Construction activity in Limerick is due to resume on Monday after a week-long shutdown resulting from unofficial disputes.
About 2,000 workers had been temporarily laid off after staff began picketing sites in the city over the use of sub-contractors. Workers also staged a protest march in the city, citing health and safety concerns.
Mr Joe O'Brien, southern region director of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), said he was hopeful of a full resumption to work on Monday. Employers had written to workers individually advising them that sites would be open, providing they refrained from taking further unofficial action.
While some problems might remain, he added, it was hoped these would be addressed through normal union procedures. No formal discussions had taken place but the indications were that staff would be returning to work.
Mr Paddy O'Shaughnessy, general secretary of the Building and Allied Trades Union, said its members had been instructed to be available for work.
Informal talks, meanwhile, have taken place between the CIF and union representatives in Dublin to try to resolve a dispute which resulted in a series of unofficial actions the week before last.
Bricklayers staged a number of unofficial protests following the arrest of 17 picketers at a Collen Construction site on the North Circular Road, Dublin, on January 22nd. They were each fined €250 by the High Court.
The bricklayers returned to work last Monday pending the outcome of talks with the CIF. A source said yesterday the situation remained "delicate" but both sides were hopeful of a resolution.
