daithii4u's Blog

Waterford Taxi driver assaulted and crinimal damage done to his Taxi and Garda failed to respond to call.

He picked up  fare in the ferrybank area after 12am and brought them to kilcohen where he was assaulted and his satellite system required for his office was yanked out of his taxi. After making calls to the Garda in Waterford for assistance, he waited a long time only to find Garda never came. He eventually drove to the station and made his complaint, but it begs the question, just how serious do the Garda take assaults on Taxi drivers?

A female Garda accused of racism against taxi driver

A female Garda operating out of Mill Street Station has been accused of racism in her dealings with the public. An African-born taxi driver has made a complaint to the Garda Ombudsman in relation to an encounter she had with the female Garda at St Augustine Street on Tuesday 24 February this year. The taxi driver was parked on double yellow lines and was given a €40 fine as well as a ticket for failing to have a booster seat for her son.

She was also told to present her insurance certificate to a local Garda station within ten days, despite having it in the car with her, and was told she would lose her taxi licence for failing to have her plate on view, even though she was off duty, she alleges.In her official statement, the complainant claims she was not obliged to have a booster seat because her car is a taxi. She also claims that the Garda told her she would make sure she lost her taxi licence. In her statement, she says, "I wish to point out here that I was not involved in an offence that will warrant the police officer to be so desperate and threatening that she will make that I lose my taxi licence."

The complainant also outlines that she was not the only person parked on double yellow lines due to road works taking place, but that she was the only "coloured" person and the only one to be approached by the Garda.
"If I break the law, it's fine to be punished. If she approached all the cars parked there, it was going to be fair, but only me, why? That was not good. She harassed me and embarrassed me," reads the statement.She says other people parked on the street approached her after the incident."People were asking me what was the problem. I told them because my car was on the yellow line. There [sic] were shocked because their own cars were parked there too," she further adds.

South African national,Taxi driver refused to give Gatrda his licence.

A taxi driver, who obstructed a garda by failing to hand over his driving licence and recorded the incident on his mobile phone was fined €500 and disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Abram Mabasa (39), with an address at 8 Maigh Riocaird, Headford Road, appeared at Galway District Court last Monday charged with obstructing Sgt Brendan Moore in the course of his duties at Bridge Street, on April 11, 2009.Sgt Moore gave evidence that there had been a trail of taxis that had parked on double yellow lines, causing difficulties for traffic. Sgt Moore said that a number of the taxis dispersed but the defendant pulled his vehicle out and stopped in the middle of the road and “just sat there”. He was “non responsive” to Sgt Moore’s directions and failed to hand over his driving licence despite being asked to do so at least six times.

Sgt Moore also noticed that Mabasa had been making a recording on his mobile phone. Mabasa was told to desist from doing so at least eight times but he ignored the request. Meanwhile traffic had been backed up along Dominick Street and Sgt Moore was left with no option but to arrest Mabasa and convey him to Galway Garda Station.Under cross-examination by defence solicitor Adrian MacLynn Sgt Moore said that he did eventually get the driving licence. The court also heard that the defendant had no previous convictions.Mr MacLynn said that his client, a South African national, was married with three children and has been a taxi driver for the last few years.
The defendant then tried to explain that he had been coming from Salthill and had not been in the queue of taxis which had parked on the double yellow lines.“I have to disqualify him because of his attitude to Sgt Moore and his general arrogance on that day,” said Judge Mary Fahy.

Dublin driver had no taxi licence

A Dublin man who operated a taxi service without a licence was fined €1,000 and ordered to pay €400 costs when he pleaded guilty to the offence at Cavan District Court.

Derek Lahiff, 3 Daletree Road, Firhouse, Dublin 24, was summoned that on September 2, 2008, at the Hotel Kilmore, Killygarry, he drove or used a small public service vehicle for carriage of persons for reward without a licence.

Stephen Ryan an enforcement officer with the Commission of Taxi Regulation said he was on duty at the Hotel Kilmore when he approached a vehicle with a vehicle licence. He identified himself to the driver and asked him if his small goods vehicle was registered as a taxi. The driver said he didn"t think so and he never had a PSV licence.The defendant said he had the vehicle for about two and a half years. At the time Mr. Ryan spoke to him he was taking on passengers. There was a debs ball taking place in the hotel. The defendant had been issued with a warning a year earlier. There was no PSV licence in existence for Derek Lahiff up until recently.

In evidence Derek Lahiff said he had applied for a PSV licence 12 months earlier and he didn"t know how long it took to get one. He was informed that his application was lost but he had since re-applied for one.

Cross-examined by Padraig McNamee, BL prosecuting on behalf of the Taxi Regulator, witness admitted he was operating on the date in question and he was aware he should not have been. His vehicle would not be covered by insurance as a result. 'I now have a man driving for me who has a licence.'Judge Sean MacBride said: 'Don"t take this vehicle out until it is covered by insurance. Once you have as licence you don"t have to worry.' He advised the defendant to get his house in order and not to take it out until he did so.  Bridin O"Keeffe, 25 Woodbury, Gorey, Wexford, who pleaded guilty to a similar offence on the same date was fined €300 and ordered to pay €400 costs.

A Gory taxi driver who was driving without a proper public service vehicle licence

In respect of that incident Francis Bolger (50), 27 Dunhaven, Ardamine, Courtown Harbour, was charged with driving without insurance (owner) and driving without road tax (owner).
Garda Stuart O'Sullivan of Wexford Garda Station said he was a public service vehicle inspector and he stopped Creane at 8.45 a.m. on September 25. Creane, who was driving a 14-seater transit mini bus carrying children, was asked for his licence but failed to produce it.
He said that he stopped Creane again on September 29 at 8.47 a.m. and he was driving a people carrier. Creane was asked for his small public service vehicle licence but failed to produce it.
Acting for Creane, solicitor Padraic Hyland said that on September 29 Creane had his own policy of insurance but it didn't cover him to drive the people carrier which belonged to Bolger.
He said Creane also had a driving licence but it didn't cover the relevant category. Mr. Hyland said Creane was a separated father of two. He said that on September 29 Creane had been driving the people carrier while his own vehicle was being repaired. He said Creane believed he was covered under Bolger's insurance but it turned out he wasn't.

In respect of the charges arising from September 26 Judge Murrough Connellan fined him ¤350 and put him off the road for driving without insurance. He fined him ¤500 for driving without a licence for the carriage of passengers and ¤500 for driving without a large public service vehicle licence. He marked the driving licence matter proven and taken into account.
He fined him ¤500 and put him off the road for driving without insurance on September 29. He fined him ¤100 for driving without tax and ¤100 for driving without an NCT. He fined him ¤500 for driving without a small public service vehicle licence.Judge Connellan fined Bolger ¤350 for being the owner of a vehicle that was being driven without insurance and marked the tax charge proven and taken into account.

As you know I am no longer a Taxi owner.

In simple I was the only one working in my house and I lived 22 miles from the city I worked in. I had to replace two gear boxes in the space of 12 months and to add to that we had a baby and the cost that goes with that. The cost of getting in and out of work was breaking my heart and creating havoc with the family. Our house was a war zone at times. I sold the plate and went on to other work. I returned to the taxi industry as a cosy. I pay PRSI just like anyone else. Indeed I am not stupid and in the business 17 years.  If i was not legit I would have been reported by now.  However I do hope to get back into the industry if things improve. I liked having my plate being my own Boss. I know some people would like it better if people like me were not in the industry, just owners, there the same people who never protested and worked during strikes while I went to protests and busted my balls and lost money, put more important the taxi industry does not dictate to me how i earn a living, my family does. The government put me out of work and now i am working again and again someone else is trying to put me out of work.

Government announce paid social welfare for auanimployed on work experience.

Lets see how fast the meat industry are at riding this for all its worth. Lets see how quickly full time workers are replaced by Government subsidized workers. Workers will receive Social welfare for 9 months while gaining experience in the work place.   

Taxi Drivers For change call it a day.

Taxi Drivers For Change has decided to call it a day and let their supporters move over to other Representitave Groups.

As a purely volunteer group the time and effort given by the Committee and the Supporters was paramount to the success

of the objectives outlined when we started, and indeed brought the Taxi Drivers forward to where we are today.

NEW measures will be implemented......soon we hope, to try to reverse the wreckless decline of a Taxi Drivers earnings.

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T.D.F.C. can stand proud that the actions we took pushed forward the cause of the Taxi Drivers.

Now the rein will be taken up by the Irish Taxi Council led by Frank Byrne.

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Thank you to ALL our supporters,  and good luck with whatever group you decide to put your weight behind!

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Original Website by :

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"ineffective, wasteful bureaucracy" was a description of Doyle's role in Taxi Regulation

The Commission for Taxi Regulation is an ” ineffective, wasteful bureaucracy that should
be disbanded”, the chairman of the Dail’s Transport committee claimed last night.
Fianna Fail Galway West TD Frank Fahey said he will table a motion seeking to disband the
office after Commissioner Kathleen Doyle appeared before the committee yesterday to
provide a progress report on further reforms to improve the industry.

He was clearly unimpressed after hearing her response to a recommendation by the committee
last year to provide more space for taxis at taxi ranks in major centres around the country.
“I think your answer sums up all that is wrong with your organisation and control of the administration of the taxi industry in this country,” he said. He said her claim the commission can only provide guidelines to local authorities on the matter is “a load of gobbledygook”. “There is
total chaos in regard to spaces. This committee made a very simple request to you 12 months ago,” he said. “We’ve just got nowhere.” Ms Doyle said she was “very disappointed that the committee hasn’t acknowledged the hard work the commission has done”.

Dial Transport Commitee meets Taxi Regulator.

The Irish Taxi Council attended a transport committee meeting at Dail Earann Yesterday where the Regulation Commissioner was questioned closely by Chairman Frank Fahey, Tommy Broughan and other members of Transport Committee. The ITC are Happy that many of our worries were addressed to the Regulator by the committee. We thank Frank Fahey Tommy Broughan and co for listening to full time drivers . The chairman of the commitee has stated he will recomment a proposal to disband the Taxi regulation commission.

Irish Taxi protests on video

                                        Irish Taxi protests on video..

New Dublin Taxi protest Video.. Oct 1st 2009

Dublin Taxi Protest new video............

Re: New Taxi Regulator Reforms

    In short here are the proposed changes reforms from the Irish Taxi Regulator........................................................................................................

# From 2010 a new Wheelchair taxi comes into effect and most likely this will insure it's too expensive to operate, so the commission will look at making all licences Wheelchair available.

# Ending transferability of licenses for all new licenses. Existing licenses can transfer just one more time subject to it being changed to a vehicle Three years or less.

#The introduction of a Fleet license for those with multiple licenses, ie renting or leasing. This licence would make the holder more accountable.

# Fast tracking the 9 year rule. Instead of coming in in 2012 it begins from 2011.

# More frequent checks on Tax clearance and PPS numbers of all drivers. The collection of a database and multi-agency sharing.

#Drivers skills development brought forward, To be completed by 1st Jan 2012.

#Compliance and Enforcement, Looking at potential approaches to greater enforcement such as making it easier to identify where drivers are licensed to operate.  

Re: What You Just Paid For

get this I am sitting the one for busses and HGV on the 2nd November, 7 hours just €70 at the Days hotel. This woman is either incompatible or getting back handers.

Fina Fail thinks Taxi drivers Don't work hard enough.

Re: Chaos in Irish city centers due to number of Taxis and nobody in Authority wants to address it.

Chaos in Irish city centers due to number of Taxis and nobody in Authority wants to address it.

If you overcrowded a Nightclub the firm hand of the law would come down on you swiftly, but if your a Government saturating city centers with more taxis that it could possibly need, creating unsafe condition for drivers not to mention emergency vehicles, a blind eye is turned. In Waterford 16 city center rank spaces cater for more than 400 Taxis.  Constantly drivers are forced to take risks to get a rank space of face going home with no income. The response from  policing authorities you would imagine would be to address the overcrowding and submit their concerns to Government, But unfortunately this is Ireland the response here is to fine Taxi drivers and ignore the more serious issue of road safety.

Re: Scabs in the Taxi industry

How have you been keeping. Hope all is well. The power struggle is fairly obvious between driver reps. To be honest they work best when they are hungry for power, when they get it there just the same as the rest. Look I would not worry about Roy or his cronies, For some reason on the TFC website all Dublin blogs and forums get mentioned but ignore sites outside the Pale, funny attitude for a crowd that want to represent Ireland as a whole. That attitude just shouts out "more of the same".

Taxi protest discussed on Joe Duffy show.

Joe Duffy show during Dublin Taxi Protest

Click here to listen.......

Sccail Welfare officers raided Waterford Ranks yesterday 7/10/2009

Four welfare officers went to the Michael street rank and to the Hospital and Railway ranks. Not surprisingly there was a mass exit from the rank as soon as word spread. Drivers disappeared for the Day.  Some of these drivers have even been working in the industry for decades.  I am not saying there defrauding welfare but it's a bit of a coincidence. Only problem here is that it seems we can't beat the Government so we start turning on ourselves.  Older established drivers now pensioners  are no longer welcome in the Industry.  It's a bone of contention for drivers to see these men with their pension sitting on the rank next to them. Then its guys leasing plates, Obviously it's not good that they Don't produce a tax clearance every year, but other than that, What other industry are you prevented from leasing or renting?  None .. Then its double jobbers, as much as we dislike them no Government is ever going to stop them.  We have a Government that gives back to work schemes to the drivers you compete with and instead of raising hell with them were after retired lads with a pension.  You have welfare subsidizing half the taxi industry legitimately and no body seems to want to fight them. It's Dog eat Dog now with figures being pointed and the wrong conclusions came to. Evan in relation to the number of Unions now. How easy it's becoming for Government . Davide and conquer........   

Re: Waterford radio news of Dublin Taxi protest...

             Pictures and Video supplied by Noel Mclarance Waterford Taxi Association

Waterford radio news of Dublin Taxi protest...

wlrfm news . Noel Mclarance from Waterford Taxi association at the Dublin Protest.
click here..to hear..

African drivers at 'crisis point'

African taxi drivers are struggling to make a living because they are being left on the ranks for hours as people skip the queue, it has been claimed. Ganiu Badru said the situation has reached crisis point and despite the discussions which took place last week, very little has changed.'The situation is still the same,,' said Ganiu. 'We are left to stay on the rank for two or three hours at a time because people are jumping the queue to the back. We don't want this kind of thing to happen, sometimes the African drivers spend most of the day on the rank because people will go as far back as taxi number eleven.

'We have the same qualifications, the same licence, so I don't know why people are skipping the queue, it is just about colour. If they are not being racist why are they jumping the queue? If you look at the cars being passed over it is all African drivers.'He said African drivers also faced regular verbal abuse from members of the public.'One man said to my friend: 'I hate you, the only reason I picked you is because you are the only one on the rank. They are always using the 'f' word, that kind of thing. It's not right.'Ganiu said he was not holding out much hope of finding a simple resolution to the problem but said a queueing system on the rank would help. 'That is what is needed,' he commented.

Taxi drivers end Dublin protest

The dispute by members of the Irish Taxi Council has ended following talks with officials from the Department of Transport.The meeting was described as 'positive', and another will take place before 15 October.Irish Taxi Council president Frank Byrne told drivers those talks will cover measures such as ensuring that drivers who already have a full-time job declare this when applying for a licence.

They had originally said they would continue to protest until they were granted a meeting with Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey. Earlier, a spokesperson for the Department of Transport said the Taxi Regulator is compiling a report with recommendations on the next steps for the industry. The move follows a recent public consultation.