A week-long strike by dozens of train drivers in the south ended today after a deal - brokered under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission yesterday - was accepted by workers.
The unofficial work stoppage by unions in Cork derailed the travel plans of thousands of commuters and is estimated to have cost Iarnród Éireann around €2 million.
A deal was hammered out after the LRC intervened on Tuesday and union members today agreed to back proposals thrashed out during the marathon talks.
Iarnród Éireann said rail services to and from Cork and Kerry, including Cork commuter routes, will resume tomorrow.
The company welcomed the decision by drivers to accept the agreement.
“We sincerely apologise to our customers for the serious disruption they have suffered over the past week on Cork and Kerry routes,” a spokesman said.
While the vast majority of services will operate normally tomorrow, the company said there will be a small number of cancellations in the early morning as trains need to be moved into position to operate later services.
“It was a very constructive meeting,” Siptu branch organiser Jackie Pearson said.
“Siptu welcomes the mature decision of the drivers to accept the terms brokered by LRC facilitator Tom Pomphrett. The issue could have been resolved much faster if the company had handled it better,” he said.
The agreement includes the withdrawal of a controversial letter produced by Iarnród Éireann earlier in the week asking drivers to pledge they would not take part in any other unofficial action.
Drivers will also be bound by the same working conditions as those in other parts of the country.
It was also agreed that all parties will come together again next Thursday to discuss staffing levels, which was one of the core issues of the dispute.
“Because this was an unofficial dispute the LRC could not directly involve itself to deal with the core issues so it was an exploratory situation,” Mr Pearson said.
“There’s a commitment in the proposals that the LRC will meet us next Thursday to deal with the outstanding issues that need to be dealt with. Central to all of this is the core problem of non-availability of local drivers.
“We don’t have enough drivers to carry out the work.”
He apologised to customers for the inconvenience over the last week.
The action started last Thursday when a driver was removed from the payroll after refusing to drive a train to facilitate the training of new trainee drivers.
The other 40 Cork-based train drivers immediately launched unofficial industrial action in support.