Council cracks down on private car sales outside owners’ homes

The owners of cars advertised for sale on road sides face the prospect of having their vehicles seized by Galway County Council.

The local authority is cracking down on the owners of cars parked along public roads for weeks on end, as they try to sell the vehicles to passersby. They say it is a particular problem on the N17 and the old N6 to Ballinasloe.

But now the Transportation Unit of Galway County Council has warned that these cars may well be seized – and disposed of.

The same applies to unauthorised signs along public roads advertising events or the sale of goods, without specific approval.

Even a Government Minister who has erected a sign along the N17 wishing Corofin footballers the best of luck in the All-Ireland club semi-final faces the prospect of having it removed by wardens.

Minister Sean Canney has a sign erected, supporting his native Corofin footballers, at the turn on the N17 for Belclare – but under the Council’s own rules, this could be removed and disposed of.

“I know where the Council are coming from. They do not want signs along roads that would cause a distraction for motorists and they don’t want people blackguarding the situation but I think that they should be adopting a common sense approach.

“There have been signs along the N17 advertising music festivals, plays and musicals, but once these events are over, they are invariably removed – so there should be some discretion applied in such situations,” Minister Canney added.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.