Ireland ground to halt today as 250,000 public and civil servants walked off the job.

As the country slips €25 billion into debt, doctors, teachers and tens of thousands of other workers stayed away.

The action, described as a “disgrace” by the private sector, could be the first of many future national shutdowns at a cost of €100m per stoppage to the taxpayer.

Chambers Ireland said public sector unions were “living in a dream world”.

The mass action comes just a fortnight before Finance Minister Brian Lenihan introduces €4bn worth of budget cuts that will severely hurt every family.

As unions admitted “nobody” wanted a strike, teachers and nurses were joined on the picket lines by administrators and prison officers.

The protest went ahead even though talks between the unions and the Government are expected to get under way tomorrow.

The basis of the discussions will be a 'vision document' on the future of the public service that was delivered to unions last Friday.

Shouted

Ordinary citizens were hit by a day of inconvenience as all public offices remained shut, while 55,000 social welfare recipients did not receive their scheduled payments.

“Open the door there and I'll go in and do your job,” one passerby shouted to picketers at the National Library.

Another motorist at the Passport Office roared: “Why don't you just go back to work like the rest of us.”

In newspaper ads today, unions admitted: “Nobody wants a public service strike. Public servants certainly don't.

Nobody who depends on vital public service wants it. Neither do any of our colleagues who are suffering in the private sector.”

They even added: “Ireland's international image doesn't need it.”

The statement came after union leaders agreed to re-enter talks with the Government but refused to back down on their strike plans. Instead they warned of a second day of action unless the Government guarantees not to slash wages.

The Government is seeking to cut the public service pay bill by €1.3bn in the Budget, but unions want reform and alternative ways of making savings.

The negative affects of today's protest are likely to be felt for weeks with 16,000 hospital appointments being cancelled and HSE swine flu vaccination clinics being closed.

Embassies in London and Brussels, where staff are paid by the Irish Exchequer, were also hit by the strike.

The Army had to be drafted in to carry out security duties at several Government offices, including Leinster House.

Some 65,000 teachers and lecturers working in primary and second-level schools, further education colleges and third-level institutions also refused to work.

It is the first time since the controversial ASTI strike in 2001 that schools across the country closed because of industrial action.

Gardai are barred from strike action, but while officers did report for work this morning, most choose to avoid issuing penalty points.

Only emergency services are guaranteed up until midnight, when normal service will resume.

Public sector unions have called off industrial action in areas that have been worst affected by the floods.

A statement said: “Local authority and health staff, emergency services and others will be on duty in those areas today.”

But private sector representatives have expressed widespread outrage at the strikes.

Unacceptable

The Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) said it was “unacceptable” and “wrong” for public sector unions to drag the general public, including the most vulnerable in society, into a dispute that would not create a single job.

“Instead, those who have the most secure jobs and pensions are adding to the burdens of the country, as we struggle to put our finances back onto a sustainable path,” they said.

Mark Fielding of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises association (ISME) argued that unions needed to realise that the alternative to Government cuts in the public sector is bankruptcy, leading to the IMF, the EU, or both, taking over the financial affairs of the State.

“Strike action will serve no purpose, except to create hardship for those in need, inconvenience the public and undermine the economy internationally, which will have negative consequences on future investment,” he added.

But in a collective statement the unions said that public sector cuts would “mean a massive €1.3bn will be sucked out of Ireland's real economy – the economy that keeps Ireland's heart beating; the economy of ordinary business; the economies of our homes, streets, towns and cities”.

IMPACT spokesperson Bernard Harbor said all people involved in the strikes “regret” their actions but that it was a necessary evil.

He said unions were willing to look at “extraordinary measures” but not simple pay cuts.

“If the Government cuts pay again there will certainly be more industrial action,” he said.

In response, Minister of State Conor Lenihan said that putting the issue on the long finger is “not an option”.

- Kevin Doyle and Conor Feehan