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ORGANISERS OF THIS year’s Dublin Taxi Drivers’ Special Children’s Outing are calling on drivers to volunteer to take part on the day.
The event has been in operation every year since 1960, offering a day of fun for children with special needs, as they are driven by the taxi drivers through the city with a garda escort to a party at Leopardstown Racecourse.
Last year around 1,000 children with special needs took part in the event with their carers.
Around 400 taxi drivers have signed up to this year’s event already but spokesperson for the organising committee, Paul Matthews, told TheJournal.ie that they are reaching capacity of space in the available cars to drive the children and that they are appealing for more drivers to volunteer.
“The more we can get, the more we’ll take,” Matthews said.
Matthews has said that all taxi companies and drivers are welcome to participate on the day and that they can get in touch with the organisers if they wish to get involved.
“The more cars we have puts us in a position where we can go to some of the organisers and say they bring more kids. We can also contact other schools or hospitals that are not currently involved and tell them we have space,” he said.
On the day, children are picked up from hospitals, care homes or private homes by their own personal taxi driver for the day. From there, they are taken to Parnell Square where all taxis gather for a speech by the Lord Mayor and some music from the Garda Band and DJs.
The taxis are then escorted through the city by gardaí to the racecourse where they are treated to music, games, face-painting and finger food.
“Our aim is to treat the special needs children of the city to a fun day out and put smiles on faces. That’s exactly what you get when they arrive in Parnell Square and they’re meeting and greeting the mascots and characters,” Matthews said.
To see the smiles on their faces makes it all worthwhile for us.
Matthews urged taxi drivers to sign up to take part and experience the positivity of the day.
It’s probably one of our only days during the year that’s a positive. We would appeal to taxi drivers for a couple of hours on the day to turn off their metres and get involved.
The Dublin Taxi Drivers’ Special Children’s Outing will take place on 12 September.
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Old knobbly knees is on the gravy train again.
@JJandtim Dwyer: Hope she wears the hijab . Wouldn’t want to upset her Muslim network ! Might be no harm when she is in an investigative mood to have a look at how our “Foreign Aid “ budget of approx. €800 million is spent , and why our Government screws citizens with appalling Inheritance Taxes etc. to support the ideologies of the likes of Robinson .
A tax on initiative at home by saving and leaving something for your family , but by God don’t we cut a dash on the Foreign Aid circuit !
@JJandtim Dwyer: very original is that the best you can come up with
@Tony Lyons Mary will look after Mary and her leftist pals, investigating a Nigerian banker what does she expect to find,,,a rose garden.
whats the most corrupt nation on earth?Advance fee fraud?Immigration fraud.
Wake up Tony
@Tony Lyons: take a look at your spam folder and you will have no problem identifying the 419 scam artists and where they originate from , its not rocket science and certainly does not need the lavish expenses of Mary dear and I presume Nick will accompany?
How is Princess Latifa these days? Mary was no help to her.
A c0rrupt Nigerian……one displaying a lavish lifestyle with expensive suits…..surely not
No doubt the radical left will be saying that’s racist.
Mary Robinson is an incredible States woman, a successful barrister, former President and head of the Elders and a champion on Climate. Mary Robinson has and is spending her life in service to the greater good and fair dues to her to take on this dangerous and complex task. Right wing Trump bots busy on here again – disgraceful lack of respect for an incredible woman.
@Woman On the Up: Incredible woman? How did her €8.5m bill for a Ballina library – complete with tax breaks for her – go down with the public? She’s another champagne socialist.
You’ve a memory of a goldfish.
@Woman On the Up: Noddy has never had a real job in her life and has made millions from the Irish tax payer.
@Woman On the Up: Spending her life on the greater good of Mary just like Trump,to the detriment of the average working man.
@Woman On the Up: And im sure Mary is back in the Mount Falcon nodding in agreement
No better woman.
“Ireland has become the African Development Bank Group’s 81st shareholder, following a declaration issued by the institution’s President, Akinwumi Adesina, on 24 April 2020.” – so says the bank’s website.
Here is another of the “world’s five largest multilateral development” banks. Ireland is a shareholder there too: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ebrd-complaint-exclusive/exclusive-ebrd-head-faces-investigation-call-over-dossier-on-directors-idUSKCN1MF2CZ
Same old
Hopefully she doesnt quit half way through the task
All the offshore assets of the Third World elite should be frozen and then returned to sovereign wealth funds in each of those countries, to be then used under proper supervision for social and infrastructural development. A lot of this ill gotten wealth is of course bribes and side kicks for natural resource robbery, these days by in particular the Chinese. Africa has massive wealth and resources. Its just a matter of who controls it. Not doing this, means half of the disenfranchised in Africa want to arrive here in Europe, encouraged by likes of M.R. under the guise of “climate justice” migration and others including the left wing of the Green Party, who want to do away with our “false” asylum restrictions.
@Nicholas Grubb: Well said Mr Grib
A GREAT woman. Always a head of her time.
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