It was difficult to hear Lucy Canning, a staff nurse from Skerries, on the picket line outside the Mater Hospital in Dublin on Thursday. It takes its toll.”The overriding message from speaking to half a dozen of the nurses on the picket line is anger that the Government has refused to sit down with them without preconditions, and a desire to get back to caring for patients. Then, there’s the pay issue, which Aedeen Burns, a site manager from Dublin, says she is “unashamed” to talk about. “I hope to be able to afford to stay in Dublin and live here, but at the minute that’s not going to be possible.”Crotty also says it is “stressful” to be on a picket line. “Patients are suffering ultimately.”Oisin O’Neill, who is also a fourth year nursing intern, says: “It’s great to see the support out here.

Source: The Irish Times February 07, 2019 18:14 UTC