Emergency Department Nurses are to go ahead with strike action next week after they voted to reject a package to tackle overcrowding and staffing issues.

Nurses voted by 58 per cent to 42 per cent against the package which was agreed at the Workplace Relations Commission last month.

In response to the ballot result, the executive council of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says the first in a series of strikes will go ahead on Thursday next week.

It will involve two-hour rolling stoppages at Emergency departments around the country.

In a statement, the HSE said it was hopeful that further discussions with nurses could prevent industrial action.

INMO General Secretary Liam Doran says he understands why nurses rejected the deal: