A 12-hour work stoppage by SIPTU taxi drivers ended at noon today with no significant disruption to Dublin traffic.
Up to 1,300 members of the union suspended work from midnight last night to protest at the consequences of the Government’s deregulation of the industry at this time last year.
The protest was organised to "highlight the fact that nothing has been done to mitigate the hardship and loss" suffered by drivers and their families as a result of deregulation, according to Mr Jerry Brennan, SIPTU's Dublin taxi drivers' branch official.
He added that £315 million of family assets have been lost since the market opened up.
While there are no pre-fixed dates for further stoppages, Mr Brennan said that there was likely to be further action if the Government did not address the situation.
The other two drivers' representative organisations, the Irish Taxi Drivers' Federation and the Irish Taxi Drivers' Union, did not withdraw their services today. Spokesmen for both organisations indicated that they did not support the SIPTU action.
Yesterday, Mr John Ussher, president of the Irish Taxi Drivers' Federation, said: "We are very disappointed our colleagues in SIPTU did not inform us of their action."
Mr Vincent Kearns, vice-president of the Irish Taxi Drivers' Union, said the body was "totally opposed" to the SIPTU action, as "SIPTU didn't lift the phone" to tell them of their proposal.
Mr Brennan responded that he saw no reason for consulting the other organisations about the action.
"They haven’t consulted us on anything," he said. "The only thing they’ve done in the last twelve months is try to undermine our position."