No resolution for Ricky as bad parking persists in Ballina

A MAN who protested outside the Civic Offices in Nenagh in a bid to try to persuade the local authority to ban parking on footpaths in Ballina says he has, so far, failed to get the council to act on his request.

Ricky Coonan (33), a wheelchair user, says he cannot get around his native village because of uncaring or unthinking drivers who park on the footpaths, blocking his way.

Ricky staged protests outside the Nenagh headquarters of Tipperary County Council on the last two Mondays of May in order to draw attention to his plight, and in the hope that the local authority could introduce measures to prevent the illegal parking on footpaths.

Ricky told this newspaper that he did manage to secure a meeting with a senior staff member of the council on Monday week last.

However, he said the daily obstacles he faces are set to continue as the council indicated that it could do little to stop people parking on footpaths.

Ricky said there was no point in him ringing the gardaí every time he encountered a vehicle blocking his way, forcing him out in his wheelchair onto busy public roads and putting his life in danger.

He dismissed the council's suggestion that he ring the gardaí to report illegal parking. He said such a suggestion was completely impractical. Faced by illegally parked cars on a daily basis, the station would be inundated with his phone calls. “And if I did call the guards it could take them a half an hour to respond because they could be off somewhere else,” explained Ricky.

He said he has had no success in his attempts to persuade the council to erect bollards to prevent pavement parking.

Ricky said he was informed by the council official that there would ultimately be wider footpaths developed in Ballina.

“But that’s not going to make any difference to me,” he said. His experience is that no matter how wide the footpath, some drivers will drive up on them and still block his way.