Retailers were reporting a downturn in sales of between 10 and 20 per cent as shoppers stayed away from the capital's centre yesterday. Employees, meanwhile, defied the lack of public transport services by using private coaches, taxis, bicycles and their feet to travel into work.
At Brown Thomas in Grafton Street, the general manager, Mr Duncan Graham, said he regretted his customers had not made a similar effort. "With the trains and DART also affected the strike has had more of an impact than the other days and we lost around 20 per cent of business," he said.
Most staff, he added, had managed to come to work but many of them were late. "We are delighted with the number who have turned up. A lot walked, others hitch-hiked and some got lifts from friends. . .there was real Dunkirk spirit," he said.
Mr Brian Goff, chairman of the Dublin City Centre Business Association, which represents major businesses and retailers in the capital, said absenteeism was "virtually nil". A survey of 800 stores in the city this week showed that there was a 10 per cent downturn in sales on Tuesday.
The manager of Clery's department store on O'Connell Street, Mr Shawn Rippington, said turnover was down approximately 10 per cent but that staff had turned up for work as usual.
"Some of them walked in, a few got taxis and some operated car pools. . .there was great camaraderie," he said. A spokesman for Arnotts department store said everything was "running as normal".
The bus strike has been good news for private coach operators, who reported a significant increase in business. Alan Martin Coaches (AMC) in Blanchardstown said several companies, some of them located in the IFSC, had booked coaches to pick up staff at DART stations all over the city. "We usually operate to half capacity but with the strike we have been full," said Mr Alan Martin of AMC. The company ferried 1,200 more people to work yesterday than it would normally carry.
Some private coach companies refused to operate out of solidarity with Dublin Bus. Earlier, Dublin Bus workers blocked the path of a DART level crossing in Bray, Co Wicklow. Gardai were called in and the picketers moved away.
Aircoach, the Dublin airport bus service which normally competes with Dublin Bus's Airlink service, has been carrying twice its usual number of passengers. A spokesperson said that staff were working at full stretch and its eight coaches were in use constantly. The strike has not proved quite as profitable for the city's taxi and cab drivers. Mr John Ussher of the Irish Taxi Drivers' Federation said earning capacity had been reduced because drivers could not move freely with all motorists allowed to use the bus lanes.
"Jobs that usually take five minutes are taking half an hour," he said.
With the city's car parks full, Dublin Corporation's clampers were making few concessions to desperate motorists. A spokesman for Dublin Corporation said there were no more cases of illegal parking than usual but some lenience was being allowed. The three-hour limit at parking metres would not be enforced for the duration of the strike and motorists would be allowed to park at bus stops that were set off the road and not in bus lanes.
The Dublin City Centre Business Association survey suggests that most city centre retailers will remain open for late-night shopping tonight despite the difficult circumstances for commuters.
At Brown Thomas, Mr Graham said he did not expect the usual level of business in the store this evening. The decision as to whether to remain open for late-night shopping will be made this morning.