As Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus services returned to normal on Sunday after a 48-hour work stoppage, business leaders maintained that the strike had had a significant impact on trade.
Hundreds of thousands of passengers had their travel plans disrupted as a result of the work stoppage by members of the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) and Siptu.
The strike centred on opposition to plans by the National Transport Authority to put out to tender about ten per cent of routes currently operated by the State-owned Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus.
There are currently no initiatives underway aimed at resolving the dispute although focus is turning towards averting 5 further days of strike action planned by members of the two unions for the weeks ahead.
A further 48-hour strike by members of the NBRU and Siptu is due to take place on May 15th-16th with a further three-day strike scheduled to follow between May 29th to 31st.
On Saturday the NBRU reiterated that political leadership was required to resolve the dispute.
NBRU general secretary Dermot O’Leary called on Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Joan Burton to intervene. The union said the threat of legal action by the bus firms to recover around €3 million in lost revenue and fines was “unnecessary and vexatious”.
The business community argued that trade, particularly in urban areas, had been badly affected by the strike at the weekend. Bad weather also exacerbated this situation.
The deputy chief executive of Retail Excellence Ireland Sean Murphy said footfall - a measure of how many people are on the streets - in Dublin city and Cork city was down 20 - 22 per cent on Saturday.
Trade in suburban areas and other towns was less severely affected, he said.
Thomas Burke, director of Retail Ireland, said its members reported a double-digit decline in turnover on Friday and Saturday.
He said one Dublin city retailer with a customer base that largely depended on public transport had had said trade was down by 30 per cent on both days of the strike.
The Government has urged all parties to re-engage in talks, while chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission Kieran Mulvey said it was prepared to engage in intensive negotiations to prevent further industrial unrest.
Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann in recent days initiated legal proceedings against the two unions in the dispute for financial losses arising from what they claim is an illegal strike.
The unions have rejected the allegations and argue that a legitimate trade dispute exists.
The bus companies believe the issues at the heart of the dispute are policy matters for the Government and the NTA and beyond their control.
Asked why they had not sought a court injunction to prevent the strike going ahead if it was believed it was illegal, they said: “Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus wished to exhaust every avenue of talks and discussion, before embarking on a legal action as a last and final resort.”
The dispute centres on a move last year by the National Transport Authority to open 10 per cent of bus routes to tenders from private operators. Unions fear more routes could be put out to tender in 2019 as part of a second wave of reforms to the market.
Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe said the strike was unjustified and promised no State-employed bus worker would be forced on to the payroll of a private operator.