Taxi driver protest

MOH

Taxipete29 wrote: »

Yes average fare really is €10. I work Ballyfermot/Clondalkin and Lucan area with a local firm and you would be surprised the amount of €5 fares I get in a week. There are alot of older people in these areas that dont drive and cant manage their shopping on the bus.

Ok, fair enough

Taxipete29 wrote: »

Its about making the Government and Minister Dempsey in particular sit up and take notice. Unfortunatly the public being disrupted is a necessary evil.

The problem is that it doesn't seem to be having much affect on the government so far, whereas it is going to start having an public perception of taxi drivers.
I get taxis quite a bit, but last night when I got off a late train at Connolly with a heavy bag I waited twenty minutes for a bus rather than get any of the dozens of taxis that passed, because at this stage I'm not giving money to any taxi driver as long as these kind of protests continue. And I know quite a few other people who feel the same way.

paulm17781

MOH wrote: »

I waited twenty minutes for a bus rather than get any of the dozens of taxis that passed, because at this stage I'm not giving money to any taxi driver as long as these kind of protests continue. And I know quite a few other people who feel the same way.

I've been doing the same and encouraging other to do so too.

Terrontress

What would people think about a reducing charge based on car age. The metered fare on a 4 year old car is 15% less than that on a car less than 4 years old. Every year beyond that it loses a further 10%. A car that is 4 years old takes in €85 for every €100 of a newer car. 5 years it's €76.50, 6 years it's 68.85 and so forth.

It would encourage drivers to drive safer cars, give better value to customers and it would cut out a lot of the part timers. It might even give a shot in the arm to the Irish motor industry! It isn't fair at the moment that the guy in the new Skoda earns the same per km as the guy in the old Toyota.

Taxipete29

Terrontress wrote: »

I'd like to ask the drivers who have accused others of being taxi haters why they think a percentage of the public hate them and what could be done about it.

I think alot of the hatred for Taxi drivers is historical. I mean most of us remember having to wait for hours in the cold and rain for Taxis while a small group milked it for all it was worth. The trouble is those drivers barely represent 10% of the current drivers now operating.

I think aside from that its like any group people dislike, Travellers, Gardai, to use 2 examples of groups who get a fair bit if stick,they have a bad experience with one and tar everyone with the same brush.

Im not sure anything can be done about it tbh, I have had people openly admit to me in the car that they dont like taxi drivers and they dont know why, that its just one of those things. Its very hard to do anything about that kind of mindset.

Terrontress

Taxipete29 wrote: »

I think alot of the hatred for Taxi drivers is historical. I mean most of us remember having to wait for hours in the cold and rain for Taxis while a small group milked it for all it was worth. The trouble is those drivers barely represent 10% of the current drivers now operating.

I think aside from that its like any group people dislike, Travellers, Gardai, to use 2 examples of groups who get a fair bit if stick,they have a bad experience with one and tar everyone with the same brush.

Im not sure anything can be done about it tbh, I have had people openly admit to me in the car that they dont like taxi drivers and they dont know why, that its just one of those things. Its very hard to do anything about that kind of mindset.

I just think that the word "hate" is fairly full on, both for drivers to say they know they are hated and passengers to say they hate drivers.

Taxipete29

Terrontress wrote: »

I just think that the word "hate" is fairly full on, both for drivers to say they know they are hated and passengers to say they hate drivers.

TBH I just think its more of an expression in alot of cases as opposed to actually being that emotive on the subject, however there are some genuine cases where people actually do hate taxi drivers.

triple-M

looks like the taxi drivers are at it again holding the city to ransom,its a disgrace that such disruptive protests are allowed and encouraged by unions,the more this happens the less support they get hopefully

Jip

Heard about it on the radio this morning, what's their whinge this time or is it the same thing ?

oisindoyle

triple-M wrote: »

looks like the taxi drivers are at it again holding the city to ransom,its a disgrace that such disruptive protests are allowed and encouraged by unions,the more this happens the less support they get hopefully

There was a huge protest yesterday in Dublin city centre by another group of people worried about cutbacks .
I didnt see you make any reference towards them .
Secondly this protest today by may drivers is as a result of being ignored by the powers that be ,despite the willingness of drivers reps to engage in talks over the past 10 months .
Some of the talking seemed to be constructive but then NOTHING...
The only way any dispute or issue can be resolved is by talks ,unfortunatelt neither the TR or the Minister seem to be in any rush to do so .At present what is happending is more akin to a dictate rather than meaningful negosiations.
Without reasonable talks ,unreasonable actions take place.....

And before anyone on Boards starts with ,,taxi drivers this and taxi drivers that ,,,We've heard it all before ,,,

godtabh

oisindoyle wrote: »

And before anyone on Boards starts with ,,taxi drivers this and taxi drivers that ,,,We've heard it all before ,,,

Yeah we've heard enough of the proganda from taxi people

Bandit12

Frigin disgrace. It has just taken me 2 hours to get from the South side of the city to parnell square because of these idiots. Why don't the cops batton charge them and tell them to clear off. Very angry right now.:mad:

Trampas

Why should there be a restriction on numbers on taxi drivers?

What industries block people from entering?

If there is no money in it then why do people enter the system?

dathuil1906

I agree. Why should there be a limit on taxi licences? That's like saying there should also be a limit to the amount of supermarkets opening to ensure that the ones that are currently there make more money, isn't it? Don't agree with TDFC

penexpers

dathuil1906 wrote: »

I agree. Why should there be a limit on taxi licences? That's like saying there should also be a limit to the amount of supermarkets opening to ensure that the ones that are currently there make more money, isn't it? Don't agree with TDFC

Actually there is a limit on supermarkets (kind of) which is enforced through the planning laws. It's not a hard number though.

Jip

The arseholes need a good slap or reality alright, from the AA

Protestors appear to be doing laps of O'Connell St, D'Olier St and Westmoreland St. Traffic will be blocked at certain times as participants pass. Motorists should avoid the area if possible.

Eh, why should motorists avoid the area if possible, the tools should be prevented going around in circles in the city centre with the intention of causing as much disruption as possible.

positron

Problem is that 'driving on the road' is not illegal, and that's why they are getting away with this I think. But since its' causing so much trouble, may be Council should introduce a new congestion charge - just for taxis. That will teach them.

oisindoyle

Trampas wrote: »

Why should there be a restriction on numbers on taxi drivers?

What industries block people from entering?

If there is no money in it then why do people enter the system?

NOBODY is suggesting or asking for that ,,so gets your facts right and ALL your facts about the current dispute before you make wide daft comments..

Trampas

oisindoyle wrote: »

NOBODY is suggesting or asking for that ,,so gets your facts right and ALL your facts about the current dispute before you make wide daft comments..

Ok then

What are they protesting about now

dathuil1906

I've been on the taxi drivers for change website and, apologies, but it's not really clear from the website either what "change" they're looking for. Enlighten, please......

adrian522

Trampas wrote: »

Ok then

What are they protesting about now

TBH Who Cares?

I don't see what benefit P!ssing off the entire city can possibly have.

Hope the govt has the bals to stand up to them.

MOH

Apparently they're now parked along both sides of O'Connell St and gone for a march

Trampas

MOH wrote: »

Apparently they're now parked along both sides of O'Connell St and gone for a march

Looks like the person creating that poster forgot how to spell Limerick and had to squeeze in the E

Jip

Trampas wrote: »

Looks like the person creating that poster forgot how to spell Limerick and had to squeeze in the E

Ha Ha, that's looks gas.

Reminds me of a sign at the CocaCola picket in Ballycoolin,

Your next

I'm still waiting for them to tell me what belonging to me is next.

MOH wrote: »

Apparently they're now parked along both sides of O'Connell St

Nothing new there so.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Trampas wrote: »

Looks like the person creating that poster forgot how to spell Limerick and had to squeeze in the E

Looks lie they for their bling 5-yrar-old to do it.

Another day to thank God I don't live in Dublin.

djvext

Bloody arseholes, no sympathy from me. Annoying half the city is not the best way to get support.

It took me over 2 hours to get home from town, absolutely ridiculous.

Yeah, Taxi twats, times are tough...no sh*t. We know that. Chalk it down, muppets.

yknaa

Need to get to the wilds of NCD later on and with no train I wonder if the taxi dispute has finished? Might need to get one and hope they are on duty.

the_syco

HAHAHAHAHAHA. All I can think of is "fúck off and die". You wanted deregulation, you got deregulation. In the boom years, there was no mention of a cap being wanted. Now that times have turned bad, you want regulation. Too little, too late.

In the "good old days", you'd get charged over €80 to get from Dublin city centre, to Leixlip, as it was "outside Dublin", the meter would get turned off at Lucan, and they'd charge whatever number they picked out of their arse. You'd be waiting for a long f**king time for a taxi as well.

Soon, there'll be a happy compramise, of enough taxis, and not too much of a charge.

Spook_ie

Hopr you save some of your rhetoric for the dockers tomorrow night

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055698370

Face it any group of protesters is going to **** up your commute

tinkerbell

Those taxi drivers are absolute idiots - I mean, how the hell do they think that the general public will have any sympathy for them? They fecked up the whole city centre today. Who do they think they are that they can just grind the city to a halt like that?

And can I ask why they were allowed get away with it? The gardai are bloody useless. If that was a normal motorist who parked on O Connell St, the car would have been towed. Why didn't they get a towing company in and tow all those stupid taxi cars away, if the taxi drivers refused then arrest the taxi drivers and then tow the god damn car and slap a fine of €1,000 to get the car released from the towing centre. I mean why didn't they do that? Instead the gardai just stand around and are like uuuuuhhh, yah motorists should avoid the area.

I have no sympathy for taxi drivers. I never get taxis, they are the biggest waste of money. My bf and I live quite a bit outside of Dublin so if we're on a night out, I'll drive us in and park near where we are going or if he's heading out with his friends, I'll drive in and pick him up. I'd rather drive in myself than waste €25 - €30 on a taxi.

RMD

I'd like an answer from a Taxi driver on this.........what in the hell do you think you're doing? Think this is going to give you more support? More business, when it comes to protesting you guys certainly know how to **** things up for yourselves and as shown today, quite a few other people.

You bitch and complain all day about to many Taxi drivers being out there? Guess what? You ****ing begged for deregulation, complaining day in day out about lack of money coming your way, guess what? I was refused a fair by 2 taxi drivers the other night on the O'Connell street rank because they "wer goin' southside bud". You really seem to be the most hypocritical and contradicting bunch of idiots going sometimes.

Sorry to any reasonable Taxi driver who might be offended by my comments, I don't mean to stereotype.

oisindoyle

the_syco wrote: »

HAHAHAHAHAHA. All I can think of is "fúck off and die". You wanted deregulation, you got deregulation. In the boom years, there was no mention of a cap being wanted. Now that times have turned bad, you want regulation. Too little, too late.

In the "good old days", you'd get charged over €80 to get from Dublin city centre, to Leixlip, as it was "outside Dublin", the meter would get turned off at Lucan, and they'd charge whatever number they picked out of their arse. You'd be waiting for a long f**king time for a taxi as well.

....
Normally i wouldnt reply to such unbelievable nonsensical stuff ,but yours takes the biscuit .
Since when did any taxi driver want deregulation ?When please tell me when ?
The fare structure has NOTHING to do with drivers it was set by the city councils and now by the TR.
Yes you are correct Leixlip was outside the Dublin taxi meter area and a price was agreed between the driver and the passenger before hand .
As for your comment...."Soon, there'll be a happy compramise, of enough taxis, and not too much of a charge"....thats funny .Perhaps you need glasses but a blind man can see Dublin and many parts of the country have too many taxis .
Fact for you ,,,At present Dublin has MORE taxis than New York,,,,
So slag off taxi drivers all you like ,but try and get SOME facts right

artful_codger

oisindoyle wrote: »

Secondly this protest today by may drivers is as a result of being ignored by the powers that be

nobody owes you a living.

dub_commuter

I've had it with taxi drivers, I really have and go out of my way not to use them, in the last few weeks when waiting for the nitelink and the aircoach I've had taxi drivers stop at the stops, and offer to take me and a tourist to our destination for the same price as the coach/nitelink, I've politely told them no, and they've hurled a whole load of abuse back at me and one of them said scum like me "Don't know what it is like being one of them". If I want a taxi I'll bloody take one. It annoys me that taxis stop at stops in the first place when not hailed but even more so when they hurl that abuse back.

And as for this evenings disruption, I really fail to see what it achieves, all it has done is put me off using taxi's from a rank ever again, and I'm sure I am not the only one who is like this. As previously said if someone put up a batch of speakers in O'Connell Street, all got out and abandoned their cars and started marching and congregating in the road to block them up, they'd be arrested and their car would be towed, but the taxi drivers seem to own that strech of street and can do whatever they like and get away with it.

Still, the Gardai were actually doing somthing tonight, running after and grabbing Jaywalkers around the O'Connell Bridge area, one female Gardai ran quite a distance to get someone who jaywalked saying he could cause an accident or hold things up, yet they were perfectly happy for these selfish taxi drivers to hold the whole city centre to ransom.

dub_commuter

oisindoyle wrote: »

Perhaps you need glasses but a blind man can see Dublin and many parts of the country have too many taxis .

So there is a far bigger supply than there is in a demand in the taxi industry, I wonder can anyone else tell me what happens in every other industry where the supply far exceeds the demand?

If there is too much competition in the market place, then that means people will have to pull out and try and move on to doing something else, something the taxi drivers appear not to understand.

Yes it is a recession and I am not working in my prefered job and had to take a huge pay cut, but I actually tried my hand at something else rather than moaning about the fact there are 25x more people applying for my first choice career jobs than there were 3 years ago.

oisindoyle

RMD wrote: »

I'd like an answer from a Taxi driver on this.........what in the hell do you think you're doing? Think this is going to give you more support? More business, when it comes to protesting you guys certainly know how to **** things up for yourselves and as shown today, quite a few other people.

You bitch and complain all day about to many Taxi drivers being out there? Guess what? You ****ing begged for deregulation, complaining day in day out about lack of money coming your way, guess what? I was refused a fair by 2 taxi drivers the other night on the O'Connell street rank because they "wer goin' southside bud". You really seem to be the most hypocritical and contradicting bunch of idiots going sometimes.

Sorry to any reasonable Taxi driver who might be offended by my comments, I don't mean to stereotype.

Taxi drivers never had any support and never will but hey who cares.they are protesting because they are at their wits end and yes many others in Ireland are going tru bad times ....When did any driver ask or want deregulation? answer....NO ONE....
If you were refused by 2 taxi drivers the other night well that was wrong nand shouldnt have happened,,,,
If you get into the car and ask to go to a destination then they HAVE to take you unless the fare is outside 30km..
So next time you will know,,,,
The drivers have been in talks for the past 10 mths and despite numerous meetings ,NOTHING was achieved .
Believe it or not drivers want the business cleaned up ....get rid of illegals (of which their are many)
More ranks (because daily drivers are getting tickets from gards)
and to be listened to .Because at present what is happening is that the Tr is behaving like a dictator .
Making crazy stupid rules that are just not economically viable to any driver and some of which make no sense at all ,she has no clue about the industry .
Its all very well having plenty of taxis ,but there has to be a balance between having a certain amout of taxis and people being able to make a living .At present many are going under last 2 months 6 drivers committed suicide because they couldnt take anymore .
Until you are in the business of driving a taxi you will have no idea just how dire things are...
NO driver wanted to or wants to protest but when all avenues of communication are met with a brick wall from Dept of Transport and the TR office then they are left with no choice .
All drivers want to do is go to work and earn a living ,,,whats so wrong with that ?

oisindoyle

dub_commuter wrote: »

So there is a far bigger supply than there is in a demand in the taxi industry, I wonder can anyone else tell me what happens in every other industry where the supply far exceeds the demand?

If there is too much competition in the market place, then that means people will have to pull out and try and move on to doing something else, something the taxi drivers appear not to understand.

Yes it is a recession and I am not working in my prefered job and had to take a huge pay cut, but I actually tried my hand at something else rather than moaning about the fact there are 25x more people applying for my first choice career jobs than there were 3 years ago.

Many are TRYING to get out of it believe me but cannot .Neither can they get the dole because they are self employed...Its not just a case of supply v demand now its just gone beyond that ,its fariscial....Everyone knows that any TD or Country Councillor says the same ......
Standards have dropped more complaints have happend and on and on it goes ...
In every country where deregulation was introduced in the end the government had to go back to regulation because of the disaster it created

dub_commuter

oisindoyle wrote: »

More ranks (because daily drivers are getting tickets from gards)
Making crazy stupid rules that are just not economically viable to any driver and some of which make no sense at all ,she has no clue about the industry .

1. I want rid of ranks right now, because in particular the rank on O'Connell Street seems to attract a large number of taxi drivers that I wouldn't want to have a taxi from.

2. Nobody forces you to be a taxi driver. If you don't like the industry try something else like everyone else. What makes you so special?

3. You say you want to earn a living but with drivers abusing passengers at bus stops, and refusing to take people to destinations you don't like, it seems like you only want to on your own terms rather than taking the rough with the smooth like everyone else.

hmmm

I'd also like to know what our guards were upto today. If a group wants to shut down the city and cause misery for tens of thousands of commuters the guards will stand back and allow this to happen? What do we have a police force for if they won't enforce the law?!

Pineapple stu

Whats the betting that some of those protesting only got their taxi licence within the last couple of years. They complain the work isnt out there yet they can find time to protest a few times a year. Dont bother going to a rank for a taxi just aim for your nearest 24 hr spar shop where you will find plenty of empty taxi's.
These taxi lads wasnt looking for a cap in a number of taxi licences when they went looking for one last year or so.

dub_commuter

oisindoyle wrote: »

Many are TRYING to get out of it believe me but cannot .Neither can they get the dole because they are self employed...Its not just a case of supply v demand now its just gone beyond that ,its fariscial....Everyone knows that any TD or Country Councillor says the same ......
Standards have dropped more complaints have happend and on and on it goes ...
In every country where deregulation was introduced in the end the government had to go back to regulation because of the disaster it created

I don't use ranks any more, the behaviour that happens today is exactly why. If I want a taxi I'll order one from a taxi company where the drivers are much more professional, decent taxi drivers who would never dream of acting the way the selfish idiots did today.

I have very little sympathy with taxi drivers, but I do admit that the Irish Government are not totally innocent in all of this, but they are not totally to blame as the taxi drivers seem to think.

dub_commuter

I'd also like to know what our guards were upto today. If a group wants to shut down the city and cause misery for tens of thousands of commuters the guards will stand back and allow this to happen? What do we have a police force for if they won't enforce the law?!

The Gardai traffic corps are useless, they are supposed to police traffic but all they did today was police Pedestrians to be honest, I actually object to paying taxes for them because of this kind of situation.

These taxi lads wasnt looking for a cap in a number of taxi licences when they went looking for one last year or so.

I've noticed the vast majority who are complaining seem to be entrants since de-regulation who are nearly all Irish citizens, the older taxi plates and that of foreign nationals seem to be just getting on with their work?

Thats not to say there are not genuine Irish new entrants, but the protestors seem to be almost fully these.

Spook_ie

Bring on the Dock workers, let's see the rhetoric then....Stinking scumbag dockers, don't they know we're all in a recession, they is all scumbags interfering with my commute to work/home/pub etc.

Pineapple stu

I think we should counter demonstrate and block the ranks for a day to see how they like it.A mass protest blocking all main ranks when they are full of taxi's.

oisindoyle

dub_commuter wrote: »

I don't use ranks any more, the behaviour that happens today is exactly why. If I want a taxi I'll order one from a taxi company where the drivers are much more professional, decent taxi drivers who would never dream of acting the way the selfish idiots did today.

I have very little sympathy with taxi drivers, but I do admit that the Irish Government are not totally innocent in all of this, but they are not totally to blame as the taxi drivers seem to think.

Well you cannot generalise ,,like all business theres good and bad apples .Same goes for taxi companies.
As i said no one wants to protest but they were left with no other choice ,they are at their wits end .yes many in the country are finding it difficult but drivers have been hit with a double whammy ,,Deregulation and recession .Plus stupid things coming out of the TRs office without any consulation with drivers ...two things come to mind ,,,all drivers have to have a safety kit ,which consists of Hi fi jacket ,fire extin., scissors ,first aid kit ..at a cost of 80 euro to the driver ..now if a car goes on fire u call the fire brigade ,u do not tackle it urself ...the TR said and i quote "you (the driver) are obliged to carry a safety kit at all times but you are not obliged to use it "....Now does that make sense ??????
Plus the other rather costly thing that came out of the TR office last mth was that to renew ur licence it went up from 3euro to 250 euro ...IS THAT FARE in these economie times ? i think not .NO negosiations with any reps was made re the above decisions .....and thats just two !!
It was the PDs who wanted degregulation and now the industry is in a complete mess

crushproof

cymro wrote: »

I think we should counter demonstrate and block the ranks for a day to see how they like it.A mass protest blocking all main ranks when they are full of taxi's.

Excellent Idea. However....

I'd really really really love, if I could the fines of course, to drive up O'Connell Street tomorrow with just 5 or so other cars and park at the Spire, 3 on either side the Spire......immediately causing traffic cause within a minute in both northbound and southbound lanes... resulting in traffic jams within a square kilometre of the Spire.

Then I'd get up on my bonnet and begin to take bets on how long it will A) take the Gardai to arrive and how long it will take for the cars to be towed.

I'm guessing less then 5 minutes and 10 minutes respectively. :rolleyes:

Yet these guys get to stay all day?! Farcical situation! Really is another typical "Only in Ireland" kind of thing!

triple-M

I certainly will be avoiding taxis like the plague from now on they dont seem to care that thousands of people have been inconvenienced many times over by their guerilla style tactics of holding the city to ransom,same goes to anyone who disrupts the city because of their own selfishness or because the unions tell them to do it,there really should be a court order to stop this type disruptive behaviour,Why should I get dragged into somebody elses mess

DWCommuter

This protest was a really really bad idea. I witnessed lots of irrate people and saw no sympathy towards "the cause". That said they'll all still take taxis on saturday night anyway. Think Lisbon tomorrow.:D

Taxipete29

Let me just start by saying I do genuinely believe that we have legitimate grievances and its not all about capping numbers and those people saying that need to check their facts.

I have always previously supported these stoppages and protests in the past, but owing to the fact that the organisers couldnt get any sort of meaningful numbers behind them I just got on with my job of trying to earn a living and let them at it. I just felt that in the end the group Taxi Drivers For Change were the same as any of the unions who had come before them. Sheep being led by a few guys whose ambition was more than just driving a taxi. It seemed more about furthering their status than actually getting anything done.

Todays protest came as a bolt out of the blue and I didnt know it was on until I drove into town this morning and I heard it on the radio. I was working and continued to do so as I was off for a few days with car trouble and to be honest couldnt afford not to. I took a fare around lunchtime that wanted to go to O'Connell st. I had no idea the protest had moved from Kildare st or that is was even still going on. There was nothing on the station I was listening to about it.

I turned off Cathal Brugha st onto O'Connell and discovered that the traffic hold up was due to the on going protest. A senior guard came running towards me and stopped me and told me I would have to go back as in his words if I went any further I would be lynched and thats a direct quote. I had to let my fare out at the gresham to a torrent of abuse and intimidation from the guys protesting. The guard then held up the traffic at the Cathal Brugha junction and I had to reverse back down the street and turn off. It should be noted that the fare I had to let out was heavily pregnant and was at the wrong end of the street for where she was going.

I have been on protests before and for the most part they have remained dignified and I have myself refuted claims of intimidation as I had never witnessed any. The behaviour of the thugs who stood at that rank today is just unacceptable. How do they ever expect to gain public support acting in this fashion. I was disgusted. How dare anyone threaten me while I do a days work, especially when I didnt even know about the bloody protest in the first place. These guys showed themselves up for what they really are in my eyes.

I will never support any protest, strike or anything else organised by this or any other taxi group whose followers include scumbags who try to intimidate innocent people trying to earn a living. I understand the frustration in the industry, but its no excuse.

Its time people realised that the vast majority of drivers are just trying to earn a living and these people dont represent even a fraction of the drivers out there. The only way to get anything done is through proper negotiation and consultation on both sides. This will never happen as the industry is so divided and disjointed they couldnt agree on the colour of s**t. So I for one will just continue to work my hours quietly and do what I have to do to survive in these tough economic conditions just like the rest of the country.

Sorry for the long rant but I just wanted people to hear my story and then clarify my current stance.

triple-M

im glad to know that the minority causing disruption and intimidation have little support from fellow harder working taxi drivers who dont spend half their time protesting or complaining,this thug like behaviour has to be stopped as the protesting drivers are doing the genuinely struggling taxi drivers no justice by harassing people and holding the city to ransom,they should have their licences revoked for carrying out an illegal protest and purpously disrupting traffic

easytiger!

It's well known around town the ranks on O'Connell St are a closed shop, more dodgy geezers around there than in an episode of Eastenders