The mother of the taxi-driver who was killed after his cab was in a collision with a stolen car at the weekend, has said she "dreaded" every time he went out to work at night.
"I worried every time," Ms Rita McGowan told The Irish Times yesterday.
"He was worried himself, wanted to get out of working nights, to buy a wheelchair-accessible van and work days. He was even talking about it here on Friday night before he went out to work," she said.
Robert McGowan (30), the father of a two year-old boy, was killed on Saturday morning when his taxi, a Nissan Primera, was hit by a stolen car.
At about 4 a.m., he was the sole occupant of his taxi when it was hit by a Honda Integra travelling at high speed, at the junction of Summerhill and Portland Road in Dublin's north inner city.
A Garda spokesman said the stolen car came towards the taxi over a hill and would not have been visible to Mr McGowan as it made its approach. The car had been stolen in the Killester area earlier and had already been involved in ramming two Garda cars in Fairview before speeding towards Summerhill.
Eyewitness reports say the impact of the stolen car was such that it hurled the taxi in the air. The front of the Nissan landed on the Honda and was partially sheared apart.
Mr McGowan was pronounced dead at the scene. He had been due to finish up for the night less than an hour later, his mother said yesterday.
The three young men in the Nissan, aged 16, 17 and 30, survived the crash, although the eldest remains on a life-support machine at St James's Hospital. The other two were admitted to the Mater Hospital and were discharged yesterday morning.
Both were arrested at the hospital immediately after being discharged and detained at Mountjoy Garda station.
Speaking at the family home in Drimnagh yesterday, Ms McGowan said her son had had "a narrow escape" with a stolen car last year, at the junction of Emmet Road and Bulfin Road in Inchicore.
"Joyriders came speeding towards him and only they hit a lamp-post, they would have hit his car. He was in here the next morning white as death and I asked him what was wrong. He said 'Ma, I was nearly killed last night'. Since then I dreaded him working out on those roads at night'."
Robert had borrowed £5,000 from his father, Paddy, three years ago to buy a taxi-plate and worked part-time for himself.
"He wanted to work for himself. All he cared about was making enough money for Debbie and Daniel [his girlfriend and son]," said Ms McGowan. Robert had been with his partner, Ms Debbie Lackey for 10 years and lived between her and Daniel's home and with his parents.
"Debbie is in a state of states. Daniel, well, he's so young he doesn't know what's happened. He was here last night wearing his T-shirt with 'Bob's Taxi' on it. He doesn't know, but he's going to notice his daddy isn't around. What are we going to tell him?" Ms McGowan asked.
Asked whether she thought the death of her son might heighten awareness of so-called "joy-riding" and help to stop it, she said: "No, being honest. It's being going on too long now. What can you say? I don't think anyone is going to stop it."
Robert's father, Paddy, said he would miss the companionship he had with his son. Robert's older sisters, Audrey and Lorraine, were "in bits", he said.
Mr Vinnie Kearns, spokesman for the National Taxi Drivers Union, said his members had expressed concern over recent months about the "real increase in joy-riding" in the Blanchardstown and Tallaght areas as well as parts of the inner city.
"An experienced driver will be able to keep themselves out of danger, but no one can keep out of the way if a car is coming at you at 100 miles per hour and you can't see it coming, which seems to have been the case here."