The nurses' strike has galvanised support for the unions involved, with 4,000 nurses seeking membership in the run-up to the dispute.
The INO (Irish Nurses' Organisation) gained most, with 2,100 new members joining in the six weeks before the start of the strike. SIPTU recruited up to 2,000 new members, while 400 nurses joined the PNA (Psychiatric Nurses' Association).
The INO has bolstered its membership by 10,000 since the current spate of industrial unrest began in 1996. "We experienced a rise in members in 1997 as well," the INO press officer, Ms Gina Moloney, said. "With a strike pending people start to focus on the fact that they are not in a union and that they should be."
The SIPTU nursing officer, Mr Oliver McDonagh, said the strongest motivation for nurses joining unions was the fact that they did not want to pass the pickets.
Non-union nurses who did not support the strike were rostered off for the duration of the dispute as part of an agreement between the Nursing Alliance and hospital management.
This was agreed in order to avoid conflict between non-union staff and the strike committees which provided emergency cover during the strike.
The general secretary of the PNA, Mr Des Kavanagh, said he was amazed at the number of nurses seeking to join in the run-up to the dispute. "There were applications coming in up to the day the strike started," he said.
No figures were available yesterday for the effect of the strike on membership of the IMPACT union.
Meanwhile, the balloting of nurses on the Labour Court recommendations continued yesterday. The four unions also continued to hold information meetings to explain the details of the package.
The unions are confident the Labour Court proposals will be accepted. Ballot results will be known on Friday.