Limerick

He’s a hero! But Star taxi driver plays down rescue

THE Limerick city taxi driver hailed a hero after saving a mother and her children from a blazing building says he was only doing “what anyone else would do”.

Father-of-one Noel Doyle, 51, sustained knee and arm injuries after rescuing Natalie Murphy, 31, her two children Courtney, 11 and Jack, 3, plus two more adults from a blazing house fire in Thomondgate.

“I just did what any man would do – no-one would walk away from a house on fire,” he told the Limerick Leader on Tuesday.

Pennywell Road man Noel - who works for Dave Smith of Star Cabs – happened to pass the blaze while en-route to the Tesco in Coonagh Cross in the early hours of Sunday morning.

He immediately alerted the emergency services before helping the children to safety, and breaking the fall of Ms Murphy and another man.

“I looked up to the window, and saw a chap was there with a child in his arms. I told him to lower down the two children. The mother (Natalie) came out, but she fell with another man and landed on top of me. It was all accidental more than anything,” he said.

Three units of the fire brigade were quickly on the scene, plus five ambulances.

Ms Murphy, who turns 31 this Wednesday, was transferred to the burns unit at St James’s Hospital in Dublin, but is stable. Her children were treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation.

Full time taxi driver Noel has been hailed as a hero - and City Council are planning to recognise his actions.

But he said: “At the end of the day, I just did what anyone else would have done. It wasn’t a question of being a hero, it was a question of doing the right thing.”

Noel requires surgery on his knees, and arms, and hopes to be able to walk again within three months.

But he says he needs to be back at work as soon as possible, because driving is his only source of income.

To add to this, he has a son Niall, 19, who is in his first year studying to be an actuary at University College Dublin.

His boss, David says: “You couldn’t meet a nicer fella. If he can help anyone in any way at all, he really will”.

Cllr Maurice Quinlivan also described Noel as a “real hero”, saying: “He literally saved lives on Sunday, and the people in the area will be forever grateful to him.”
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South Africa

Nissan has re-entered the taxi industry with the launch of the new NV350 Impendulo last week.

The 16-seater minibus taxi is going on sale next month and has been built to comply with South Africa's taxi regulations.

Although it was engineered in Japan, it benefits from extensive South African influence. The new model succeeds the Nissan E20 of the 1990s.

"'Impendulo' is the Zulu word for 'the answer', a term which can be applied to the NV350 taxi in more than one way. With it, we aim to recapture the love and affection of taxi operators and commuters," said Tessa Cooke, NV350's product manager at Nissan South Africa.

In attendance at the Impendulo launch was Norihiko Yagi, the chief product specialist for Nissan Motor Company. He had worked with the local contingent throughout the NV350 taxi's development.


"We will involve the taxi industry, launch a brand ambassador campaign, followed by individual taxi rank launches, where we will take the NV350 Impendulo straight to the people who will be using it every day," Cooke said.
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Inverclyde

COUNCILLORS in Inverclyde have agreed to give taxi licences to more cars which can carry disabled passengers.

Wheel-chair accessible vehicles, including the Peugeot Premier and similar models can now be granted general public hire licences and Multi-Access Vehicle (MAV) public hire licences. MAV licences were previously not allowed for such cars.

Currently, 20 restricted MAV public hire licences are issued by Inverclyde Council, several of which do not have a vehicle operating on them. Some licence holders cite the purchase costs and running costs of larger MAVs as the reason for not bringing vehicles forward for licensing.


It is hoped the council's decision will let operators purchase less expensive approved models.