Talks to avert a two-day strike by Iarnrod Eireann signallers will begin at the Labour Relations Commission this afternoon.
SIPTU's rail branch secretary, Mr Tony Tobin, warned last night that it would be almost impossible to avert tomorrow's stoppage at this stage.
If it goes ahead all mainline services, including Dublin and Cork suburban routes, will not operate again until Friday. DART services will not be affected.
The talks begin at 2 p.m., just 10 hours before the deadline for strike action at midnight. "I am totally and absolutely at a loss to know why talks are only taking place at the eleventh hour," Mr Tobin said.
"We said we would be available from 11 a.m. tomorrow. Meeting at two o'clock leaves very little time, and I don't see any possibility at this stage of averting the dispute."
Meanwhile, the result of the Aer Lingus clerical staff ballot on a new pay offer should be known later today. Staff are being offered increases worth between £2,000 and £3,500 a year, but the result is expected to be a narrow one.
If the offer is rejected, their union, SIPTU, has a mandate to renew industrial action.
There have been no moves so far to avert the threatened 24hour strike by Ryanair pilots, who are members of the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association branch of IMPACT. They are due to strike on Thursday over attempts by the company to extend duty rosters in breach of an existing agreement.
If the strike goes ahead there will be no outward-bound flights from Ireland by Ryanair and inward-bound aircraft will be grounded until 12.01 a.m. on Friday.
There was good news on the transport front from Dublin Port, where dockers at Marine Terminals Ltd have ended their 10week strike. The dispute meant 40 per cent of container traffic to the port had to be diverted.
It arose over extended operating hours, including the introduction of extensive night shifts. The 35 dockers voted by two to one to accept a package that offered significant increases in basic pay in compensation for lost overtime and shift allowances. There are redundancy packages of £40,000 and £60,000 for those who wished to leave.