Rural taxi service - Neglected no longer

Having lost local garda stations, banks, post offices and schools, the forgotten people of rural Ireland have every reason to feel neglected by successive administrations.

That’s why they will applaud the Government’s proposal to introduce low cost hackney licences for use in isolated parts of the country where regular taxi drivers don’t operate. Essentially, the new licences would be cheaper, vehicle standards simpler and the drivers would not have to undergo the skills development programme required for standard licences.

According to Alan Kelly, the junior transport minister, the move is aimed “at countering the rural isolation that many country people experience as they can no longer travel to pubs, community and sporting events”.

On the downside, rural taxi drivers would be banned from serving bigger towns. Moreover, the need for such licences would have to be validated. Unsurprisingly, the move has been welcomed by the Vintners Federation of Ireland, many of whose rural members are now on the endangered species list, along with their customers.