Calls to clamp down on Northern registered cars illegally parking in Dundalk

Greater enforcement is needed to stop cars from illegally parking on busy Dundalk streets according to Independent councillor Maeve Yore. 

Cllr Yore told the February meeting of the Dundalk Municipal District that cars are repeatedly parking on footpaths between Bridge Street and Church Street in the town centre. 

She said consistent illegal parking is impacting on older people and called on Louth County Council to install bollards on the street. 

Bryan Coughlan, Senior Executive Officer with Louth County Council told the meeting that the local authority would be reluctant to install bollards on the Bridge Street. 

"We won’t spend all the money on to open it up and make it look lovely to put bollards in, in my view it would be a last resort."

"We will look at enforcement internally through the traffic service," he said.

Cllr Yore argued that the number of Northern-registered cars sits in a "grey area" in relation to enforcement. 

"Gardaí are saying it’s traffic wardens and they can only do so much especially when its Northern-registered vehicles."

"They're saying to me the traffic wardens have the means of collecting the debt from Northern-registered cars, it's not just Northern-registered cars, it's local cars too, let me tell you." 

"But the traffic wardens have a system, they go to a collection agency and they're able to collect it that way, but the Gardaí are saying they've no system of collecting the debt when it's Northern-registered," she said. 

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Cllr Yore also warned footpaths could be damaged as a result of cars parking illegally and said there are "plenty of spaces" for drivers to park. 

"We’re after getting hundreds of thousands for regeneration funding and they're going to damage the footpaths, and there's plenty of spaces, I witnessed it myself they’re parking on the footpaths and there’s empty parking spaces," she said. 

Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council, Cllr Seán Kelly agreed and said illegal parking is a "persistent problem" at St Nicholas Church. 

Cllr Kelly said it has gotten to a point where cars are blocking hearses from parking during funeral times. 

He suggested that bollards could be installed beside the church. He added that keys to such bollards could be left in possession of undertakers to use during funeral services. 

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.