Row Escalates Over Additional Green Light On Taxis

A row has broken out over an additional small green light that has been added to a number of taxis around Dublin city, which have been interrupted as being a racist gesture.

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar made comments that he considered the lights to be trying to signify that a taxi’s driver was Irish and that that made them “inherently racist” and “inherently xenophobic”.

Taxi drivers have rejected these implications claiming that such lights were used throughout Europe.

Mr Varadkar was speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland program yesterday when he said he had only heard about the practice in recent days.

“The green light does not form part of the official sign so it’s not permitted, and the green lights do have to be removed. I have seen stickers on taxis informing people that the taxi is Irish, so presumably they’re trying to inform people that the driver is Irish.”

Asked if that was acceptable, he said “not in my view, and this is a personal view, but I think it’s inherently racist and I think it’s inherently xenophobic”.

One group representing taxi drivers, Tiománaí Taxi na hÉireann, said it was seeking an immediate meeting with Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar on the issue, and said its members wanted an apology from him for suggesting that they were racist.

Christy Humphreys of the National Private Hire and Taxi Association said the issue had been “blown out of all proportion”, claiming the lights were being used by drivers to make their cars more visible. The lights on the roof sign could be difficult to see during the day, so the green light drew attention to the car.

“They can be bought by anybody so once they are available to anybody they are not racist.”

Noel Byrne Auto Electrical in Walkinstown began selling the lights to taxi drivers about 1½ years ago.

Mr Byrne said he had seen the lights abroad and thought they would be useful here. “I have sold them to all nationalities, Chinese, Asian, Polish, Czech.”

(H/GK)