Protective notice has been issued to 200 workers at the IFI plant at Arklow, Co Wicklow, effective on July 7th, due to a disruption to supplies caused by the rail dispute, the company said last night. IFI said it will be forced to curtail exports because of a shortfall in raw materials.
Management and union representatives met yesterday to discuss the situation. Workers were later informed that the disruption of ammonia shipments from Cork had forced a scaling down in production.
There were no moves yesterday to end the 10-day unofficial rail strike which is continuing to cause major disruption to passengers.
A spokesman for Iarnrod Eireann said there was an improvement on the Dublin-Cork route yesterday but the most affected service was the Kildare Arrow, which had some service in the morning but fared very badly in the afternoon.
The following trains are expected to operate today: Dublin-Cork 11.10, 13.20, 15.20, 17.10. Cork-Dublin 8.05, 19.15. Dublin-Tralee 8.03. Mallow-Dublin 8.46. Tralee-Dublin 9.15. Dublin-Limerick 10.05, 17.20, 17.30. Limerick-Dublin 6.45, 7.45, 14.25. Dublin-Galway - all services will operate. The 18.05 commuter train to Athlone is cancelled. Galway-Dublin - all services will operate. Dublin-Westport/Ballina 18.00. Westport-Dublin 13.05, 17.50. Dublin-Waterford 11.30, 15.05, 18.20. Waterford-Dublin 7.20, 10.45, 14.45. Dublin-Sligo 8.28, 13.25, 18.20, 17.15. Sligo-Dublin 7.20, 12.55, 17.45. Rosslare and Belfast routes - all services will operate in both directions.
Two-thirds of the suburban Drogheda/Dundalk services will operate. A reduced Arrow service between Dublin and Kildare is expected to run.