The National Bus and Railworkers Union says it does not want the Tranpsort Minister Shane Ross to intervene in the rail strike.

Our future depends on our public transport service, which has been starved of public funding for decades by government ministers who wouldn’t recognise a bus if it ran them over, writes Victoria White

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

Unions have agreed to attend talks at the Workplace Relations Commission for exploratory talks on the Dublin Bus pay dispute.

The National Bus and Railworkers Union (NBRU) says it is willing to stall a ballot for industrial action as a vehicle to discuss the ongoing pay row with management at Irish Rail.

The National Bus and Railworkers Union says it will be attending talks today in "resolution mode".

The Labour Court has rejected a claim by unions that Irish Rail should now stump up around €200,000 in relocation allowances for almost 100 workers.

Bus Éireann bosses have accepted an invitation from the Labour Relations Commission for exploratory talks tomorrow, as unions threaten strike action att he company.

The Labour Relations Commission will attempt to avert strike action due to begin at Bus Éireann next week.

Bus Éireann has insisted that it plans to go ahead with implementing cost-cutting measures on Sunday.

The National Bus and Railworkers Union (NBRU) is set to announce today whether its members support the Labour Court's recommendations on cost-cutting plans at Dublin Bus.

Talks aimed at averting strike action by Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus drivers are due to get underway at the Labour Relations Commission today.

Dublin Bus management and unions representing workers at the company are meeting at the Labour Relations Commission today in a bid to avert strike action this weekend.

Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has said Ireland's bus services need radical reform, including cost-cutting measures.

The National Bus and Railworkers Union is due to begin a ballot for industrial action among its members at Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann today.

Unions representing striking drivers at Dublin Bus say they are confident that the Labour Court can resolve the dispute centring around the introduction of two new routes.

HURLING star John Gardiner will lead a new drive this week to combat stone attacks on buses.

THE bus drivers’ union has begun school visits in Cork in an effort to combat vandalism and stone attacks on buses.

The Labour Relations Commission is reportedly set to arrange talks aimed at averting a threatened strike by Dublin Bus drivers.

Support for workers fighting plans to outsource hundreds of jobs at Irish Ferries was spreading across all sectors today with teachers’ and transport unions backing a national day of protest.

Dublin Bus drivers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking industrial action over the introduction of new rosters.

Union representatives are due to meet Bus Eireann management in Galway today to discuss a row over the company's use of outside contractors.

Drivers on Dublin's DART service are reportedly threatening to boycott new longer trains which the company is due to begin testing on Monday.

Irish Rail has cancelled all services to and from Cork this morning due to unofficial industrial action by local members of the National Bus and Railworkers Union.

Irish Rail has warned of possible disruption of services to and from Cork this morning due to unofficial industrial action by local members of the National Bus and Railworkers Union.

Thousands of commuters in parts of south and west Dublin have been left stranded this morning due to an unofficial strike by Dublin Bus drivers.

UNION leaders said yesterday that the threatened one-day bus and rail strikes due to start next week were likely to be averted.

CIE unions and management are due to resume talks at the Labour Relations Commission today in an effort to avert a series of strikes due to start next week.

ALL bus and rail services nationwide will grind to a halt in 10 days after drivers yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of a series of rolling strike actions.

The National Bus and Railworkers Union have voted by a majority of 90% in favour of industrial action.

The results of a strike ballot among members of the National Bus and Railworkers Union is expected this afternoon.

SIPTU’s civil aviation branch is meeting in Dublin today to discuss the Government’s plans to break Aer Rianta into three competing entities.

Bus and rail services may be disrupted within the next two weeks, as workers decide whether to take industrial action over plans to break up CIÉ, as well as the issuing of private bus licences.

The latest round of national pay talks is taking place under menacing circumstances.

Industrial action could be on the horizon after the Department of Transport confirmed it issued two licences to private bus operators in the Dublin area on June 2.

The National Bus and Railworkers Union responded to the Tanaiste's criticism by insisting their actions were a protest against privatisation and not change.

The National Bus and Railworkers Union is adamant tomorrow's planned industrial action is aimed at the Transport Minister Seamus Brennan and not the travelling public.

STRIKE action at all three CIÉ companies remained a possibility last night as SIPTU refused to call off a stoppage planned for March 18.

With SIPTU and the National Bus and Railworkers Union threatening strike action, Transport Minister Séamus Brennan seemed to bow to pressure in offering to discuss the privatisation of 25% of Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann routes.

Transport unions were meeting today to decide whether to take strike action over plans to break up the Irish state-owned bus and rail company CIÉ.

THE threat of crippling strike action at CIE receded last night as Transport Minister Séamus Brennan bowed to union pressure.

THE PROSPECT of a crippling strike action by CIÉ increased further yesterday after Transport Minister Seamus Brennan failed to deliver a promised response to union concerns.

Transport Minister Seamus Brennan is due to respond today to union demands that he scrap his plans to privatise 25% of Dublin Bus routes.

LAST-DITCH efforts to diffuse hostilities between Transport Minister Seamus Brennan and CIÉ unions begin this morning as talks aimed at avoiding crippling transport strikes get under way.