Below is a brief statement from GoCar Head Of Operations Jonathan Roche on the suspected arson attack carried out on two GoCars in Blackpitts, Dublin 8 on Tuesday night, October 18th.
“As a small Irish business, an attack on two vehicles worth €15,000 each is obviously a huge disappointment for us, but it is an isolated incident and we’re reassured by how swiftly and thoroughly the Gardai have been dealing with it. 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 6 full-time staff, and cannot afford these types of setbacks. 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.”
“Our number 1 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, 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 GoCars for them.”
“These 2 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.”
“This isolated incident will not deter us from adding more vehicles to our fleet of 150 cars and vans, and we still have absolute confidence that the service will continue to grow. We’re confident the benefits of GoCar are being felt by both members and non-members, as each GoCar takes up to 14 private cars off the streets of Dublin and Cork. We have also just launched a fleet of 10 electric BMW i3s, and we’ll continue to strive towards reducing the emissions across our fleet.”
“GoCar will continue to grow, innovate and offer solutions to the people of Dublin and beyond who want to avail of car sharing and smart transport options.”
