A second "blue flu" protest could be held as early as Saturday following a decision by the Garda Representative Association (GRA) to step up its pay campaign.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, was urged by the Opposition to take "direct control" of negotiations in an effort to defuse the threat of more disruptive action.
The Cabinet is expected to discuss the issue in an all-day session on public expenditure tomorrow, with the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, having just returned from New York, where he addressed a UN General Assembly special session on drugs.
The 27 GRA leaders voted unanimously yesterday to stage a "blue flu" day once a week, with only 48 hours' notice, escalating to two days a week after July 10th. They also voted to mount a day of protest on the first day of the Tour de France on July 11th.
The first protest is to be within a week, and could be on Saturday if the protest was to be announced at 6 a.m. today. The decision takes the dispute to its most serious level, following last week's announcement by senior gardai that they would not cover for rank-and-file colleagues who do not report for duty. The GRA president, Mr John Healy, said yesterday's decision was taken because they had been "left with no other option". Mr Healy said there had been no informal contacts between the GRA and Department officials for almost two weeks, despite reports that contact had continued. "What they were telling us was that they weren't really prepared to move on the offer of April 1st," Mr Healy said.
The GRA has been out of the official pay talks since April 1st, when an offer of 5.5 per cent was made. "The overwhelming feedback was that our campaign must proceed," Mr Healy said, following weekend consultation with members. "They also insisted that it must be escalated."
In spite of growing concern by Ministers about the Garda, the Government has insisted it will not budge from its public pay policy.
A spokesman last night held open the possibility of conciliation, but admitted that there are few signs of flexibility.
"The Government is still anxious that the gardai will involve themselves in discussions in relation to their pay claim," he added. The Department of Justice has been in discussions with the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, on contingency arrangements.
The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said their members would not work overtime or do the duties of rankand-file gardai, as they did during the first "blue flu" last month.
The Commissioner last night called on both sides to return to negotiations. In a statement, he said he was "not party to any negotiations which were being conducted between the Garda representative bodies and the official side." But he "believes that there is not much separating the sides."