TalkS to avert next Monday's strike on the DART service are to resume this afternoon. Little progress was reported in over five hours of negotiations which adjourned at 11 o'clock last night.
The human resource manager of Iarnrod Eireann, Mr John Keenan, said afterwards: "We have genuine difficulties on both sides. We are to adjourn until 2.30 p.m. tomorrow. I am afraid no progress has been made, and we are still looking at a dispute on Monday."
Between 40,000 and 50,000 commuters use the DART service each day, and a strike would throw early-morning rush-hour traffic into chaos.
The chief negotiator for the National Bus and Railworkers Union, Mr Liam Tobin, discounted reports that the issue had been narrowed down to compensation for surrendering their right to transfer out of the DART service.
Other union concerns still remained on the table. "We haven't changed our position one iota," he said. "However, tomorrow is another day."
SIPTU is also involved in the negotiations, which are aimed at bridging the gap between a Labour Court award of £8,000 to drivers in return for their co-operation with the reorganisation of the rail services in Dublin, and the drivers' own claim for more than £22,000 each in compensation.
Both sides were reluctant to go into detailed comment on the dispute in case it created problems ahead of tomorrow's resumed negotiations. Relations between management and unions reached an all-time low after the company accused some drivers of "naked greed" earlier this week.
The main issue is allowing new trainee drivers to be recruited for the DART from outside the driver grades within the company. Iarnrod Eireann is anxious to do so because it wants to extend the DART service to Greystones before the end of the year.
If the company appointed drivers in the normal way, from among diesel train personnel, it would take 16 months to train replacements, while a DART driver requires only 16 weeks' training.
That was why Iarnrod Eireann paid £11,000 each to 35 diesel engine drivers at the two Connolly depots in Dublin to forgo their right of automatic progression on to the DART.
However, DART drivers are now seeking £11,000, in line with the amount granted to the Connolly drivers, plus further payments for other proposed changes to the DART service.