Bus services in Dublin’s Mountjoy Square area are being withdrawn for a third evening after a driver was allegedly threatened by a with a suspected gun.
The incident happened at around 11.10pm on Friday evening, leaving the bus driver “extremely shocked and upset”.
The union SIPTU, which represents most bus drivers in the city, has said its members are demanding action over public transport network security.
The union’s bus driver committee president, Brendan McInerney, said the driver had been sitting towards the back of the stationary Route 13 bus while waiting to depart when the incident happened.
“An individual got on the bus with a torch. It seems he believed no one was in the vehicle and may have intended robbing anything he could find in the cab,” he said.
“The driver approached the individual, as he thought he was an intending passenger, and advised him the bus was not departing for a few minutes. The individual exited the bus but then turned around to produce what appeared to be a gun and began motioning as if he was loading the weapon. He told the driver he would ‘blow his head off’ but thankfully then departed the scene.”
He added: “The driver was extremely shocked and upset by the incident. As his SIPTU representative he contacted me and after he relayed what had occurred I immediately contacted Dublin Bus to instigate the agreed protocols for dealing with such serious incidents.
“I also requested SIPTU member drivers to withdraw services from the Mountjoy Square area immediately. I have further requested that no drivers should terminate services in the area after 7.00 pm at night until Union representatives meet with management and agree appropriate actions to improve their safety.”
A Gardai spokesperson said it is investigating the incident following a report.