It was the Republic's first bank strike in 12 years but the public would have been hard pressed to tell anything was amiss at Bank of Ireland yesterday when 200 computer staff stopped work in protest at moves to outsource them. Edward Power reports.

Striking workers picketed Bank of Ireland's IT support centre in Dublin but, as promised, their 24-hour stoppage was otherwise a discreet affair.

Hopes of a breakthrough in the dispute, over the bank's plans to transfer its IT support division to Hewlett-Packard in a €600 million outsourcing deal, appear as distant as ever after management yesterday spurned an Irish Bank Official Association (IBOA) offer of conciliatory talks.

The bank objects to the IBOA's nomination of veteran trade unionist and Bank of Scotland (Ireland) chairman Mr Phil Flynn as mediator.

Bank of Scotland's aggressive entry into the Irish market has aroused the enmity of existing players and Bank of Ireland is still smarting over its claims that the industry here is not competitive enough.

The snub drew a sharp response from the IBOA, which warned of escalating industrial action following a meeting of the bank's union executive next week.

Bank spokesman Mr David Holden said, with only 200 of the 500-strong IT section participating in protests, the strike had minimal impact. However, the IBOA said that at midnight Friday IT staff, including non-union members, downed tools and walked off the job.

Acknowledging Mr Flynn was a respected mediator in bank disputes, Mr Holden said his ties with Bank of Scotland made him unacceptable as arbitrator. Labour Court talks remain the only viable route he said.

IBOA general secretary Mr Larry Broderick said an appeal to the Labour Court would breach agreed negotiation protocol.