TWO vehicles operated by a car-sharing company were destroyed in a suspected arson attack in the south city last week.
Gardaí at Kevin Street are investigating after the shocking incident at Blackpitts in Dublin 8, near St Patrick’s Cathedral, on Tuesday night, October 18.
Head of operations for GoCar, Jonathan Roche, said the attack on the vehicles – worth €15,000 each – was a huge disappointment but believed it was an isolated incident. He said he was reassured by how swiftly and thoroughly the gardaí were dealing with the matter.
“We still have absolute confidence in the viability of car sharing in Dublin, although it is very frustrating to suffer this attack as we’re a small Irish business with six full-time staff and cannot afford these types of setbacks,” he stated.
“Dublin Bikes has shown how enthusiastically Dubliners will embrace an innovative sharing service and concerns before that service launched about damage to the bikes has been shown to be a miniscule issue.”
Mr Roche added: “Our number one goal is to provide a hassle-free and convenient way to get around the city, and this is a major inconvenience to a large group of our 4,000 members. These cars are used by businesses to travel to meetings, by families to go shopping or collect their children, or just go for a spin out of the city at the weekend. Without these GoCars, that’s a lot of people facing unnecessary hassle until we can get additional cars in for them.
“These two cars are consistently very busy, and with them off the road, our members are inconvenienced and we’re losing out on essential revenue. Our cars are like our shop for any small Irish store and this attack will cause many knock-on effects for our business with a small team.”
Mr Roche insisted that the incident would not deter the company from adding more vehicles to their fleet of 150 cars and vans.
He pointed out that each GoCar takes up to 14 private vehicles off the streets of Dublin and Cork, where the service also operates.
GoCars has just launched a fleet of 10 electric BMW i3s and the company says it will continue to strive towards further reducing emissions.