Paddywagon fined €5,700 for unauthorized Cliffs of Moher service

Paddywagon has been ordered to pay €5,700 after admitting that it operated an unauthorized coach service to the Cliffs of Moher.

Two National Transport Authority officers posed as tourists when they boarded the service outside Dublin’s Merrion Hotel on the morning of 15 April. At Ennis District Court, NTA solicitor George Maguire asked Judge Adrian Harris to impose the maximum €5,000 fine available in the district court.

Maguire said the company had been convicted in the same court for the same offence on the same route only 12 months earlier. The operator had then received the court’s forbearance. He also told the court that Paddywagon was still advertising an essentially identical Elegant Irish Tours service online just 24 hours before the hearing.

The NTA had issued 15 warning letters over the continuation of the service, the court heard. Judge Harris imposed a €3,000 fine on Paddywagon Ltd and ordered it to pay €2,700 in costs. The company pleaded guilty.

Seven passengers travelled on the Dublin service on 15 April, arriving at the Cliffs of Moher at 4:30 p.m. and returning to Kevin Street in Dublin at 8:30 p.m. The driver was cautioned, and no licence was produced. Paddywagon solicitor John Casey said the offence was admitted and that the company had submitted a licence application that remained pending.

The Cliffs of Moher received 1.5 million visitors last year, with 41% arriving by coach. Paddywagon’s accounts to October 2024 showed an after-tax profit of €771,519 and accumulated profits of €3.08 million.

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the driver in question was cautioned on the day and no licence was forthcoming