Tonight has seen another breakthrough in the Garda dispute.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) and the Justice Department have issued a joint statement agreeing to use the State’s industrial relations mechanisms to help avoid threatened strike action by the union.

Earlier, the Department and the Garda Representative Association agreed to attend talks at the Workplace Relations Commission this weekend, in a bid to avert their strike action.

Both agreements are seen as a major step forward.

Former general secretary of the CPSU, Blair Horan, said while the Government does not want a strike, it won’t just give in.

“The other public sector unions will be watching very closely,” he said.

“If there’s any suggestion of the guards getting pay increases that are interfering with the Lansdowne… it’ll have to be compatible with the Lansdowne Road Agreement.

“And that’s a fine line the Government will have to walk – otherwise everyone’s going to say: ‘Well, you know, there’s no special case here – we want the same’.”