Clubbers in Dublin have complained that it is “the hardest thing in the world” to get a taxi at the end of a night out and that the lack of transport options is a serious problem for the city. 

With COVID restrictions now lifted, young people are hitting the dancefloors in huge numbers but the number of taxi drivers in Dublin is thought to be around 30% lower than it was before the pandemic. 

“Since I came back, Fridays and Saturdays, everyone seems to be out,” taxi driver John explained to The Anton Savage Show. 

“There are a lot more people coming around now and a few people - especially off this rank here - have retired or got alternative jobs during the pandemic.” 

As a result when clubs close, people pour out onto the street all desperate to jump into one of a small number of waiting taxis.

“It’s literally the hardest thing in the world to get a taxi at two o’clock in the morning out anywhere - northside or southside,” one clubber said wearily. 

“If you’re going southside you might as well work out to Harold’s Cross, if you’re going northside you might as well walk up O’Connell Street.

“It’s that hard - you have to walk for about 15 minutes and hope for the best for a taxi.” 

Taxis waiting for business along The Quays in Dublin. Picture by: Mark Stedman/RollingNews.ie

Another told Newstalk that things were so bad she had previously considered waking up her parents in Kildare and asking them for a lift. 

“My friends are going to Coppers right now but I think I’m going to go home because I’m worried I won’t get a taxi in about two, three hours,” she said. 

“It’s giving me less of a hangover but less of a good night out… In January I had to stand here on Camden Street for two hours waiting for a taxi and I genuinely thought I would ring my Mam and Dad in County Kildare to come and pick me up!”

For Niall Carson, General Manager of Free Now, these are familiar stories. 

“There’s a level of demand that has risen everywhere - not just in that night time economy,” he said. 

“We’re dealing with a depleted fleet - so in the last 10 years we’ve lost 30% of the overall fleet… but even pre-pandemic we’re down 10%. 

“And the number of drivers out working remains at a balanced level but if I give you an example; last weekend when the Ed Sheeran concert finished within one hour we had 30,000 requests for a taxi.”

Public transport

Part of the solution, Mr Carson believes, would be better public transport past midnight. 

“Dublin is a real outlier in Europe. We see ourselves as a modern capital but actually we do not have a night time transport infrastructure that’s fit for purpose,” he continued.

“Mr brother-in-law lives in the Netherlands and they have trams, trains and buses running through the night.

“I spoke to colleagues in Warsaw and Berlin and it’s just a given that that is how you get home - as well as taxis.”