Ballinasloe
A Fianna Fáil TD has called on Taoiseach Bertie
Ahern to intervene in the nurses' dispute.
Galway East deputy Joe Callinan said he supported the nurses' demands for a pay increase and a 35-hour week, having listened to their case at a rally at Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, Co Galway.
The Irish Nurses' Organisation in Galway criticised the regional HSE for postponing seven elective operations during yesterday's one-hour stoppage at the hospital. Noreen Muldoon, INO industrial relations officer for the west, said there was no necessity to cancel all the morning's surgery for a 60-minute stoppage. Some could have been carried out before the 11am walk-out, she said.
Up to 600 members of the INO and the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA), along with politicians and members of the public, joined a rally outside the Ballinasloe hospital yesterday.
The HSE said that the decision to postpone the elective surgery was taken on clinical advice from a safety perspective.
... Lorna Siggins
Cork
Some 800 nurses participated in yesterday's stoppage for an hour at Cork University Hospital, St Mary's Orthopaedic Hospital and South Lee Mental Services.
INO industrial relations officer Patsy Doyle said the huge turnout was a reflection of the nurses' determination.
The stoppage was supported by a number of Opposition candidates in various Cork constituencies including councillors Deirdre Clune, Jerry Buttimer and Michael Creed (FG); Ciarán Lynch ( Lab) and Mick Barry of the Socialist Party.
A HSE South spokesman said the work stoppage at CUH did not lead to the cancellation or postponement of any elective procedures but it did lead to delays in both the out-patients and emergency departments.
Barry Roche
Tralee
INO vice-president Sheila Dickson has called on Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny to show stronger support for the nurses.
Ms Dickson told nurses who took part in a one-hour stoppage at Kerry General in Tralee that none of the political parties had come out in full support, apart from Sinn Féin. Nurses had 45,000-plus votes and it was in all the parties' interest to support them, she said.
Fine Gael TD Jimmy Deenihan, who joined the nurses on the picket line, said it was "a bit rich to blame Fine Gael" when the Government had not entered into meaningful discussion with the INO nor had the HSE.
Kerry politicians joining the nurses yesterday were Martin Ferris TD and councillor Toireasa Ferris (SF), Jackie Healy-Rae TD (Ind) and Kerry North candidate Terry O'Brien (Lab).
Anne Lucey
Castlebar
Candidates in the Mayo five- seater constituency were warned that they needed to produce "hard and fast evidence" of support for the ongoing industrial action by nurses or they would suffer the consequences electorally.
"You won't be appointed, you'll be disappointed," Mary Conneally, vice chairwoman of the PNA, told a cheering crowd of about 200 INO and PNA members outside Mayo General Hospital.
... Tom Shiel