Tánaiste dismisses ‘posturing’ over her INO no-show

NURSES’ leaders yesterday hit out at the Health Minister for her failure to attend their annual conference, an attack dismissed as “posturing” by her spokesman.

Yesterday the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) — whose AGM gets under way in Cavan today — expressed disappointment that Tánaiste Mary Harney, who was invited to the event in January, would not be attending. It is the first time in 30 years that a health minister has missed the event.

INO general secretary Liam Doran said: “We hope her absence is not as a result of the public position the INO has taken, on behalf of patients, nurses and midwives, on A&E overcrowding and other issues over the past 12 months.”