World · Europe · 1 hr ago
Irish public sector workers strike over stalled pay talks
Hundreds of thousands of public workers across Ireland went on strike for one day on Wednesday.
Teachers, doctors and civil servants walked off the job to demand higher wages.
The strike closed most schools and canceled thousands of medical appointments across the country.
Pay talks have been stalled since June, and unions want Prime Minister Micheál Martin to help move them forward.
Workers say rising living costs have made their pay insufficient; inflation reached 4.1% in the year to September, while housing costs rose 9.5%.
The government has pointed to an additional 1.2 billion euros for public sector pay, and Martin said he was open to helping resolve the dispute.
Further talks between unions and the government are expected, though no agreement is stated.
Hundreds of thousands of Irish public sector workers went on a one-day strike over stalled pay talks.
The walkout involved teachers, doctors and civil servants and disrupted services across the country.
Most schools, colleges and universities closed, while thousands of medical appointments were canceled.
Unions said workers needed higher pay to meet rising living costs, and called on Prime Minister Micheál Martin to intervene.
The government said it was committed to adding 1.2 billion euros to public sector pay, while Martin said he was open to helping resolve the dispute.
- Who
- Hundreds of thousands of teachers, doctors and civil servants in Ireland.
- What
- They staged a one-day strike over stalled public sector pay talks.
- When
- Wednesday, October 14, 2026.
- Where
- Across Ireland.
- Why
- Workers sought higher wages to offset the rising cost of living, and the pay talks had been stalled since June.
Public sector workers and unions
Irish government
Pay demands
Public sector workers and unions
Workers and unions called for higher wages to address the rising cost of living.
Irish government
The government said its budget decisions provided a strong foundation for pay talks and committed an additional 1.2 billion euros to public sector pay.
Talks
Public sector workers and unions
Forsa’s general secretary said the government needed to respond to members’ demands.
Irish government
Micheál Martin said he was open to acting as an “honest broker” and detected goodwill on both sides.
Pay talks had been stalled since June.
Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers staged a one-day strike across Ireland.
Micheál Martin said he was open to acting as an “honest broker” to resolve the pay dispute.
- Workers involved
- Hundreds of thousands
- Strike duration
- One day
- Talks stalled since
- June
- Additional pay funding cited by government
- 1.2 billion euros
- Inflation
- 4.1% in the 12 months through September
3 sources
What people are saying
The government needs to respond to our members today, right across the country
I think the foundations are there for a very substantive engagement between unions and government, and we certainly will be doing everything we possibly can
Every time you go to the supermarket you feel it