Bus Éireann services now operating as normal in Athlone

Bus Éireann services returned to normal today following a 48-hour suspension of the strike action taken by staff on Sunday and Monday. 

The strike was called off yesterday (Monday) evening as a result of talks which are taking place between unions and management at the Labour Relations Commission. 

In a statement on its website, the company said services in many parts of the country, including Athlone, were operating normally today. 

It added: 'Bus Éireann would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to customers over the last two days.'

The dispute centres on cost-saving cutbacks which have been proposed in areas such as shift pay, holiday allowance, overtime allowance, travelling expenses, meal allowance, sick day allowance and premium pay for working on Sundays. 

The cuts were recommended by the Labour Court in order to generate savings of €5 million at the company.

* For more, see tomorrow's edition of the Westmeath Independent