Teenager charged after attempt to hijack bus

An incident where a passenger assaulted a bus driver and attempted to hijack his vehicle was just one of a number of violent incidents faced by drivers in the Tallaght area in October.

At a meeting of the Local Transport Forum, made up of representatives from Dublin Bus, Go Ahead and Luas, with local community representation, Elected Representatives and senior members of An Garda Síochána, a number of incidents involving buses and drivers being attacked were highlighted.

It was reported that on October 18 at around 8pm, a passenger assaulted the driver of a bus on the 77A route near Donomore Heights, Killinarden, and attempted to hijack the bus.

Gardaí say they arrested a man in his late teens “in relation to the theft of a vehicle in Killinarden” on October 18.

“The man was charged and appeared before Tallaght District Court on October 20,” they said in a statement.

Other incidents that took place on the 77A route included a group of youths vandalising the upper deck of a bus as it travelled along the Castletymon Road towards Citywest Road on October 24, and fireworks thrown at a bus in Killinarden on Halloween night.

A number of incidents of stones being thrown at the 27 bus as it travelled through Brookfield towards the Square, Tallaght and at the new 82 along Kiltipper Way were also reported, though no damage was done to these buses.

SIPTU also released the results of a survey this week of its members who work in public transport, which found that 94% reported anti-social and abusive behaviour as an issue during the course of their work.

The survey, conducted among more than 200 SIPTU members employed in Irish Rail, Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland, LUAS and Aircoach, found that 94% of respondents reported facing verbal abuse, with more than a quarter (28%) experiencing physical abuse and one in five reporting racial abuse.

Over 60% of those surveyed by email between October 30 to November 3 say the situation has got worse in the past 12 months, while just 1.5% believe it has improved.

Dublin Bus worker and SIPTU National Executive Council (NEC) member, Stephen Millane, said that transport workers “perform an essential public service and deserve to feel safe doing their jobs”.

“These survey results underline just how urgent that need has become,” he said.

“Without proper enforcement and support, antisocial behaviour will continue to drive workers away from the sector and make passengers feel less safe.”

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