NURSES were slow to go on the record about their feelings yesterday on the new £80 million package being offered to them. But privately they were using such words as "betrayed", "angry" and "unhappy".
Almost all who spoke to The Irish Times said they would vote to reject the Labour Court proposals. A few were waiting to hear what the Irish Nurses' Organisation had to say at meetings which will be held in hospitals throughout the week. Balloting begins tomorrow.
One nurse willing to go public yesterday was Ms Rosemary McCann, a ward sister at the Meath Hospital.
"We just feel so let down and furious at the outcome," she said. "Everyone says they are going to vote to reject. There is no knock on effect for other nurses after the staff nurses. Public health nurses have been ignored.
"Obviously they felt that since staff nurses make up the biggest number they should be mollified. But what about the rest of us?"
She would like to see a "total rejection". "I foresee that there will be a strike."
The new provision for early retirement at 55, but only for those with at least 35 years' permanent service, was "a joke", she said.
"How many nurses would have 35 years' experience by the time they are 55? They are quite safe to have upped that figure to 200."
She was backed up by a staff nurse in St James's Hospital, who did not wish to be named. "Irish nurses generally qualify when they are around 21 but do not get a job until a few years later. It's a bit of a joke."
The nurses appear unimpressed that an extra £30 million has been offered.
A nurse at Beaumont Hospital said that public opinion was obviously very important to the nurses but they felt strongly that this was their chance to get the best deal for themselves.
"Nurses have discovered their worth. What we asked for is what we want. We are not interested in anything less."