Taxi drivers set for more Belfast protestsBelfast's black taxi drivers have said they will disrupt forthcoming celebrations in the city — as a row over changes to the industry escalates.
Around 40 black cabs blocked Belfast’s Great Victoria Street outside City Hall during yesterday’s rush hour.
The sporadic protest brought chaos to traffic entering and leaving the city centre shortly after 4pm.
The group later moved on to the lobby of the Department of Environment’s city centre headquarters when police were called.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, the drivers claimed changes coming into law in the following months will put hundreds of public hire taxi drivers out of business.
Sean Beckett, chairman of the Public Hire Coalition, said: “Our talking has finished.
“We are going to have sporadic protests over the next number of months.”
The group declined to disclose details of forthcoming protests.
The row centres around new legislation which, the city’s black cab drivers say, will allow private hire taxis to pick up customers on the street.
source:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/enter ... z1pGKEo1IQ