Say what you like!

Roy September 19th, 2008

I’m taking the weekend off, so Have your say on Taxis, Ireland, the Irish, and any gossip you might have!

Or not, I don’t care……..

Using the comment feature ………….below this post……..click where it says comments ?……in orange?…………….

soapbox
Comments(18)

18 Responses to “Say what you like!”

# Dogbaiton 19 Sep 2008 at 7:47 am

Wonderful people, the Irish. Well my mother was born in Kilrush, Co Clare so I’d better say that!
# Quickrouteon 19 Sep 2008 at 10:14 pm

I clicked on the ‘soapbox’ link but nought happened – wot is that?
# delon 20 Sep 2008 at 2:59 am

I am just winding down after the shift. The Garda checkpoints and one T.R. enforcer that I saw and spoke to were on the Gresham rank around midnight. I reported yet another illegal. The enforcer advised me that it was possibly not a good idea to approach these guys for my own safety. Admittedly the enforcer took the details and assured that he would look into it personally. I disclosed to him that I was the fella who picketed the office and distributed the leaflets earlier in the week. He was a helpful chap, but I did say to him that seven enforcers were only making a small dent in the problem. I also told that many times in the past, when I had reported the illegals that I would ask for feedback.This was never forthcoming and I would possibly see the same offender out working away a week or two later. The T.R. man informed me that this non-return of feedback was for legal reasons.I will have to research that one a bit more. I wonder if I was a fare-paying passenger would I be entitled to know the outcome of a complaint??. At this point I would like to throw out the idea of a dozen or so of us taxi drivers (larger boys especially!!) getting together to spend a few hours at night posing as passengers, then hiring a few of these heads with bogus I.D. .Then we stay in the car and get them to bring us to Garda stations. If they refuse to do this we have our mobiles at the ready with all the Garda station numbers set to ring. We would be well within our rights. This was done before de-regulation when hackneys were picking up randomly in the streets. Can anybody remember how successful it was at the time?. We could even inform some media people of our plans. Surely we can be afforded the same rights as any other member of the public.
# Paddyon 20 Sep 2008 at 6:50 am

Maybe the PC brigade should have a word with D.I.D Eletrical? This is the D.I.D Website.
D.I.D Electrical – Online Electrical Retail – 100% Irish Company

Or how about this?

MemoryC.ie is a 100% Irish business – Irelands dedicated online memory …

100% Irish by Various Artists | Tesco.com

Lifestyle Sports Online Store | Sportswear | Football Boots | Gym …
Lifestyle Sports is a 100% Irish owned company and sports shop, with a large … Lifestyle Sports Adidas Dublin Marathon official Light Long Sleeve Tee …

Paddywagon Tours :: Irelands No. 1 Bus and Coach Backpacking Tours …
… Coach Backpacking Tours of Ireland, 100% Irish Guaranteed … only use Irish driver/guides so you have a 100% sparkling Irish experience from start to finish. …
http://www.paddywagontours.com – 565k – Cached

This is how the above companies place their profiles on the internet. So, whats the problem with a taxi driver saying he is a 100% Irish Driver?
# Paddyon 20 Sep 2008 at 7:11 am

From “Paddywagon Tours” website.

AS SEEN ON T.V.
Paddywagon Tours is a household name in the 4 corners of Ireland, we have been featured hundreds of times on national Television, Radio and the print Media. The good people of Ireland welcome us to their parishes and villages with a great enthusiasm, come share that genuine enthusiasm, passion and warm welcome.

Did National television or the Print Media challenge them on the following statement? No, It’s only us taxi drivers that are racist!

100% Irish
We only use Irish driver/guides so you have a 100% sparkling Irish experience from start to finish. Excellent prices & Daily departures
# Johnon 20 Sep 2008 at 12:44 pm

I would wonder. How would invesigations fare if we were dealing with a cloned car and a fake PSV liscence? He is gone.
Seems like the legit drivers are getting the dirty end of the stick.
You need to catch and hold until you can prove who you are dealing with.

Remember the guy the scissors sisters killed? Well he was dead a good while before they knew his real identity.
# Nigelon 21 Sep 2008 at 1:14 pm

Who needs a fake taxi licence? There’s a guy working in Rathcoole every night, he’s been there for yonks, big modern MPV, blacked out windows, no taxi sign, no taxi licence, no hackney licence, doing a roaring trade. He’s been challenged a few times, doesn’t care. Gardai up and down every night, completely ignore him. Taxi regulator would probably say because he is not a taxi, she has no power of sanction against him.

I’m an ass for putting myself into debt for a €6,300 taxi plate…
# Royon 22 Sep 2008 at 3:53 am

That’s 7 more comments than I expected!
Soapbox is just a category for the post, I didn’t know where else to put it
# deniseon 12 Nov 2008 at 5:50 pm

Im a journalism student and im doing a story about the use of fake taxi plates around the city centre. I was wondering if anyone could help me with regards to any information they may have about the issue. I have heard that fake plates can be obtained easily but does anybody know where they are being sold?? also does anyone have any information about any people who are involved in this scam?? Is there a certain blackspot, a rank where there is always guaranteed to be fake taxi’s??
# paul bon 12 Nov 2008 at 9:13 pm

theres a lad delivering currys in tallaght who ALSO drops people home from the pub for a fiver a head
# Brenon 12 Nov 2008 at 9:45 pm

Is he selling any fake curries?
# gerryon 13 Nov 2008 at 2:44 am

Denise ,every rank is a black spot for bogeys .I believe I can steer you in the direction of a person who is up to no good .

if roy wants to give you my email .

I’ll be only too happy to give you some knowledge .
# Royon 13 Nov 2008 at 5:55 am

Denise it’s less fake Taxis and more fake drivers
They rent legitimate cabs , but don’t have a license to drive it,
walk along the rank on the green any evening and you will see plenty of cabs with no driver ID displayed (no license)
You will also see cabs with license flat on the dash so the county of issue cannot be seen at all (probably a driver licensed for outside the area working Dublin) (illegal) or more worryingly possibly not their licence (you cannot see the picture or name if it’s flat on the dash!
# deniseon 19 Nov 2008 at 7:23 pm

I really appreciate you getting back to me. I did’nt think you would get back so quickly. Before i started investigating this story i would not have even thought twice about getting into a taxi. My father is a taxi man himself he works out of Tallaght and i cannot get over how unfair the situation is. Have you seen any attempts by the guards to control this?? surely the taxi regulator must be putting a system into effect to stop this!!?? If you would give me gerry’s email adress that would be great. I will definitly check out the situation on the green but im sure these drivers will be less willing to co-oporate. Thank you again
# Swords Driveron 21 Nov 2008 at 6:14 am

Roy, I had two female members of the Garda in the car Weds night heading for Harcourt. Both pissed. One actually told me that she had stopped a auld fella driving a taxi who gave her a earfull about them not doing the job right (fair play to him),she then went on to say that taxi drivers should stop complaining and get on with the job and that she had no interest in stopping taxi’s of any kind “sure their only trying to make a few bob” and making work for herself. If this attitude is in any way common among the Guards, there is no hope of cleaning up the industry.
# silverbulleton 21 Nov 2008 at 4:57 pm

HEAR HEAR ,SD.No action by Gardai, no action by the Regulator,seems to me someone is gaining money under false pretences.
Maybe that’s why they allow the illegal rank on Harcourt Street, Guaranteed lift home, no waiting and only flash the badge if driver says “you show i go”

But let him/her go cos it’ll mean more paperwork.
# mikeon 18 Jun 2009 at 6:36 am

im a taxi driver in Galway city our city is rife with illegal drivers and uninsured vehicles and when you ring regulator or gardai they dont want to know.I have a 30,000 euro loan out formy unit and now finding it hard to make a living and then we have them calling born and bred Irish taxidrivers racist because our carrys a sign on our vehicles stating that we are Guaranteed Irish Taxi Drivers nxt thing you know they will say our cows are racist because its Guaranteed Irish beef its time to stand up and be counted and stick together and rid ourselves of these so called psv drivers who dont even know how to find eyre square rank.
# tirnanog33on 18 Jun 2009 at 2:35 pm

Fianna Fail have a lot to answer for -God damn their rotten souls- using the industry as a dumping ground for unemployable economic migrants.!
There is bound to be resentment out there. it will only get worse.
I hope when the Dublin 4 media rush in to condemn irish taxi drivers (the real ones) at the sniff of racism and so forth: that the industry has a loquacious spokesperson to explain who is really responsible for this kind of unrest.
And we dont need Tommy Gorman..