The Tánaiste has appealed to everyone involved in the four-week-old Iarnród Éireann dispute to help bring the deadlock to an end. Mary Harney's appeal came as talks continued this evening in an effort to restore trains carrying ammonia to the 200-job Irish Fertiliser Industries factory in Arklow, which closed last Friday as a result of the dispute. The Tánaiste was commenting as she launched the annual reports for 1999 of the Labour Court and the Labour Relations Commission.
The report shows a dramatic drop in the number of days lost as a result of industrial disputes during the 1990s as against the 70s and the 80s. However, the Chief Executive of the LRC, Kieran Mulvey, said that the commission had been concerned for some time at the failure of some parties to exhaust fully disputes procedures. The chairman of the Labour Court, Finbarr Flood, has warned that a booming economy posed new challenges for the State's industrial relations machinery, he called for a full review of its workings to make it more speedy and flexible.
This morning, workers' representatives from the IFI met with members of the breakaway ILDA. It is understood that the ILDA offered to resume working the service, provided that they could do so on their old rosters. However, this has been ruled out by Iarnród Éireann management. The IFI representatives, who are members of SIPTU, are due to meet with SIPTU train drivers in Cork later this evening. The SIPTU train drivers could facilitate the restoration of the Cobh to Arklow service, but it is understood that they are refusing to do the work of ILDA members. The dispute between the ILDA and Iarnród Éireann management is now in its 24th day, with no sign of a resolution. At the beginning of the dispute, Iarnród Éireann said that it was losing £150,000 per day in lost revenue.
In a separate development in an attempt to break the deadlock, ILDA members have met with the Bishop of Cork, Dr John Buckley, and are due to meet the Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor PJ Hourican, and the Chairman of Cork County Council John Mulvihill later today. However, none of these initiatives look like breaking the deadlock.
