Talking softly while carrying a big stick

AS one reporter quipped on Saturday, Health Minister Dr James Reilly is effectively living out the old Teddy Roosevelt phrase of “talking softly, while carrying a big stick”.

In the dark arts of negotiation, which the current Government is getting a lot of practice at of late, the remark by the former US president is always good advice for someone who has to make their views clear without being lynched in the process.

During the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) annual conference in Waterford on Saturday, the Fine Gael deputy leader gave the clearest example why. Speaking to the medical union’s members at Faithlegg House Hotel, Dr Reilly confirmed that consultants would have to work longer hours for the same money, or work the same hours for less.