There has been chaos for Laois commuters this morning as almost all Irish rail services have been cancelled.
For those who managed to make it to Dublin, they will have found a city without Dart or Dublin Bus services due picketing associated with the Bus Éireann dispute.
Coupled with the Bus Éireann strike, this means the majority of public transport in Ireland – apart from the Luas – is not running today.
The strike action will hit Laois people hard as Kieran Kehoe, Director of Services at Laois County Council, recently revealed that as many as 10,000 people commute outside the county for work everyday.
In fact, one of the few commuter trains to actually operate this morning was the Portarlington to Heuston Station train which departed at 8am.
Spokespeople for Irish Rail and Dublin Bus described the disruptions as “orchestrated secondary picketing”.
Barry Kenny of Irish Rail told RTE’s Morning Ireland that the company did not receive any advance notice of the extension of the Bus Éireann dispute.
He said: “The first we knew about it was when Bus Éireann pickets showed up just after 4am.
“It was designed clearly for maximum effect. Friday is the busiest day of the week for inter city services.”
A Dublin Bus spokeswoman also confirmed that the first they knew of the secondary pickets was when they arrived at the seven Dublin Bus depots “with absolutely no notice”.
She added: “We’re not involved in the Bus Éireann dispute. For the past seven days services went on as normal. There was no indication that this would happen.”
The spokesman for Irish Rail said it was “not clear” how long the disruptions would last, while Dublin Bus also said they did not know when services would resume.
The National Bus and Railworkers Union’s general secretary Dermot O’Leary said the first he heard of the secondary picketing was when he began receiving phone calls early this morning.
“I do not condone any secondary picketing and urge the picketers to return to work,” he told RTE’s Morning Ireland.
Mr O’Leary said he was trying to establish who is involved in the secondary picketing.
He said that to the best of his knowledge no union was involved, certainly not his members and he doubted Siptu was involved.
“Secondary picketing must be moved and people should go to work.”
He added that he had been warning for weeks “that this could happen”.
“The people – whoever they are – I am not directly linked to them. My representatives are trying to encourage people to go to work.”
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