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How trade unionism works - an object lesson from the Irish Republic

Monday, February 02, 2009
Ever tried catching a taxi when it is raining? Not easy, is it, what with taxis evidently being water-soluble.

Anyway, taxi driving Irish members of Siptu ('Organising for fairness at work and justice in society') are doing their little bit for the Plain People of Ireland:

"Taxi customers face possible disruption at Dublin airport this morning as drivers stage a protest over the lack of appeals process with the Taxi Regulator and the number of taxi licences being issued".

Surely they must be seeking more taxi licences, yes?

Nope.

"We are in a situation where every industry in the country is laying people off and Commission for Taxi Regulation is issuing taxi licences. There is something morally wrong here".

There you have it, they are so keen on 'fairness at work and justice in society' that they seek to restrict the entry of qualified people into a line of business where demand exceeds supply. Anyone would think that this union is no more than a re-badged mediæval guild. Arguing that their own selfishness is morally right is particularly cute.

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posted by Croydonian

Yet another Blair decision coming back to bite us?

Saturday, April 07, 2007
Or neighbours on the other side of St George's Channel are rather pleased with themselves because "[The Republic of] Ireland has become one of the first countries to be permitted to extend the boundaries of its territorial waters. The State has received final and binding recommendations from the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf that it could increase its continental shelf off the south-west coast beyond the standard 200 nautical mile limit....A coastal state exercises over its continental shelf the sovereign right to exploit its natural resources, including oil and gas deposits as well as other minerals and biological resources, located on or under the seabed". (Source).

While the division of waters around the United Kingdom and the Republic is largely undisputed, I did wonder what the score is vis à vis Rockall. And lo and indeed behold, "In 1997, the UK abandoned any claim to an extended EEZ around and beyond it". This refers to You Know Who (OK, probably not literally) signing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 25/7/97. That is a fairly substantial chunk of maritime real estate that has been blithely signed away, "relinquish[ing] its right to claim an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles extending from the rock", by agreeing that "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf".


As to the Hibernians, they "regard it as merely an uninhabitable rock without any territorial waters and thus irrelevant when determining the boundaries of the exclusive economic zones of Denmark, the Republic of Ireland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom", and in a written answer, "Ireland claims an extended continental shelf … up to more than 500 nautical miles (926 km), particularly in the Hatton–Rockall area."



Great. Just great.

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posted by Croydonian