Dublin Taxi Protests Hit Airport Access December 8-13

Published on Dec 5, 2025, 8:57 am CST

9 min read

Key points

Taxi drivers will stage a six day national shutdown in Dublin from December 8 to 13, 2025, protesting Uber fixed fare pricing
Convoys will block central Dublin streets from 7am to 5pm on December 8, 10, and 12, while airport access roads and holding areas are targeted from 4.30pm to 7.30pm on December 9 and 11
A rolling convoy from Dublin Airport into the city centre on December 13 will add another peak disruption window for transfers
Travelers connecting to or from Dublin Airport in late afternoon and early evening face high risk of gridlock on taxi and rideshare routes
Express coaches, public buses, and rail links into central Dublin offer more predictable options, but still require extra time on protest days

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Expect the heaviest congestion on routes between Dublin Airport and the city centre in late afternoon and early evening on December 9, 11, and 13, especially on the M1, M50, Dublin Port Tunnel, and city quays
Best Times To Travel: Schedule arrivals and departures outside the 3pm to 9pm window on protest days, or use early morning flights with ample buffer either side of road transfers
Connections And Misconnect Risk: Avoid tight same day flight or rail connections via Dublin on these dates, and leave at least two extra hours for any essential evening transfer to or from the airport
Onward Travel And Changes: If your plans are flexible, reroute through other Irish or UK airports for critical trips, or move nonrefundable events to days outside the December 8 to 13 protest window
What Travelers Should Do Now: Map your route using the Transport for Ireland journey planner, prebook coach or private transfer where possible, and monitor Dublin Airport and bus operator alerts for day of travel changes

Dublin, Ireland, is facing six days of rolling taxi protests that will directly target airport access and city centre traffic from December 8 to 13, 2025. Taxi groups have called a "national shutdown" against Uber's fixed fare model, with daytime convoys across central Dublin on three days, rush hour actions at Dublin Airport on two days, and a slow rolling airport to city convoy on the final Saturday. For travelers, especially anyone relying on taxis or rideshares between Dublin Airport and central hotels or rail stations, the risk of gridlock during late afternoon and early evening on protest days is now high. The safest response is to shift critical transfers outside protest windows where possible, use express coaches and public buses instead of taxis, and add multi hour buffers for any unavoidable evening trips.

In practical terms, the planned Dublin taxi protests around Dublin Airport and central streets between December 8 and 13, 2025, are likely to slow or block normal taxi and rideshare transfers, particularly during the evening rush.

Protest Schedule And Where Delays Will Be Worst

Taxi drivers organised under Taxi Drivers Ireland plan a six day escalation from Monday, December 8, through Saturday, December 13.

On Monday 8, Wednesday 10, and Friday 12 December, convoys will depart Mountjoy Square from 7.00 a.m., travel to Merrion Square, then remain parked until 5.00 p.m. That effectively turns parts of Dublin's Georgian core into a day long taxi park, choking east west movements across the city centre and adding friction for anyone trying to cross town by taxi, rideshare, or private car.

On Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 December, attention shifts to Dublin Airport. From 4.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. both days, drivers say they will target "all holding areas and access locations outside of airport grounds," which means taxi holding pens, approach roads, and forecourts near both terminals could be heavily congested. Those time bands coincide with peak outbound and evening arrival waves, when many business travelers and transatlantic passengers normally rely on taxis for door to door trips.

On Saturday 13 December, organisers plan a rolling convoy from Dublin Airport into the city centre, entering Dame Street as part of a slow moving protest from about 4.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. That adds another high risk window for airport to city transfers on what is already a busy pre Christmas shopping and party day.

Overlaying those actions on the road network, the highest risk periods for airport travelers are the early evening peaks on December 9, 11, and 13, when convoys are either circling Dublin Airport or heading from the airport toward Dame Street. Expect knock on congestion on the M1 approach, the Dublin Port Tunnel, parts of the M50 orbital, and key riverfront quays, since earlier "slow drive" protests at the airport have already produced near standstill conditions on those links.

What Earlier Protests Tell Us About Airport Access Risk

This is not the first time Dublin taxi protests have hit airport roads this season. On November 27, roughly 1,500 drivers staged a coordinated "slow drive" around Dublin Airport, Clontarf, and Phoenix Park, crawling at about 25 kilometres per hour during the evening rush. The action brought long queues to the M50 and feeder roads from the airport, with some sections described as almost at a standstill, and forced some passengers to abandon taxis and sprint for express coaches or the Luas to make flights.

During that protest, airport operator daa and Gardaí issued warnings urging passengers to allow extra travel time, use alternate routes such as the M50 Junction 4 Ballymun exit, and follow diversions around congestion. The November experience is a good guide to what a repeated, longer campaign can do to evening operations, especially when protests line up with outbound banks of short haul European flights and early waves of long haul departures.

Travelers should assume that on protest days, traffic around Dublin Airport may degrade from normal rush hour slowdowns into prolonged queues, with journey times stretching far beyond the usual 20 to 30 minutes between the airport and central Dublin by road.

Alternatives To Taxis On Protest Days

Dublin Airport has no rail station yet, although an approved MetroLink project aims to connect the airport and Swords to the city in future years. For now, non taxi ground access depends on buses, express coaches, pre booked private transfers, and car hire.

Aircoach operates several routes between Dublin Airport and the city, including route 700 and related variants, with services typically running 24 hours a day and up to every 15 minutes at peak times, and serving stops from Drumcondra and O'Connell Street to southside districts. These routes can be a strong taxi substitute on city focused protest days, because many stops lie near major hotels and rail links.

Dublin Express runs high frequency airport coaches, notably routes 782 and 784, which link both terminals with Tara Street, O'Connell Bridge, Temple Bar, the quays, and Heuston Station. For passengers connecting to Irish Rail services at Heuston, or to intercity and regional buses, these coaches are usually the most direct non taxi option.

Regular Dublin Bus services, including the 16 and 41 routes, also operate between the airport and the city, with the 41 running 24 hours a day and the 16 starting around 6.00 a.m. They are slower than express coaches and more crowded at peaks, but they can be valuable backups if coach tickets are sold out or delayed.

All of these services still share much of the same road network as taxis, so they cannot fully escape traffic created by convoys near the airport. However, they benefit from predictable timetables, established bus lanes on some stretches, and clearly signposted boarding points that are less likely to be physically blocked than taxi holding areas.

How To Time Airport Trips During The Protests

The main risk for flight misconnects and missed departures is any road transfer touching Dublin Airport between roughly 3.00 p.m. and 9.00 p.m. on the protest days. To reduce exposure, travelers should work backwards from their flight times and the protest schedule.

On Monday 8, Wednesday 10, and Friday 12 December, the focus is city centre, not the airport. If you are flying on those days, the biggest challenge will be getting between central hotels or rail stations and the airport through streets affected by convoys parked around Merrion Square. On those dates, plan to leave your hotel much earlier than usual, use Aircoach or Dublin Express from a stop that you can reach on foot, or consider staying near the airport the night before an early morning departure.

On Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 December, avoid scheduling departures that require you to arrive at Dublin Airport during the 4.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. protest windows if at all possible. For evening flights, either travel out to the airport before 3.00 p.m., work from the terminal or an airport hotel, and clear security early, or shift to a later departure that lets you arrive after protests wind down. Arriving passengers landing into those windows should expect extended rides into town, and might do better to take an express coach to a hotel near Heuston, Connolly, or the Docklands and plan onward rail or tram connections from there.

On Saturday 13 December, the rolling convoy from the airport into the city adds another risky early evening slot. If you land between about 3.00 p.m. and 7.00 p.m., consider postponing any nonrefundable theatre tickets, dinner reservations, or rail connections, or schedule your arrival earlier in the day instead.

Across all six days, anyone with separate tickets, tight self made connections, or important same day meetings should build in at least two extra hours for airport transfers in the afternoon and evening, and treat any taxi dependent plan as fragile.

Rail, Intercity Links, And When To Reroute

For trips that continue by train after arrival, the biggest pinch point will be Heuston Station, since many Dublin Express services route there from the airport, and many intercity departures for Cork, Limerick, and Galway leave in the late afternoon and early evening. To avoid missed trains, either schedule a long daytime layover in Dublin, travel into the city on a morning coach, or buy flexible rail tickets that can be used on later services if protests snarl transfers.

If you have high stakes events such as weddings, business closings, or cruise embarkations, and your dates overlap the December 8 to 13 window, it may be worth rerouting through another airport in Ireland or the UK, then reaching Dublin by rail, coach, or a later domestic flight, rather than relying on an evening taxi transfer from Dublin Airport on a protest day.

Why Drivers Are Protesting, And How Long This Could Last

Taxi groups argue that Uber's fixed fare system undercuts the National Transport Authority's regulated meter based structure, erodes earnings, and pushes drivers toward unsafe hours to make up shortfalls. After several weeks of rush hour protests and appeals to government and regulators, Taxi Drivers Ireland now describes the situation as an industry "crisis," and says the six day shutdown is a last resort to force meaningful engagement.

The Department of Transport has pointed out that it does not run day to day taxi regulation, and has instead written to the NTA to clarify the regulatory position on Uber's fixed price fares. The NTA, for its part, has restated that it sets maximum fares but does not police the commercial arrangements between drivers and booking platforms.

Organisers repeatedly say they do not want to protest and apologise to the public, but they also warn that disruption will intensify without government intervention. Travelers should therefore treat the December 8 to 13 actions as part of a broader, open ended dispute, not a one off, and keep watching Irish media, Dublin Airport channels, and coach operator feeds for signs of further protest calls in the weeks that follow.

For a detailed look at how the November slow drive played out on the ground, see our recent piece Dublin Taxi Protest Chokes Airport Roads November 27. For a wider view of protest and strike risks around Ireland, bookmark our Protests in Ireland topic hub, which will continue to track updates.