NURSES who work in the hospitals of Cavan, Louth, Monaghan and Meath are very angry and say their decision to defer striking for two weeks should not be seen as the thin end of the wedge. "We are all ready to go on strike," said one nurse at the Nuremore Hotel in Carrickmacross yesterday morning.
The mood of the 250 delegates was determined. The meeting lasted 21/2 hours and was addressed by the INO's deputy general secretary, Mr Liam Doran. He answered questions on what the Labour Court recommendations meant. "I don't think they will make much difference" said another nurse as she left to start her afternoon shift.
The delegates, including a handful of men, arrived wearing their "I support the nurses" stickers and left with posters and strike information leaflets. The message was that this was a deferral and nothing else, and that the carers who were prepared to provide only emergency care from today were more than ready to carry that plan out in two weeks, if all their needs were not adequately addressed.
The recommendations on the five central issues were discussed and the nurses were still deeply unhappy with the continued requirement of 35 years service to qualify for early retirement at 55. They said this would only apply to a small number of nurses.
After the meeting, Mr Doran described the situation as "very fluid ... the view is to defer for no longer than two weeks and to vote [on the recommendations] with a result on Friday week and if it is a `no' vote, to resume the strike action on Monday week."
The proposed commission to examine the nurses' role in the community and the health services was generally supported but only as an addition to the other issues being addressed.