The cost of the three-day bus strike to Dublin city businesses will be in excess of £20 million, it was claimed last night. Dublin Chamber of Commerce said businesses reported a drop in sales of up to 20 per cent yesterday. "With Mother's Day on Sunday, many retailers are reporting logistical difficulties in not knowing what quantities of goods to order, particularly perishables such as flowers, when there might not be customers in the stores," said the chamber's president, Mr David Manley.
People on lower incomes were among those worst affected by the strike. "Research undertaken by the chamber shows that while many car-owners made the switch from public to private transport, those on limited incomes, which form a substantial proportion of the 200,000 daily bus-users, incurred a considerable extra cost in their attempts to get to work, college or shopping," he said.
The director of ISME (the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association), Mr Bill Brown, said it was impossible to estimate the cost of the dispute to small businesses but there was "very definitely" a cost.
He said ISME did not condone the actions of bus-drivers, but it was realistic enough to know that the Government, based on past dealings with the public sector, particularly gardai and nurses, would give in eventually. "We are simply calling on the Government not to delay the inevitable and negotiate an immediate resolution to this dispute to the benefit of all," he said.
Sympathy for striking bus-drivers appeared thin on the ground in Dublin last evening as commuters prepared for a long wait for taxis or braved biting cold winds to walk home.
Mr Greg Bergin walked to work from Walkinstown. It took 1 1/2 hours, and he left work an hour early to try to catch a taxi home. "I can understand the grievance bus-drivers have, but at the same time in this day and age they should not be allowed to hold the capital to ransom. I think it's scandalous," he said. "When they took the job on they knew what wages they would get."
Mr Paul Sweeney had been waiting at the College Green taxi rank for 40 minutes at 5.30 p.m. and with still some time to wait was already late for a meeting. He planned to spend the night in a city-centre hotel, rather than returning to Lucan, so he would be in time for another meeting this morning.
"I'm sure the bus-drivers have problems, but I don't think they should be allowed to close down a city and do this amount of damage," he said.
Ms Adrienne O'Meara also had a 1 1/2-hour walk to work from Clontarf. She went first to the DART station in Killester but the queue was so long she decided to hail a taxi, but was unable to do so. Her feet were tired and sore as she prepared for a long wait for a taxi home, and her sympathy for the bus drivers was waning. "They are looking for a rise, but sure who isn't," was her reaction.
IBEC, the employers' body, appeared to be relatively sanguine about the impact of the first day of the three-day strike.
Its director of human resources, Mr Turlough O'Sullivan, said it was clear that there would have to be a softening of positions to get union and management to the negotiating table.