There was muted optimism last night as the parties to the Dublin Bus dispute prepared for negotiations this morning.
The National Bus and Rail Union has already served notice of a stoppage on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
Yesterday representatives of Dublin Bus, SIPTU and the NBRU separately met the Labour Court chairman, Mr Finbarr Flood. After the discussions it was announced that talks would begin at 10 a.m. today, chaired by Mr Tom Pomfrett of the Labour Relations Commission.
Mr Peter Bunting, the general secretary of the NBRU, described this as a "good step", but warned that long and hard negotiations lay ahead.
One reason the union had agreed to negotiations was that Dublin Bus had "implicitly" indicated that it accepted that the drivers' basic pay rate was low. The union is claiming a 20 per cent increase.
A proposal by the NBRU that a goodwill payment of £20 per week be made to all drivers was rejected by Dublin Bus.
Mr Noel Dowling of SIPTU said it welcomed the decision to negotiate, adding that the only way to resolve the situation was by sitting round the table. This, he said, had been its message in discussions with the Labour Court.
A Dublin Bus spokesman refused to comment on contingency plans in the event of a stoppage next week. He struck a positive note, saying: "What happened today was definitely progress. We have to wait and see."