THE dispute at Irish Life looks set to drag on, with the main union involved, MSF, having settled most of its dispute with management but the second union, SIPTU, having decided to continue picketing.

Talks last week between SIPTU and management failed to find an agreement and the secretary of the union's negotiating committee, Mr Pat Martin, said they would now like to see third party intervention.

The chairman of the MSF negotiating committee, Mr Bernard O'Reilly, said his members would not pass any SIPTU picket. MSF opted to return to work at the end of May following the issuing of a binding agreement by the Employer Labour Conference (ELC).

Mr O'Reilly said the threat of a further MSF strike has been removed following resolution of a row over the suspension of a number of staff being investigated for actions alleged to have been carried out during the dispute.