A threat of strike action by taxi drivers which could have caused travel disruption for tourists at Dublin Airport this St Patrick’s weekend has been called off.
ublin Airport management had held crisis talks this week with drivers over threatened action during the busy bank holiday weekend.
There had been discussions among some of the taxi driver associations about possible action by drivers who said that Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) management previously recognised the associations for negotiating purposes, but had not continued with the arrangement since the pandemic.
But the DAA has now said taxi drivers have advised there is no longer any plan for disruption at Dublin Airport this weekend or in the near future.
The chairman of the Tiomanai Tacsai na hEireann (TTnH) group of taxi drivers said talks had taken place between the different taxi representative groups and the DAA and the matter had been resolved.
“A situation had arisen where the airport management had been sending briefings to individual drivers, and drivers had requested that any communications should be sent to the representative groups, but that didn’t happen and drivers were disappointed by that,” said David McGuinness.
“We had talks with the DAA on Tuesday and Wednesday and the situation has now been resolved, and the DAA has agreed to consult taxi groups rather than individual drivers, and a new forum will be set up between airport management and drivers through which day-to-day matters can be communicated and discussed,” he added.
A spokesperson for the DAA said that as the operator of Dublin Airport, it is working to raise standards and improve the availability of taxis for arriving passengers into the airport.
“While the shortage of taxis is a national issue, we are looking at several ways to ensure passengers can get a taxi when they need one from Dublin Airport. We will continue to engage closely with taxi drivers on the measures we will be introducing and on any issues that remain to be addressed regarding the operation of taxis at Dublin Airport,” they added.
Strike action would have had a serious impact on tourists and passengers into the country for the Dublin parade, and for people using Dublin Airport who would travel to other parts of the country from there and be looking for taxis to link them with other transport hubs such as train stations.
Meanwhile, Dublin Bus has said it will be running extra services on Friday and Saturday to accommodate the number of people who will be moving around the city, and routes which are currently served by 24-hour routes will continue to be run.
The 24-hour bus routes in operation are: 15 From Clongriffin Towards Ballycullen Rd; 39a From UCD Belfield Towards Ongar; 41 From Lower Abbey St. Towards Swords Manor; C1 From Adamstown Station Towards Sandymount; C2 From Adamstown Station Towards Sandymount; C5 From Maynooth Towards Ringsend Road; C6 From Maynooth Towards Ringsend Road; and the N4 From Point Village Towards Blanchardstown Shopping Centre
However, Nitelink services do not run on Sunday nights, and this weekend will be no different.
There will be diversions to Dublin Bus routes on Friday from 5am to 5pm to accommodate the parade. A full list of these is available on www.dublinbus.ie.
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