RTÉ reports that the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation decided to ballot for strike action over pay and staff shortages. If members vote in favour, nurses across the public service will hold a 24-hour stoppage with only emergency cover provided. The INMO will not commence its ballot for two weeks to give the HSE and the Department of Health a "cooling-off" period to bring forward "meaningful" proposals. In a statement issued yesterday the INMO explained that the vote aims to resolve understaffing in the health service, where low wages have made it impossible for the HSE to recruit and retain enough nurses and midwives to provide safe care.
Following on from comments made yesterday by the Taoiseach, in whch Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that hospital consultants, nurses and other medical professionals should not be on extended leave over Christmas and the first two weeks of January to ensure that every hospital bed is open, the President of the Irish Medical Organisation has said annual leave is not a contributor to the overcrowding problem in Irish hospitals, which manifests in the emergency departments. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Dr Peadar Gilligan said the issue is one of a lack of capacity.
The midterm elections are carried in all of the papers this morning, It was a night of firsts as US voters elected two Muslim women, two Native American women and their first openly gay governor. The election of two Muslim women, both Democrats, to Congress, marks a historic first in a country where anti-Muslim rhetoric has been on the rise. Democrats have won control of the House of Representatives in the US midterm elections, but the party’s hoped-for “blue wave” failed to materialise as Republicans looked likely to increase their majority in the Senate.
A new governance code for charities which includes a guide on a limit on the number of years a trustee can remain in place is due to be launched today. It’s the first time minimum standards have been set out for the sector. Charities are advised to consider introducing term limits for charity trustees, with a suggested maximum of nine years in total.They will be expected to be compliant with the code from 2020.
The Irish Times covers the sacking of six Ryanair cabin crew following the "staging" of a image of them lying on a Spanish airport office floor last month after becoming stranded by bad weather. The image was staged in protest at their treatment at Malaga Airport on the Costa del Sol in the early hours of October 14th. They were part of a group of eight pilots and 16 cabin crew based in Portugal who said they were forced to spend several hours in a room after landing at Malaga airport just after midnight following diversions caused by Hurricane Leslie.
Our zen today looks at Beatlemania. On this day in 1963 The Beatles arrived to Ireland to play Dublin’s Adelphi cinema. Reporter Frank Hall talks to the four band members about fame, the Mersey sound, hair-styles and George Harrison’s mother.
.
