Psychiatric nurses to escalate industrial dispute
Psychiatric nurses are to escalate their industrial action in protest at understaffing of mental health services.
A national work to rule began on 29 June, which has involved non-co-operation by day-shift staff with clerical duties, including not answering phones, filling-out forms, or opening and closing buildings.
Today the Psychiatric Nurses Association national executive committee met and decided that the action would move to "phase two" from Wednesday, involving around 4,500 nurses.
This will not directly impact on patient care but will see nurses not using their cars, or information technology and they will not be attending non-clinical meetings, or cooperating with redeployment.
PNA General Secretary Designate Peter Hughes said there were no adequate proposals brought forward by the HSE to begin to address the issues of recruitment and retention of nurses.
Trudeau marches in Toronto Gay Pride Parade
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made history last night by marching with tens of thousands of people in Toronto's Gay Pride parade, becoming the country's first sitting prime minister to participate.
Thunderous applause greeted Mr Trudeau as he paraded down a main Toronto artery, waving a Canadian maple-leaf flag bordered with a rainbow.
The procession observed a minute of silence to pay respect to the victims of the 12 June nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida that left 49 dead.
Mr Trudeau also walked in the annual parade last year as head of the Liberal Party, then the opposition leader facing former president Stephen Harper's conservative government. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Canada's first openly gay head of a province, and Toronto Mayor John Tory marched alongside Mr Trudeau.
Library staff across Ireland vote in favour of industrial action
Library staff at 12 local authorities across Ireland have voted for industrial action up to and including a withdrawal of labour.
360 staff were balloted in the past fortnight on proposals from the Department of the Environment - drawn up by the Local Management Agency - to amalgamate library services in their county.
The proposals include plans to amalgamate services in Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon; Laois and Offaly; Cavan and Monaghan; Carlow and Kilkenny; Longford and Westmeath and in Cork city and county.
Trade union IMPACT, which represents the library staff, says a decision on what industrial action is to be taken will be made tomorrow.
GPs can refer more patients electronically
GPs can now refer patients to every acute hospital electronically, according to the Health Service Executive.
This excludes referrals to emergency departments, however.
In May, more than 10,500 electronic referrals were made by GPs, compared to 2,289 in August 2015, when the first phase of the system was started.
The referral is made in real time with the GP receiving an acknowledgement from the hospital of the referral, while the patient is with them.
Cameron management to meet union over redundancy dispute
Union representatives are to meet with management of Cameron Ireland Ltd in Longford tomorrow to try to resolve an ongoing dispute over redundancy payments.
Management have asked union representatives to meet with them after workers voted in favour of industrial action last week.
The meeting will take place at 3pm tomorrow.
Opposition says Australian PM 'Brexited himself'
Australia's opposition Labor Party has urged Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to resign, calling him the "David Cameron of the southern hemisphere" after he failed to secure an emphatic election victory.
Mr Turnbull, a millionaire former banker, took the country to the ballot boxes on Saturday, but his Liberal/National coalition has so far failed to win enough seats to form government.
Labor leader Bill Shorten, whose party appears to have gained seats in the 150-member House of Representatives but also fallen short of the 76 needed to govern, said Mr Turnbull had to go.
"He Brexited himself. This guy is like [the] David Cameron of the southern hemisphere," adding, "he leads a divided party, he has had an election and he has delivered an inferior and unstable outcome."
The vote count is due to resume tomorrow, with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporting that the government has 68 seats to Labor's 67 with five minor players and ten in doubt.
Israel demolishes homes in retaliation for attacks
Israeli forces have demolished the West Bank homes of two Palestinian men responsible for a knife attack in December that led to the death of two Israelis, including one by friendly fire.
The overnight demolitions took place in the Qalandia refugee camp, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, with four Palestinians wounded in ensuing clashes, an AFP reporter said.
A military spokeswoman said the forces had razed the homes of Issa Assaf and Annan Hammed, who were shot dead during a 23 December attack near Jerusalem's Old City.
Israel routinely demolishes homes of Palestinian assailants in what it says is a means to deter further attacks. Rights groups say it amounts to collective punishment, with families forced to suffer for the acts of relatives.
161 registrations pass 100,000
New figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry indicate that it has been a very strong year so far for car sales.
The number of 161 registrations reached 101,338, an increase of 23% on 151 registrations.
The approach of the end of the 161 plate did not dampen the appetite for new cars in June and over 1,600 units were sold in the month, up 12% on June last year.
Today's figures from SIMI also reveal that sales of light commercial vehicles increased by 9% on June last year and so far this year are up 26% to a total of 18,417.
