A Dublin bus driver was threatened by a man carrying a suspected gun on Friday, leading to a suspension of certain bus services in the city centre.
According to a statement from Siptu, which represents most Dublin Bus drivers, the incident occurred just after 11pm when a man appeared to load a gun and told a driver of the number 13 bus that he would “blow his head off”.
A spokeswoman for An Garda Síochána confirmed it responded to a report of the incident and that it is investigating. She said the force received a report of an alleged incident involving a “suspected firearm” at Mountjoy Square, Dublin 1, shortly before 11pm last Friday. She confirmed no injuries were reported.
Bus services have been withdrawn from the Mountjoy Square area in Dublin 1 since the incident, with Siptu demanding the action over “public transport network security”.
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The president of the union’s bus driver committee, Brendan McInerney, said the bus was parked on the square in advance of departure. The driver was sitting at the back of the vehicle and was looking at his phone. A man with a torch then got on the bus. “It seems he believed no one was in the vehicle and may have intended robbing anything he could find in the cab,” Mr McInerney said.
The driver told the man the bus was not departing for a few minutes. The man got off the bus before turning around and producing what looked like a gun, the union official said. He began motioning as if to load the gun and told the driver he would kill him. He then left the scene, leaving the driver “extremely shocked and upset”.
Siptu has directed members to stop departures from the area and to cease terminating their bus routes there after 7pm “until union representatives meet management and agree appropriate actions to improve their safety”.
Siptu sector organiser John Murphy said the incident was “yet another very disturbing and dangerous situation to occur on the public transport network”, and that security for bus drivers has been getting worse over the last year.
He said the Government needed to urgently follow through on its commitment to establish a dedicated transport police with powers of arrest. He said all stakeholders were “largely agreed” on the need for a new policing service focused on the public transport network to curtail “increasing incidents of violent and antisocial behaviour”.
Dublin Bus said an incident involving one of its buses occurred in the Mountjoy Square area late on Friday night when no customers were on board.
“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.”
The company said it has been "actively working to address the issue of anti-social behaviour, through increased co-operation with An Garda Síochána and strong community work across the city and county".
It added: “Customers should note that Routes 7/a and 13 will be unable to serve their terminus at Mountjoy Square until further notice. The 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.”
