Lesen Sie diesen Text auf Deutsch

How are our European neighbors doing in the pandemic? What is life like these days in France, Ireland and Bulgaria? In the series "We Neighbors," which begins today, Europeans will be talking about their everyday lives: the taxi driver in Dublin, the management consultant in Paris, the theater family in Bulgaria. They all are also taking part in Europe Talks, a discussion event for which ZEIT ONLINE, together with media partners from 15 countries, is now registering participants.

Declan Scully, 54, taxi driver in Dublin, Ireland

"In my hometown of Dublin, they say that you're only a real Dub if you were born within earshot of the bells of the Christ Church Cathedral. And I was. Born 54 years ago in Dublin and stayed here ever since. It's my life. And I can say: It's never been as bad as it is right now. Not even during the financial crisis in 2007-2008. And that hit us hard.

The Irish have just about had enough. The way the government is dealing with the pandemic is a disaster. They are constantly making contradictory statements. I get it, right? A pandemic like this: It’s the kind of thing that happens maybe once in a hundred years. Mistakes happen. Things change.

But I can still remember late summer quite well. The government announced that there was to be a 5-level plan. The higher the number of cases, the higher the level. The higher the level, the stricter the measures. In the internet, we would be able to see what level was in effect for our own city or region and what that meant. It sounded good.

But suddenly, Dublin was at level 3.5. Three point five. What was that supposed to mean? Three with a bit of four? Four with a bit of three? What measures now applied? Nobody knew. The plan was a good one, simple and understandable. Why do you have to make it so that nobody understood anymore? Three point five – it still makes me mad.

I work as a taxi driver in Dublin. Normally. But I haven't driven my taxi since March 6 of this year. That was over half a year ago. It's not that I'm not allowed to. It's just that nobody wants to take a taxi anymore. Since March, I've been getting an unemployment payment that the government is paying out during the pandemic, about 1,000 euros per month. On top of that is the 900 euros that my wife earns.

The second lockdown has been in effect since the middle of October. Pretty much every store is closed, and people are supposed to stay home as much as possible. If you go further than 5 kilometers from your home, you'll be penalized. Everyone who can work from home is required to do so! We're at level 5 right now, the highest one. Only essential workers are allowed to use public transport. The rest stay home. Nobody needs to be driven anywhere.

We taxi drivers had a difficult time like this once before. That was during the economic collapse of the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Before that, I would earn 250 euros on a single weekday, and up to 600 euros over the weekend. But after the crash, it was maybe 100 euros with a bit of luck, no matter what day it was. But at least the pubs were open back then and we could get drunk when things were really bad. This time, it's worse, and not just because the pubs are closed.

Another taxi driver told me recently that on a Saturday-night shift, the best shift of the week, he made just 25 euros. Once you subtract the fuel, you take 12 euros home after a 12-hour shift. For a lot of us, the only thing we can do is drive these shifts anyway. The vast majority of taxi drivers are immigrants or they're older. They depend on driving their taxi. They can't just quit their job. The old ones, especially, drive every day and earn nothing, and they are the ones who are in a risk group and are putting their health in danger.

All the talk of "the economy" that has to be saved, I can't hear it any more. I don't see people like us getting saved anywhere – not in Ireland, not in Germany, not anywhere in the world. And we are the foot soldiers, it’s thanks to us that the country keeps going!