08/01/2002

ICE launch nurse in Australia open days

A new push by the ICE Group, an Ireland-wide recruitment agency, has been launched to attract qualified nurses who wish to travel and work in Australia.

As part of the company’s recent Nursing Abroad Programme, the two open days on Thursday, January 10, and Thursday, January 17, will continue the successful recruitment drive, which is being run in conjunction with some of the leading hospitals in central Sydney.

The programme is designed to ensure that nurses planning to travel to Australia can do so in the knowledge that they will have secure employment with an immediate income, and free accommodation when they arrive in Sydney.

The programme has already attracted and placed a large number of suitable candidates, leading to the Sydney hospitals offering more positions.

By running the two open days simultaneously in their Dublin and Galway offices ICE Group are hoping to capitalise on the large number of nurses who after qualification wish to spread their wings while gaining valuable work experience overseas.

ICE Group National Recruitment Manager, Trish Kelly, said: “These open days are an opportunity for nurses to come in, chat with our consultants prior to meeting with representatives from the hospitals in Sydney in late January. We assess the candidates suitability as well as helping them to prepare for meeting the Australian representatives.”

In the period 2000-2001 almost 11,500 Irish people received the Australian Working Holiday visa, and the vast majority of these people do not have work or accommodation arranged in advance of their arrival.

“Nursing is an international qualification and Irish Nurses have been travelling to Australia for years, gaining valuable work and life experience. However many encounter delays and difficulties in securing employment and accommodation when they arrive. By having advance interviews in Ireland they can solve most of the hassle they would normally experience,” said Ms Kelly.

She said that the contracts, mostly three-month temporary placements, suited the majority of travellers to Australia who go to work and travel from place to place.

Aileen Fitzgerald, co-ordinator of the Nurse Abroad Programme said that the three-month contract offered nurses a perfect opportunity to get a start, to garner some experience and then after three months in Sydney to move on with that Australian experience in their CV.

The open days will run all day from 9am to 5.30pm on Thursday, January 10, and Thursday, January 15, at ICE Group’s offices in Galway and Dublin. (SP)

Related Northern Ireland Business News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

03 June 2004
UK has fewer work stoppages than ever
UK work stoppages fell to 133 last year, the lowest on record, according to the June edition of Labour Market Trends out today. This new low, which saw working days lost in 2003 total 499,100, compares with 146 stoppages (1.323 million days lost) in 2002 and 194 stoppages (525,100 days lost) in 2001.
21 August 2019
NI Firm Donates £33k Towards Hospice Care
A Northern Ireland home builder has committed £33,000 to fund hospice care for the terminally ill. Hagan Homes, an award-winning company based in Ballyclare, has donated the money to the Northern Ireland Hospice's 'Time to Care' project.
23 August 2002
Conference highlights £1.27bn SME sector funding
A major European conference next month aims to help small firms to access the £1.27 billion of cash aid available to SMEs throughout the UK.
26 March 2002
Number of days lost to industrial disputes on the increase
In Ireland the number of working days lost due to industrial disputes has risen sharply since 2001. Over 114,000 working days were lost in 2001. This represented almost a 20 per cent increase from 2000 in the time lost due to industrial action.
22 February 2002
CBI pressures government over plight of UK manufacturers
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) have published a strategy document to put pressure on Trade Minister Patricia Hewitt to help the beleaguered manufacturing industry.