Horse drawn cab operator Michael Murphy talks about the decline in trade he is currently experiencing.
Dublin jarvey Michael Murphy has been driving a horse-drawn cab for over 52 years. While his trade has always been seasonal and only suitable as a sideline to another business, over the past two seasons he has noticed a fall off in passengers.
Speaking from outside Busáras, the central bus station in Dublin, he explains
Trade this season is more than bad to what it ought to be...in former years we got ever-so-much more business.
As he sees it, the decline has been due to a number of factors, the greatest being the opening of Cork Airport in late 1961. Prior to this many passengers wishing to travel to Cork needed to be brought to Kingsbridge Station (renamed Heuston Station in 1966).
Michael Murphy cannot say he is making a decent living from driving his cab. Nevertheless, he is in good spirits as he sets off with a fare bound for Westland Row on the south-side of Dublin city.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 17 July 1962. The reporter is Kevin O'Kelly.
