A young Wexford man has penned a poem showing his support for nurses.
Jack Matthews posted his work on Facebook on the 8th of February, as a nurses strike gripped the country.
INMO members downed tools in a row over pay restoration and staff retention.
Jack told the Irish Mirror that the poem highlights "something fundamentally wrong" with the country.
Read the full poem below.
You Nurses (with fire on your tongues)' by Jack Matthews
Hospitals through this country, are blessed throughout the...
Posted by Jack Matthews on Friday, February 8, 2019
Jack's poem reads;
You Nurses (with fire on your tongues)' by Jack Matthews
Hospitals through this country, are blessed throughout the year,
To have actual superheroes, who cure, comfort and care.
I have made an error already-
It's this country that is fortuitous to have these real life saints,
Men and women committed to the ailments of all pains-
Physical, psychological, emotional and grief,
Anxiety and aggression, they stand firm for our relief.
The patients will often lose patience, but you Nurses continue to nurse,
Your thankless work and efforts, completed on an empty purse.
When a mother's told it's lost,
When a father can't be there,
When a granny sits there crying,
Amid a granda's fear,
When a child is scared of needles,
When his sister cannot walk,
When the news that comes is awful and we suddenly forget how to talk-
There's a nurse on guard with training, who's giving 110,
She's beyond the rules and protocol and will treat you then as a friend.
So tell me Leo Varadkar, if a friend of yours fell ill,
Would you have a smiling nurse beside or a slightly cheaper bill?
Would you sacrifice a year of your pension, would your colleagues do the same?
Would you apologise to our nurses that RTÉ are trying to blame?
Listen, there are children opening presents while their mammy works away,
There are sisters who can't meet their brothers for a pint on Patrick's Day.
Corporations who have plundered billions, you bankers and politicians too,
Simon Harris, you Minister for Health, what are you going to do?
Will you pay for our fu**ing nurses, let your gratitude be seen,
Will you give your people a morsel of respect, the kind we looked for in 1916?
Will you just pay our nurses, will you give them what they want!
You'll surely be right glad of it when you're frail and your face is gaunt.
If you don't pay our nurses or treat them with respect,
Then you have failed this country through pure arrogance and neglect.
This isn't anti Fine-Gael, Fianna Fáil or a Labour Party curse,
This is a plea from the Irish people to look after the Irish nurse!
You nurses forced to emigrate we salute you with our regards,
And thank you nurses still battling, in underfunded Irish wards.
