In like a lion

 A statue to Harry Ferguson he was an Irishman and the maker of the Ferguson tractor

March....It comes in like a Lion and goes out like a Lamb.
Time is moving on, Easter is nearly here with all the events that Easter 1916 / 2016 will bring.
100 years of Irish freedom.
 I have a Martini Henry rifle that was used in the rising. I wonder what it would bring me on ebay? 
But you can't sell guns like that though.
The Garda stopped a taxi on Friday, a fake taxi where the stickers numbers and car did not match.
he had a young lady on board and she had no idea that her safety was at risk.
But the Sunday World had the story of a Nigerian guy who has a 22 year prison service waiting for him in Italy. His PSV license was taken from him in 2012 but he just keeps on driving.
It is really crazy how things work or in this case how things don't work.

Still I remember the man at the center of the X case, a very high profile affair indeed.
He applied and got a PSV license. In spite of being recognized by other taxi drivers he continued to work, he was reported to the Garda who did nothing.
Then he raped a young girl and even after that very little was done when the shit hit the fan.
The one statement that I remember was.
"When we checked at the address he gave us there was no criminal record, we later found out that he gave us a fictitious address"

I reported before how the Taxi Regulator would pull up at the Heuston rank..
High Viz jackets on.
Clip boards, 
Flashlights on 
Laptops turned on
Then 15 or 20 cars would drive away.
The inspectors would just say that the people driving away were nothing to do with them.
They were there to check our first aid kits, fire extinguishers etc.

Ask any night driver how taxis vanish off the street when the Garda set up flying checkpoints.
All the legal taxis then make a good living again. 

So what can you do?

Use your HailO app and make sure you are getting into the correct car..
The driver will have been checked by the company. 

Download the Driver Check app
The car reg ??? or roof sign and the drivers ID  should all check out.

There was a car blocking traffic at the bottom of the Malahide Rd, the customer was being overcharged by €10. I looked at the ID and he was not the driver at the wheel.
I told the people to get out of the car and ring the police. 
The driver went away cursing everyone to hell and back.

Perhaps I am a bit cynical, the big open gang warfare which has kicked off in Dublin between a few big "Well connected" gangs. 

Every dog in the street knew what was going on, these folks live like kings. 3 Impretzas in the drive,
villas in Spain and Thailand all seem to go unnoticed until...bang bang someones dead.

Many years ago a scumbag (drug dealing waster) did a runner from the taxi and later on in the same night I picked up a guy I recognized as being a big main player in Dublin crime world. 
I told him about the other guy. 
"Here forget about him he is dead. How much did he run out on ?.
€15? Here take this €20. I couldn't travel across the city in my own car, so we rely on you guys.
I have a contract on him and I have permission to whack him now."
The guy told me that he would tell him that he jumped out of the wrong taxi without paying.

2 weeks later that really well connected scumbag was indeed dead 

Here is a great British tradition