Dublin Bus services impacted for third evening after gun threat to driver
Bus services will be withdrawn from the Mountjoy Square area for a third consecutive evening after a driver was threatened by a man who appeared to be wielding a gun on Friday. The Dublin Bus driver suffered the ordeal as he drove in the Mountjoy Square area of the north inner city on Friday night. According to sources, the terrifying incident occurred as the driver was sitting in the bus before the start of his shift. A man came onboard and the driver told him he had to get off as the bus was not in service. The man then pulled out a gun and said to the driver: "I'll blow your f**king head off." The driver was unhurt but was badly shaken up following the incident, which happened at around 11pm. SIPTU, one of the unions which represents Dublin Bus drivers, has advised its members not to drive in the Mountjoy Square area in the evenings for the foreseeable future. SIPTU Bus Driver Committee President, Brendan McInerney, said: “At approximately 11.10 pm on Friday night an incident happened on a Route 13 bus parked on Mountjoy Square as it waited to begin a journey. The bus was switched off and wasn't due to depart for a few minutes. The driver was sitting towards the back of the bus scrolling on his phone. “An individual got on the bus with a torch. It seems he believed no one was in the vehicle and may have intended robbing anything he could find in the cab. The driver approached the individual, as he thought he was an intending passenger, and advised him the bus was not departing for a few minutes. The individual exited the bus but then turned around to produce what appeared to be a gun and began motioning as if he was loading the weapon. He told the driver he would ‘blow his head off’ but thankfully then departed the scene.” He added: “The driver was extremely shocked and upset by the incident. As his SIPTU representative he contacted me and after he relayed what had occurred I immediately contacted Dublin Bus to instigate the agreed protocols for dealing with such serious incidents. "I also requested SIPTU member drivers to withdraw services from the Mountjoy Square area immediately. I have further requested that no drivers should terminate services in the area after 7.00 pm at night until Union representatives meet with management and agree appropriate actions to improve their safety.” SIPTU Sector Organiser, John Murphy, said: “This is yet another very disturbing and dangerous situation to occur on the public transport network. The SIPTU Respect Transport Workers campaign has been highlighting the worsening security situation for our members employed on public transport services for more than a year. “The Programme for Government contains a commitment for the creation of a force with powers of arrest to police the public transport network. The establishment of this body is a matter of urgent importance to our members. We are renewing our call to meet with the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, to discuss the establishment of this force in as short a time frame as possible.” He added: “All stakeholders are largely agreed on the need for a new policing service focused on the public transport network in order to curtail increasing incidents of violent and antisocial behaviour. We are calling on the Government to immediately act on its commitment and begin the establishment of a force in-line with that proposed in the SIPTU Travel Safe policy document.” A Dublin Bus spokesman confirmed that buses would now not go to Mountjoy Square after 7pm from Saturday until further notice. He said: "Dublin Bus can confirm that an incident occurred involving one of our vehicles in the vicinity of Mountjoy Square late last night. No customers were on board at the time. "We are providing full support to the driver involved and we are liaising with An Garda Siochana. We will continue to assist them in any way possible. As the investigation is ongoing, we are not in a position to comment further at this time. "Customers should note that Routes 7/a and 13 will be unable to serve their terminus at Mountjoy Square from 19.00 Saturday evening until further notice. Nearest stop available for Route 7/a is stop 4725 on O'Connell Street. Nearest stop for Route 13 is stop 261 on Parnell Square East." Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.
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