Dublin needs to put on 24-hour bus, Luas and DART services ahead of several events this weekend, a taxi driver has said.
Taylor Swift's 'Eras' Tour runs from Friday through Sunday night at the Aviva Stadium, with 60,000 attendees expected each night for the sold out concerts.
Other events this weekend include the Pride Parade as well as performances by Shania Twain, Villagers, The Saw Doctors and Longitude Festival at Marlay Park.
Here's a list of events taking place in Dublin this weekend:
- Taylor Swift's 'The Eras' tour at Aviva Stadium (Friday to Sunday)
- Dublin Pride Parade (50th anniversary celebration) in the city centre (Saturday)
- Longitude Festival at Marlay Park (Friday to Sunday)
- All-Ireland Football Championship quarter-finals at Croke Park (Saturday and Sunday)
- Shania Twain concerts at 3Arena (Friday and Saturday)
- Villagers concert at Iveagh Gardens (Saturday)
- The Saw Doctors concert at Leopardstown Racecourse (Sunday)
The Taxis for Ireland Coalition has warned the capital's attractiveness for hosting major events is at risk due to a lack of transport options.
Taxi driver Gerry told Lunchtime Live he believes transport needs to run 24 hours.
"The problem is it should be a 24-hour bus service, Luas service, DART service," he said.
"This has been going on now since taxi deregulation and it still hasn't solved the issue.
"We've been over this umpteen times [and] nobody's listening - we can't even get transport police.
"The whole thing is farcical".
Gerry said taxi drivers don't want on work apps such as Uber and Free Now is because of the charges.
"The reason people can't get Free Now is because the drivers won't work the app - they're being charged 15% on the fare," he said.
"There's loads of work out there on the apps: these people who work these apps, why don't they drop the commission on busy weekends like this as a gesture of goodwill?
"It would encourage more taxi drivers to work the app, the app is the problem," he added.
Composite image shows an an iPhone displaying the 'MyTaxi' app and taxis in line at Dublin's Temple Bar in 2011. Picture by: dpa picture alliance archive/Ian Pilbeam/AlamyRestaurants Association of Ireland CEO Adrian Cummins says he believes the capital will cope.
"I can guarantee you that Dublin will cope and any city - whether it's Cork Kilkenny or whatever - that puts on big events they always sells out," he said.
"We're a population that likes to go to see concerts, see different acts.
"We get a substantial amount of tourists coming into the country that want to experience an act or concert but also experience the country as well.
"So there's a double-side to all of this in terms of the economic value to the country".
Mr Cummins added while more public transport is needed it's usually "the last half mile where the bus stop isn't close to their home" that people would feel safer getting a door-to-door service.
It comes as a project director has been announced for the Dublin MetroLink - with a completion date in the mid-2030s.
