Could Wednesday’s strike by 300,000 public sector workers be a one and done?
The Government – not to mention people impacted by the largest industrial action in almost 20 years – will certainly hope so.
A second strike day is planned for next week, but there is some hope it could be averted.
As Pat Leahy and Emmet Malone report in our lead story, it is expected that contacts between the Government and unions will now intensify as officials seek to find a way forward that could avoid a second strike next Wednesday.
Speaking in Brussels on Wednesday evening, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there was “a sense of goodwill and a willingness to get a resolution on this”.
The Government is “open for negotiations”, he said. “We will engage and see if we can find a basis and a process that would be satisfactory to all sides that enable negotiations to take place and avoid any action next week.”
There have been suggestions in Government about a possible preliminary process at the Workplace Relations Commission that could see a draft agenda for negotiations agreed, but officials remained tight-lipped on Wednesday night, citing the sensitivity of the issue.
Union sources played down the suggestion of a fresh initiative from the Government, though it is understood informal contacts are continuing.
Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said that recent comments by Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers suggested “there may be a pathway” to negotiations on a new deal. Callinan chairs the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, which is due to meet on Thursday to review the situation.
Opposition parties all declared support for the strikes and urged the Government to enter negotiations and agree pay increases for public servants.
Unions claimed widespread public support on the picket lines as industrial action shut schools, colleges, local and national Government offices and severely restricted health services across the country yesterday.
Some of the workers who went on strike set out their reasons here.
The coming days will tell whether they will be back on the streets next week.
Best Reads
Wednesday’s Inside Politics podcast looks at how the public sector pay dispute might end.
British prime minister Andy Burnham has reinforced his support for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy following a meeting in Downing Street. Burnham’s backing came after US president Donald Trump increased pressure on Kyiv and Russia hit the country’s energy plants with a fresh wave of missile and drone attacks.
Philip and Kim English, and two of their sons, Callum and Jayden, were murdered in an attack on their home by a gang trying to collect a €20,000 drug debt, a family member has said. Conor Lally reports.
Martin Doyle has a story about how Normal People author Sally Rooney’s books will no longer be available in UK over her support for Palestine Action.
The Office of Public Works is to conduct an assessment of the legal and contractual implications of terminating or withdrawing from the project to deliver a proposed national children’s science centre, the Dáil’s public spending watchdog has been told.
Ministers have criticised anonymous comments about the fitness of Minister for Communications Patrick O’Donovan to continue in his role because of health concerns.
Playbook
The Dáil kicks off with Minister for Rural Development Dara Calleary due to take Parliamentary Questions at 8.47am.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is expected to be up next at 10.23am.
Uisce Éireann will be before the Committee of Public Accounts from 10.30am to be quizzed on its financial statements for 2025. The agency says that sustained capital investment of approximately €2 billion a year over the next 25 years will be required to maintain and transform the water and wastewater networks countrywide and address legacy deficits. Martin Wall has a tee-up story here.
The Committee on Children is launching its report on technology, social media and children at 11am.
Leaders’ Questions is at noon.
There is an opportunity for TDs to ask questions on topical issues at 1.52pm.
Amid the ongoing dispute on pay talks, the Labour Party has a motion on public sector pay, which is to be debated from 2.52pm.
Proposed legislation from Sinn Féin aimed at naming the new national children’s hospital after early 20th century doctor and political activist Kathleen Lynn is to be debated from 4:52pm.
The Committee on Further and Higher Education will hear from representatives of universities on the topic of funding for third level institutions from 9.30am.
The Committee on Defence and National Security meets at 9.30am to discuss building national resilience and national emergency planning. There will be representatives from the Office of Emergency Planning as well as the Civil Defence and local authorities in attendance.
The Committee on Enterprise will hear from employers’ group Ibec on the EU Cybersecurity Act from 10am.
Cork City Council representatives are due to attend the Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community to discuss an accommodation site in Ballyvolane. The meeting starts at 12.30pm.
Doctors for Universal Healthcare will be among attendees at the Committee on Health, which is considering Ireland’s progress toward a universal healthcare system at 12.30pm.
The Committee on Agriculture will conduct pre-legislative scrutiny of the planned Deforestation and Forest Degradation Bill 2026 at 2pm.
