All rather quiet out and about Dublin 2 this lunchtime, seems the taxis are only starting to make their way into town on their protest drive, later than advertised. Took a few snaps of the scene as it is at 1pm on Merrion Square and outside government buildings. Best slogan I’ve seen in a while is “2 Brians No Brains” is wrapped around a man outside government buildings who appears to be protesting against the government’s handling of the economy. Also noticed that taxis protesting (recognised by their taxi plates being turned sideways) are outnumbered by normal working drivers by about 3-1, but that could be due to the delayed start of the protest.
Taxis will hit the streets of Dublin in protest once again today. Protests are sure to cause major traffic disruption to not just the south city centre but to the surrounding suburbs where taxi drivers plan to begin their “protest drive”.
Drivers are being instructed to assemble at 12pm and begin their drive to the city centre at the following locations on the north, south and west sides of Dublin city:
Northside – Airside Retail Park
Southside – Stillorgan Shopping Centr
Westside – Liffey Valley S.C. Marks & Spencer
Protestors will converge at:
St. Stephens Green (Southside)
Merrion Square (North and West)
…for a rally at Government Buildings.
Parking restrictions will be in place in the area of Merrion Square until after the protest has passed.
Talks to avert strike action by Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus next week are getting underway today at the Labour Relations Commission. Saturday’s strike was called off with the agreement to hold today’s talks. If these talks aren’t successful, commuters will be hit with 2 days of strike action on March 9th and 10th.
Strikes are in opposition to proposed cuts to routes and jobs at the 2 companies. Last week, Dublin Bus launched their new website where you can find revised timetables of routes that will be affected by cutbacks. My routes have been maked as “Operative Date: 21/04/09″ & it appears that not all routes have been affected by the proposed cutbacks. See www.dublinbus.ie to see if you’re affected.
