The Limerick man who was sacked by a London bus company after he assisted a customer who had been robbed, has revealed that he did not tell his family in Ireland what had happened in the summer of 2024 as he did not want to worry his mother.
Mark Hehir (62) who is originally from Limerick, was fired by Metroline after he chased down a thief who had stolen jewellery belonging to one of his passengers, Katalin Kaszas.
More than 125,000 people have signed a petition supporting him that was begun after an employment tribunal last week upheld Metroline’s decision to sack the bus driver.
British justice minister David Lammy told the House of Commons on Tuesday that Hehir “is of course a hero and deserves our support”.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s News at One, Hehir said that he did not go home to Limerick at Christmas because he knew his family would know “there’s something up. We’re very close, I knew my family would know there’s something up. And I’ve never told my family all the way through this whole experience about what happened because I didn’t want them to be worrying about me over here”.
“I called it my little white lie, but it’s a protective lie as such because my mom was 84. I’m not gonna land out on my mom’s doorstep and have her to deal with it thinking her son is in trouble in London. You don’t do that.”
Following the tribunal decision last week Hehir telephoned his sister and informed her of the incident and the subsequent tribunal decision.
“They were kind of dumbfounded and she texted me back then to say, listen, this thing is after breaking worldwide, I think Mam needs to know or someone is going to tell her.
“So she actually went over and told my mum and as expected, my mum said she was absolutely very, very proud of me, but at the same time, she thought that I should have rang her because she’s your mother. That’s why she’s there. You know, it’s that sort of thing, but I didn’t want to bring it on her because I know she would worry, if that makes sense.”
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When asked if he would like his bus driving job back, Hehir said that he could not work for a company that treated their staff the way he had been treated by Metroline.
“The policy is contradictory. In one part of the policy, it says you’re responsible for the health, safety and upkeep of your passengers. And the other side of the policy, is that you cannot leave your cab. So it’s kind of contradictory. How do you help someone if you cannot leave your cab?
“So this is kind of the debate we’re having in the House of Commons at the moment. They’re trying to change the policy to make it such that drivers or other people will be protected from this sort of thing happening again in future.”