Talks on the electricians' dispute are taking place at the Labour Relations Commission.
This evening, employers' representatives came out of the face-to-face meeting with the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union and their tone was said to be positive.
The TEEU said it was not prepared to comment in the middle of negotiations.
Earlier, TEEU General Secretary Eamon Devoy said it was very early days and he expected it would be a long process.
Going into the negotiations the TEEU said it was hoping to reach a peaceful outcome today, but the dispute would be settled by force if necessary.
Employers said everything was on the table and said a number of people had already been laid off as a result of the dispute.
The strike is now in its third day.
Electricians belonging to the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union are seeking an 11% pay increase, which has been due for a number of years.
Electrical contractors are looking for a 10% pay cut.
Mr Devoy said that the union has been forced into the strike and says if a resolution does not happen today 'it won't happen for a long time.'
He said electricians are looking for the pay that has been withheld from their members since 2007.
He said most of the TEEU's 10,500 members are on the picket line but this claim was disputed by the president of the Association of Electrical Contractors in Ireland.
Jack Hegarty said only several hundred electricians were out on strike but the rest were working.
When questioned about compromising on the 10% pay cut, CIF Director of Industrial Industries Eddie Keenan said everything was on the table.
He said employers have been forced to lay people off and the numbers laid off were reasonably substantial.
Meanwhile, the High Court has continued an injunction prohibiting picketing of the Guinness brewery in James’s Gate in Dublin until next Monday.
Diageo, which makes Guinness, was granted a temporary injunction restraining the TEEU from picketing its Dublin brewery.
Last Monday Diageo Ireland obtained a temporary injunction against a named picketer and against anyone with notice of the injunction.
Today, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy granted the extension.
Diageo claims the picketing outside their premises is unlawful because no notice of industrial action had been served on them by the electricians' union the TEEU.
It claims brewing has already ceased and steps have had to be taken to make the beer within the process safe. If picketing continued and the brewing process does not start up within a very short time the yeast will have ‘died’ within four days.
If that occurs it will take between 21 to 28 days to resume full output, Diageo says.
The company says that the supply of Guinness would restricted almost immediately because it would need to conserve the stocks if the picket continues.
It was also likely the company would have to lay off a significant number of its 220 employees.
The pickets were placed at two entry gates to James's Gate brewery and were maintained by persons who were not employees of Diageo or as far as could be ascertained or of the sub-contracting firm, the company claims.
One of the picketers who has been identified was acting in the interests of the TEEU, Mr O'Brien believed. It had not been possible to identify the others, although two of them indicated they were electricians who ‘work at Pfizer’.
Irish Distillers has also secured a High Court injunction to prevent picketing of its factory by striking electricians at Midleton Co Cork.
The court was told that pickets were placed at the entrance to the factory, which produces Jameson and Powers Irish Whiskey, on Monday by five people who are not employees of Irish Distillers.
