Tour operators bypass Galway over nightmare parking

Galway is missing out on millions of euro in business due to the unavailability of coach parking in the city centre with an estimated 10 coaches a day bypassing the city altogether in favour of easier destinations.

Eunan Smyth, spokesman for the Irish Coach Drivers Corner – a group representing nearly 1,000 coach drivers – said drivers are risking fines or being put off the road by using their allotted breaks to drive around in search of a parking space.

Cars are illegally parking in the spaces on Merchant’s Road allocated for coaches at all times of the day and night. The situation is particularly bad on Saturdays and Sundays when no wardens are on duty, he explained.

“In fairness the parking is there but it’s not available to us. If you had a traffic warden on patrol on Merchant’s Road on a regular basis issuing tickets, car drivers would get the message. Kilkenny County Council recently changed the shifts of their traffic wardens to ensure they were on duty on a Sunday due to the same issue,” he stated.

“This is a serious, serious issue. Drivers would sooner drive onto the Cliffs of Moher or Kylemore or Maam Cross rather than drive to the city centre and risk not getting their breaks.”

He estimates at least 10 coaches a day are boycotting the city due to the problem.

“We can drop them off in two or three minutes – even if we have to park illegally in a Bus Éireann bay – but then you have nowhere to park. We drive around polluting the air, adding to the traffic problems.

“We tell the clients to have a quick coffee instead of lunch as there’s no time. I’d say conservatively the city is missing out on 25-30% of the turnover they could be getting because we can’t park.”

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune