Disruption to rail services in Munster is likely after Siptu today said it was taking industrial action against Irish Rail.
All services out of Cork and Mallow will be affected if the strike goes ahead, meaning Cork commuter services and intercity routes from Cork and Tralee to Dublin, and Cork to Tralee will be affected.
This could cause difficulties for those planning to attend U2 at Croke Park on Friday, Saturday and Monday.
Siptu, which represents over 200 drivers and ancillary staff in these stations, has accused management of failing reinstate a member found to have been unfairly dismissed by the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) last January.
Strike notice was served four weeks ago and will expire tomorrow. Industrial action is set to follow the next day.
National Industrial Secretary, Michael Halpenny said today: "The ruling was made last January and was unanimous. Siptu has been trying since then to get Irish Rail to honour the Employment Appeals Tribunal ruling but to date the company has refused to do so.
"It was only because of the continued refusal of the company to implement the finding that the union was, reluctantly, forced to serve strike notice."
He said the company has "done nothing" since the notice was served and that the member in question has been waiting over two years to get his job back.
Iarnród Éireann said the man was sacked following an internal investigation into "irregularities" involving a ticket collector in Cork who had previously been disciplined in a similar instance.
Despite the dismissed man winning a case at the EAT the company intends to exercise its legal entitlement to appeal to the Circuit Court, a spokesman said today.
He said this was in accordance to custom and practice and that unions at the company had "on all previous occasions participated in such cases in the Circuit Court".
The spokesman accused Siptu of "seeking to inflict unnecessary disruption on the travelling public and our freight customers in order to divert the process of appeal".
The company said it had contacted the union and was available for discussions.