Customs Check Leopardstown

antodeco

Hey All,
Anyone see the customs check just off the m50 heading to the sandyford industrial estate junction this morning? Looked like a lot of cars pulled over. There was around 5 customs officers, a garda van and a "garda checkpoint" sign. Kinda mad at 8am in peak traffic. Anyone know what the story was with it?

skibum

They do checks there on a regular basis, looking for farm diesel / converted vehicle checks / vrt??? Don't really know, I'm always waved on.

antodeco

Ive never seen them there before and I only live around the corner! I must just time it well! Seriously though, 8am is a bit of a mad time to do it!

sicruise

I saw them just outside adare on the last bank holiday weekend... the Friday of course! Why would they ever attempt to ease traffic congestion.

crosstownk

Just passed there 15 mins ago and they are still there. They had 1 UK reg, 1 NI reg and one Irish reg pulled over. No idea what they're looking for.

Guy:Incognito

antodeco wrote: »

Ive never seen them there before and I only live around the corner! I must just time it well! Seriously though, 8am is a bit of a mad time to do it!

Surely it's the best time? You've got the best chance of catching wrong-doers.

DaveD

There was one of these checks in Castleknock last week at 7.15am ! Only customs officers there though, no Gardai.

Stephen

I see them here accompanied by the gardai a lot (outside a large factory), usually checking trucks for agri diesel/overweight loads etc. Usually around morning peak time as well.

C_Breeze

Id say they do it at that time because they have the highest probability of catching Vrt dodgers going to work in UK Regd cars ... afterall they will need their cars to get to work and when questioned where tehy are goin it would be pretty obvious

Hotwheels

They were on the Tuam Rd a few weeks ago pulling. A few min delay is fine by me, hope they catch the VRT dodgers, we all have to pay it, unfair or not.

Moanin

C_Breeze wrote: »

Id say they do it at that time because they have the highest probability of catching Vrt dodgers going to work in UK Regd cars ... afterall they will need their cars to get to work and when questioned where tehy are goin it would be pretty obvious

Ya but where they were stopping this morning was the main link road from m50 to Dun Laoghaire port so there would more than likely be legit English people (Tourists) driving this road to get the ferry home.The customs were there this morning at 7.00 when I was going into work!

MercMad

They regularly do it on the M1/N1 !

I see them once a month at least always at that time of the morning and they pull over all commercial vehicles and all foreign reg'd cars. I saw them taking away a LHD 530d one time !

Elessar

They were in swords at the boroimhe junction on wednesday morning about 7am.

DubDani

I got pulled over and was accused of illegally driving a northern registered car in the republic.

And all that even though I legally live up there and was able to show them my UK issued residence card (not a UK citizen myself). He didn't accept it. Asked me all kind of stuff and then issued a warning and asked me to provide evidence within 7 days. Pissed me off big time, especially as the officer was incredibly unfriendly.

10-10-20

Did you get his ID number?

mick.fr

They do regular checks in Sandyford due to the huge amount of traffic getting there in the morning. So 8am is legitimate for them.
Myself and several of my colleagues got caught for VRT or late car reg. etc.
Good place to make money for the tax office, so they just keep staying here.

ciarsd

While 8am mid rush-hour is a pain for the sufferers stuck in it, if it means ridding some of the non-irish registered daily-drivers off the road, then thats got to be payment enough.
More of these checks and they might begin making a dent in the massive list of foreign vehicles, ever present on our roads.

mick.fr

ciarsd wrote: »

While 8am mid rush-hour is a pain for the sufferers stuck in it, if it means ridding some of the non-irish registered daily-drivers off the road, then thats got to be payment enough.
More of these checks and they might begin making a dent in the massive list of foreign vehicles, ever present on our roads.

Yep sure but do not forget who is running the country.

Sizzler

^^ Would they pull in a PL/LT/LV/RO reg'd car I wonder or were they only interested in NI / UK plates :rolleyes:

MercMad

DubDani wrote: »

I got pulled over and was accused of illegally driving a northern registered car in the republic.

And all that even though I legally live up there and was able to show them my UK issued residence card (not a UK citizen myself). He didn't accept it. Asked me all kind of stuff and then issued a warning and asked me to provide evidence within 7 days. Pissed me off big time, especially as the officer was incredibly unfriendly.

.............are you an Irish resident ??

antodeco

Im in the same thinking that yes, they should be doing these stops. However, at a dangerous and busy enough road is a bit silly. Funnily enough, it was outside the halting site, where theres a few UK reg vehicles. Wonder what happened there?!!

RobAMerc

Just goes to show

the only well run efficient service in this Banana Republic - Revenue !

They can get out of their beds and sh*t together when it comes to Joe soap and his taxes alright !

snaps

Sizzler wrote: »

^^ Would they pull in a PL/LT/LV/RO reg'd car I wonder or were they only interested in NI / UK plates :rolleyes:

HaHa not a chance in hell, like everyone says its only UK/NI plated cars they are interested in.

cyrusdvirus

Sizzler wrote: »

^^ Would they pull in a PL/LT/LV/RO reg'd car I wonder or were they only interested in NI / UK plates :rolleyes:

Last time i was in the jam behind this checkpoint, it was almost exclusively the eastern european reg'd cars pulled over. Remember there's a lot of building going on in Sandyford Ind Est, so the foreign labourers are prime targets

daymobrew

Sizzler wrote: »

^^ Would they pull in a PL/LT/LV/RO reg'd car I wonder or were they only interested in NI / UK plates :rolleyes:

Last week I witness some very dangerous driving by a PL register vehicle. I wrote to the Polish Ambassador to ask if they keep a database of Polish residents and their cars and if they have any ideas of dealing with the issue of uninsured drivers (because our Government is clueless). The questions were rhetorical.

They quickly wrote back saying they don't have a database, acknowledge the issue and said I should write to RSA and Customs & Excise.

snaps

gatecrash wrote: »

Last time i was in the jam behind this checkpoint, it was almost exclusively the eastern european reg'd cars pulled over. Remember there's a lot of building going on in Sandyford Ind Est, so the foreign labourers are prime targets

Pulled over yeah, But is anything actually done about them? Facts are the customs/Gardai have little ways of tracking/Tracing the drivers as their cars are registered to a foreign address (Not their irish digs), They wont have any ID of proof of irish address, More than likely they'll give a false address (I know this happens as i used to have Polish people lodge in my house (Never again!) and a few weeks the gardai came around for one of them and he gave my address as his current address (He had moved out nearly 2 years ago). Gardai wanted a current address for him, I didnt have a clue and felt a bit under pressure. I gave them what i thought was his work address, but that i think was useless as he had moved on from there as well.

DubDani

MercMad wrote: »

.............are you an Irish resident ??

No, legally and fully residing in NI. Only employed in Dublin. Even had proof of my UK residency due to my UK issued residence card.

Sent of some household bills today and my Easypass Statement showing that I pass two tollbridges between NI and Dublin 3 times a week each way, and will then keep their response in my glovebox for any future occurences.

I have no problem with them doing the checks. Much welcome. But if you can proof on the spot then they should take note of it. And they should at least not be this unfriendly.

Sizzler

Saw an article in a local paper today about a recent customs check in North County Dublin, not sure how long they ran the checkpoint for but it says they confiscated 5 vehicles.

Says they were after NI & UK reg cars primarily but also targeted this particular area as there a lot of eastern european reg'd cars in rented accomadation in the vicinity.
Doesnt say where the cars were from though that they confiscated :rolleyes:

Darando

Sure if they did it at 4 o'clock in the morning on a back road people would be on here saying they are stupid and should be out at the peak time on the busy roads.

Never can be pleased