TAXI SERVICES around the country are likely to be curtailed on Monday when supporters of the Irish Taxi Council (ITC) withdraw services for 24 hours.
Separately, Siptu will today announce a resumption of a campaign on behalf of its taxi-driver members to include “strategically placed protest at various locations, transport hubs/taxi drivers’ places of work and effective limited withdrawals of service at strategic times”.
Small numbers of ITC drivers took part in a three-hour protest in Dublin and other cities yesterday which had only a minor impact on traffic. Fewer than 40 drivers staged a go-slow through Dublin during the protest and blocked a number of city centre ranks.
Services were withdrawn from Dublin and Cork airports, and train and bus stations.
The ITC said supporters also stopped work in Cork, Limerick, Carlow, Naas, Athlone, Mullingar, Westport and Ballina.
The ITC originally planned a major withdrawal of services yesterday but postponed its action until Monday because most politicians are out of the country for the St Patrick’s Day festivities.
Yesterday’s three-hour protest was billed as a “goodwill gesture” to forewarn politicians about the level of anger among taxi drivers.
One driver participating in the protest told The Irish Times that the intention was to block Luas lines and the Dublin Port tunnel during Monday’s protest. Successive cars would “break down” on the lines and in the tunnel, effectively forcing their closure.
However, ITC president Frank Byrne insisted next week’s stoppage would be peaceful and would not disrupt traffic. “If anyone wants to block roads, they’ll be doing it on their own.”
The ITC is a relatively new organisation which claims to represent the views of almost 15,000 taxi drivers. It is not subscription-based, and as such does not have members. It claims to be an umbrella group for 27 local associations.
The National Taxi-Drivers Union (NTDU) discouraged members from participating in yesterday’s action.
“We are in continuing dialogue with the taxi regulator through dialogue to achieve a satisfactory outcome for all,” read a text sent to members expressing opposition to the stoppage.
Meanwhile, Siptu is planning to resume a campaign for the establishment of an appeals process to decisions made by the taxi regulator and a ban on “double-jobbing” by part-time drivers.
The ITC is demanding new legislation that would put a three-year moratorium on the issuing of taxi licences. It also wants checks on insurance certificates in real time to expose fraudulent copies, and more stringent tests for licence applicants.
Other demands include proficiency in the Irish and/or English language.
