Rail passengers suffered another day of chaos yesterday as Iarnród Éireann drivers continued their unofficial strike for the second day in succession, writes Chris Dooley, Industry and Employment Correspondent.
Intensive efforts to resolve the dispute, assisted by industrial relations consultant Phil Flynn, were continuing late last night.
Mr Flynn was engaged in day-long meetings in Dublin with senior officials of the two unions representing drivers, Siptu and the National Bus and Rail Union.
The locomotive drivers' committee, which comprises drivers from both unions, was also involved in the discussions. There were fears that in the absence of an immediate resolution to the dispute, Iarnród Éireann could face a prolonged period of industrial action.
The strike began on Monday after two Cork-based drivers refused to operate a new high-tech train that the company had planned to bring into service on the Cork-Dublin route.
The action spread yesterday with drivers based in Athlone and Galway joining those in Dublin, Cork and Limerick who had stopped working on Monday in support of their two colleagues.
As a result, there were no services between Heuston Station in Dublin and Cork, Galway or Westport, while only one train ran between Dublin and Limerick.
Only the Waterford service from Heuston was operating to a near-normal level. Services to and from Connolly Station in Dublin remained unaffected.
An Iarnród Éireann spokeswoman said about 40,000 intending passengers were discommoded yesterday, an increase of about 5,000 from the previous day.
Iarnród Éireann had planned the introduction of the new "Mark Four" trains as part of a €117 million upgrade of services on the Dublin-Cork line.A claim by drivers for a 5 per cent pay increase and a reduction in working hours, in return for driving the trains and accepting other changes to their working conditions, was rejected by the Labour Court in January. However, drivers say the trains should not have been introduced until outstanding issues, such as the application of new safety standards, had been resolved.
Iarnród Éireann director of business development John Keenan insisted last night that the company could not make concessions to drivers who were engaged in an unofficial strike.
There was no question of the introduction of the new trains being postponed, he said. The company said the dispute was costing it more than €500,000 a day in lost revenue.
The Irish Hotels Federation said it was "extremely concerned" about the impact of the dispute on visitors to the regions. A spokeswoman said it had already cost regional hotels an estimated €150,000 in lost bookings.
Fine Gael transport spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell said the drivers should "get back to work and start thinking about their passengers".