LONG READ: Former Limerick bus driver Mark Hehir speaks on the UK trial that changed his life

A LIMERICK MAN who spent 19 months at the centre of an employment tribunal in the UK has spoken of his devastation at spending Christmas away from home for the first time in his life. Looking ahead, former London bus driver Mark Hehir says his sole focus now is to “just to get back to normal.”

The 62-year-old, a native of Palm Court, Southill and a former student of CBS Secondary School, first moved to London in 2016. Originally, a bricklayer and stonemason by trade, like much of his family, he then decided it was time for a career change at 60, as years of building “took its toll” on him.

From here, Mr Hehir applied to Metroline, a major bus operator in the UK and was employed there from 2022 until his dismissal in July 2024. 

The day that changed his life was June 25 of that year. The Limerick man was driving the 206 bus - which runs between Wembley and Maida Vale in north-west London - when a man on board pushed past a passenger and took a necklace from around her neck before running off.

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Mr Hehir chased after the culprit and returned the necklace to its rightful owner. 

However, the man then reappeared and walked towards the 206 bus where he threw “the first punch” at the bus driver, a tribunal was told. Responding in self-defence, Mr Hehir hit the thief once, knocking him unconscious.

He then restrained the culprit for a period of time until police arrived. Both men were arrested and the former bus driver was then released and told he'd face no further action from authorities. 

Weeks later, Mr Hehir was dismissed from Metroline and after a lengthy process, it was ruled that he was fairly dismissed for gross misconduct. 

Speaking to the Limerick Leader / Limerick Live, Mr Hehir expressed his disappointment with the verdict - details of which emerged in recent weeks.

”When I first found out, it kind of puts you down a hole to be honest because it was 19 months of a long trial, a drawn out trial, tribunals, a few hearings, tribunals, solicitors and it just went on and on and at the same time then, you're after going through two operations in hospital for an infection I got from the guy's (the culprit’s) mouth, ICU, out of a job for so long, no income. You're living off your savings, your funds and when the verdict actually comes out then, it just kind of demoralizes you. You know you've done right but then the court tells you you weren't right and it just didn't sit well with me at all.”

After the 2024 incident, Mr Hehir spent six days in hospital, where he learned he had caught an infection from the thief's tooth.

The former bricklayer came very close to losing his hand as a result: “It actually took them (the doctors) quite a few days, two or three days, to determine what this was because it was a very unusual infection and it was spreading rapidly. So it was quite serious.” 

Mr Hehir admitted that during the trial he was “quietly confident” the decision would go in his favour but said: “I always told Metroline that I'm not walking away from this. I always said that I'm going to follow this right through to the end, irrespective of the verdict. Even all my friends that knew were confident as well but there's always that little guy on your shoulder telling you, ‘Maybe not’ and as it turned out, little guy was right.”

The Southill native also disclosed that he did not tell his family in Limerick about the incident or trial until recently, for fears they would worry about him. “They knew nothing about this because, if you understand, I can go through this over here (in London) but my mom lives in Janesboro, she's 84. Now I'm not saying she's elderly, she still drives around, she's a well capable woman but she is very protective, even though I’m 60 odd.

"She's still very protective over the kids and anything that happens to the kids, she worries. I didn't want to tell her because I knew that she'd be going to bed at night, kind of worrying and the whole lot. I didn't want to bring that on her.” 

For the first time since his move to London, Mr Hehir did not travel home for Christmas because “people would have realised there's something up” and he did not want to worry them. This left him “devastated.” 

Going through a mostly-silent battle, the Limerick man said that even though this has been a traumatic time in his life, he has dealt with it “quite well.” 

Mr Hehir told the Limerick Leader / Limerick Live: “I've always been an optimistic person and always been like ‘you look at the bright side of things,’ ‘if something happens badly, it'll get better,’ sort of thing. It (the trial) set me back a long way.”

After being dismissed, a friend of the 62-year-old gave him a job in an Irish pub, the Barrel and Corner, despite the fact that he had “never pulled a pint” in his life. He said both the financial and friend support he received is what “kept me going and kept me over the breadline for quite a while.”

Mr Hehir is enjoying his work in the bar trade, particularly the social aspect of it and the fact that he gets to watch every match that his “beloved Munster” play. 

Calling himself a “Munster fanatic,” the love of the game is in his blood: ”All my family are (into) rugby, Shannon and Young Munsters, all their lives. People will know me when they hear this and they'll know my family. They'll know the Prices, they'll know the Hehirs, it's all rugby.”

Mr Hehir is now taking things day by day but prior to the incident he was “enjoying” his life and planning his retirement. However, he admits “that's kind of gone by the board now.” 

Speaking on the wave of support he has received, the 62-year-old said he has received kind messages from all over the world, especially from those in Limerick and Dublin.  

“The messages are just coming in from everywhere,” he said. “The strange thing is, I know people have their views and I know people have their opinions but I've all my friends scrolling through all these kinds of social media, because I'm not very good on social media, helping me out just looking for the negatives or people that are negative and there's none out there. It’s 99.5% support and positive reactions to this. 

“So, in my eyes, that kind of makes me justified in what I did because it's the public and it's the public who pay Metroline their wages. These are the people that Metroline should be protecting but they're not protecting them and that's the problem,” Mr Hehir added. 

Looking to the future, he says he hasn’t “really had time to think long term yet” since “all this has happened so fast.”

Mr Hehir, who appeared  before House of Commons  disclosed that once the media attention has toned “a bit down” he will have a decision to make for himself but for the time being there is only one thing on his mind.

“My focus at the moment is just to get back to normal, if that makes sense."