Dublins lock hard men

Dr Brown

What happened to the lock hard men in Dublin ?

I remember they use to be all over the city back in the 90s but now you never see them.

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/0108/758711-the-lock-hard-men/

Allinall

Dr Brown wrote: »

What happened to the lock hard men in Dublin ?

I remember they use to be all over the city back in the 90s but now you never see them.

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/0108/758711-the-lock-hard-men/

Lack of newspapers and self parking cars.

Gavin "shels"

Dr Brown wrote: »

What happened to the lock hard men in Dublin ?

I remember they use to be all over the city back in the 90s but now you never see them.

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/0108/758711-the-lock-hard-men/

Does be one in the Halfway House pub on the Navan Rd (probably hired by them) and one in the car park area at DC Motors on Richmond Rd before Shelbourne games.

frash

Used to get the in North Strand on Croke Park match days when I lived in the area 10 / 12 years ago

Presume you still get them there?

Dr Brown

Remember this song from the 90s.

CrankyHaus

Clamping introduced in 1997 cleared them out.

Still get the odd chancer trying their hand at it. Had one try it in Ballyfermot village a couple of years ago. Are they still about for croker match days?

SEPT 23 1989

Gavin "shels" wrote: »

Does be one in the Halfway House pub on the Navan Rd (probably hired by them) and one in the car park area at DC Motors on Richmond Rd before Shelbourne games.

Paid in creamy pints of porter

mikemac2

Would your car mysteriously get a few dents if you refused to pay these self appointment chaps back in the day?

Dr Brown

CrankyHaus wrote: »

Clamping introduced in 1997 cleared them out.

Still get the odd chancer trying their hand at it. Had one try it in Ballyfermot village a couple of years ago. Are they still about for croker match days?

And the clampers are far bigger scumbags than the lock hard men ever were.

Teyla Emmagan

Oh yeah my Dad had a favourite joke about the lock hard men "but does your dog put out fires" goes the punchline. Haven't seen one in years.

Gimme A Pound

Dr Brown wrote: »

And the clampers are far bigger scumbags than the lock hard men ever were.

Thought you'd be one for believing people should take responsibility for themselves and not park where they shouldn't park. Scumbag or not, they're avoidable.

Dr Brown

Izaiah Cool Meteorite wrote: »

Thought you'd be one for believing people should take responsibility for themselves and not park where they shouldn't park. Scumbag or not, they're avoidable.

Not if your late by 5mins these scumbags will hit you for 80 euro.

Gimme A Pound

Dr Brown wrote: »

Not if your late by 5mins these scumbags will hit you for 80 euro.

They will not.

Dr Brown

Izaiah Cool Meteorite wrote: »

They will not.

It happened to me before I left my car for 3 mins and when I came back the scumbags were putting a clamp on.

tabbey

Dr Brown wrote: »

What happened to the lock hard men in Dublin ?

I remember they use to be all over the city back in the 90s but now you never see them.

They were all over the city in the 1960s & 70s, but fewer in the 80s and almost gone by the 90s.

First of all meter parking took over, initially in limited areas, gradually covering most of the inner city.
By then the only scope for lockhards was in the evening, when people were going to cinemas, or on occasions when matches were being played.

Alun

Were they a uniquely Irish or indeed Dublin thing? Never heard of such a thing before to be honest, but then I'm not Irish.

endacl

Dr Brown wrote: »

It happened to me before I left my car for 3 mins and when I came back the scumbags were putting a clamp on.

They were probably familiar with your threads on here.

tabbey

mikemac2 wrote: »

Would your car mysteriously get a few dents if you refused to pay these self appointment chaps back in the day?

yes, and maybe worse, that is why motorists were generous.

To be fair, most of the lockhards were decent enough, in spite of effectively charging for the use of public space.
However we did not know who was OK, or who was a bowsie.

realdanbreen

Some have progressed to extor...,sorry, keeping an eye on the cars in multi storey car parks in certain parts of the city.

ongarboy

Funny, before I lived in Dublin we drove up to the old point depot (3Arena) for a concert in the early 90s and a fella came up to us saying give him a pound (pre Euro of course) to watch our car. We didn't, weren't aware of this scam but were nervy that we'd find a smashed wing mirror or worse when we came back from the gig but thankfully didn't. I assumed it was a chancer like those aggressive guys trying to wash your car windscreen when you stopped at traffic lights. They've disappeared too.

I didn't know there was an actual mini industry around them. Good riddance.

pm1977x

I remember a few of the auld lads, up by the Rotunda and down around the Pro Cathedral, most were grand, just earning a few quid and would actually be there when you came back so you felt they had kept an eye on it at least.


Then the scrotes started trying their hand, I remember coming back to the car in Summerhill, Gardiner St and that area (my Dad was obviously an optimist!) and various assorted younger lads would arrive out of nowhere declaring that they had looked after the car for us and getting quite aggressive about being paid, wasn't pleasant.

blindside88

Alun wrote: »

Were they a uniquely Irish or indeed Dublin thing? Never heard of such a thing before to be honest, but then I'm not Irish.

You still get them in Limerick city around Thomond Park on match days. It’s in a rough part of the city and lads usually direct traffic into parking spots in housing estates for a fiver a car. Nice little earner for them

Seth Brundle

Dr Brown wrote: »

Not if your late by 5mins these scumbags will hit you for 80 euro.

Dr Brown wrote: »

It happened to me before I left my car for 3 mins and when I came back the scumbags were putting a clamp on.

Given all of your other posts on here that I've read are based on fantasy, I'll assume these are too!

Dr Brown

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Given all of your other posts on here that I've read are based on fantasy, I'll assume these are too!

So clampers don't clamp people at lightning speed once they get out of their car ?

I have witnessed these scumbags put a clamp on a car in less than 30 seconds.

Collie D

Dr Brown wrote: »

So clampers don't clamp people at lightning speed once they get out of their car ?

I have witnessed these scumbags put a clamp on a car in less than 30 seconds.

Well if they're doing it as soon as they got out of the car rather than after ticket has expired then they're in a no parking zone, no?

Re lockhards. Friend paid one after match in Croke Park during the summer so they're still around.

The Pheasant2

Last experience with these was at Croker nearly 10 year ago now

Dr Brown

Collie D wrote: »

Well if they're doing it as soon as they got out of the car rather than after ticket has expired then they're in a no parking zone, no?

Re lockhards. Friend paid one after match in Croke Park during the summer so they're still around.

I had to walk around the corner to buy a ticket when I came back 3 mins later my car was being clamped.

Its a total racket.

They make the lock hard men look like good people.

Victor

CrankyHaus wrote: »

Clamping introduced in 1997 cleared them out.

I imagine it was more the concurrent changeover from individual parking meters.

FreudianSlippers

Dr Brown wrote: »

So clampers don't clamp people at lightning speed once they get out of their car ?

I have witnessed these scumbags put a clamp on a car in less than 30 seconds.

Before ParkingTag I pulled in a spot and clampers were clamping some cars - walked up to the lads, showed them my fiver and said "that's my car, just running into the shop there to break this fiver". Guy was like "no bother" came back out and............



nothing. Car wasn't clamped, they were clamping another car in the area and I went and paid/displayed.

If personal anecdotes are to be the be-all-and-end-all of what clampers are like, then I'm saying all clampers are sound and aren't out to just clamp you the second you get out of your car.

neris

not really a lockhard man on the street, but woman from the country on liveline few years back up for a game in croker told how some young fella was trying to get cars into the driveway of a house nearby for match day parking and was charging a small amount so they pulled parked up and went off to the match. came back to where they parked the car to find the electronic gates on the house shut. big argument with the house owner over the car being parked in the drive. of course the house owner had nothing to do with the chancer who got them to park

gormdubhgorm

frash wrote: »

Used to get the in North Strand on Croke Park match days when I lived in the area 10 / 12 years ago

Presume you still get them there?

There is definitely still a load of them around Croke Park on match days/concerts.

Cienciano

Dr Brown wrote: »

So clampers don't clamp people at lightning speed once they get out of their car ?

I have witnessed these scumbags put a clamp on a car in less than 30 seconds.

Private clampers, maybe. But not DCC clampers. They give you at least 15 minutes.
My experience: wife was using the parking app but she had a new card, old number was still attached to the app. Parked and "paid" but she didn't get confirmation, she got an message saying her card was invalid which she thought was the paid confirmation. Only realised about an hour and a half later when she was out in a restaurant. Rang the parking tag people, they confirmed our number was read once by the clampers but we weren't clamped. Presumable they come back around 15 minutes later and if you're still there without paying, then you get clamped. We paid over the phone and didn't get clamped.
Presumably this is for people to get change. NCPS are a different story, but DCC clampers are ok in my book

realdanbreen

Clampers and lock hard men are two completely different species.

Victor

Cienciano wrote: »

Private clampers, maybe. But not DCC clampers. They give you at least 15 minutes.

It will depend on circumstances. If you engage in nuisance parking, you can be clamped immediately. Not having paid may get you a 10 minute grace period.

hankless

realdanbreen wrote: »

Clampers and lock hard men are two completely different species.

One of them was the person that the teacher put in charge when they left the room. The other was the person that threw things at the person in charge.

Alicano

Defo still going. I see them on West road in East Wall for Croke Pk events. Ran past a poor family standing beside their SUV with it's main back window smashed when Dublin were playing Tyrone. Awful stuff. Probably didn't pay the boyzzzz :rolleyes: