Clamper trap awaits the culture vultures

NOW that the first swallows are arriving, I wonder how those coming in increasing numbers from abroad will adapt to the European capital of culture.

Will they be ready for the outrageous parking fines that await them?

I am told by the traffic division of Cork City Council that some 20% of the vehicles that are clamped or towed away are from outside the city.

Poor greenhorns! If our friends from west Cork, Tipperary and Dublin cannot comprehend the system, what hope is there for the many visitors due to arrive from Britain, France and Germany?

Where is the regulation that determines whether the offender is clamped and pays an €80 fine or whether the car is 'stolen' and the driver must pay double?

And then there is the cost of the taxi out to the vehicle pound to pay the €160, tout de suite and pronto. No money, no car. This is not a punishment that fits the crime it is merciless torture, the institutional bullying of the black tomcat. The swallows will not be back.

Anthony Beese

Downeen

Rosscarbery

Co Cork.