Polish drivers

purple'n'gold

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/110-01.html

What are the rules and regulations for foreign drivers in Ireland?
Are they allowed to drive on licences issued in their own countries?
Are insurance policies issued in their home countries valid here?

PCros

F**k it, its there own fault, they think they are above the law and drive like idiots until the hit a telephone pole.

purple'n'gold

I have no problem with them killing themselves, but I do have a problem with them being on the road and putting other people in danger.

Mantel

PCros wrote: »

F**k it, its there own fault, they think they are above the law and drive like idiots until the hit a telephone pole.

Other cars and pedestrians are easier to hit than telephone poles.

MrJoeSoap

Having worked next-door to an off-license for three years it definitely isn't a myth. There was a crash a few hundred yards down the road from me that killed a Polish man, the car completely demolished a wall, whilst the passenger that survived got out of the car and lit up a cigarette...

Owen

Another thread on this? :rolleyes:

A minority of 'Polish' (Which seems to be the Irish term for Eastern European people these days) drivers give the majority a bad name, so let's have a knee-jerk piece of legislation run through the Dáil to stop them driving here. Brilliant. Sure that'll fix everything.

togster

ned78 wrote: »

Another thread on this? :rolleyes:

.

Could we not have a thread stickied for the racists etc to post on pleasssssse

mickjohnlong

what happens to the polish or other foreign drivers if they get caught drink driving do they get points on their licence or do they get a ban how is it applied to them

MrJoeSoap

ned78 wrote: »

A minority of 'Polish' (Which seems to be the Irish term for Eastern European people these days)

Is it a minority though? The coroner in the link said he had experienced a disproportionate number of Polish drivers being killed.

so let's have a knee-jerk piece of legislation run through the Dáil to stop them driving here. Brilliant. Sure that'll fix everything.

Who even mentioned legislation, you are the one who is knee-jerking here.

togster

mickjohnlong wrote: »

what happens to the polish or other foreign drivers if they get caught drink driving do they get points on their licence or do they get a ban how is it applied to them

They get away scot free aparently. Because our laws don't apply to them cos they are from eastern europe

MrJoeSoap

togster wrote: »

They get away scot free aparently. Because our laws don't apply to them cos they are from eastern europe

Good input. Thanks for that. Good to see the anti-racism crowd are out early to pre-empt any racism.

Heaven forbid, they might even discuss the issue at hand.

Owen

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Is it a minority though? The coroner in the link said he had experienced a disproportionate number of Polish drivers being killed.

Yes, it is. I'm directly involved with the Polish community as herself is Polish. Most of the lads are excellently disciplined drivers with observational skills that would put any Irish driver to shame.

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Who even mentioned legislation, you are the one who is knee-jerking here.

Call it a prediction. Someone'll be on the thread soon asking for it.

connundrum

Feck them all out.

And this probably belongs in the Motors forum.

Mossy Monk

ned78 wrote: »

Another thread on this? :rolleyes:

A minority of 'Polish' (Which seems to be the Irish term for Eastern European people these days) drivers give the majority a bad name, so let's have a knee-jerk piece of legislation run through the Dáil to stop them driving here. Brilliant. Sure that'll fix everything.

It is the coroner who said Polish. Yours is the typical knee jerk response.

matrim

purplengold wrote: »

What are the rules and regulations for foreign drivers in Ireland?

The same rules and regulations that apply for Irish drivers

purplengold wrote: »

Are they allowed to drive on licences issued in their own countries?

Depends on the country. AFAIK, people from all European countries can drive with their license. However some countries cannot, e.g. Americans.

purplengold wrote: »

Are insurance policies issued in their home countries valid here?

The same as here it depends on the insurance policy, some will and some won't.


From what I've been told, the standard of training for getting a license is higher in Poland than Ireland. You have to do 20 odd lessons before you can even sit your test.
However, there are people everywhere that will drink and drive regardless of the standard of training they have. I would assume because they are drunk and driving on the a side of the road they are not used to it would increase the likelihood of an accident.

togster

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Good input. Thanks for that. Good to see the anti-racism crowd are out early to pre-empt any racism.

Heaven forbid, they might even discuss the issue at hand.

Its called a pre-emptive strike. Its better to attempt to stop it before you crowd start getting illusions of grandeur and start preaching again. Some one needs to stand up for the foreigners don't ya know

Owen

Mossy Monk wrote: »

It is the coroner who said Polish. Yours is the typical knee jerk response.

With all due respect, an old boss' partner was a coroner here in Cork. Any time I went to dinner she use to blab on about how many bikers were being wiped out, and how we were like lemmings. And no matter how often we discussed the matter, she could never be wrong. Until I confronted her with the stats. Then she shut up.

So, I wouldn't really have much meas on what a coroner has to say on the matter, and would prefer to see some actual statistics, rather than a personal comment picked up and magnified by the media.

togster

matrim wrote: »

From what I've been told, the standard of training for getting a license is higher in Poland than Ireland. You have to do 20 odd lessons before you can even sit your test.
However, there are people everywhere that will drink and drive regardless of the standard of training they have. I would assume because they are drunk and driving on the a side of the road they are not used to it would increase the likelihood of an accident.

+1 and in most countries in the EU you can drive on the licence you attained in your country of residence.

mct1

I moved back here from the UK 12 years ago, and being a law abiding goody-2-shoes, I tried to do everything properly (including reregistering the cars within a week or so!) The UK car insurance would not be valid if you stay here for longer than a few weeks (the number of days is stated on the policy) so it's compulsary to get re-insured here by then. I think it's legal to drive here with a foreign licence, but I changed mine to an Irish one so I could use it as i.d, and be able to hire a car. My UK licence would obviously be invalid as i.d because I was no longer resident at the address stated on it. I assume people coming to reside here from other countries need to do the same, though I suspect many of them don't bother.

togster

mct1 wrote: »

I assume people coming to reside here from other countries need to do the same, though I suspect many of them don't bother.

You don't need an irish license to get insured here. If you hold a valid licence you can get insurance. What do people suggest that everyone moving here do an irish driving test?

Kintarō Hattori

togster wrote: »

They get away scot free aparently. Because our laws don't apply to them cos they are from eastern europe

Well your just wrong there.

ned78 wrote: »

So, I wouldn't really have much meas on what a coroner has to say on the matter, and would prefer to see some actual statistics, rather than a personal comment picked up and magnified by the media.

I agree with Ned here. Anyone can say what they want and heck alot of people will believe them. But, you can't argue with statistics and that's what I'd like to see.


Same old crap eh Ned?!

togster

eo980 wrote: »

Well your just wrong there.

*whooosh*

Kintarō Hattori

togster wrote: »

*whooosh*

No I know what you meant but so many wouldn't have got it because they'd have been blinded by the chance to come in here and moan about 'them foreigners'.

ejmaztec

It's ironic that a couple of Polish bikers got killed in Kerry by a drunken local driver back in the summer of 2006. He was recently locked up for five years.

With regard to Eastern European drivers in general, a lot of the ones that I see must have their accelerator pedals welded to the floor. I think that this is because of Western technology. The cars in the former Soviet bloc probably only had a top speed of 30 miles an hour, whereas the ropiest piece of scrap in the West could treble that with the handbrake on. Mix this with a dose of alcohol, and it's off to the A&E. When the novelty's worn off they might slow down a bit:D

120_Minutes

matrim wrote: »

Depends on the country. AFAIK, people from all European countries can drive with their license. However some countries cannot, e.g. Americans.

Wrong. An american can drive here for up to 12 months with their US licence.

peasant

...and 400.000 Irish people can drive without having done any test at all :D:D

Pherekydes

purplengold wrote: »

Are they allowed to drive on licences issued in their own countries?

Are WE allowed drive abroad on licences issued in OUR country?

WoollyRedHat

Sure let's blame the polish, why not! Typical Irish thing to do, shift the blame onto another countries people and make it look like it's not really our fault.

When official statistics are shown, as mentioned, maybe it can give us a clearer picture, but such a vague statement that was made by a coroner without any figures to back up his claim and then shown on RTE is stupid.

Terry

Moved from AH.

Gran Hermano

I'm pretty sure I heard in the latest figures that the National Safety Council
released this week detailing the breakdown of penalty points allocated
show that 20% of all penalty point offenders are driving on non-Irish
licenses. Now unless 20% of all motorists in Ireland are driving on foreign
licenses this would indicate to me that those driving on foreign licenses
are more likely to commit break traffic laws.

I am also aware that many Irish people drive on foreign licenses, often as
a means to avoid penalty points. The only way to circumvent this loophole
is to ensure that points earned in Ireland are applied to all foreign licenses.

mox54

I currently drive on a UK liscence and cannot get points and have no intention of changing it, even the Garda are unsure what the story is so every time I'm questioned about it they take any old story from me, as for Polish drivers etc, they are fairly good drivers on the whole (I drive for a living and work with Polish lads) and the general standard is high, the rest of eastern europe is a different story, Latvia etc, I think they're fairly poor by comparison.

Rb

In fairness, the Polish licence tests are much, much harder than our own here, so whatever amount of them are driving here, I'd imagine the overwhelming majority would be good drivers.

The same can't be said for the Russians/Lithunians/Latvians though, who are often mistaken to be Polish.

Tha Gopher

ned78 wrote: »

Another thread on this? :rolleyes:

A minority of 'Polish' (Which seems to be the Irish term for Eastern European people these days) drivers give the majority a bad name, so let's have a knee-jerk piece of legislation run through the Dáil to stop them driving here. Brilliant. Sure that'll fix everything.

LOL Ah cmere now.....

Would you agree that in local newspapers drivers with Eastern names (not necessarily Polish) are up more often for traffic offences?

Or do the papers only report these cases and ignore the Irish cases?:rolleyes: Why defend bad foreign drivers? Without having any stats to back it up I would say it is a safe bet that in London between the 50s and early 90s Irish immigrants were disproportionately arrested for, say, drunk and disorderly, or bar brawls. Why should anyone defend them? There is no need to jump in roaring racist when its anything negative to do with foreigners. Racial sh1t stirring is if someone here stated that 90% of Poles here live off benefits, something that is clearly untrue. Stating that they are more likely to drink drive is, if you take most local newspapers as an example, a fact. If you dont like it, tell the Poles/E Europeans in general to stop drink driving at a higher rate than the Irish, then nobody will have any grounds to complain.

Id certainly agree they are probably a minority. However, they are a large minority. What is the problem in simply admitting that yes, a larger proportion of drivers from abroad are poor drivers? Its more like lying to yourself really. Spanish and Italian people are woefully dangerous cyclists, I nearly get glanced by them once or twice per week going to and from work. Is it racist to think that these people should need a licence to cycle, seeing as such a large proportion are clearly unskilled at it?

Kintarō Hattori

rb_ie wrote: »

In fairness, the Polish licence tests are much, much harder than our own here, so whatever amount of them are driving here, I'd imagine the overwhelming majority would be good drivers.

I can't believe I just read that!

hosi

Hi all,
I'm one of Polish drivers here in Ireland. I'm here a guest in your country so basically I don't complain about things I see here. They are as they are, no discussion about it.
But if you are discussing Polish drivers' recklessness, let me share with you my impressions. I hold driving licence for 12 years (no accidents). I was driving a lot in Poland and Germany. After two years spent behind a wheel in Ireland I can say:

1. The way how people become drivers here was a shock, not only for me! I would say for most of foreigners. Initially I was thinking it's a joke! How is it possible that people without any medical tests (sight test is also a joke) can just like that after sitting theory test drive on public road! This of cource is being reflected in the way how L-drivers behave on roads...

2. Irish drivers are in a deep shock when they drive 40 km/h and are being overtaken! How could I??? How I dare to drive faster than 40 km/h!!!

3. I hold polish driving licence, and no, I'm not going to apply for an irish one.

4. You complain about drunk Polish drivers but don't forget which country has the highest alcohol consumption in Europe? You know best. You think, drivers are not affected?

5. Cliche known in entire Europe: what is "the irish way of driving?" See above :rolleyes:

And so on...


Please don't get me wrong guys. Each society has its own black sheeps. So please don't generalise that bad Polish drivers are drunk. I'm the best example that they aren't

One more thing I want to clarify, in general in Poland you get insurance which is valid in entire EU by default.


ps. My English is not perfect, therefore thank you for your understanding in advance!

Tha Gopher

hosi wrote: »

4. You complain about drunk Polish drivers and don't forget which country has highest alcohol consumption in Europe? You know best. You think, drivers are not affected?

In fairness most young Irish drivers who drink will never get behind the wheel with even a pint in them. The reason being that if caught they are effectively not going to drive again for years, insurance companies are relectant enough to take on anyone under 25, they wont touch them if they have a conviction.

Some older folk still drink and drive but among the young its way down.

Blazer

I wouldn't go by Nationality either when classifying bad drivers.
I work in Dell where about 30% of the workforce are polish and the majority of them are good drivers. You get the odd few lunatics alright but I see way more bad Irish drivers..
eg On outside lane of Dual carriage overtaking cars...doing approx 105-110kph.
Meet woman (irish) in car ahead of me (golf) who's doing 90kph on the outside lane. Give her time to pull in as the nearest car is approx 300 yards ahead but she doesn't. By this time I now have approx 15 cars up my ass on the outside lane being held up by this stupid bitch..
I flash my headlights which I hate doing (looks like a prick) and what does she do? Looks in her rear view mirror giving me abuse and then indicates left, and then brakes rapidly down to approx 60kph. Had to swerve my car around her on the left and then overtake her, at which point she started waving her fist at me and screaming. If I hadn't swerved I would have hit the stupid bitch and the 15 cars behind me in the lane would have hit me thus resulting more likely in deaths and serious accidents. I was so close to stopping my car at the next roundabout as she was still right behind me but I decided not to..I've a pretty vicious temper when raised (extremely rare) but I've have probably slammed her head through her window if I had so I kept going.
About 2 miles further down the next dual carriageway what did I find..another dozy bitch doing 85kph in an old banger again on the outside lane.

When oh when are people going to realize that the outside lane on a dualcarriageway is for overtaking only.The amount of bad drivers I meet everyday is frightening and 99% of them are Irish.
As one polish guy said "It's true that polish sometimes drive on the wrong site of the road, however it's always true that the Irish always drive in the middle of the road". Laughed when I heard that thinking how true it is.

Lawdie

hosi wrote: »

4. You complain about drunk Polish drivers but don't forget which country has the highest alcohol consumption in Europe? You know best. You think, drivers are not affected?

http://www.finfacts.ie/Private/bestprice/alcoholdrinkconsumptionpriceseurope.htm

Is there newer stats than this? From this report Ireland is not the "highest" in consumption.

hosi

Mathew Reilly wrote: »

I wouldn't go by Nationality either when classifying bad drivers.

Me neither, but this is being discussed diligently in this thread by others :rolleyes:

Female drivers? No comment...

Lawdie wrote: »

http://www.finfacts.ie/Private/bestprice/alcoholdrinkconsumptionpriceseurope.htm

Is there newer stats than this? From this report Ireland is not the "highest" in consumption.

OK, it was last year or so. It was loud about it in newspapers... But it is not my point anyway. Let's say "very high" if you don't like "the highest" :rolleyes:

Edit: Ireland - 13,6 who gives more?

nytraveller

Mathew Reilly wrote: »

eg On outside lane of Dual carriage overtaking cars...doing approx 105-110kph.
Meet woman (irish) in car ahead of me (golf) who's doing 90kph on the outside lane. Give her time to pull in as the nearest car is approx 300 yards ahead but she doesn't. By this time I now have approx 15 cars up my ass on the outside lane being held up by this stupid bitch..
I flash my headlights which I hate doing (looks like a prick) and what does she do? Looks in her rear view mirror giving me abuse and then indicates left, and then brakes rapidly down to approx 60kph. Had to swerve my car around her on the left and then overtake her, at which point she started waving her fist at me and screaming. If I hadn't swerved I would have hit the stupid bitch and the 15 cars behind me in the lane would have hit me thus resulting more likely in deaths and serious accidents. I was so close to stopping my car at the next roundabout as she was still right behind me but I decided not to..I've a pretty vicious temper when raised (extremely rare) but I've have probably slammed her head through her window if I had so I kept going.
About 2 miles further down the next dual carriageway what did I find..another dozy bitch doing 85kph in an old banger again on the outside lane.

When oh when are people going to realize that the outside lane on a dualcarriageway is for overtaking only.The amount of bad drivers I meet everyday is frightening and 99% of them are Irish.
As one polish guy said "It's true that polish sometimes drive on the wrong site of the road, however it's always true that the Irish always drive in the middle of the road". Laughed when I heard that thinking how true it is.

Why cant we just pass them on the inside like alot of other countries allow????? Maybe we need an update to the rules of the road.

ejmaztec

nytraveller wrote: »

Why cant we just pass them on the inside like alot of other countries allow????? Maybe we need an update to the rules of the road.

I find that if they think you're going to get past them on the inside, they tend to pull into the slow lane because these people seem to be barking mad, the same as those psychos who put their foot down when you try to overtake, despite the fact an oncoming vehicle is approaching fast.

Attempted murder, I think would be an adequate description.

teetotaller

I just read all posts and some of u are racists.....

(racists - this chapter below is for your attention)

Just try to think what would happen here in Ireland if all eastern european, british ( u can't say that u love british right ? ) , german etc decide to go back to their countries. So many jobs were created for immigrants that it could be a problem for Ireland if plenty of managers and bosses would became jobless. R.I.P > Celtic Tiger ??

I want to answer few of your questions

- U don't need to change EU DL for Irish.
- U can't get penalty points right now if u have polish or eastern european DL, but it is going to be changed soon - some smart heads from EU are working on this. Now penalty points are stored only in database, but when new system will be launched - all penalty point will be added to DL's and some of people will loose it.

- if u are sent by gards to court for dangerous driving - u can't loose DL, - it wasn't given by Irish goverment it can't be taken by Irish goverment ( the same rule is in every country) but u can get ban from sitting behind steering wheel, u can go to prison etc.

- u can drive polish reg plate car here with Polish insurance for a short period of time only - nobody knows how long is this time cos there is no clear instruction from irish goverment. Polish insurance works in Ireland.. both are EU countries



there are few hundred thousands Eastern European's here - it can't work like this that there won't be any accidents with EE involved.

Somebody asked "why he can see in papers more information about accidents with EE than with Irish "

I can ask why in polish papers and online polish papers I can read more information about polish victims of Irish scumba** than vice versa ???

It is natural in every country that u say louder about what foreigners did than what your street mate did.

Some of u say that we can't drive

yes u are right - we can't drive well in Ireland - why ?

becouse we think that u have the same skills as everyone else in europe.
and not all of us know that there are more L and non L drivers on irish roads who completely can't drive than us foreigners.

- cos we need to spend 30 hours in car with instructor, then 20 hours with instructor (theory) then we can pass theory and practical exam) If we pass we can drive on our own on the streets - If u don't have full DL u can't drive a car without instructor.

(of course 50 hours is not enough to be perfect driver - but if u learn basics - u know how to improve your skils)

- we learn how to drive with high speed, how to overtake, how to use indicators how to think while driving, how to use emergency lights if there is a sudden trafiic on the road.
- we learn how to drive dynamicly and how to use high speed lane and slow lane speed

- you - my irish friends don't learn at all.
you can sit in a car for first time in your life and u can drive.

and u are driving ............

40km/h on 80km /h speed limit road - then u are shocked that somebody overtook u. - it is dangerous - cos roads are narrow and u can't always overtake safely. it is dangerous, becouse in the dark some of irish from incoming traffic are not using proper lights
( In Poland there are no day lights - u use these lights only when u stop on the side of road, and when your car is not visible for others. - It is regulated by law that u must use your night lights 24h/ day !!)

and everyone of you can confirm that u get mad when it is dark and u see fecker driving towards you with switched off or day lights.....


On the motorway some of you driving 90km/h while 120 km/h speed limit on the right lane of motorway are shocked that somebody else is trying to overtake from left or right "snail". U are flashing lights beeping, but no Snail - KING OF The Road must use higher speed lane !!!

On the national roads with one wide lane each direction it is natural for us foreigners that if u are overtaking snail and there is incoming traffic , slow drivers and income drivers are moving to hard shoulder to help you to keep your speed. In Ireland it is natural only for trucks drivers ( maybe they are all foreigners? ) all other drivers loves to drive as close as possible to the middle of road.

some of u are not using indicators , have u ever meet situation when somebody driving thru 2 lanes roundabout was using both of them ?

that are basic differences - and maybe that is why some of us foreigners cause dangerous situations.




Somebody wrote that we should pass theory test before driving on irish roads ................

I think that all of you who are smart knows that these theory tests are for stupids......... they are so easy that u can easily pass it using your intuition and brain...

- no any junction's situations
- no any situations with trams - who can go first who second
- no any junctions with 6 or 8 roads crossing in one place etc.....


and questions like

u see an emergency vehicle behind u - what u do

a) nothing
b) stop suddenly in place where u are
c) move to the side of the road , ensure that emergency V has clear way to go ............





If u didn't understand me with any sentence I wrote before u start saying that I'm idiot who can't speak english - ask me and I'll try to rewrite it using different words.


and just to let u know - I have many irish friends who can drive very well and says that I'm right with that what I wrote.



2 words about me

I live in Dublin 3,5 years, I drive my car here 2,5 years
I know how to drive on your narrow roads and motorways
I have small 1L polo so I don't have leg made from stone or steel
I never drive drunk ( see my nickname)
I never drive more than 5-10 km over the speed limit and on every motorway or national road I always overtake more than 90% cars on the road.

hosi

teetotaller, I couldn't put it better myself!!!

Traumadoc

Most crashes I see are caused by Irish people, they should be banned frm driving!
Seriously everyone for years has been saying when they visit Ireland how bad the driving is here.
You also have to remember the populaton of immigrants to Ireland tends to be 20-50 years, this will statistically skew the number involvd in Fatal RTAs as this is the age group that are killed in RTAs.

but I suppose its a chance for the" some of my friends are polish" brgade to have a racist rant.

MrJoeSoap

hosi wrote: »

teetotaller, I couldn't put it better myself!!!

Having spent that long writing a post you think they might have used the word "you" every now and then.

Traumadoc

Go on have a go.

Traumadoc

Gran Hermano wrote: »

I'm pretty sure I heard in the latest figures that the National Safety Council
released this week detailing the breakdown of penalty points allocated
show that 20% of all penalty point offenders are driving on non-Irish
licenses. Now unless 20% of all motorists in Ireland are driving on foreign
licenses this would indicate to me that those driving on foreign licenses
are more likely to commit break traffic laws.

I am also aware that many Irish people drive on foreign licenses, often as
a means to avoid penalty points. The only way to circumvent this loophole
is to ensure that points earned in Ireland are applied to all foreign licenses.

Many of these people caught on non-irish licenses are Irish ( Northern Ireland)- do we need to re-educate them as to the rules of the road?

We need popultion matched statistics here, not xenophobic anecdotes

keefg

Traumadoc wrote: »

Seriously everyone for years has been saying when they visit Ireland how bad the driving is here.

Not only is this very true but Irish drivers are also considered to be a hazard when driving abroad.

I drove professionaly for years (haulage) all over Northern Europe and when you are on ferries or in truck stops etc. I would hear loads of other drivers (English, French, German & Dutch mainly) complain about how reckless Irish truckers are on "their" roads (so it's not just the provisional license holders).

Coming from a country that obviously has a high standard of driver tuition I can understand why Teetotaller & hosi would object to this criticism when our own drivers can pay twenty euro (or whatever a provisional licence costs now) and jump into a car and think that they can drive. That's just crazy and our own government needs to drasticaly overhaul our own system before pointing any fingers at "Those Foreigners".

ejmaztec

Unfortunately, anyone can "teach" someone to drive in Ireland, without any training qualifications whatsoever.

teetotaller

I'm happy that some of u agree with me.
But don't understand me wrongly
I don't say that all Irish are bad drivers as same as I don't say that all EE are good drivers ( I spend some time as well reading polish forums for people in Ireland and i read - " I was doing 170km/h when Gards stopped me - what can happen in court ? " .......... I always answer that I hope that judge will send him to prison for a long years.) etc, etc, etc


I want to put your attention on fact that if we are not profesionally trained at the begining of our adventure with car - we can't see our mistakes and we can't correct them we don't know that we are causing danger on the road while driving 40 on 80 km/h road or 80 on 120km/h motorway. We think then that we are good drivers cos we were never involved in any accident. But true is different.

anyway who knows how to use correctly indicators while driving on roundabout???? Cos I see as many answers as cars on the roads.


MrJoeSoap - sorry that u had to read so long post, but sometimes when I miss exact words I need to prepare a long speech to inform english speaking people about that what I want to say

juuge

ned78 wrote: »

Another thread on this? :rolleyes:

A minority of 'Polish' (Which seems to be the Irish term for Eastern European people these days) drivers give the majority a bad name, so let's have a knee-jerk piece of legislation run through the Dáil to stop them driving here. Brilliant. Sure that'll fix everything.

So it's a minority that gives them a bad name, like a minority of dicky priests, a minority of crooked politicians, solicitors, doctors etc..... The same excuse always seems to be...it's only a minority ! What a load of rubbish !