Dublin councillor calls for the banning of rickshaws from the city’s streets

Fianna Fáil councillor Daithi Di Roiste says that rickshaws on the streets of Dublin represent "a public safety danger."

Di Roiste feels that legislation is needed to ban the controversial mode of transport, which sees people being wheeled around on passenger carts. While talks have taken place about regulating rickshaws between Dublin City Council and the National Transport Authority (NTA), Di Roiste feels that regulation does not necessarily go far enough. "Last year Dublin City Council tried to deal with this problem by drafting a series of by-laws, but they were told it had to be done by primary legislation," he told Pat Kenny on Newstalk. As Di Roiste pointed out, the NTA now has the power to regulate the use of rickshaws in Dublin, but he is concerned about the safety of people in the city, particularly at weekends. "It's a free-for-all. You see races going up and down Grafton Street, you see them flying around St. Stephen's Green, it really is dangerous." He also claimed that certain rickshaw drivers are selling drugs to their passengers, and that "they're a law unto themselves. It's not good, it doesn't work, and it's one of these problems that needs to be sorted."