Taxis on O'Connell Street...

vandermeyde

how is parking your car on O'Connell street and abandoning it for the afternoon a legitimate form of protest?

they're doing themselves no favours.

its bedlam out there.

Paulw

Bring out the clampers and tow away those cars. It's the only way to deal with this terrorism.

ChuckProphet

arrest the lot of them.:mad:
anyone know if the luas is running ok?

Jip

Ar$eholes, their problem is with the regulator, not the people who they earn their money from, sheer tossers the lot of them. From now on if I need a cab it's hackneys all the way for me coupled with nitelinks for getting home on weekends.

Paulw

Find a cab company online, and store it in your phonebook.

http://www.goldenpages.ie/search.ds?newSearch=true&what=cab&where=dublin&x=0&y=0

Checkers Cabs (01)8343434
City Cabs (01)8727272
Southside Cabs (01)2836622

Just a small sample. Keep them handy, use them often, and always ask for a cab and not a taxi.

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0911/taxi.html

Taxi drivers protest in Dublin city
11 September 2006 15:09

Traffic in Dublin city centre is now backed up from O'Connell Street to Parkgate Street.

The whole of Dublin's north quays are affected as a result of an impromptu protest by taxi drivers taking place around O'Connell St.

Dublin Bus says bus drivers are not setting down or picking up passengers on O'Connell St until further notice.

Around 800 Dublin taxi drivers earlier made their way across the city from the Phoenix Park to O'Connell St.

Leaders of the three taxi driver unions had told their members at a rally in the park that a meeting this morning with Ger Deering at his office had failed to answer their concerns.

Mr Deering had also been holding talks over the introduction of a new fare structure later this month with representatives of taxi drivers based in Kerry, Kilkenny and Carlow.

Ahead of today's talks, Mr Deering said the new regulations would come into effect on 25 September but that he would be able to clarify a number of issues for the unions today.


Also speaking ahead of the talks, the unions' delegation expressed hope that progress could be made.

Tommy Gorman of the National Taxi Drivers Union said he hoped the regulator would not have invited them in for a meeting unless he was in a position to offer them some hope.

Taxi drivers staged a nationwide work stoppage which began at 6am and was to end at 1pm.

Protesting drivers had been set to travel in convoy along the M50 towards Dublin Airport from the Blanchardstown exit to the roundabout at the Coachman's Inn.

It is understood the threat of a work stoppage by taxi drivers during the Ryder Cup still remains.

Today's stoppage is the fourth protest action by taxi drivers since July.

Hobbes

Last time they did something like this they got deregulated.

DublinWriter

Yes, today's action was a classic lesson in how not to win friends and influence people.

I was driving up the Navan road heading into town at 10.30am when I got caught right smack bang at the very head of the blockade - three taxis in each lane doing about 10Mph effectively blocking the entire road.

Everyone all around was losing the plot. I took a lead from a very irate van driver in the lane next to me and gunned it up on the grass central reservation over taking the handful of taxis in front.

Luckily I made it into town before it all became just so much shit and derision.

The Navan road is the major arterial road for ambulances into the Mater Hospital. There would have been no way any emergency vehicle could have overtaken the 200 or so slow moving taxis on that road today.

Their original demonstration was only to be allowed with garda out-riders present. There were none present on the Navan road today.

Their action wasn't just irresponsible, it was reckless.

It's within the gift of the Minister for Transport to revoke the licenses of these idiots protesting today.

Personally I'll be using Hackneys in future.

admiralofthefleet

i called for a public boycott of taxis a few weeks ago, the thread might be still here. it was called 'held to ransom'. i think they went way too far today. a public boycott must happen.

in response to this thread i was in o' connell street today and asked a garda if the taxis were illegally parked to which he said yes. when i asked him why the cars arent being towed away he said the garda riot squad would be needed!

lots of the taxis there today were from other counties so why didnt they block their own county main streets.

btw, they are planning a 24 hour strike on thursday

trout

if joe public was to blockade taxi ranks in protest at some real or percieved slight ... how long would it take before he was lamped by one of the drivers ?

it's time for some lessons in public relations ... i'm with the Paulw fella ... cabs for evermore not taxis ... hit them in the pocket!

whatever sympathy you have for the taxi drivers plight ... it's fast evaporating now ... not looking forward to thursday

wyndham

Why not bring in the riot squad then? Is that not what they are paid/trained for? To uphold law and order in the state? Why should the whole city be held to ransom by a defunct union that has no relevance in the deregulated climate?

Cantab.

wyndham wrote:

Why not bring in the riot squad then? Is that not what they are paid/trained for? To uphold law and order in the state? Why should the whole city be held to ransom by a defunct union that has no relevance in the deregulated climate?

I'm a very new taxi driver (part-timer with a very high plate number).

Whilst I support the concerns of the drivers and the unions, I think blocking O'Connell Street the other day was below the belt and not on. The fact that it was raining and there is a bad traffic problem in Dublin anyway, only added to the public back-lash.

Whilst driver earnings have dropped sharply, and the ever-increasing amount of paperwork takes its toll, I'm not too worried. I'm happy to work for the money I make, and relative differences in earings compared to a couple of years ago make no difference to me - it's all relative.

Taxi drivers are business men at the end of the day. I feel a lot of the militant anger is because new drivers (young 25yos like me, and immigrants from africa and eastern europe) are taking their cut from what is essentially, a free market (albeit regualated for the greater good of the transport-using public and the livelihood of drivers). I don't think the livelihood of drivers is an issue, because I can earn more money driving a taxi part-time (and running a business by day) than in my old multinational job.

_Kaiser_

I was coming down the quays at about 6pm yesterday which, while slow, was moving but what "amused" me was the garda presence at O'Connell Bridge redirecting traffic rather than arresting the lot of them and impounding the cars.

I happened to be listening to FM104 then later and it seems (well based on the calls they were getting anyway) that there's not much solidarity in this dispute and the primary instigators seem to be the airport regulars. Small wonder then they're complaining as they're well known to add on all sorts of "extras" at the airport, or take the "scenic" routes (side note: my mother got a taxi on a company account last night and the guy already have €7 on the meter before they left the house! :mad: )

I say fair play to the regulator for not backing down and giving in to this shower. To any of them you might be reading, here's a few points/questions:
- noone owes you a living
- you're self-employed, if you don't like it go get a new job!
- how many of you are filing accurate tax returns anyway?

I always find it ironic that the same guys who are whinging about this are the same ones who are shown standing in front of their brand new 06 Mercs and people carriers/vans. Yea guys, you look REALLY hard done by! :rolleyes:

shltter

Kaiser2000 wrote:

I was coming down the quays at about 6pm yesterday which, while slow, was moving but what "amused" me was the garda presence at O'Connell Bridge redirecting traffic rather than arresting the lot of them and impounding the cars.

I happened to be listening to FM104 then later and it seems (well based on the calls they were getting anyway) that there's not much solidarity in this dispute and the primary instigators seem to be the airport regulars. Small wonder then they're complaining as they're well known to add on all sorts of "extras" at the airport, or take the "scenic" routes (side note: my mother got a taxi on a company account last night and the guy already have €7 on the meter before they left the house! :mad: )

I say fair play to the regulator for not backing down and giving in to this shower. To any of them you might be reading, here's a few points/questions:
- noone owes you a living
- you're self-employed, if you don't like it go get a new job!
- how many of you are filing accurate tax returns anyway?

I always find it ironic that the same guys who are whinging about this are the same ones who are shown standing in front of their brand new 06 Mercs and people carriers/vans. Yea guys, you look REALLY hard done by! :rolleyes:

In fairness to the Gardai it would not be a decision for the individual Garda at that junction those decisions would be made elsewhere.
I would imagine that the Gardai took the view that the Taximen were shooting themselves in the foot and that it might be better to let them stew in their own juices than be heavy handed. If they had of been heavy handed then the chances are that we would all be here discussing the Gardai and not the taximen and the images on the news and in the papers would have been of riot police with batons drawn which would have diverted the discussion away from whether the taximen should have acted the way they did.

DublinWriter

Kaiser2000 wrote:

I was coming down the quays at about 6pm yesterday which, while slow, was moving but what "amused" me was the garda presence at O'Connell Bridge redirecting traffic rather than arresting the lot of them and impounding the cars.

The guards did quite a good job of crises management on the day. Arresting and impounding would have basically been a Ministerial direction.

Kashkai

DublinWriter wrote:

The guards did quite a good job of crises management on the day. Arresting and impounding would have basically been a Ministerial direction.

WTF?????

Driving in this city is a bloody nightmare at the best of times. When self interest groups likes taximen, farmers, hauliers etc feel they are not getting what everyone else owes them (in their opinion), they think they have a right to block streets and cause havoc. Its about bloody time they were stopped from interfering with the rights of Dubliners to travel around the city.

As for the Gardai shickoloni, if one of them was rushing back to the station for their shift change, they'd make sure their way was clear. And as for "Ministerial direction", the politicos have their heads so far up their own asses that they have no idea what a misery it is to suffer through the gridlock nightmare that is Dublin traffic. If a Minister wants to get from A to B, you can be damn sure he'll be using bus lanes and Gardai to clear his route.

Nobody in power in this country gives a damn about Joe or Josephine Soap. Only the powerful interest groups get a look in.:mad:

FlutterinBantam

DublinWriter wrote:

The guards did quite a good job of crises management on the day. Arresting and impounding would have basically been a Ministerial direction.

The guards did a good job on the day.... very easy to say "arrest...clamp" etc if you don't have to follow through on it

Under the circs they did all the could do.... and let ,as one poster suggested, the taxi drivers stew in their own juice.

Paulw

Oh it's certainly the airport few, and the hardcore old guard taxi drivers. I bet they've never filed a proper tax return in their lives.

As for charges from the airport - a friend of mine visiting from the US recently got a taxi from the airport to my place. She was charged €28. Two days later, I happened to be at the airport for work reasons, and got a taxi home - €14. Taxi drivers rip off tourists, and try to rip off the public as much as they can.

I have NO sympathy for them, not an ounce.

In future - CALL A CAB.

Cantab.

Prosperous Dave wrote:

WTF?????

Driving in this city is a bloody nightmare at the best of times. When self interest groups likes taximen, farmers, hauliers etc feel they are not getting what everyone else owes them (in their opinion), they think they have a right to block streets and cause havoc. Its about bloody time they were stopped from interfering with the rights of Dubliners to travel around the city.

As for the Gardai shickoloni, if one of them was rushing back to the station for their shift change, they'd make sure their way was clear. And as for "Ministerial direction", the politicos have their heads so far up their own asses that they have no idea what a misery it is to suffer through the gridlock nightmare that is Dublin traffic. If a Minister wants to get from A to B, you can be damn sure he'll be using bus lanes and Gardai to clear his route.

Nobody in power in this country gives a damn about Joe or Josephine Soap. Only the powerful interest groups get a look in.:mad:

I sense an inherent bitterness in your tone. You talk of self interest groups as if they weren't entitled to have an interest. Instead of complaining about all the farmers, taxi men, hauliers and other lobby groups, why don't you go out and do some lobbying for yourself? Tip for you: play your hand and join the club - it's far easier than taking it up the behind and all the time complaining about 'the government', 'the politicians', 'the gardai', 'the interest groups', etc.

I support the taxi men with-holding their services/providing a limited taxi service because there are still genuine issues between taxi drivers and the regulator, which in my opinion, need to be addressed. BTW, I do not support the blocking of O'Connell street, I was in no way involved in the blockade, and I condemn the actions of those militant, old-school drivers who felt the need to behave in such a manner. Top of the list is the need for an appeals procedure for taxi drivers against sanctions imposed. The regulator is just that, a regulator - they are not employers nor the school principal on a power buzz for that matter.

Taxi drivers work unsocial hours, pay hefty overheads, are subject to danger and put up with a lot of drunken abuse. They are entitled to whatever money they earn, and people on here saying that taxi men have had it too good and earn too much money, are just jealous - these people are the very kind of people who wouldn't take a job as a taxi driver because it's somehow 'below them'. I say to these people: have fun in your multinational job then and enjoy the red cow roundabout/commuter train. Yes, the money from taxi driving is quite good relative to jobs that you need a 4 year degree for.

On tax: taxi drivers will avoid tax as much as possible, the system is there to be taken advantage of: This means that it is tax efficient to buy a new car every 2-3 years and write off fuel/servicing/insurance costs against profits. Large engines are no problem either because the road tax is only E70 odd for a year - you'll find that a lot of drivers import their cars from the UK and get them re-registered. These cars can then be sold on a year or two later at breakeven or a small profit. It's very hard to not pay tax on earnings now: there is no point in trying to hide your earnings cos the regulator now has random inspectors who will make sure they are given a receipt and the car is in order etc. So the argument that drivers don't pay any tax/evade tax is a non-runner - drivers simply avoid tax, as they are perfectly entitled to do by law.

Cantab.

Paulw wrote:

Oh it's certainly the airport few, and the hardcore old guard taxi drivers. I bet they've never filed a proper tax return in their lives.

In fairness, the paperwork involved in getting a cab on the road is crazy - you wouldn't believe the proceedures you need to follow.

Add tax returns to this equation, and you have a real problem. In fairness to revenue though, it's quite stream-lined now + much easier to file: once you've made your first tax return, it's not as difficult the next time round.

The days of not paying tax + not getting caught are numbered (there's 12 days to the new regulations).

hmmm

Every self employed person in this country has to fill in a tax return, it's not anything special being forced on taxi drivers.

Kashkai

Cantab suggests we all form our own lobby groups to go out and protest.

As someone who actually has to work for a living (as opposed to being able to block the capital's main street with my car all day), I don't have the time to protest against the mouthy minorities who feel it is their right to disrupt everyone else's life. I'd like to be able to get a group together and block the taxi ranks (with a row of taxis in them) just to prevent these gob****es from making money for a while. See how they like being stuck in a jam by a lobby group such as the one suggested by Cantab.

Taximen had it so easy for such a long time. Its not so long ago that a taxi plate would cost 100k. It was brilliant when the taxis were deregulated and the price of a plate tumbled. I don't use taxis, as I've found the drivers to be either racists, know-it-alls, aggressive, sullen or downright rude. They also feel they are entitled to a tip for the privilege of sitting in their (usually) filthy taxi.

Sod the lot of them. Get a hackney, better service and usually a better standard of person.

Cantab.

Prosperous Dave wrote:

It was brilliant when the taxis were deregulated and the price of a plate tumbled.

I start with this declaration of yours, because we get an insight into the petiness of your mind - you chuckle with glee, gaining perverse satisfaction in the misfortune of others, whilst laughing along with the herd.

There's no need to laugh at the drivers who paid 120k - they all were compensated (well, those who had proper records to prove their hardship). Anyone who didn't have proper accounts (the majority) - they got caught out didn't they? So surely your little chuckle should be at the tax evaders and not the taxi men who were genuinely hard done-by, by a change of legal structure.

Prosperous Dave wrote:

Sod the lot of them. Get a hackney, better service and usually a better standard of person.

That won't work I'm afraid - taxi men are essentially hackney men during the day when there aren't so many fares to be picked off the street. In an earlier post, someone on here quoted 3 cab companies - chances are a taxi man will collect you if you rang any of them... All taxis are a superclass of all hackneys. Hackneys can't pick off the street, so if it's a rainy December, and you've lots of shopping, either stand in the rain and wait for a hackney, stick your hand out and get a taxi, or ring the taxi regulator to complain about the poor service.

Prosperous Dave wrote:

As someone who actually has to work for a living...

If you're frustrated in your job, why don't you change? It's an open job market. You could always join the rank...

Prosperous Dave wrote:

See how they like being stuck in a jam by a lobby group such as the one suggested by Cantab.

What would the function of this lobby group be? Maybe you should lobby the regulator if you don't like the state of some taxis? Sheep into Ger Deering's office on Fitzwilliam Square perhaps? There are minimum standards of cleanliness in place, so perhaps you should actually do something: write that letter to the regulator (instead of passively ranting and raving on boards).

garred

Prosperous Dave wrote:

Cantab suggests we all form our own lobby groups to go out and protest.

As someone who actually has to work for a living (as opposed to being able to block the capital's main street with my car all day), I don't have the time to protest against the mouthy minorities who feel it is their right to disrupt everyone else's life. I'd like to be able to get a group together and block the taxi ranks (with a row of taxis in them) just to prevent these gob****es from making money for a while. See how they like being stuck in a jam by a lobby group such as the one suggested by Cantab.

Taximen had it so easy for such a long time. Its not so long ago that a taxi plate would cost 100k. It was brilliant when the taxis were deregulated and the price of a plate tumbled. I don't use taxis, as I've found the drivers to be either racists, know-it-alls, aggressive, sullen or downright rude. They also feel they are entitled to a tip for the privilege of sitting in their (usually) filthy taxi.

Sod the lot of them. Get a hackney, better service and usually a better standard of person.

It has to be said but what utter sh1te. Seeing as you are prejudice against drivers (in your words they are gob*****s) you should take the blinkers off and actually see the whole picture. A small minority did this, you may find it hard to believe but not all drivers agree with the striking and recently the blockage and have backed it up by working during this. There are up to 14,000 taxis in Dublin and how many of these were involved in the blockage? Do the maths.
We do work for a living but low and behold it could'nt be anywhere near as hard and as important as your job. You find taxi drivers racist, know-it-all, aggressive, sullen or downright rude....well guess what you've just described a percentage of the passengers I get. Let you in on a little secret, I actually find these features in a lot of public/private service companies, but sure it has to only be taxi drivers who are like this and it has to be them all.

I'm glad you are now getting hackneys because I'm sure it would'nt be a great experience, with your hatred for taxi men, to have you in the back of my cab.

_Kaiser_

Just a few things I'd like to comment on here....

BTW, I do not support the blocking of O'Connell street, I was in no way involved in the blockade, and I condemn the actions of those militant, old-school drivers who felt the need to behave in such a manner.

No offense, but the rest of your post suggests otherwise where you seem to think "fair play to them" for making their point. I agree that part of the problem in this country is that people will whinge in the pub to their mates, but not follow through, but there was a consulation process from what I understand and the taxi drivers are now trying to renegotiate because the decisions don't suit some (I stress "some" as it seems the majority of drivers ARE quite happy to abide by the decisions) of them.

Taxi drivers work unsocial hours, pay hefty overheads, are subject to danger and put up with a lot of drunken abuse. They are entitled to whatever money they earn,

Agreed, but let's not lose sight of the fact that they're not owed a living either, nor that they chose to get into the game and can always go find another job if they find it too hard to make ends meet. Gouging the customer isn't an acceptable way to make up the difference you know.

and people on here saying that taxi men have had it too good and earn too much money, are just jealous - these people are the very kind of people who wouldn't take a job as a taxi driver because it's somehow 'below them'. I say to these people: have fun in your multinational job then and enjoy the red cow roundabout/commuter train.

This is the sort of argument I'd expect from a 12 year old tbh! :rolleyes:

On tax: taxi drivers will avoid tax as much as possible, the system is there to be taken advantage of: ... It's very hard to not pay tax on earnings now: there is no point in trying to hide your earnings cos the regulator now has random inspectors who will make sure they are given a receipt and the car is in order etc. So the argument that drivers don't pay any tax/evade tax is a non-runner - drivers simply avoid tax, as they are perfectly entitled to do by law.

Just because some of them HAVE been able to get away with "avoiding" tax till now doesn't make it right or acceptable. Why should taxi drivers be any different from the rest of us? From what you say it sounds like random inspections are long overdue. In fact this, and your points about how "easy" it is for them to buy and sell on cars at a profit simply supports the view that there's no such thing as a poor taxi driver.

jdivision

It's the only industry I know of where they're getting a massive raise and they're still whinging. They will be allowed charge nighttime hours from 8pm instead of 10pm and the cost of an additional passenger is doubling to e1. So if you call a cab to pick up four people it'll now cost e9.10 before you even sit into: e4.10 minimum charge, e2 call out fee and e1 for the three additional passengers. That's absolutely ridiculous. Taxi fees here were already higher than in NY:eek: The loss of a pickup fee in the airport and a baggage handling fee are more than made up by the other increases, which do by the way contain an increase in the fee per kilometre. Their protest even slowed an ambulance trying to get down O'Connell Street. They should have all been arrested but apparently 20 per cent have criminal records the guards were probably too afraid to do anything.

killbillvol2

I often use taxis and some of my friends drive taxis. There are all sorts driving taxis, everything from Hitler to Mother Teresa. Stating that they're all thieves/racist/rude/aggressive is just plain stupid. There are bad eggs in every job. There are some absolute gents in the business as well.

As regards the current situation, here's where I see the problem. The leaders of the taxi drivers' unions are undoubtedly the most incompetent, least savvy people who have ever been elected to office.

They constantly alienate the public by causing disruption to our daily lives.

They focus on the issue of a €1.50 loss to drivers in the airport when there are dozens of issues for taxi drivers in the new regulations which might attract some public sympathy. In short, they have absolutely no PR skills.

Personally, I suspect that these incompetents couldn't understand the full terms of the new regulations when they were consulted and are only now beginning to understand what they agreed to. So Joe Public suffers. :mad:

shltter

Kaiser2000 wrote:

Just a few things I'd like to comment on here....
No offense, but the rest of your post suggests otherwise where you seem to think "fair play to them" for making their point. I agree that part of the problem in this country is that people will whinge in the pub to their mates, but not follow through, but there was a consulation process from what I understand and the taxi drivers are now trying to renegotiate because the decisions don't suit some (I stress "some" as it seems the majority of drivers ARE quite happy to abide by the decisions) of them.

He can agree with the motives behind the action with out having to agree with the action itself. And people enter consultation processes all the time and then disagree with the outcome and try and seek a different outcome whether it is in planning or industrial disputes etc etc.

Kaiser2000 wrote:

Agreed, but let's not lose sight of the fact that they're not owed a living either, nor that they chose to get into the game and can always go find another job if they find it too hard to make ends meet. Gouging the customer isn't an acceptable way to make up the difference you know.

This is a democracy and everyone has a right to protest as you also have a right to disagree with that protest. This stupid arguement of go and get another job if you dont like it really annoys me.It answers nothing and is a bland response that could be used anytime anyone protests about anything directly affecting their live. The taxidrivers have a right to be taxi drivers they also have a right to disagree with the regulator.
Also why try and put words in the mouth of the poster he never suggested that gouging anyone was acceptable so why do you feel it necessary to point out to him that it is not.

Kaiser2000 wrote:

This is the sort of argument I'd expect from a 12 year old tbh! :rolleyes:

Attack the post not the poster there is no need to try and insult and demean someone here if you disagree with his statement say why.

Kaiser2000 wrote:

Just because some of them HAVE been able to get away with "avoiding" tax till now doesn't make it right or acceptable. Why should taxi drivers be any different from the rest of us? From what you say it sounds like random inspections are long overdue. In fact this, and your points about how "easy" it is for them to buy and sell on cars at a profit simply supports the view that there's no such thing as a poor taxi driver.

Wrong tax avoidance is perfectly right and acceptable and the poster never suggested that taxi drivers should be any different. I presume you avoid tax on your pension contributions or health insurance or medical expenses as you are legally entitled to do the poster was pointing out that taxi drivers take advantage of the schemes that they are entitled to under the tax law in this state the same as any other tax payer should.

(PS It is tax evasion that is not right or acceptable )

shltter

Prosperous Dave wrote:

Cantab suggests we all form our own lobby groups to go out and protest.

As someone who actually has to work for a living (as opposed to being able to block the capital's main street with my car all day), I don't have the time to protest against the mouthy minorities who feel it is their right to disrupt everyone else's life. I'd like to be able to get a group together and block the taxi ranks (with a row of taxis in them) just to prevent these gob****es from making money for a while. See how they like being stuck in a jam by a lobby group such as the one suggested by Cantab.

Taximen had it so easy for such a long time. Its not so long ago that a taxi plate would cost 100k. It was brilliant when the taxis were deregulated and the price of a plate tumbled. I don't use taxis, as I've found the drivers to be either racists, know-it-alls, aggressive, sullen or downright rude. They also feel they are entitled to a tip for the privilege of sitting in their (usually) filthy taxi.

Sod the lot of them. Get a hackney, better service and usually a better standard of person.

Just insulting people for the sake of it ads nothing to the debate

Odd that you are opposed to rascism but have no problem lumping all taxi drivers into one group and tarring them all with the one brush despite the obvious fact that there are 13,000 taxis in this city and only a couple of hundred took part in this.

Allowing " mouthy minorities" the right to protest is a part of living in a democracy personally I would much prefer it to some kind of police state.

Kashkai

shltter wrote:

Just insulting people for the sake of it ads nothing to the debate

Odd that you are opposed to rascism but have no problem lumping all taxi drivers into one group and tarring them all with the one brush despite the obvious fact that there are 13,000 taxis in this city and only a couple of hundred took part in this.

Allowing " mouthy minorities" the right to protest is a part of living in a democracy personally I would much prefer it to some kind of police state.

I work in an office with 25 others, all of whom were incovienienced in some way on their commute home by the taximen who caused disruption throughout the city. Not one of my 25 colleagues had a word to say in the defence of the taximen. Comments about taximen uttering racist comments, being bigots, rude, sullen and of course the general state of their cars were stated by all. My post, while being my own personal opinion, also summed up the thoughts and feelings of the people I work with, all of whom come from varying backgrounds and nationalities.

Commuting into Dublin is a bloody chore but its what we have to do in order to pay the mortgage, raise a family etc. Making people's daily commute a bigger nightmare than it already is will never generate any support for whatever group who feel that they have "a right" to block streets.

If these people want to protest, why don't they do it after 7pm when most of us are gone home, or would it be the case that they wouldn't then be in a position to piss the ordainary Joe Soaps off?

If taximen have a problem, take it up with the politicians and the regulator and leave the rest of us alone ffs

shltter

Prosperous Dave wrote:

I work in an office with 25 others, all of whom were incovienienced in some way on their commute home by the taximen who caused disruption throughout the city. Not one of my 25 colleagues had a word to say in the defence of the taximen. Comments about taximen uttering racist comments, being bigots, rude, sullen and of course the general state of their cars were stated by all. My post, while being my own personal opinion, also summed up the thoughts and feelings of the people I work with, all of whom come from varying backgrounds and nationalities.

Commuting into Dublin is a bloody chore but its what we have to do in order to pay the mortgage, raise a family etc. Making people's daily commute a bigger nightmare than it already is will never generate any support for whatever group who feel that they have "a right" to block streets.

If these people want to protest, why don't they do it after 7pm when most of us are gone home, or would it be the case that they wouldn't then be in a position to piss the ordainary Joe Soaps off?

If taximen have a problem, take it up with the politicians and the regulator and leave the rest of us alone ffs

So if all your work pals agreed on rascist stereotypes then those stereotypes must be right as well I did not realise that you had such scientific research behind your stereotypes of taxi drivers.

And use your common sense the protest was designed to cause disruption it was designed to put pressure on the government to act if these guys blocked O' Connell St at some time when little or no one would be inconvenienced then it would have no impact.
The whole point is to get people like you so pissed off that you get angry not just at the taxi drivers but at the government for allowing it to happen that city centre retailers get on the governments back and complain about the loss of business and that the Government has a word with the regulator and makes some changes.
It is about maximising the impact of your actions and alot of the time it works
whether it works in this case we shall wait and see although it is interesting that the DOT found an unknown appeals process the next day.

BTW the taxidrivers know that they are not going to build public support for their cause nor would relying on it even if they had public support make any sense. The Government dont give a **** about public support they do care about the public being pissed off because when people get angry their anger is not always only directed at the direct cause of the problem.

Victor

jdivision wrote:

They should have all been arrested but apparently 20 per cent have criminal records the guards were probably too afraid to do anything.

I think thats a gross overstatement. Do you have anything to back it up?

Kashkai

shltter wrote:

So if all your work pals agreed on rascist stereotypes then those stereotypes must be right as well I did not realise that you had such scientific research behind your stereotypes of taxi drivers.

And use your common sense the protest was designed to cause disruption it was designed to put pressure on the government to act if these guys blocked O' Connell St at some time when little or no one would be inconvenienced then it would have no impact.
The whole point is to get people like you so pissed off that you get angry not just at the taxi drivers but at the government for allowing it to happen that city centre retailers get on the governments back and complain about the loss of business and that the Government has a word with the regulator and makes some changes.
It is about maximising the impact of your actions and alot of the time it works
whether it works in this case we shall wait and see although it is interesting that the DOT found an unknown appeals process the next day.

BTW the taxidrivers know that they are not going to build public support for their cause nor would relying on it even if they had public support make any sense. The Government dont give a **** about public support they do care about the public being pissed off because when people get angry their anger is not always only directed at the direct cause of the problem.

Typical of the mindset of a taximan - everyone else is wrong and you know it all. Amazing how my group of 25 workmates, i.e. male, female, Irish, Polish, English, Australian are all wrong and we are the "racists". BTW, to be racist you must dislike an ethnic group of people. Do you taximen now admit to being of a separate race to the rest of us?????

As for your statement that if I get pissed off at the taximen, I'll turn my anger on the Politicians - get real pal, I only get pissed off at the guy who's causing me the problem. I don't take it up with his elected representatives. You taxi people are the ones with the problems so you take it up with the politicos and leave the rest of us alone to get on with our lives.

shltter

Prosperous Dave wrote:

Typical of the mindset of a taximan - everyone else is wrong and you know it all. Amazing how my group of 25 workmates, i.e. male, female, Irish, Polish, English, Australian are all wrong and we are the "racists". BTW, to be racist you must dislike an ethnic group of people. Do you taximen now admit to being of a separate race to the rest of us?????

As for your statement that if I get pissed off at the taximen, I'll turn my anger on the Politicians - get real pal, I only get pissed off at the guy who's causing me the problem. I don't take it up with his elected representatives. You taxi people are the ones with the problems so you take it up with the politicos and leave the rest of us alone to get on with our lives.

LOL I am definitely not a taxi man or taxiwoman or even taxi child And I never said I was is that you jumping to conclusions I just dont like stereotypes and people who use them.

And I never accused you of being racist or suggested that taxi drivers were a different race you do however appear to be fond of using stereotypes something you would have in common with racists

Pines

Victor wrote:

I think thats a gross overstatement. Do you have anything to back it up?

The 20% figure was quoted in the Seanad by a number of speakers, and some figures below give a percentage of in excess of 16.5% (>1500 out of 9062).

Women warned over safety of city's taxis
Irish Independent, March 17, 2006

SERIOUS concerns are being raised about the safety of Dublin taxis with taxi unions and the Rape Crisis Centre warning women in particular to be cautious.

This comes as Transport Minister Seamus Brennan announced the setting up of an office of national taxi regulator to set standards for the industry and as taxi drivers plan to block Dublin streets today in a protest.

It has been estimated that more than 1,500 of the capital's taxi drivers have criminal records and Vinny Kearns of the National Taxi Drivers Union also revealed that there had been 10 alleged rapes and sex attacks by taxi men in the last two years.

Since the deregulation of the taxi industry two years ago, Dublin's taxi fleet increased from 2,722 licence holders to 9,062 as of Tuesday.

Mr Kearns said that morale in the industry was at "an all-time low" and outlined a number of recent incidents including:

The arrest of a taxi driver by gardai two months ago after they learned he had a conviction in the UK for abducting a 15-year-old. The alleged rape of an 18-year-old girl in a cab in the north city as she was being driven home from a birthday party. The seizure of large quantities of narcotics in several cabs. Retired crime boss "The Monk" was given a licence as was a man convicted of armed robbery and another offender who had over 30 convictions for robbing houses. A brothel keeper got a taxi licence despite objections from gardai.

"This is not sensationalism. This is all pure fact, reflective of the industry we now have today. The morale among our drivers is at an all-time low. After 19 years in this business myself, I feel very sad indeed over the way it is going," said Mr Kearns.

Victor

Pines wrote:

The 20% figure was quoted in the Seanad by a number of speakers, and some figures below give a percentage of in excess of 16.5% (>1500 out of 9062).

That 1,500 figure is a guess. A google search throws up nothing that can be confirmed, even the minister was guessing.

http://www.google.ie/search?q=criminal+records+taxi&hl=en&lr=&cr=countryIE&start=10&sa=N

Ham'nd'egger

One of the problems Gardaí are having is that applicant's for PSV Badges with criminal records have recourse to appeal their being denied a PSV badge in the district court, and invariably they are having the badges granted to them on the pretext that they have a right to earn a living, and more often than not, they are being granted. The Carraige Office are opposing many of these applicants but they do seem to be fighting a losing battle on it.

jdivision

http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0173/S.0173.200306270004.html