Kerry council urged to update parking by-laws as disabled parking badges refused

By Alastair Tibbs, The Kerryman

Kerry councillors have slammed Kerry County Council for failing to update parking by-laws in the county’s urban centres.

Elected members from Killarney and Listowel criticised the council for failing to update by-laws, with Councillor Niall O’Callaghan warning the old laws were now penalising elderly residents.

By-laws define where and when vehicles can be parked, including restrictions on footpaths and designated bays.

At a recent council meeting, Councillor O’Callaghan warned that Killarney residents were being refused disabled parking permits (blue badges) because there was no parking metre on the street.

Killarney’s decades old by-laws stipulate there must be a parking metre to permit parking for blue badges holders, but since the pandemic, some of the town’s parking metres have been removed.

Cllr O’Callaghan said applicants were receiving letters from the ombudsman telling them they were not eligible for a blue badge due to the lack of a parking metre on certain streets.

“My phone is hopping over these issues…I want the parking bylaws please,” said Cllr O’Callaghan.

Listowel MD Councillor Jimmy Moloney also urged the council to review the by-laws in Listowel, claiming the long-running issue was first raised 17 years ago.

He argued that with the new bypass and the re-classification of roads in the town, now was the right time to carry out the review.

Kerry County Council said preparations were underway to create a countywide parking strategy, but the process was at an early stage.

However, Cllr Moloney was concerned that this approach might be challenging, with the potential for a contested rule in one area to hold-up the rollout of the laws countywide.