Louth:A nursing and midwifery "juggernaut" is coming down the road and the Government needs to take action, a protest by nurses at Louth County Hospital was told.
Some 250 nurses, including staff of Louth Mental Health Services, held a one-hour protest and work stoppage outside the Dundalk hospital as part of the ongoing industrial action to highlight their claim for a 10.6 per cent pay increase and a 35-hour working week.
Tony Fitzpatrick, industrial relations officer for the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) in the northeast region, said nurses had been very measured in their protests but "our patience will run out". If the Government did not deal with pay and conditions, the issue would not go away.
Gerry Cunningham, national vice-chairman of the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA), said nursing as a profession was under threat, in part because of the increased payment to childcare workers, who earned more than the nurses they reported to.
The retention of nurses was a major issue. It cost €80,000 to train a nurse over four years but the service was losing nurses to drug companies for much better pay and conditions, he said. The majority of psychiatric nurses are over 45 and many would retire at 55.
INO general secretary Liam Doran said nurses would not apologise for their actions, they would not step back and "we aren't going away".
A spokeswoman for the HSE in the northeast region said no activities were cancelled.
"There would have been some delays during the stoppage but all appointments went ahead." - Marie O'Halloran
Bantry:The Irish Nurses' Organisation was particularly pleased with the level of support shown for yesterday's stoppage at Bantry General Hospital and the West Cork Mental Health Services. More than 200 nurses attended a demonstration outside the hospital.
According to INO industrial relations officer Patsy Doyle, nurses came from all parts of the health service in west Cork in addition to those working at Bantry General Hospital.
"We had mental health nurses and public health nurses and what was very encouraging was that they came from facilities throughout west Cork - from Castletownbere, Schull, Skibbereen, Clonakilty and Dunmanway as well as some from Cork city and Mallow."
"The very clear message from today's protest in Bantry is nurses believe that the Government and the Taoiseach should get involved directly in these talks to bring about a resolution," Ms Doyle told The Irish Times.
The INO had agreed with local HSE management to maintain night cover staffing levels at Bantry General Hospital, Ms Doyle said. She added that the one-hour stoppage did not impact adversely on patient care at the hospital.
A HSE spokeswoman said that yesterday's stoppage led to some delays in the outpatients department as well as the hospital's theatre.
She said a small number of patients failed to turn up for appointments at the hospital yesterday. Gerry O'Dwyer of the National Hospitals Office said that the dispute "was about more than one-hour stoppages and the so-called 'work to rule' is having a much more insidious effect, and patients' care is being compromised by the interruptions to the normal flow of service." ... - Barry Roche
Sligo:Fianna Fáil TD Jimmy Devins was one of a number of general election candidates who expressed solidarity with nurses during yesterday's one-hour work stoppage at Sligo hospital as union leaders warned they will campaign against Government TDs in this marginal constituency if their claims are not met.
As 500 nurses and midwives from across the constituency gathered in Sligo, Mr Devins, the vice-chairman of the Oireachtas Health Committee, said he was there to "show support for what I believe are the just claims of the nurses".
Mr Devins, who is vice-chairman of the Oireachtas committee on health and children, was among several general election candidates who attended the protest.
Other general election candidates present on the day included: Mr Devins's running mate Senator Eamon Scanlon; Sinn Féin councillor Seán MacManus; Jimmy McGarry of Labour and Fine Gael candidates Cllr Imelda Henry and Michael Comiskey.
As union leaders expressed delight at the turnout in Sligo, members of the Irish Nurses' Organisation and the Psychiatric Nurses' Association pledged to continue their action for "as long as it takes".
Anne McGowan, Sligo-based INO national executive member, said if there was no resolution before the election campaign was officially launched the union would encourage people to vote against Government candidates, which in this case meant Mr Devins and Mr Scanlon.
She pointed out that there were 1,300 registered members of the INO and the PNA in Sligo/North Leitrim. Ms McGowan told nurses from Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal that Minister for Health Mary Harney had sought to vilify them because they had the courage to speak up for themselves . "We will not be silenced," she said. "This will be the year that we achieve correct pay and working conditions for nurses." - Marese McDonagh