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This article explores recent trade union efforts in Ireland to re-engage activists and members and promote revitalization following the termination of a 22-year period of tripartite social partnership. It analyses four case studies of major unions' strategies to involve activists and members in a workplace-anchored model of firm-level collective bargaining. The findings indicate that decentralized bargaining has become the preferred model of pay determination for Irish unions, and they express little interest in returning to national-level centralized bargaining. Union leaders are enthusiastic about company-level bargaining primarily for three reasons. First, it revitalizes unions by sustaining and expanding union membership at the workplace. Second, it supports local bargaining arrangements that produce tangible benefits for workers, showcasing the effectiveness of unions in advocating for their members. Third, workplace arrangements enhance union influence over management decision-making, both directly through firm-level collective bargaining and indirectly by fostering incentives for continuous dialogue and information exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patterns of feeding and growth of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. in the marine environment are critical to understanding how observed declines in recruitment may reflect warming or other oceanic drivers. The isotopic composition of scales can provide insight into differences in marine feeding location and possibly temperature regime. The authors used archived scale samples to measure δ13C and δ15N deposited in the scales of one sea‐winter (1SW) salmon during their last season of growth at sea before they returned to five Irish rivers. δ13C values were related statistically to observed salmon body condition (Fulton's K), and fish with higher δ13C values tended to show significantly better condition. In contrast, δ15N values were negatively related to body condition. There was no important effect on condition of length at smolt migration, and the effect of duration of marine residence varied among rivers. It is likely that δ13C values partly reflected ambient ocean temperature and recent marine feeding environment before return migration, such that the observed relationship between higher δ13C values and increased body condition may express an advantage for adult fish feeding in warmer, potentially closer, waters. If greater body condition influences fitness, then a changing temperature regime in the Northeast Atlantic may drive shifts in salmon survival and reproduction. This study provides evidence that there is spatial and trophic variation at sea between salmon from rivers of origin that are located relatively close to each other, with potential consequences for body condition and, consequently, fitness and life history; this suggests that salmon populations from geographically proximate rivers within regions may exhibit differential responses to ocean‐scale climatic changes across the Northeast Atlantic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews human resource management (HRM) reforms in the Irish public service over the past twenty-five years. The narrative is based around five HRM themes which have been the main focus of public service reform efforts: performance management, public service careers, leadership, strategic HRM and employment relations. The paper examines all available independent empirical research as well as internal and external reviews commissioned by the public service. The paper contributes to the empirical literature on HRM in the public service and in Ireland, and locates the pattern of HRM reform in the public service in Ireland in comparative context. The paper concludes by noting that while progress has been made, further energy is required in respect of HRM reform.

The freshwater phase of the first seaward migration of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is relatively well understood when compared with our understanding of the marine phase of their migration. In 2021, 1008 wild and 60 ranched Atlantic salmon smolts were tagged with acoustic transmitters in 12 rivers in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Large marine receiver arrays were deployed in the Irish Sea at two locations: at the transition of the Irish Sea into the North Atlantic between Ireland and Scotland, and between southern Scotland and Northern Ireland, to examine the early phase of the marine migration of Atlantic salmon smolts. After leaving their natal rivers' post‐smolt migration through the Irish Sea was rapid with minimum speeds ranging from 14.03 to 38.56 km.day−1 for Atlantic salmon smolts that entered the Irish Sea directly from their natal river, to 9.69–39.94 km.day−1 for Atlantic salmon smolts that entered the Irish Sea directly from their natal estuary. Population minimum migration success through the study area was strongly correlated with the distance of travel, populations further away from the point of entry to the open North Atlantic exhibited lower migration success. Post‐smolts from different populations experienced different water temperatures on entering the North Atlantic. This was largely driven by the timing of their migration and may have significant consequences for feeding and ultimately survivorship. The influence of water currents on post‐smolt movement was investigated using data from previously constructed numerical hydrodynamic models. Modeled water current data in the northern Irish Sea showed that post‐smolts had a strong preference for migrating when the current direction was at around 283° (west‐north‐west) but did not migrate when exposed to strong currents in other directions. This is the most favorable direction for onward passage from the Irish Sea to the continental shelf edge current, a known accumulation point for migrating post‐smolts. These results strongly indicate that post‐smolts migrating through the coastal marine environment are: (1) not simply migrating by current following (2) engage in active directional swimming (3) have an intrinsic sense of their migration direction and (4) can use cues other than water current direction to orientate during this part of their migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the development of procedures for conflict resolution in workplaces in Ireland and the more recent emergence of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practices. Based on a synthesis of data from a series of studies and on a review of reports of conflict resolution innovations, the paper shows how conventional procedures for resolving collective disputes and individual employment grievances had become almost standard by the 1980s, while a series of ADR practices became features of conflict resolution from the 1990s. The changing character of conflict resolution procedures and practices is attributed to a series of influences that include the professionalisation of personnel and human resource management, the changing pattern and context of workplace conflict, the growing importance of multinational firms, and the emergence of professional training and expertise in the provision of ADR support services. The paper projects a continuing rise in the incidence and use of ADR practices but questions the extent to which organisations in Ireland are likely to adopt conflict management systems based on integrated sets of conflict resolution practices.