A roundup of the nurses' dispute
Dublin
A man who was treated for cancer at Dublin's St James's Hospital joined up to 1,000 nurses on the picket line outside the hospital yesterday to support their campaign for a pay rise and a shorter working week.
Gerry Dempsey from Inchicore appeared in some discomfort as he carried a large placard in addition to crutches. It read: "I am not a nurse but when I was sick they were there for me. Now I am here for them."
He explained that he had had many dealings with nurses, not just when he had cancer, but also when he had a triple bypass.
"You see these people from a different perspective when you're lying on a hospital bed," he said.
"I came out to support them because I feel they are getting a bit of a rough time with the spin that's been organised against them. I genuinely believe anything they ask for they should get."
He believes the Government will "pay for it in the election" for not trying to resolve the dispute, now in its third week.
Liam Doran, general secretary of the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO), told the nurses their campaign may be a long one but he urged them to "stay absolutely solid" and to "lean on politicians" so their demands were met. - Eithne Donnellan
Ennis
A protest rally by nurses inside the grounds of Ennis hospital was told yesterday that nurses "are not for turning" in their campaign to secure improved pay and conditions.
Addressing a rally of more than 200 nurses, the INO industrial relations officer for the midwest, Mary Fogarty, said: "Go back to Bertie Ahern and the Government and tell them we are not for turning and that we have a mandate to pursue a 35-hour week and to have a long-standing pay anomaly addressed." Ms Fogarty was speaking to nurses during a one-hour work stoppage at Ennis hospital and at the local adult psychiatric unit.
Nurses from Cork, Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary attended the demonstration. - Gordon Deegan
Portlaoise
Three hundred nurses protested at Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise yesterday. The HSE said the stoppage had minimal impact on hospital services. Four surgical procedures were cancelled at the hospital due to the protest.
Three general election candidates in the Laois/Offaly constituency attended the protest: Fine Gael TD Olwyn Enright and the party's former Dáil deputy Charlie Flanagan, as well as Sinn Féin's Brian Stanley.
A speech by Dave Hughes of the INO was received with applause when he said that the politicians' attendance would not go unnoticed on polling day.
"They will be rewarded and will be remembered with the votes of the nurses, but those who forget us, we'll forget them too," he said. - Niamh O'Donoghue