A motion down for consideration at the annual conference next Friday of the Pseu, which represents middle-ranking civil servants, urges the union not to accept the next phase of the national pay agreement unless it contains a government commitment to an extra five public holidays per year for all workers.

Ireland currently has nine public holidays in the year, which places us close to the bottom of the worldwide public holiday league. Only Romania and our neighbours England, Wales and Scotland, with eight public holidays, are worse off then we are.

Even Northern Ireland enjoys 10 public holidays, as do US workers, while the Germans have 11 days off in the year.

This year, April and May are the most popular months for public holidays in Europe, mainly because they embrace Easter. Dutch workers, for example , have nine public holidays this year in April and May alone, while we have only two . . . Easter Monday and the May bank holiday, which this year falls on 7 May.