A Dublin Bus driver allegedly threatened to call gardai after a stand-off with a passenger over TWO chicken nuggets.
The clash happened on a bus near Tallaght after the driver took issue with the young black woman for bringing the McDonald's treat onto the bus.
Ronke Esther told Dublin Live she "felt picked on and insulted" over the ordeal, adding that the driver had no issue with a woman sitting opposite her "with the opposite skin colour to mine with coffee in her hand".
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Ronke told how she got on the bus home from work on Tuesday evening at around 6:30 with three nuggets but was told by the driver she had to get rid of them.
The HR officer then ate one and rather than waste the rest, put the remaining nuggets in her handbag and went upstairs.
The young Dubliner who's in her early twenties told how the driver then turned the engine off and got out of his seat to confront her.
He ordered her to leave the bus, leading to a fifteen minute stand-off between the pair.
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Ronke told Dublin Live that she ate the other two nuggets so that the driver would allow her to remain on the bus, but he was having none of it and threatened to call gardai.
She said: "I went to McDonald's and bought chicken nuggets, I had three remaining as I was getting on the bus. He said 'oh you can't have that' so I said OK and tried to eat them quickly.
"He then said 'you can't do that' so I said OK and put the two in my bag - but then he said I couldn't do that either, saying it's to do with hygiene. He told me to get off the bus.
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"I just shoved them [the nuggets] in my bag and went upstairs, but he stopped the engine and followed me.
"He said I couldn't have them on the bus, so what I did was eat them on the spot, and then put the [empty] box in my bag.
"He then said because I disobeyed his orders in the first place he was going to call the guards."
Furious Ronke stuck to her guns and stayed sitting in the spot before other passengers got involved to support her.
"After a while most people went down to him and told him what he was doing was wrong," she continued.
"He eventually started the bus again."
Ronke was full of praise for her fellow passengers for springing to her defence - many of whom pointed out that they had often brought chips onto the bus without any issue.
She added: "I was surprised to get the support I got from other passengers - nobody said a bad word to me as they believed they would do the same if that happened to them and I was fighting for respect for my skin type and my rights."
According to Dublin Bus' rules online, consuming food or drink is not allowed on board, but Ronke said a girl sitting opposite to her had a coffee in her hand - but the driver had no issues with that, even after other passengers allegedly pointed this out.
In a statement to Dublin Live, Dublin Bus said: "We can confirm we received a complaint from a customer regarding this incident."
They added: "We take incidents of this nature extremely seriously and are investigating the matter."
