Q - Why are the train drivers on strike? A - The trigger for the dispute was Iarnród Éireann's decision to press ahead on Monday with the introduction of its new high-tech, "Mark Four" train.
A Cork-based driver and his standby both refused to operate one of the new trains, which was due to depart Kent Station at 5.30am. The company did not suspend them but said they would not be paid while they weren't working.
All of their Cork-based and Dublin-based colleagues, and about half of those based in Limerick, immediately came out in support of the two drivers. Yesterday Athlone-based and Galway-based drivers joined the dispute.
Q - Were the other drivers who went on strike also required to drive the new trains?
A - No, they were being asked to work normally.
Q - What is the drivers' objection to the new trains anyway?
A - The drivers believe they should not be asked to operate the Mark Four trains until a range of what they see as related issues, including the introduction of new safety standards, are dealt with.
Iarnród Éireann says the new trains are a separate issue and the drivers are required to operate them, under the terms of a Labour Court recommendation of last January.
Q - What are these other issues, then? Did the Labour Court deal with them?
A - Most of the issues involved were addressed by the Labour Court in January. At that time the drivers' unions, Siptu and the National Bus and Rail Union, were seeking a 5 per cent pay increase as well as a reduction in drivers' working hours.
Q - Was this in return for driving the new, high-tech trains?
A - Yes, but also as compensation for other changes in work practices. For example, the company had introduced new safety standards which the unions said were having a significant impact on drivers' careers.
One such measure, known as "standard 23", involved drivers accumulating, in effect, penalty points for safety breaches. A driver who reached 25 points could find his career in "serious jeopardy", the unions said.
Iarnród Éireann accepted at the court hearing that standard 23 had been introduced in an unsatisfactory manner.
Q - What did the court say?
A - The court found that drivers were not entitled to pay increases or reduced working hours in return for driving the new trains.
It upheld the company's argument that the changes in work practices involved were already encompassed in a comprehensive agreement drawn up between the two sides in 2000 known as the "new deal".
But it said discussions should immediately commence on issues including the implementation of standard 23.
Q - Did that happen?
A - Yes, the company and the unions have been engaged in talks on standard 23 and other outstanding issues since January, as recommended by the court.
Q - Are the talks continuing?
A - Yes, only last week the two sides agreed to appoint industrial relations consultant Phil Flynn as mediator.
Q - So where did things go wrong?
A - The company, having invested €117 million in new carriages and engines, was anxious to proceed with the introduction of the Mark Four trains, on a trial basis, on Monday. This angered the drivers who claimed all of the outstanding issues should have been agreed first.
Q - Their strike is unofficial. Does that mean it is illegal?
A - Unions are required under the Industrial Relations Act of 1990 to hold a secret ballot and give at least a week's notice of industrial action. Employers are precluded from taking legal action against them once those provisions are met.
By acting as they have, the workers could be said to have placed themselves outside the protection of the Act. It could therefore be open to the company to pursue them for financial losses.