Some 2,000 taxi drivers left the National Stadium in Dublin last night after waiting for more than two hours for union leaders to arrive from their meeting with the Minister, Mr Bobby Molloy.
Despite overwhelmingly deciding at about 7.30 p.m. to wait for the union leaders until possibly 10 p.m., they left shortly afterwards and postponed the meeting until today at 6 p.m.
One taxi driver who spoke to drivers inside the stadium said drivers who had demonstrated yesterday had been prevented from marching to South Frederick Street. He said drivers who were marching had been entitled to march and should not have been stopped.
The wife of a taxi driver who addressed the meeting said the taxi dispute was not being presented in a true light. Although an individual would be able to buy a chip shop across from another chip shop, they would have to pay for the premises. This was different to the situation which would exist under new proposals where taxi plates would be sold at greatly reduced rates, she said.
"There is one thing I am not prepared to tell my children this Christmas and that is that in the year 2001 you will have no home," she said.
Some taxi drivers outside said they would have preferred to find out the outcome of the meeting last night.
"I would have preferred to stay on all night," Mr Derek Brennan said. He added that he hoped union leaders would be able to secure promises from the Minister for a cap on the number of taxis and "level the playing pitch" with regard to either compensation for current drivers or increasing the cost of new plates.
A group of drivers from Navan said they hoped the talks would result in the taxi licence plate issue being left to local councils. "At the moment there are 50 taxis in Navan and about 10 hackneys. If they go ahead with these proposals people from Kells, Trim and Dunshaughlin would be able to buy plates and there will be no work," Mr Tony McConnon said.