an address to Impact’s biennial delegate conference in Kilkenny tonight John Power said that the Croke Park proposals represented ‘the best and safest port available to the good ship public services in a raging economic storm’ …” (more)

[Martin Wall, Irish Times, 19 May]

Croke Park agreement on track to be ratified

“The Croke Park agreement looks almost certain to be ratified after the leadership of the country’s largest solely public service union gave it its backing …” (more)

[Stephen Rogers and Catherine Shanahan, Irish Examiner, 7 May]

Impact will make or break public sector pay deal

“The fate of the agreement between the government and trade unions on public sector pay and reform is likely to be decided by the members of Impact, the largest public sector union …” (more)

[Pat Leahy, Sunday Business Post, 25 April]

Big civil service unions hopeful for deal on pay

“The bigger public sector unions such as SIPTU and IMPACT are confident they will get the controversial public service pay agreement over the line despite vocal opposition to the deal last week from the two teacher unions, the ASTI and the TUI …” (more)

[Martin Frawley, Sunday Tribune, 4 April]

What’s the next step for public sector unions?

“IMPACT, 65,000 members: Its central executive committee meets on April 8 to decide whether to recommend the deal to its members or end the campaign of industrial action …” (more)

[Independent, 1 April]

Unions ready to hike action over public sector cuts

“Public sector union leaders last night insisted they were willing to go into negotiations on pay cuts announced in their sector, but they were prepared to keep escalating their industrial action for months to come until a solution is agreed …” (more)

[Stephen Rogers, Irish Examiner, 24 February]

Are you at risk of plagiarism?

“… Grant awarding bodies like the AHRC are so risk averse, that when you apply for money they make you specify exactly what your outcomes are going to be, and exactly what your timetable of research is going to be. Not only is this a complete misrepresentation of how humanities research is carried out (you don’t know how long it is going to take you to read a book … it all depends how interesting you let it be), but it also encourages us all to dishonesty …” (more)

[Mary Beard, A don’s life, 14 February]

Public service unions to hold mass gathering

“Public service staff are to hold a mass meeting later this month to discuss their ongoing industrial action in protest at the pay cuts announced in the last budget. The meeting at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Galway on February 23, will be the first major gathering since almost 300,000 public servants began their action in a number of workplaces last month …” (more)

[Stephen Rogers, Irish Examiner, 11 February]

Public sector unions move to reduce membership fees

“Most public sector unions are set to reduce membership fees or have already done so following the pay cuts imposed in December’s budget. The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), which charges a set annual fee of €386, will discuss a motion at its conference in Galway at Easter to decrease fees by around 6% …” (more)

[Martin Frawley, Sunday Tribune, 7 February]

State in ‘emotional blackmail’ of public sector staff

“Public sector workers have accused the Government of ’emotional blackmail’ over claims that seriously ill patients and the Irish economy will suffer as a direct result of wide-scale industrial action …” (more)

[Fiachra O Cionnaith, Irish Examiner, 26 January]

LRC to intervene in public pay row

“The Labour Relations Commission is to intervene in the dispute over public-sector pay cuts, in an effort to avert widespread industrial action. Kieran Mulvey, chief executive of the LRC, said the national ‘work-to-rule’ due to commence tomorrow could have a severe impact on the economy, and result in gridlock throughout the public sector …” (more)

[RTÉ News, 24 January]

Making an impact – or not …

“One of the defining questions being asked about universities around the world is what impact they should have on society. Should the benefit of a university education, or of university research, be that it will have created capacity for independent thinking and evaluation, or facilitated discovery and innovation that will ultimately produce technological, business, social or cultural improvements? …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 15 January]

Nobel laureates: don’t put money before science

“Thousands of scientists and academics, including six Nobel laureates and a former government chief scientist, today condemn plans to change the rules on scientific funding. The scholars are concerned that making university research more accountable to the wider economy will stifle the sort of curiosity-driven research that has led to groundbreaking discoveries and Nobel prizes …” (more)

[Steve Connor, Independent, 7 January]

Unions angry over public sector pay cuts

“Public sector unions have reacted angrily to measures introduced in today’s Budget that will see the public sector pay bill being reduced by €1 billion. Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan announced cuts ranging from 5 per cent for those on average pay to 15 per cent for those at the most senior level …” (more)

[Charlie Taylor, Irish Times, 9 December]

Aggression from SIPTU/IMPACT at UCD gates

“Were you one of those verbally abused, physically blocked from entering, herded from your bus at the entrances to UCD today, had people sitting on the bonnet of your car? Democratic right to protest? What about democratic right to cross a picket? …” (discussion thread)

[Boards.ie, 25 November]

Assessing Research Impact in the Social Sciences and the Humanities

“‘If we wish to resist the mechanical imposition of standardised citation measures then we need to suggest reasonable grounds for exempting certain fields from metric assessment and propose alternatives.’ So writes Professor Tom Lodge, Assistant Dean Research AHSS, UL, in a memorandum which urges Social Sciences and Humanities researchers to publish, where possible, in formats that lend themselves to comparable, if not statistical, indications of impact …” (more)

[Aoife Geraghty, Read Around Research, 21 May]