The struggle to find drivers is not unique to large cities

NORTHERN IRELAND – In Coleraine, County Londonderry, Royal Cabs owner William McDonald said his firm had lost a third of its drivers over the last 14 months.

“We have nine people working for us at the moment. The other men found other work and have left the company,” he said.

“The last few years there has been a shortage of taxi drivers and the pandemic hasn’t made it easier.”

“Now places are starting to open we certainly need more drivers and more cars on the road. The night work is picking up a little but the drivers aren’t there.”
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“The last few years there has been a shortage of taxi drivers and the pandemic hasn’t made it easier.”

“Seventy per cent of my drivers would be over 60, it is the older population that seem to be taxi drivers. There is no new blood coming in.”

“There is absolutely no doubt if things keep going the way they are going, in another five or 10 years there’s not going to be any taxi drivers,” he said.

Eamonn O’Donnell, Manager of North West Taxi Proprietors said, “We need a process at the minute that gets people into the taxi industry much quicker – the new system takes about six months to get a single person through.”
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“They’ve really made it much too difficult... the old system which worked for 30 years took about six to 10 weeks.”
“Now, what we’re asking for is for the Minister to have a tactical suspension of the new system as part of a post-Covid recovery package for the taxi industry.”

More news in our June 2021 Issue here.