Mayo man vows to continue to paint disabled parking bays

A MAYO man who painted two disabled parking bays in the centre of Westport on Thursday evening says he does not intend to stop.

Westport man Mick Higgins made national headlines in June when he bought blue and white paint and painted a disabled car parking bay on Shop Street in Westport after becoming frustrated that Mayo County Council were not doing the job despite many of them becoming faded.

Following the incident, Mick, who campaigns on behalf of his daughter and other people with disabilities appeared with Joe Duffy on Liveline and other media outlets to explain his actions.

On Thursday, Mick picked up his paint brush and blue paint again and decided to paint two disabled parking bays on Bridge Street.

“It did it again because I was told by the council it would be done and two months later nothing has been done and I'm sick of it,” he told The Mayo News.

“The disabled parking space down at O'Donnell's chemist on Bridge Street has been in a very bad way for a long time so I decided to paint that along with the second one outside Matt Molloys.

“I don't understand how I am able to do it in half an hour and the council have had two months and they still didn't do it. I got onto them and they said they were waiting for the contractor to do it but surely there are other companies who can do it.

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“I am sick of it at this stage because nothing is being done. When we had a town council there were 22 men going around looking after the town but with the county council we have only eight men.

“Nothing is being done around the town and it is the likes of my wife and others in the tidy towns who are going around gathering litter and keeping the place tidy,” he said.

Mick added that there are other disabled parking bays around the town which are also in a terrible state and he intends to paint them also.

The former Mayo GAA footballer said that the reaction from the public and visitors to the town was very positive with people offering money for the paint.

“There was one man who said that he had heard me on Joe Duffy in June and he wanted to give me €100 for the paint. He said I was dead right to be doing what I was doing. Another person also offered to give me money but I could not take it from them.

“I am not doing this for publicity. I am doing it for my daughter and other people with disabilities and to highlight how bad a state the disabled parking spaces are in Westport.

“I will not stop because I am sick of it at this stage and it's time the council did something about it,” he said.