INO conference - Time to stepback from health abyss

Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney may well have dismissed the motion of no confidence voted unanimously by the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO), but it is an indicator of just how bitter the mood has become among the frontline healthcare staff.

The motion passed at the INO annual conference in Cavan may have been coloured by the current depth of feeling held by the IMO towards the minister, but it also reflected the exasperation borne by delegates caused by the ailing health system.

Apart altogether from the diary commitment which caused her to miss the conference and break a ministerial tradition of attending, considered a snub by the INO, the minister has fallen considerably short of what had become to be expected of her.