Dublin food delivery riders on thefts and attacks: ’They do it just for fun, it’s horrible’

Delivery riders are struggling with low pay and insufficient working hours, while the risk of attack means they avoid certain areas of the capital altogether

Brazilians Bruno Lopes (left), who did not want his face to be photographed, and Guilherme Silva, who moved to Ireland to learn English recently.
Brazilians Bruno Lopes (left), who did not want his face to be photographed, and Guilherme Silva, who moved to Ireland to learn English recently.

“They do it just for fun, it’s horrible,” says Bruno Lopes.

Sitting on the steps of the O’Connell monument on Dublin’s main thoroughfare, he explains that his moped is rented.

He owned one, for which he paid €3,000, but it was stolen last month from outside his home in the city centre.

“I came here thinking ‘here’ is Europe – but it has the same problems as my country,” he says.

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The 34-year-old from São Paulo, Brazil, reported the theft to gardaí but they have been unable to locate his moped yet, he says.

“Three days ago guys robbed my friend’s bicycle here,” he says on O’Connell Street, before showing, on his phone, a WhatsApp group with more than 100 members.

The group was set up to report sightings of stolen bikes. As he shows the screen, a message appears with the location of another rider’s stolen bike, spotted near Drumcondra on Dublin’s northside.

He says the rider will now attempt to retrieve it.

Mr Lopes is one of thousands of delivery riders working for apps such as Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat in Ireland. Despite a protest held earlier this year over low rates of pay and hostile working conditions, little has improved, according to those working in the capital.

“Any job, you have problems,” he says, alerts sounding on his phone every few seconds, offering orders.

He avoids certain areas in the city altogether, having heard that groups of teenagers “hide behind corners” and ambush delivery riders or throw objects at them as they cycle through.

“The pay for the orders is not good. The price of things, the salary doesn’t follow it,” he says.

Having worked as an estate agent in Brazil, he came to Ireland three years ago to learn English, something he says will help him earn a better living back home.

However, the nature of the job generally means delivery riders are “not interacting, their language skills are not improving”, says Fiachra Ó Luain, co-founder of the English Language Students’ Union of Ireland.

Delivery riders in Ireland commonly avail of Stamp 2 visas, which allow them to work 20 hours weekly while studying English, though the visa makes no provision for self-employment. As a result, riders “rent” the accounts of others.

‘I feel scared every day’: Dublin’s food delivery riders navigate no-go areas, bike thieves and ‘xenophobia’Opens in new window ]

The restrictions “fast track” new arrivals into exploitation, says Mr Ó Luain, adding that some pay up to €100 per week to rent accounts.

Increasing the allowed working hours to 30 per week would go “a long way” to alleviate “suffering and poverty” he says, while the EU Platform Work Directive, which aims to improve working conditions, could be “groundbreaking” if transposed properly by the Irish Government.

He described riders as “moving targets” for theft and hostility.

Standing outside Seven Bikes, a popular spot just off Moore Street for delivery riders who need repairs, new bikes or somewhere to relax, is Felipe Carvalho.

From Minas Gerais in Brazil, he moved to Ireland almost two years ago and has been working as a delivery rider since.

For 12 hours of work, he estimates he earns just over €100, though it is higher in the winter months, he says.

Felipe Carvalho, standing outside Seven Bikes in Dublin: 'Now there is more talk about robberies, more talk about attacks'
Felipe Carvalho, standing outside Seven Bikes in Dublin: 'Now there is more talk about robberies, more talk about attacks'

He also drives a rickshaw, taking passengers in the city centre to boost his earnings, he says, as he shows an image of his face taken in April in which dried blood can be seen on his nose and mouth.

While parked on Grafton Street in April, he was surrounded by three men, one of whom stole his phone before he chased them on his rickshaw.

When he tried to retrieve his phone, the three men flipped his rickshaw and punched him in the nose before running away, he recalls.

“Those who have been here for a while tell me that it has always been like this, but now there is more talk about robberies, more talk about attacks,” he says, through a translation app.

Asked about comments made by delivery riders on wages and hostility, Deliveroo said it is “appalled and concerned by the awful attacks we’ve seen against riders in Ireland.”

Food delivery workers paying up to 20% of income to ‘landlord’ account holdersOpens in new window ]

“We take issues around the safety of our riders extremely seriously and are working with An Garda Síochána on safety conditions for riders, including the facilitation of two-way dialogue between the Gardaí and riders,” a spokeswoman said.

Uber Eats said the safety of delivery riders is a “top priority” and that any abuse of riders “absolutely won’t be tolerated”.

Jean Schroeder, owner of Seven Bikes: 'There are more attacks; they are stealing more'
Jean Schroeder, owner of Seven Bikes: 'There are more attacks; they are stealing more'

“We have a dedicated team that works with law enforcement in response to criminal complaints and couriers can raise any issues directly with us,” a spokesman said.

Just Eat said riders working with the app earned on average “significantly more than the national living wage for their deliveries and we offer regular incentives to help maximise earnings”.

The welfare of riders, it said, was “very important to us”.

Jean Schroeder, the owner of Seven Bikes, worked as a delivery rider in Dublin before opening the shop in 2022.

“Now it’s more dangerous than before. I don’t know what is happening; it’s not only in delivery but we can see in the city. There are more attacks; they are stealing more,” he says, adding: “It’s crazy.’