Strikes: Thousands attend rallies in major strike over pay

Thousands of public sector workers have staged rallies during what was billed as Northern Ireland's largest strike in 50 years.

Rita Devlin, from the Royal College of Nursing , said the action "didn't need to happen" and criticised the Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris for not implementing pay increases.Alan Perry from the GMB union said staff would rather be gritting the roads but felt they had "no other option".

People have been advised to only make essential journeys as the combination of icy conditions and a lack of road gritting makes driving hazardous. He criticised the DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson for not restoring an executive and Mr Heaton-Harris for not releasing money to address the pay disputes in the absence of a devolved government.The Department of Health has said there will be a "significantly reduced health service" and people are advised to take care "to reduce your chances of needing health service treatment".

"The workers on the street know there is £584m that can be put in their pockets and at this juncture the British government are choosing to use that as a ransom against the DUP," she said.

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