Man vows to fight on after council tows chip van

THE chips may be down but the owner of a mobile chipper has vowed to fight on after the authorities towed his van from a west Cork village.

Cork County Council removed Barry Harrington’s 94-D Mitsubishi chip van from the village square in Rosscarbery yesterday.

It followed lengthy discussions between Mr Harrington and the local authority over his continued operation of Barry’s Mobile Diner on the square.

Mr Harrington, 52, who is from the Owenahincha area, said he has ignored several requests from the council over the years to cease trading there. He claimed “squatter’s rights” having traded on the square for just over 30 years.

But the council wrote to him on Monday informing him it planned to remove the vehicle yesterday.

A council spokesman confirmed last night the local authority had full authority to exercise its powers under Section 71 of the Road Act 1993 and remove the van.

But Mr Harrington said he plans to take the council on and fight to get his van back and continue trading.

“I’ve been there for 30 years but my livelihood is gone now. I was interfering with no-one, and they’ve come down on me like a tonne of bricks,” he said.

He said he opens for business “when it suits him” and that the chipper was last open on Saturday. He had connected his van to a permanent power supply but accepted he was not paying commercial rates.

He said the van, which he reckons is worth up to €20,000, did not have a steering wheel and was a permanent fixture on the square. He issued an appeal for a solicitor to help him in his fight against the council.

A spokesman said the council will be in contact with Mr Harrington to discuss the future of his van and the costs associated with the towing operation.