Meanwhile, at the Marshes

Thanks to the follower of Talk of the Town who sent us this picture of a car “parked” at the Marshes yesterday evening.

Well, we say parked, more like abandoned!

Earl Street site close to being sold

The site for sale off the Market Square and Earl Street that has gone sale agreed recently

A site off both Earl Street and the Market Square is close to being sold after going sale agreed recently.

The land, which is accessed via a turn-off from the Market Square behind Wallace’s Seed Shop, measures 85 square metres and is suitable for parking. It had gone on the market with DNG Duffy estate agents for €25,000 although the agreed selling price has not been revealed as yet.

It is understood that the potential buyer runs a business in the vicinity of the site.

English under fire for parking campaign van in disabled spot

County Councillor Linus English has been coming under fire on social media in recent days after parking a Volkswagen van in a disabled parking spot in Blackrock.

The van, which is being used to promote the Fine Gael candidate’s local election campaign in Dundalk South, was parked outside the Punjab Kebab House over the weekend in a parking space that is reserved for disabled drivers and their passengers.

A number of critics have been blasting the move. Let us know your opinions below…

Dundalk encouraged to embrace Giro fever this week

Excitement is building with the Giro d’Italia only days away and Dundalk has definitely proved it is embracing this world famous race by turning pink in recent weeks.

According to Jennifer Woods in Dundalk BIDS office in the Market Square, the event is a real chance for Dundalk to showcase itself to the world.

“The sporting event of the decade is due to pass through town on Sunday and the people of Dundalk are committed to showcasing our town in the best possible way to the world’s media,” she said.

“With a global television audience of 775 million people, all eyes will be on us and it’s fantastic to see businesses all over town have welcomed the race by painting and decorating their premises in the Giro’s signature pink colour.

“Dundalk is a designated stop for the Giro caravan carnival which will prelude the race and entertain the crowds including handing out free goodies. Other exciting events which will take place on the day include a cycling time trial competition on the Market Square hosted by Halfords Dundalk who are sponsoring a top of the range bike worth €800.

“Keep an eye out for the street performers who will entertain the crowds as they await the race, and there will be lots of fun for younger cycling enthusiasts, including free face painters who will be joining in the carnival atmosphere.

“Everybody who is coming out to see the Giro cyclists are encouraged to do so as early as possible on the day to get the best viewing point, wear pink and bring town, club and county flags to ensure Dundalk is awash with colour. Many of the businesses across Dundalk are opening especially to join the celebrations. Details on road closures can be found on Louth County Council’s website.

“In recognition of the commitment of the local people getting into the Giro spirit, Dundalk Town Council have announced free parking in Dundalk on Saturday.

“Sinead Roche and Fiona Cunningham of Dundalk BIDs and the Tourist Office would like to thank the hundreds of people who have got in-touch and got involved in ‘Giro d’Dundalk’. Your enthusiasm, commitment and creativity will help put Dundalk on the map for similar opportunities in the future,” said Jennifer.

Meanwhile, at Aldi on the Newry Road

This car was spotted “parked” in the car park of Aldi on the Newry Road yesterday. We use the term “parked” in quotation marks because abandoned would be a closer description.

Had it reversed back or driven forward, the Volkswagen Golf would have been in a parking space.

Instead, it was left in the middle of what is normally a through road between spaces. We’ve seen some bad parking in Dundalk over the years but this really takes the biscuit!

Meenan looks at safer parking solutions at Gaelscoil

Gaelscoil Dhun Dealgan in Muirhevnamor

Sinn Féin’s Cllr Kevin Meenan has called on Dundalk Town Council to come up with safer parking solutions at Gaelscoil Dhun Dealgan in Muirhevnamor.

The all-Irish school is popular with pupils and parents from all over the area because of its specialised nature. That leads to a large number of cars forming in the estate when students are entering and leaving the school. That, coupled with the natural traffic flow of the estate, leads to huge vehicular traffic in that part of Muirhevnamor at key times of the day.

Parents have become concerned about the number of cars that their children having to walk through to get collected from school and have asked Cllr Meenan to look at ways of dealing with the problem before an accident occurs.

He told LMFM that a number of parents had been on to him about the problem. He said he would now talk to council engineers to look at safer parking solutions near to the school. He has already met with the school’s principal and is welcoming further feedback from the public after claiming there were a number of “near misses” in recent times.

Free parking in Dundalk this weekend

Dundalk Town Council have given free parking in Dundalk this St Patrick’s weekend.

The free parking will be in operation on Saturday 15th, Sunday 16th and Monday 17th March.

Students could object to plans for Dundalk velodrome

What the new velodrome building could look like but does it conflict with what students had envisaged (below)

Local students could be set to object to plans for a new international standard velodrome in Dundalk.

What students had been promised for the JJB facility conflicts with proposals for the velodrome

The news that the velodrome was going to be built by Cuchulainn Cycling Club in conjunction with Dundalk IT at the JJB facility at Dundalk Retail Park received plenty of support this week.

For students of DkIT though, they remain very much divided on the matter.

Last year students voted to support the college’s takeover of JJB – something that will cost them an additional €125 per year on top of their fees to help subsidise its purchase.

However, there is a feeling amongst many students at the college that they were not consulted about the ambitious plans for the JJB facility and many feel their interests are not being best served by giving over so much of the building to what is, in reality, a minority sport.

According to one student, posting on the Dundalk IT Students’ Union Facebook page: “A lot of students are against this. This is not what was agreed.”

Others have suggested that the facility would be better utilised as an indoor athletics track.

Either way, the debate is raging and the students are likely to vote on the matter next week to make their feelings be known.

Indeed, DkIT Students’ Union president Brian Fitzpatrick has already released a statement on the matter.

He said: “Initial reaction from the college and from the north-east sporting community has been very positive as this an exciting proposal and something that is unique to the country let alone the region. However we feel it is essential that we gather feedback from the students of DkIT before this proposal goes any further.

“Starting from next year we will each have to pay an additional €125/year on top of our fees to pay for this facility, so let our opinion be heard before any major decisions are made.”

Fitzpatrick feels that the plans released this week by Cuchulainn Cycling Club conflict with what the students were promised when they voted on the purchase of JJB last year.

“This proposal will really kick-start the sport of track cycling in Ireland, however will it be of any benefit to us students? Is there a want or a need for track cycling among the DkIT students?

“As I’ve already mentioned this facility has been purchased by the students and is supposed to be for the students. While voting to purchase this last year we were promised free gym and swimming pool access, free parking and usage of 10 multi-purpose astro-turf pitches among other things. The velodrome will take up 80-90% of the astro-turf pitches and therefore impedes what we were promised.

“However there would be space for 2 pitches as well as some space in the centre of the velodrome itself.

“The Students’ Union has gathered initial feedback from some students in the last two days. It’s granted that students do not feel that there would be need for 10 astro-turf pitches, but there is a strong feeling that they wish to have an input in what would be placed there, and a track cycling velodrome was not mentioned among a lot of the excellent suggestions,” he said.

Fitzpatrick said he wanted to gather as much feedback as possible from students on the matter to “come up with an official student stance either in favour or against the velodrome proposal.”

He concluded: “The topic will be high on the agenda of Monday’s Class Rep Council Meeting, so we ask you to please let your opinion be known to your class rep. Myself and Paddy (O’Rourke) in the Students’ Union promise that your voice will be heard so please speak up.”

The plans for the velodrome will take up “80-90%” of the part of the JJB building that previously housed 12 astro-turf pitches

Poor local parking highlighted on new website

Poor local parking has been highlighted on a new website which highlights bad parking by motorists in the UK and Ireland.

The site youparklikeacunt.com uploaded two pictures from the Long Walk Shopping Centre at the weekend showing badly parked vehicles.

Do you think Dundalk is particularly bad when it comes to people taking up more than one space?

New app makes it easier to park in local car parks

Mobile parking operator Parkbytext has launched a new mobile phone app that will it easier to park around the country.

Parkbytext operates over 200 car parks in Ireland and the UK, including the one at Clarke Railway Station in Dundalk and at Dundalk IT.

Using the app, registered users will be able to top up their account, create monthly and weekly parking permits, search nearby and favourite car parks and view their parking history.

After launching the app in beta mode last April, 4,570 Apple users and 2,410 Android users downloaded it, equating to 23% of all Parkbytext customers.

“Parkbytext strives to positively change driver behaviours, making it easier to pay for parking,” said managing director Jason Ballard.

“We already accept payments online, via text messaging and through interactive voice response technology, so an app was the obvious next step in our offering to consumers.”

Further details can be found at www.parkbytext.ie