The threat of power cuts next week appears to have receded after two days of intensive talks between the ESB and representatives of SIPTU and the ESB Officers' Association.
The two sides came closer to consensus yesterday on a pay agreement that would lift the threat of strike action, due to begin from Monday.
The positive signals emerged despite an initial glitch over the fine details, when management insisted that the pay offer was conditional on the strike threat being lifted.
The unions were unwilling to concede this unilaterally, however, pending the proposed deal's ratification by their members.
In the case of SIPTU, a special meeting of ESB shop stewards is scheduled to take place this afternoon which will review the terms on offer.
Representatives of the ESBOA - which is to hold its annual general meeting in Galway at the weekend - were also reluctant to give the required undertaking to forgo strike action, unilaterally.
The other two unions in the ESB group, the ATGWU and the TEEU also participated in the common pay agreement strategy and will put the offer to their members today.
Neither side was prepared to reveal details of the improved offer last night, pending its formal acceptance or rejection today by the unions' broad memberships. The unions were seeking a 30 per cent pay increase against a background of changing work practices.
Prior to the present talks, negotiations between ESB management and the group of unions had been deadlocked since the rejection last January of an 18 per cent pay offer by some 2,500 network technicians, more than 90 per cent of whom are ATGWU and TEEU members.