Parking charges ‘off the agenda’

Neill O'Neill

WHILE being welcomed to his new area at yesterday’s monthly meeting of the West Mayo  Municipal District, recently appointed Director of Services for West Mayo, Mr Tom Gilligan, was told in the next breath by Cllr Christy Hyland that that on-street parking charges are off the table, and won’t be entertained.
At his first public monthly meeting in Westport, Mr Gilligan was asked to respect the decision of councillors, already made, that under no circumstances would the introduction of on-street parking charges in the district be entertained.
Cllr Brendan Mulroy has long been a vocal opponent of parking charges, and made a proposal that the item be on no agenda in the future. He was supported by his elected colleagues in this, but Mr Gilligan said such talk was premature, as there was no decision made on this issue.
Cllr Mulroy asked the Director to respect the will of councillors, as it is their decision to make, and said that often the council executives will make a decision, over which the councillors have no say, and while they might be ‘hopping up and down mad about it’, they have no choice but to accept it. He argued that the same was now true of their decision to unite against on-street parking charges, as it is a function and power reserved for councillors to make.
Tom Gilligan asked that the debate be kept alive and on the table for future meetings, but Cllr Rose Conway-Walsh insisted that the matter be kept separate from ongoing budgetary discussions for next year. Her fear is that the issue of on-street parking charges would “be used to put pressure on us or as a stick to beat us into submission with.”
Cllr Michael Holmes agreed with this. saying that if the West Mayo budget was influenced by parking charges, it had the potential to deprive many people in more rural areas, who have ‘nothing to do with parking charges in towns like Westport, Belmullet and Louisburgh’, of much needed funding. He said this would amount to discrimination.
Cllr Tereasa McGuire also opposed on-street parking charges, but said that a wider debate was needed about the use and abuse of parking locations in the town, but the last word fell to Cllr Hyland, who was chairing the meeting.
Turning to Mr Gilligan beside him, he said: “I’m saying this in the nicest way possible and you are welcome to the district and I wish you well, but parking charges are off the agenda.. No matter who comes to town, the Chief Executive or anybody, that message has to go out. This won’t be on the agenda. It is not happening.”