'We will no longer accept being treated as a lower order'

Beaumont Hospital:The nurses' campaign could "be a long one", said INO general secretary Liam Doran yesterday as he urged nurses to "remain united" and to "never, ever apologise" for their aims.

Speaking outside Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, to about 800 nurses - many of whom had travelled from the Rotunda, Temple Street, Cappagh and St Vincent's hospitals - Mr Doran said their campaign was "just" and would succeed.

Passing motorists beeped horns throughout the one-hour work stoppage as nurses carried placards with such slogans as: "Eyes wide open Harney, we won't blink" and "Mary, Mary quite contrary see how your nurses go . . . to foreign lands."

Paddy Gallagher, of the INO committee in Beaumont, addressed the crowd, saying: "I know it's been a bit of a walk here today. But it doesn't matter how far we have to walk, how high the mountain to climb, because we will walk it together. Mary Harney says nursing is an honourable profession. Well why the hell doesn't she start honouring us?"

Eddie Matthews, INO industrial relations officer for the northern area, described the protest as a "great day for Beaumont and a great day for nursing".

"We are the heartbeat of the health service and we will no longer accept being treated as a lower order."

Mr Doran warned they would face attacks from the Government and the HSE attempting to "besmirch" them. "We're going to be told we've lost our nursing skills. We're going to be told we have become money-grabbing capitalists, and that's coming from people who have had a 134 per cent salary increase in the past 10 years.

"Never take a step back," he urged. "Never apologise. Never hesitate to explain why you are worth as much as a play therapist or a chiropodist or a physiotherapist. This campaign could well be a long campaign. It may well be days, weeks before there is any satisfactory level of progress . . . Never ever feel the campaign is unending because every day we turn the screw with the work-to-rule is a good day for the campaign.

"So I ask for patience and solidarity. Stay loyal to the patients. Stay loyal to yourselves and we will succeed. Because this is a just campaign. Stay loyal and stay united."

Beaumont Hospital management said the one-hour stoppage did not disrupt services "over and above that anticipated".

However, chief executive Liam Duffy said he was worried "a prolonged or escalated dispute would make it increasingly difficult for the hospital to maintain its services in the future".

Nurses who spoke to The Irish Timessaid they were prepared for a long campaign. One said the longer it continued the "more determined" they became. Others said they thought there should be an escalation.