There have been calls for dedicated transport police in Tallaght following a number of incidents of anti social behaviour on buses, including one which saw a passenger injured.
Over the past five months, a number of buses in West Dublin, including 77A, 65B and 65 were targeted. In one case, a female passenger was injured on a Dublin Bus service on the N81 Tallaght bypass on July 20, after an object was thrown through the window.
In a statement, Gardaí for Dublin Bus said they responded to the incident and investigations remain ongoing, according to the Irish Independent.
“An Garda Síochana attended the scene, and a female passenger was taken to hospital", they said.
There have been a number of reports of stones being thrown at buses and anti social behaviour throughout August, which were discussed when the Tallaght Transport Forum met with Gardaí on Monday.
These stone throwing incidents have left bus drivers feeling traumatised, according to Sinn Féin councillor, Niamh Whelan.
“One bus driver made the point that one stone-throwing incident is too many,” she said. “Because of what the windows are made of, it’s a really loud and disturbing noise that would scare the life out of you".
Speaking about this, Thomas O'Connor, assistant secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) has described the targeting of buses as "vile".
“We’ve been calling for a long time for dedicated transport police,” he said. “That means passing legislation to give the transport security powers of detention and arrest or making the funding available to An Garda Síochána to create a transport police division within the force".
“People in the community are suffering because their bus services are being curtailed".
Elsewhere, Fianna Fáil councillor, Adam Smyth has said that locals are worried about the increase in reports of anti social behaviour around Halloween.
“There is going to be a potential threat of fireworks coming up in October,” he said. “We’re quite lucky that Tallaght garda station has put a number of resources towards transport, but that’s taken it away from other issues. But if something else happens, the transport patrols have to go deal with it".
Mr Smyth also spoke about an operation which was run by the Community Policing Unit in Tallaght, targeting anti social behaviour in Fortunestown and Springfield, which saw 12 e-scooters, five e-bikes and one motorcycle seized by Gardaí.
He said: “[Some] are using e-scooters to throw stones and are able to escape quickly. It’s a bit of a mix".
Dublin Bus released this statement.
“Dublin Bus condemns such incidents of anti-social behaviour and welcomes recent progress made by the Department of Transport toward the establishment of a public transport security force", they said.
“We are working in conjunction with An Garda Síochana, the Department of Transport and the Unions on how such a force will be established. (All quotes according to the Irish Independent).
