Monaghan's ASTI branch secretary has branded the money set aside in last week's Budget for a new public-sector pay deal an "insult" to workers, speaking from the picket line outside St Louis' Secondary School as the biggest public-service strike in 17 years closed schools, hospitals and council offices across the county.
Enda Toruish told Northern Sound on Wednesday afternoon, 14 October, that the €1.2 billion earmarked for a pay agreement would not keep public-sector wages in line with inflation over the coming years. "It's an insult. It's an insult to the people who get up early every morning, go out and do their work and work bloody hard," he said.
Angry at the delay to talks
Toruish said teachers did not want to be on the picket line and would rather be in their classrooms. He argued the Government's offer to negotiate had come too late, with people "very angry" that a pay agreement had not been settled before now. "When you're forced into this position then you have to take a stand," he said.
His remarks land on the same day more than 20,000 ASTI members picketed second-level schools nationwide. ASTI General Secretary Linda Kelly said teachers received a 1.5% increase in 2026 while annual inflation is now over 4% and rising. ASTI President Richie Bell said the €1.2bn provision in Budget 2027 "would amount to a pay cut in real terms" and that addressing the inflation-pay gap must be at the centre of any talks.
Nurses outside Monaghan Hospital
On the health side of the Monaghan stoppage, INMO representative Mags McMahon spoke to Northern Sound outside Monaghan Hospital. She said nobody wanted to be on a picket line and that staff would rather be inside doing their jobs, but "something had to give". Cost-of-living pressure was hitting everyone, she said, and "the government needs to listen".
The Anglo-Celt reported that healthcare services linked to Monaghan Hospital, Cavan General Hospital and the wider community and primary-care network were among those affected, with emergency and essential care prioritised where cover could be arranged. Across Cavan and Monaghan, teachers from INTO and ASTI, Fórsa staff including special needs assistants, civil servants and local-authority workers joined the 24-hour action after the previous public-service pay deal expired on 30 June.
What happens next
A work-to-rule that began at the end of September remains in place after today's stoppage. The Public Services Committee has already scheduled a further national strike for Wednesday 21 October. The Department of Public Expenditure has urged unions into talks without preconditions and pointed to the Budget funding for a new agreement; unions say that pot is not a credible answer to rising living costs.
For the full rundown of what closed in Monaghan today — council offices, schools, and the listed pickets at Monaghan General Hospital, St Davnet's and St Mary's Castleblayney — see our strike day guide.