Warnings over taxi shortages as Dublin hosts series of large events this weekend
Muireann Duffy
Visitors to Dublin this weekend have been warned of the severe taxi shortage as the city is set to host a number of large events.
In addition to the higher levels of tourism during the summer months, the city is due to be thronged with people attending music, sporting and festival events over the coming days.
Taylor Swift will bring her Eras Tour to the Aviva Stadium on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, while the annual Longitude festival will take place at Marlay Park on Saturday and Sunday.
Shania Twain is also set to perform at Malahide Castle on Friday evening.
Staying north of the Liffey, Croke Park will host the All-Ireland Senior Football quarter-finals this weekend, which will be played off as two double-headers on Saturday and Sunday.
The fixtures will draw supporters from around the country, with Armagh, Roscommon, Dublin, Galway, Donegal, Louth, Kerry and Derry all vying for spots in the semi-finals.
The annual Dublin Pride Parade will also take place on Saturday, marching through the city centre, in addition to a number of related events across the city, including the Mother Pride Block Party at the National Museum at Collins' Barracks on Saturday.
Warning of the likely strain on taxi services over the coming days, the Taxis for Ireland Coalition estimated that over 600,000 people will descend on the capital for events this weekend.
The group warned the events will create a "bottlekneck on Dublin's taxi services", causing many to experience long waits.
"The last thing we want people in Dublin to feel is stranded, waiting late at night for taxis in areas they may be unfamiliar with," chief executive of the Licenced Vintners Association, Donall O'Keefe, said.
"Taxis provide that extra layer of safety, particularly for visitors attending the city.
"We want Dublin and Ireland to remain competitive when it comes to hosting large events, however, we need to ensure additional taxi availability for the night-time economy in particular to enhance the experience of visitors to our capital city," Mr O'Keefe added.
Bolt's head of public policy, Aisling Dunne, said the taxi shortage in Dublin "continues to have an effect on Ireland’s ability to provide public services to tourists and the local community as a whole".
"Taxis are Ireland’s only door-to-door public transport service and are crucial to the public transport network as a whole. Taxis and taxi drivers are integral, and we want more of them."
The group has called on the National Transport Authority and the Government to take immediate action to address the taxi shortage, proposing a 30 per cent increase in the number of taxi vehicles by 2027 "as a step towards alleviating the impact of driver and vehicle number decrease over the past decade".