A spate of recent violent incidents between gangs of thugs and delivery riders has sparked fears of more fatalities as anti–immigration activists use videos of flash points to spread hate online.
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activists → spark → hate
It comes as one union representative called for the establishment of a dedicated Garda bike theft unit to protect the livelihoods of the ‘vulnerable’, largely migrant workforce.
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representative → come → workforce
RECENT VIOLENT ATTACKS INVOLVING DELIVERY RIDERS
September 20, Dublin 8
A delivery rider tussles with a youngster in the Dublin 8 area.
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rider → involve → area
The origin of the conflict is not included in the video though their bicycle and scooter can be seen on the road.
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bicycle → include → road
September 16, Dublin 12
The clip starts with a young boy running away from a delivery rider who is waiting outside a Crumlin cafe.
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who → start → cafe
The rider pursues and trips the boy, causing him to fall and hit his head.
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him → pursue → head
A group of delivery riders enter an estate in the Darndale/Clare Hall area of Coolock to retrieve a stolen bicycle.
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group → enter → bicycle
A brawl breaks out and a delivery rider is stabbed in the chest.
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rider → break → chest
Two people attempt to steal a courier’s bicycle and phone on the Malahide Rd near Coolock.
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people → attempt → Coolock
A scuffle then breaks out and the rider manages to retrieve both items.
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rider → break → items
Delivery riders are indirectly hired – technically they’re regarded as self–employed – by companies such as Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats as a third–party food delivery service.
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they → hire → service
But these immigrant workers often do not have the correct legal status to be self–employed and hire an account from someone who does for a weekly fee.
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who → have → fee
For years, and especially since the pandemic, riders have reported being targeted by groups of youths in urban areas, and most are aware of certain no–go zones.
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most → report → zones
Attacks range from having items like stones and eggs thrown, to serious assault and bike theft.
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items → range → assault
Three weeks ago, a delivery rider was stabbed in a Dublin suburb as he and friends confronted a group of youths to retrieve a stolen e–bike fitted with a tracker, in an incident that was recorded and posted on social media.
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that → stab → media
In a separate incident in the following days, a delivery rider outside a Dublin chip shop forcefully kicked a small boy to the ground as the boy ran away from him, but the origin of the conflict was not shown in a clip that went viral.
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that → follow → clip
The incidents have been packaged by anti–immigration voices online as foreigners attacking Irish children unprovoked.
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foreigners → package → children
One account tagged the stabbing video as: ‘Gang of invaders get wrecked by a squad of Irish lads’.
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Gang → tag → lads
Another social media account repackaged the video of the child being – indefensibly – kicked over, posting that everyone had ‘seen the video last week where the Brazilian deliveroo drivers ganged up and went… with weapons attacking kids before getting dealt with by locals.
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drivers → repackage → locals
Now here’s another one… kicking an Irish child to the ground.
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one → ’ → ground
The videos show that the ‘cat and mouse’ urban war between riders and gang of youths is ongoing, several years after two people lost their lives in related circumstances.
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people → show → circumstances
In 2020, Thiago Cortes was knocked off his bike and killed by a group of joyriding teenagers.
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Cortes → knock → teenagers
The following year, teenager Josh Dunne was stabbed by a delivery rider and died when he inadvertently became involved in a fight, after another teen had tried to steal an e–bike.
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teen → stab → bike
Fiachra Ó Luain, co–founder of English Language Students’ Union of Ireland, which has spoken up for the largely transient delivery rider workforce, said he is ‘just afraid that we’re going to have to wait until there’s another death or something’ before rider safety is properly addressed.
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safety → speak → workforce
He has called on An Garda Síochána to establish a special bike theft unit, so riders don’t feel obliged to take matters into their own hands when their bikes are stolen.
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bikes → call → hands
He told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘When you have a significant number of people relying on the bike for a livelihood, then it has to be protected as much as a car or as anything else.’
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it → tell → anything
Several delivery riders who spoke to the MoS this week all confirmed they had encountered various levels of violence while working.
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they → speak → violence
Brazil native Ruth Dos Santos, in the job three months, said she was waiting for an order one day when a group of ‘older’ teenagers hit and broke her bike helmet.
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group → say → helmet
A Pakistani rider, who did not wish to be named, said teenagers are ‘hitting me, torturing us… every night...'
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teenagers → wish → us
In 2020, Thiago Cortes - pictured here with his fiancee Teresa Dantas - was knocked off his bike and killed by a group of joyriding teenagers
He added: 'When we go to gardaí, they’re saying: “They are teenagers – we can’t do anything”.’
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we → picture → anything
Brazilian man Paulo, who did not want to give his full name, was smacked in the head with an egg during the summer in what ‘felt like a punch’.
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what → want → punch
He has taken work as a delivery rider three times in the past eight years and said little has changed in terms of safety and protection.
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little → take → safety
In 2021, teenager Josh Dunne was stabbed by a delivery rider and died when he inadvertently became involved in a fight
He remembers a ‘patronising’ speech in the Dáil after a flash point a few years ago but said delivery riders remain on ‘the margins of society… second–class citizens’.
Mr Ó Luain criticised delivery firms for ‘structural violence’ in their model that puts workers at risk.
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that → stab → risk
‘There’s a duty of care that’s just totally absent,’ he said.
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he → ’ → care
The activist hopes a new EU directive on algorithms used by ‘gig economy’ apps will see workers finally paid a fairer wage.
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workers → hop → wage
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we → accept → article
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