A Chara, - Your Industry and Employment Correspondent, Chris Dooley, tells us we may have to become accustomed to the severe disruption caused to city traffic by the taxi drivers' protest (The Irish Times, September 12th).
Surely we are not going to lie down and be worked over by the 600 activists out of a total of 17,000 taxi drivers who had the nerve to block the heart of Dublin, and get away with it? The same 600 blocked bridges over the Liffey 10 years ago when deregulation was mooted, and they got away with it then too.
Deregulation has given us greater access to taxis. From a monopolistic 2,700 taxis in Dublin in November 2000, there are now over 12,000. Yet the drivers are making a good living.
I hear no complaints from my taxi-drivers. They may have to put in the same hours as the rest of us, but they are making good money.
Before deregulation, our young people were exposed to risk at three in the morning, waiting hours for taxis and walking long distances in the dark. It took one man, Bobby Molloy, to take on the drivers and break the monopoly of the plate-holders. Before Bobby Molloy, the drivers showed their heartless, single-minded pursuit of greed at the expense of the safety of our young people at night.
Where is the new Bobby Molloy who will take on these bullies now and show them that if they want something, they have to seek it in a civilised manner, rather than putting our lives at risk by blocking emergency services as they did last Monday? - Is mise,
MUREDACH DOHERTY,
Lower Beechwood Avenue,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.