I am looking at the Passport Office Dispute (it is not strike btw) rather coldly.
A few things come to mind:-
(i) Most of the screaming moaners appear to be people who made travel plans months ago and never considered the most important bit i.e are the passports OK? I have little sympathy for these.
(ii) A Trained Seal could see that the Public Service were screwed in the Budget and because they had previously lied down they were going to be screwed again. The Minister's statement that he will screw them once more did not help either. (An argument for a different Forum, I know, but relevant here).
(iii) Now we have people who are travelling in June panicking. This does not help either and hinders people travelling say in April/May who need passports.
(iv) Just when we didn't need it, somebody suggests taking out a false address and applying in the Cork Passport Office. I'm sure this will go down a treat in Cork.
(v) The solution to this is with the government. All talk about sacking the Public Servants is pie-in-the-sky and achieves nothing. By the way, the serial moaners have been looked after and we will hear nothing from them again.
(vi) Some politicians have gone on television and radio and tried to call bluff by suggesting that the low paid workers in the Passport Office should go out on strike. Now, that the union has threatened this, the same politicians are shouting for something else.
I can hear people shouting "Hey Lep! Would you say the same if your passport needed renewal?" The answer is yes.
(If the moderators feel this is off topic, please feel free to delete or move)