Unions halt Dublin Bus Tallaght services over 'off the Richter scale' anti-social behaviour

Affected buses are the 49, 65b, 27 and 77a. File picture: Nick Bradshaw

Dublin Bus will not service large areas of Tallaght from this evening as unions take action to protect drivers and passengers from increasing incidents of anti-social behaviour.

The National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) and Siptu have instructed their members not to serve most routes heading south of the Square shopping centre from 6pm today and for every evening until a solution is found.

Some 155 anti-social incidents on public transport were recorded last year in Tallaght, with 35 recorded in December alone. “West Tallaght has just gone off the Richter scale in the last month or two,” said NBRU branch chairman for Dublin Bus Sean Yates.

In December, an incident occurred where up to 20 youths stopped a bus with a female driver, forced open the doors and threw in stones, gas cannisters and snowballs. Mr Yates said one youth put his hand under the drivers protective screen and “mushed a snowball into her face, that’s how brazen these guys are”.

“We also have evidence that they’re using scrambler bikes,” he said. 

One of them will stop the bus, they’ll open the door and they’ll use the back wheels of the scrambler to lash muck and all sorts of stuff in on top of the driver and passengers. The bus is destroyed.

“Before Christmas, we were going to withdraw or curtail the services but, because it was Christmas, we didn’t want to do anything like that when people are shopping."

A decision was made to take action after a poor turnout at the Tallaght Transport Forum where transport workers meet with politicians and locals to tackle poor behaviour in the area. He said just one ex-TD and two young community activists showed up, and no other politicians did, which spurred them to make the move.

The NBRU then made the decision alongside Siptu to give a “short, sharp shock” and get the public onside by contacting their local representatives about the issue.

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Affected buses are the 49, 65b, 27 and 77a. The sole service continuing to Blessington Road will be the 65 as it is the only service for many residents in the area, however, Mr Yates said “we will pull that service if there is even one incident this evening”.

He said he expects passengers to be “irate”, but “the drivers want something done, we’re not taking a step to curtail the services and it’s up to local politicians now to get their finger out”. He said this is “not just a West Tallaght problem” and is widespread across the country.

The NBRU has consistently called for a dedicated transport division of An Garda Síochána to tackle the behaviour, but thus far such a force has not been established. Dublin Bus has not yet responded to a request for comment.