'Stick to the day job', O'Reilly tells singing nurse

It will go down in nursing annals as “Song-gate”, the fatal ministerial quip that immediately killed James Reilly’s chances of escaping, relatively unscathed, from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) annual delegate conference.

When 61-year-old Bolatito Aderemi sang ‘Enough is Enough’ — a reference to possible further pay cuts — the minister just couldn’t resist telling her to “stick to the day job”.

It was like putting a match to the wick of a firework. Having barely contained their displeasure during 20 minutes of ministerial pontification about achievements in the health service, midwives and nurses were outraged at the minister’s parting remark as he walked from the conference room.