Sit-in at Taxi Regulator ends

Sit-in at Taxi Regulator ends

Two men who have been staging a sit-in at the offices of the Taxi Regulator in Dublin have ended their protest. Pat Walsh from Limerick and Tom Hanlon from Dublin had been in the building since3pm yesterday afternoon.The two men were served with High Court orders compelling them to leave.

Speaking to RTÉ News, Mr Walsh said they had held the protest simply to secure a meeting with the Minister for Transport about the taxi industry, but had been served with injunctions instead. Mr Hanlon said the industry needed to be cleaned up, there were too many taxis and drivers were killing each other for work.

He said people driving a taxi were entitled to earn a decent living and Minister Noel Dempsey would have to listen.The President of the Irish Taxi Council earlier warned that drivers could escalate their action if their demands to meet the Minister are not met.Frank Byrne said drivers were calling for the implementation of reforms to the industry, which were drawn up by the Oireachtas Joint Transport Committee.

He claimed that taxi drivers are also protesting in Kerry, Galway, Waterford, Sligo, Donegal and Meath.However, a spokesman for the Minister for Transport said the protest is doing nothing to address the challenges the industry is facing.

The spokesman said: 'Those involved in the actions yesterday and which are continuing today are strongly urged to resume discussions with the Commission for Taxi Regulation in a sustained effort to address the issues of concern.' Taxi drivers gathered in Limerick's Pery Square this afternoon as part of the protest.

Around 100 drivers responded to a call to show solidarity with drivers in Dublin. Services were disrupted for a short time this afternoon, but have since resumed.