Good news! Tuesday’s Luas strike has officially been called OFF

If you were bracing yourself for a nightmare commute to work through Dublin city on Tuesday next, you can breathe a sigh of relief.

Planned strike action on March 8th has officially been called off, according to reports just now.

Although further strikes – on St Patrick's Day, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday – may go ahead, Tuesday's strike was called off to allow both sides of the current dispute to speak at the Workplace Relations Commission.

Luas drivers are currently fighting for a 53% pay rise, although SIPTU spokesman Eoin Reidy said last week that they were willing to reconsider their demands.

"We've always said that that's an opening position, we've always said we're prepared to negotiate, we've always said we're prepared to moderate that and compromise," he told the WRC.

SIPTU has also acknowledged that if drivers do strike during Easter weekend it will be "tragic," not least because of the many 1916 Rising commemorations planned for those days.

Transport Minister Pascal Donohue seems hopeful that the planned talks next week could result in a resolution to the pay dispute.

"I sincerely hope that this signals an intention to resolve the matter so that regular services, without interruption, can be resumed", he added.