“THERE WAS THIS sort of mystique about being a taxi driver – that you could make your own money and do your own hours.
It was the closest you were ever going to get to being your own boss.
So says Dublin man Declan Scully about getting into the taxi industry a decade ago.
“If I was to finish this job tomorrow, the biggest thing I would miss is the craic … just seeing people in good form and being involved in that, even if you are on the periphery,” he adds.
Manish Luthra, from India, moved to Ireland close to 10 years ago.
“I bumped into a girl a couple of years back and somehow we ended up getting married,” he says in a Dublin accent.
The couple now have a seven-month child together.
John Costelloe, from Dublin, has been a taxi driver for 16 years.
For him, too, meeting new people is the best part of the job.
When I started this off first, I used to have a newspaper in the car, but I took it out because everyone read it instead of talking to me.
Storytelling experience
Declan, Manish and John have been driving around Dublin this month telling stories to customers.
So far, so normal.
But unlike other conversations that take place in taxis around the city every day, these ones are being filmed as part of a new storytelling experiment, story@work.
The end result, a rolling film, will be shown on 30 December as part of NYF Dublin, a three-day New Year’s festival.
The programme for this year’s festival has a distinctly Irish flavour, showcasing local music, art and literary talent.
Among the other highlights is the daily Luminosity show, in which Irish legends will play in 3D animation across the front of Iveagh House on St Stephen’s Green.
On New Year’s Eve itself, the Procession of Light is expected to draw thousands of spectators to the city centre.
The candlelit procession, which begins at St Stephen’s Green, will also see an attempt to break the record for the world’s largest bodhrán session. (The last largest recorded ensemble was 980 people.)
The countdown to 2016 begins later in the evening with a New Year’s Eve concert (from 8pm, €34.50-€39.50) at the 3 Arena, where the big draws include Fatboy Slim, Kíla, Ryan Sheridan and the Coronas.
Le Galaxie, All Tvvins and Wyvern Lingo are among the headliners at a new street festival (from 9pm, €7.50) that same night on St Stephen’s Green.
NYF Dublin takes place from 30 December to 1 January. Visit www.NYFDublin.com for full event details.
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