Drivers in defiant mood at Liberty Hall meeting

Taxi-drivers who are members of SIPTU were in defiant mood when they arrived for a meeting in Liberty Hall shortly before noon yesterday.

Several drivers expressed surprise at the decision of the Minister for State, Mr Robert Molloy, to travel to Mexico at this time. Many vowed there would be no return to work until the Minister gave them compensation for devalued licences and agreed not to issue new ones pending resolution of their dispute. The drivers said the purpose of yesterday's meeting was not to decide on whether to return to work but to discuss the joint statement by drivers' representatives after their meeting with Mr Molloy on Tuesday.

During the 2 1/2-hour meeting those who emerged said the mood of the drivers was determined and angry. They said deregulation had not worked elsewhere and would not work here.

As the meeting ended, Mr Gerry Brennan, a member of the taxi-drivers' negotiating committee, said a report of the meeting with Mr Molloy had been made to the membership who would consider their response.

He said that in advance of possible court action tomorrow, it was too early to say what the future held.

The drivers are to meet again on Saturday morning. Mr Brennan stressed that SIPTU was anxious to maintain a united front with the other unions involved, the National Taxi Drivers' Union and the Irish Taxi Drivers' Federation.

He said the attitude of the meeting was "annoyed" but he was amazed at the resolve of the drivers. He said he felt sure that "the general public will now begin to see the truth".

"In the past the anger was directed at the drivers, but that is going to change as people realise we are in the right," he said. Asked if he was surprised Mr Molloy had gone to Mexico to attend a presidential inauguration, he said he was, but that it would not make any difference to the negotiations.