STRIKE ACTION BY Northern Ireland’s bus and rail service Translink is set to affect Dublin to Belfast Enterprise trains tomorrow and on Saturday.

Translink undertook strike action for a 24-hour period on 1 December, and further strike action is planned for tomorrow, Saturday, and next Friday, 22 December.

Iarnród Éireann has said that this 48-hour strike commencing tomorrow will cause “significant disruption” to the Dublin to Belfast Enterprise.

No cross-border services will operate, and Iarnród Éireann said “a limited Enterprise service will operate between Dublin and Dundalk only”.

Trade unions Unite, GMB and Siptu said their members voted in favour of the Translink strike over what they have described as a “pay freeze” which amounts to a real-terms 11% pay cut during a cost-of-living crisis.

In a joint statement, the unions said “full responsibility for transport disruption lies with Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Heaton Harris”.

They claimed Heaton-Harris, who set a budget in the continued absence of a functioning Stormont Executive, “engineered a pay crisis seeking to advance a political agenda” and has “refused to intervene to resolve the pay dispute”.

In a statement last week, People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll backed the calls for Heaton-Harris to intervene.

“Public transport workers should not have to take strike in the mouth of Christmas. A proper pay rise is the least they deserve for the crucial service they provide,” he said.

“The British Government has the power to avert this strike and any disruption it might cause by intervening and resolving this pay dispute.”

In a statement yesterday, Translink said it was “disappointed with this decision by our Union colleagues which will disrupt bus and rail services that so many of our passengers rely on particularly at this busy time of the year”.

Translink added that it is “fully committed to enter into pay negotiations one the budget issue has been resolved” and added that this “needs to be resolved at NI Executive level”.

Translink also stated that strike action will “only exacerbate the financial pressures on Translink and damage the livelihoods of many businesses and their staff in the retail and hospitality sectors who depend on the busy Christmas period”.

Both Translink and Iarnród Éireann have apologised for any inconvenience caused.

Below are the following service arrangements that will be in place tomorrow, Saturday, and on 22 December:

• 07:35 Dublin Connolly to Belfast Lanyon Place operates to Dundalk only. This service is cancelled between Dundalk and Belfast.
• 09:30 Dublin Connolly to Belfast Lanyon Place cancelled.
• 11:20 Dublin Connolly to Belfast Lanyon Place cancelled.
• 13:20 Dublin Connolly to Belfast Lanyon Place operates to Dundalk only. This service is cancelled between Dundalk and Belfast.
• 15:20 Dublin Connolly to Belfast Lanyon Place cancelled. A special Commuter service operates between Dublin Connolly and Dundalk at 15:17, serving Drogheda and Dundalk.
• 16:50 Dublin Connolly to Belfast Lanyon Place operates to Dundalk only. This service is cancelled between Dundalk and Belfast.
• 17:13 Pearse to Newry (Mon to Fri service) operates to Dundalk only, and is cancelled between Dundalk and Newry (Fridays 15th and 22nd only)
• 18:20 Dublin Connolly to Belfast Lanyon Place (Sat only) cancelled. (Sat 16th only)
• 19:00 Dublin Connolly to Belfast Lanyon Place cancelled.
• 20:50 Dublin Connolly to Belfast Lanyon Place cancelled.
• 06:35 Newry to Dublin Connolly (Mon to Fri service) is cancelled between Newry and Dundalk, and commences from Dundalk at 07:00hrs. (Fridays 15th and 22nd only)
• 06:50 Belfast Lanyon Place to Dublin Connolly cancelled. A special Commuter service operates between Dundalk and Dublin Connolly at 08:07, serving Drogheda and Dublin Connolly.
• 08:00 Belfast Lanyon Place to Dublin Connolly cancelled.
• 09:36 Belfast Lanyon Place to Dublin Connolly (Sat only) cancelled. (Sat 16th only)
• 10:35 Belfast Lanyon Place to Dublin Connolly cancelled between Belfast and Dundalk. This service commences from Dundalk at 11:48.
• 12:35 Belfast Lanyon Place to Dublin Connolly cancelled.
• 14:05 Belfast Lanyon Place to Dublin Connolly cancelled.
• 16:05 Belfast Lanyon Place to Dublin Connolly cancelled between Belfast and Dundalk. This service commences from Dundalk at 17:22.
• 8:05 Belfast Lanyon Place to Dublin Connolly cancelled.
• 20:05 Belfast Lanyon Place to Dublin Connolly cancelled between Belfast and Dundalk. This service commences from Dundalk at 21:22.

-With additional reporting from Press Association

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