Nurses and midwives at Midwest Hospitals are among over 37,000 across the country who have taken to the picket line in the past hour.
They’re demanding pay increases and government action on staff shortages, but the Government says wage hikes would open the floodgates for other unions to seek pay claims, which the State cannot afford.
The local injury units at Ennis and Nenagh are closed today and people are being urged not to attend the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick unless necessary.
But the UL Hospitals Group has reassured that contingency plans are in place to provide safe care for patients.
This nurses, who’s among a number protesting outside Ennis General Hospital this morning, says the decision to strike hasn’t been taken lightly.
And you can hear more on this on Clare FM’s Morning Focus after 9am.
