7 P.M.: Taxi firms are reporting brisk early business. The radio control operator with Local Cabs says he "is up to his eyes" already.
The operator with Allied Taxis, says most of the people ordering taxis at this stage are going out to Christmas parties. Many of the drivers start their shift and most will work for the next 12 hours, sometimes longer.
Mr Noel Flood, who has been working as a hackney driver for the last four years with a southside firm, says he will leave people into the city centre now but will see them standing at a taxi rank later. "People should ring for a cab. Despite what people say, nine out of 10 times we turn up."
Many of the firms encounter difficulties in finding drivers to, pick up customers. Priority is given to account customers with a particular firm.
According to Mr Flood, there are constant problems between taxi drivers and hackneys. "When I go by the main ranks on a Friday or a Saturday night I wish I could service those people but I can't.",
He claims he was attacked recently by a taxi driver who accused him off picking up a customer off the street, which is prohibited. "I couldn't believe it, he came over and snipped off my aerial with a pliers and then kicked my door." The taxi driver then left £40 in Store Street Garda station to pay for the damage.
10 P.M.: There are 18 taxis at the St Stephen's Green rank with no people queueing, although a steady trickle of clients gets into the cars as they come to the top of the queue. This rank is referred to as "nut's corner" by most of the taxi drivers. Mr Ciaran Sheedy a 27-year-old driver, blames Dublin Bus for the Christmas taxi shortage. "Around 150,000 people are brought into town on a Friday or Saturday night by public transport, yet Dublin Bus brings very few of them home again."
The shortage will occur every year "until we have a proper late-night bus service," he adds. Mr Sheedy says few people who complain about the taxi service "remember all the other like the drunken customers and people who get sick in your car".
Another taxi man, who will only give his first name as Frank, says there is an unpublicised reason for the shortage. He explains that many taxi drivers are "cosie" drivers - they don't own their plate (or licence) but rent one from someone else. If extra plates were issued for those drivers the price of hiring taxis would drop.
He claims at least a quarter of drivers are in this position. "Drivers like me would love to buy our own plates, but it is usually doctors and lawyers who own all these plates and they don't want to see any issued to us. It's no surprise that Dublin Corporation wants to issue no more than 100 plates."
He says many "cosies" are afraid to make this point because they think they would lose their existing work. "These people who own four or five plates make a lot of money out of them," he adds.
Midnight: The first queues have formed at the rank on Dame Street, where about 15 people are standing in the cold. Nite-Link buses are leaving their stops, most of them half-empty.
There are 15 people at the rank on Aston Quay, 25 on Lower Abbey Street and 25 at the rank opposite the Gresham Hotel in O'Connell Street.
Ms Catherine Curran is standing at the Nile-Link stop near Trinity College, waiting for Bus 1 which goes to Tallaght. She says she cannot afford to take a taxi and her friends won't queue with her anyway. "The Nile-Links are a pain, but at least you're not waiting too long, I think it's disgraceful the way taxis keep you waiting during this kind of weather."
1 A.M.: There are now, more than 50 people at the rank on Stephen's Green and taxis are arriving every four to five minutes. At the O'Connell Street rank young couples are huddled together. A young man who tries to skip the queue is abused. He says he thought he was at the end of the queue. A garda stands watch over the other side of the street. As each taxi arrives, the crowd cheers and claps as people get in.
2 A.M.: Back on Stephen's Green there are now about 120 people at the rank. Taxis are arriving on average every eight minutes. Taxis which pass the rank without picking anybody up are booed.
There is also a queue for the phone box across the road as people try to call for a hackney driver. One middle-aged man takes occasional swallows from a hip-flask.
A number of people put on woollen hats and constant calls are made down to queue. "Anybody going to Artane?", "Anyone for Dun Laoghaire?". Large groups going to the same area start agreeing to get into the same taxi. As each car arrives there are muted cheers.
The average waiting time at this stage appears to be an hour and a half.
One woman getting into a taxi on her own is booed. People in the queue shout "What a waste".
3 A.M.: Patricia Flynn and her friend Karen are cold. And angry. They arrived at the Stephen's Green rank at 1.25 a.m. and are still there. About 230 people are at the rank now. Both are teachers and were attending a Christmas party.
"I intend to stay in my local for the rest of Christmas. This kind of hassle is just not worth it," says Patricia, who wants a taxi to Ringsend. They both say they would not consider the option of a late-night bus because of "safety worries". Karen claims a garda told her not to board the bus to her area.
"There must be some way to arrange this. It is the same every year," says another woman. A shouting match breaks out between a taxi driver and a middle-aged woman, who tells him to send more of your colleagues" along. "I know, love, but it's a fortnight before Christmas. What do you expect?" he asks.
4 A.M.: There is still a queue at, the rank in Stephen's Green. There are about 15 people waiting. Many of the drivers are approaching the end of their shift.
On the roads out of town many people attempt to hail a cab. One man says he has been waiting in a take-away restaurant until the "crowd dies down". He is angry that he still has to wait.
5 A.M.: One man is still standing at the Stephen's Green rank.