MacCurtain Street accounts for nearly half of Cork City's out-of-hours parking tickets

Green Party councillor, Oliver Moran, said there is simply 'no need for footpath parking' on the street given the amount of legal off-street parking bays in the immediate area

Works to redesign the historic MacCurtain St were completed in late 2023. File picture: Dan Linehan

Nearly half of all of the fines issued by Cork City traffic wardens during an ongoing out-of-hours pilot scheme were for parking infringements on MacCurtain Street.

A provision was made in last month's Budget to allow for additional parking enforcement to take place across Cork City on several Sundays and evenings throughout the final months of 2024.

Since the scheme launched, traffic wardens have handed out 469 extra Fixed Charge Notices (FCNs) for illegal parking: 368 on Sundays; and 101 during evening overtime.

Of the 368 FCNs issued on Sundays, 150 (41%) were for offences on MacCurtain St, and of the 101 FCNs handed out during evening overtime, 59 (58%) were issued there.

Works to redesign the historic MacCurtain St were completed in late 2023. In the months since, however, the street has become something of an illegal parking blackspot, with traders, councillors, and pedestrian and disability advocates consistently highlighting illegal parking on the street's pavement and bus stops.

A breakdown of the out-of-hours parking offences on MacCurtain St and elsewhere was provided to Green Party councillor for Cork City North-East, Oliver Moran, by David Joyce, director of services at roads/environment operations at Cork City Council.

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Mr Moran says the data highlights how the issue of illegal "parking stands out on MacCurtain Street in particular". He said there is simply "no need for footpath parking" on the street given the amount of legal off-street parking bays in the immediate area.

"A lot of the on-street parking on MacCurtain Street is prioritised for deliveries and 15-minute parking to allow people to pop in and out of shops, so illegal parking takes away from that vital resource for businesses," he said.

The 469 FCNs issued since the pilot scheme began has seen tickets to the value of €24,365 paid to Cork City Council, with the out-of-hours costing an estimated €23,881 to operate.

Mr Moran said: "While the out-of-hours pilot is self-financing, officials are now having to look at ways to modify the layout of the street to prevent illegal parking. That's disappointing given that so much money was already invested in the redesign of the street."