This article is from page 10 of the 2005-09-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
has learned that 6,513 parking tickets have been placed on cars parked in the town up until last week, an increase on 6,369 during the same period in 2004.
But, there has been a sharp increase in the number of mo- torists taken to court on the issue. Twenty-one per cent of cases (1,367) came before the
courts, after the fines were not paid and the reminders ig- nored. This compared with just nine per cent (573) last year.
At Ennis District Court last week, the majority of offend- ers were fined €100, but some were handed down fines of €1,250.
Of the 6,513 tickets issued by the town’s four traffic war- dens so far this year, 11] per cent (716) were cancelled on appeal; 30 per cent of driv- ers (1,954) paid their €19 fine within 21 days; 21 per cent (1,368) paid after receiving a first notice; a further 15 per cent (977) paid €40 after re-
ceiving a second notice; two per cent paid €52 after receiv- ing a court summons, with the remaining 21 per cent being taken to court over the issue.
The biggest number of tick- ets are issued to drivers who do not pay and display in the car parks, including at Abbey Street, Woodquay and Parnell Street and people who fail to display parking discs. But drivers parking on double yel- low lines are also regularly pe- nalised.
Ennis town council staff of- ficer Barry Keating said every ticket was followed up and every driver was given “every
chance” to pay.
The money from the fines imposed in the district court goes into a central Government fund and is allocated from there. But, the money earned from the fines paid goes into the day-to-day running of the council, he said.
“People still want to park outside of the shop. They would rather take the chance and they are getting caught,” | aTemcy-HKCb
He advises people working in Ennis to avail of long-stay car parks at Glor and Clough- leigh where a fixed rate applies for the entire day.