About 1,000 taxi drivers marched in protest against deregulation after a meeting yesterday evening in Liberty Hall. The march started at about 5 p.m from Liberty Hall, proceeding to Kildare Street, which taxi drivers say was originally blocked off by gardai, before the barriers were removed and the drivers were allowed march past Leinster House.

They marched around St Stephen's Green, and back to Liberty Hall, where they dispersed peacefully at around 6.30 p.m. During the march, gardai stayed with the protesting drivers, ensuring traffic could freely pass at all times. Drivers said the gardai had been helpful throughout the march. A Garda spokeswoman said the protest passed without incident.

Some taxis that were not parked at taxi ranks were given parking tickets.

Taxi-drivers with the National Taxi Drivers' Union and the Irish Taxi Drivers' Federation were telling customers they were on strike, while members of SIPTU told customers they had withdrawn their services.

Their cars were parked at their usual ranks in the city centre, with drivers standing beside the cars. At the College Green rank, which usually has lengthy queues on a Friday night, a sign on a lamp post read "Taxi strike. Sorry for the inconvenience".

At the rank, Mr Terence Burke (39), who has been a taxi driver for 11 years, said people he spoke to were largely sympathetic. "They see I wouldn't be standing here unless I had a very good reason - the loss of my livelihood. Normally, I'd be working," he said.

At the St Stephen's Green rank, Mr John Fitzpatrick (51) from Bray, who has driven a taxi for 16 years, said: "We are trying to explain the situation to people. We are trying to explain how devastated we are. I had pride in my work, which was good for my self-esteem. Now our civil rights have been taken away."