An emergency resolution urging the control of horse-drawn carriage operators in the capital has been approved by Dublin City Council members, reports RTE.
It comes after other occurrences, such as the horse collapse outside Christchurch Cathedral and instances involving unsafe driving, injury to passengers, and antisocial conduct that are said to have occurred outside the Guinness Storehouse.
Diageo claims that it has long expressed concerns to the government and relevant authorities over safety and that it would want to see more regulation of horse and carriage operators.
According to traditional carriage owners, a proper licensing structure for the industry is something they also want to see in order to deter dishonest operators and safeguard animal welfare, reports RTE.
The Dublin Carriages Act of 1853, which was passed before the State was established, now governs the horse and carriage industry in Dublin.
The Local Government Act of 2001, however, barred local governments from enacting bylaws in situations when other authorities had more authority.
As a result, Dublin City Council lost its jurisdiction to control horse-drawn carriages, making it the only local government in the nation without such powers, reports RTE.
Deirdre Heney, the chair of the Animal Welfare Oversight Committee of Dublin City Council, presented the emergency motion before the council, characterising the existing state of affairs as “an accident waiting to happen.”
“Currently any child 16 years or over can drive a carriage horse around our city and Dublin City Council has absolutely no powers to regulate that carriage horse driver or the carriage that the horses drive is pulling behind it. No powers to regulate the licensing, the licence plate, the actual driver, whether that person knows the basic rules of the road, whether that person has any serious road traffic or animal welfare convictions, whether that carriage meets the basic requirements of road worthiness,” reports RTE.
“So, we have no powers, because of a lacuna in the law and I believe it’s an accident waiting to happen,” reports RTE.
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