Bernard Casey – författare

‘A WONDERFULLY WELL-CRAFTED PERFORMER WITH A GREAT OLD SCHOOL STYLE OF STORYTELLING’Local Gossip is a book of short comedy stories about life in rural Ireland written by two main protagonists: Gossip and Nephew – characters created by one of Ireland’s brightest comedy stars, Bernard Casey.Gossip is a bachelor in his 60s who spent a number of years working in London but has lived locally for 20 years and knows every single thing that happens in the community. Nephew is a nosy 17-year-old boy who is delusionally obsessed with the GAA and will do anything to get ahead in life. Gossip appeals to a bygone Ireland where hard work, emigration and knowing what your neighbour had for breakfast was the norm. Nephew’s uneasy self-centredness makes you hate to love him.Get ready to explore the hilarity of rural life through nostalgia, old traditions, societal demands, taboo, sport, marriage and more.

In recent years, and to varying degrees, there has been a marked trend towards decentralisation of labour market regulation in many European countries. The authors of this book seek to assess the impact of social partnership and social protection on the macroeconomic performance of nine member states of the European Union - namely Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK. They compare the performance outcomes of these countries with the USA over the last twenty years and find that, in broad terms, the countries that perform 'best' are those that have adapted and decentralised their systems of social partnership and protection.The authors also analyse the changing nature of social partnership and protection within the European Union (EU). They examine recent developments in EU social policy, particularly its shift towards employment promotion through the national action plans on employment that each member state is now required to introduce. These reinforce social partnership but also impose new challenges for governments, employers and unions to meet. Central amongst these challenges is the need to ensure that social partnership is as inclusive as possible. The authors conclude that the EU requires more social partnership if ever closer union, including monetary union, is to succeed and that employment promotion programmes must be pursued by the EU as a whole.