Another public-sector strike is looming. The timing leaves the government with very little room to manoeuvre: hundreds of thousands of workers are due to walk out on the same day Ireland hosts the biggest diplomatic event in its history, while talks over a pay deal drag along.

Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews and Rónán Duffy look at why the unions have the upper hand, how the government allowed the dispute to reach this point, and whether the strike will even go ahead at all.

Also: Jim O’Callaghan (yes, we're talking about him again) suffers a setback in the criminal legal aid dispute, and the Democrats have a huge night in the US midterms after one key move: making affordability the message.