Frank

‘Some of the older men doing the shuttering have asked me, they said “Frank, what happened in this country? How did things get like this and so bad so quickly?” The fact that workers don't even get travel time. Even ‘— ‘ didn't do that when the bad times came, they still paid workers their travel time. Young people today don't understand how terms and conditions had to be fought for and won and took a lot of time and effort.’ (Frank)

Frank's flat is sparsely furnished but it is scrupulously clean both inside and outside. He has painted the entire exterior balcony from floor to ceiling that provides access to his and two other flats. The paintwork of emulsion with white gloss fringe is sharp and crisp and to a high standard. Things are the same on the inside, where the flat is neat and spartan. It displays a level of care and attention to detail that is central to Frank's sense of himself and how work is supposed to get done. It stands out against the background of general decay that characterises the block. He has been separated for a period of years and lives on his own in a flat in Bridgetown. He has worked in construction for most of his life, although he had a period after he left school, working for a large retailer in one of their stores. He is now well into his fifties. Along with a group of other men from the estate he did a recent pre-employment course that includes the mandatory ‘safe pass’ that every worker needs to have to work on construction sites in Ireland. The course was organised by the local employment agency in order to help men from the Bridgetown Estate obtain work in construction. When I first make contact with Frank in 2017 he has been unemployed for over five years, after the almost total disintegration of the construction industry in Ireland. Prior to this, Frank had worked for a large construction company for a number of years. He describes it as a company with good pay and conditions. He had also attained a degree of control over his labour and was accorded a level of trust and respect within the company, due to his experience.