Thousands of public sector workers stage 24-hour strike in Northern Ireland

Combined action by about 150,000 nurses, teachers, cleaners and other sector workers is biggest in living memory

Thousands of public sector workers have staged pickets and marches across Northern Ireland in the biggest strike in living memory.

The combined action by nurses, teachers, bus drivers, carers, cleaners, civil servants and other sectors brought parts of the region to a standstill on Thursday and raised the stakes in a political crisis that has paralysed devolved government.