Students joined the Irish Nurses and Midwifery Organisation (INMO) strike at St James’ Hospital this afternoon.
A contingent of roughly 40 students – including members of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union, Trinity Nursing and Midwifery Society and Trinity People Before Profit – left House Six this morning to show their support for the nurses on the first of a series of planned INMO strike.
Speaking to The University Times, TCDSU President Shane de Rís said: “Today is very important, not just in terms of the nurses who are striking but also in creating opportunities for student nurses and midwives.”
“The opportunities that exist in the Irish health system do not provide an adequate wage for them to be able to live and carry out the essential duty that nurses have. We will be following the lead of the INMO on all their actions going forward.”
Over 100 students and nurses protested outside St James’s Hospital and chante: “open your purses, pay the nurses” and “Pascal O’Donoghue hear us say, pay the nurses then we’ll stay”.
Speaking to The University Times, Ida Lis, the Nursing and Midwifery School Convenor for TCDSU, said: “I’m so happy with the turnout today. Basically we want safe working conditions and we want to study in a safe environment. It’s not about a pay rise, it’s about pay restoration and for fair pay for the amount of study we do.”
Megan O’Connor, a third-year nursing student in Trinity, also expressed happiness at the number of students who joined the protest. “We’re so happy to see the turnout here today, it’s great to see all the people supporting us, even all the people passing us, all the bus drivers are hooting at us, it’s really great”, she told The University Times.
“Conditions are at dangerous levels. It’s our futures, and we’re not sure if we’re gonna be able to stay or go.”
TCDSU council last night voted to support the strike, with De Rís saying: “We will be coordinating our support for the INMO action with our nursing and midwifery students. We have been fighting for a fair wage and working conditions for student nurses and that lies at the heart of this strike action.”
Around 37,000 members of the the INMO have voted to stage six 24-hour strikes, and have called today’s action “the most serious strike our country’s health service has seen”. This comes after 95 per cent of INMO members voted to support the action before Christmas. Nurses are fighting for a 12 per cent pay rise to bring them in line with other health professionals.
Ciaran Molloy also contributed reporting to this piece.
