THE NATIONAL BUS & Rail Union is instructing Dublin Bus drivers to withdraw services from the 27 route in Tallaght on Saturday as a result of ongoing anti-social behaviour.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, NBRU Ringsend executive Sean Yeates claimed that drivers in the area face regular anti-social issues such as being spat at, having bricks thrown at the buses and passengers fighting.
Yeates claimed that in recent months the drivers have not been getting the required assistance from local representatives and gardaí to deal with such problems.
As a result, the NBRU is planning to curtail the 27 route in Tallaght on Saturday, the day the national will take to the polls in the general election.
It is planned that between 9am and 6pm the buses would terminate near The Square shopping centre rather than its actual terminal on Fortunestown Road.
Yeates said Saturday’s action is being planned to send a message to the local politicians.
The NBRU is holding a meeting to address the anti-social behaviour issues on Friday evening and it is calling on local politicians to attend.
Yeates said the union will consider ending Saturday’s action “if they attend the meeting in the numbers that we want to attend”.
“This is the last chance,” he said.
‘Grave reservations’
Reacting to the planned action, local Fianna Fáil candidate Deirdre O’Donovan said that she has “grave reservations” about pulling bus routes on polling day.
“I would have grave reservations about pulling the bus on Saturday when people can go out and exercise their democratic right to vote,” O’Donovan said.
She acknowledged that drivers in the area are being “targeted”.
However, she added that “it’s not far to say nothing has been done” to tackle the issues.
“There has been enormous engagement from the council and I know the gardaí had a programme of engaging with local schools as well,” O’Donovan said.
She said that she is “happy to attend” the meeting on Friday.
“In terms of political engagement from others, I hope we can get everyone to attend and listen to concerns.”
Paul Murphy, of the political grouping Rise, told TheJournal.ie that “drivers and passengers have a right to go about work and travel in safety”.
He said it is “absolutely correct that the NBRU speak up about it, that they get the resources they need to avoid being put in danger”.
However, taking note that the action would be held on polling day, he said: “It would be very bad if service was to be withdrawn on a day which would interfere with some people voting.”
Murphy said he is “happy to participate” in anything he can to help with the issues.
“I’m hopeful that this will be resolved before Saturday and that service can continue. I don’t think drivers want people not to be able to go about their voting,” he said.
In a statement to TheJournal.ie, Dublin Bus said it has “set up a number of community forums in different areas across the city, including Tallaght, to tackle anti-social behaviour”.
“These forums are made up of Dublin Bus representatives, gardaí, local area representatives, residents associations and trade union representatives,” it said.
“We note that there is a Tallaght community forum meeting scheduled for this coming Friday. Representatives of Dublin Bus will be in attendance.”
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