Ballybofey pensioner, 70, at her ‘wit’s end’ over parking issues

A 70-year-old Ballybofey pensioner claims she is at her wit’s end because of what she describes as an “over-zealous” approach to implementing traffic regulations on her doorstep.

Noreen Logue lives just off Navenny Street on the link road leading to the nearby car park. 

Indeed her family has resided in the same area for over 100 years and has been an integral part of community life on the street and in the town itself.

Now, however, Noreen wants to sell up and move. She says the past two years have been upsetting and a major factor in why she is suffering from stress and ill health.

“I have lived here all my life and for the most part, it has been a pleasure. My mother Cassie Cannon was a well-known dressmaker who passed away in 1991, and my father Charlie, a cattle dealer, died at only 53 sometime earlier. I have raised my five children here and seen so many changes over the years.”

Nostalgia aside, Noreen is now hurt because she feels her location has made her a prime target for Donegal County Council's enforcement of traffic bylaws.

“Everything was going great up until about two years ago. I was allowed to park outside my house and well up into my sidewalk because I had given them my right of way to construct the road. No traffic or pedestrians have ever been obstructed or complained to me. I think everyone locally respects you have a right to be able to park outside your own house.”

She feels the council is catching up now because it realises the way the link road was developed was a mistake.

“Truth be told, when the council was developing this link road in the mid-Nineties they bought the wrong house and are now trying to fix things. It's hard for vehicles to swing around from Chestnut Road onto Navenny Street and up to the car park because of the way things were done. They ought to have bought my old home place where the Conkers restaurant is now situated but it's way too late for that now.”

Noreen said she was more than surprised to discover her position as a resident on this road was now being challenged.

“Over the years the traffic wardens and I had an understanding that suited everyone and it wasn’t abused. Now things have changed. They have started telling me how and where to park, I'd call it harassment.

“I have a space for one car outside my house with double yellow lines on either side of it. If my tyre is sitting on the yellow line, the traffic wardens are handing out tickets. They are forcing me to park too tight to a wall and I’ve damaged my car several times as a result.

“On another occasion, one of my daughters, Danielle, who suffers from a spinal condition, was challenged because she was attempting to get out of her car. She has already had three operations and I had to watch her try to move because of the hassle she was getting. I was obviously deeply upset when she was challenged about where her partner had parked his car. He was only trying to make sure she had the shortest distance to move to get into our house. It was unbelievable. I reported the matter to the gardaí.”

Noreen at the other side of the street with her home and single parking space in the background Photo: Thomas Gallagher

She feels the pressure on her is being ramped up to such an extent that she is afraid to even use the space provided for her.

“I was challenged because my front wheel was touching a yellow line and I got a ticket for it. 

“There have been a lot of instances of overzealous behaviour. I have been photographed, challenged and generally made to feel like a criminal every time I go near my car.

“It is stressing me out. I suffer from asthma and COPD and now this added stress has resulted in me having to take 22 tablets a day, my doctor is constantly giving out to me about what I am being put through and he's right, at my age I don't need this that's why I am looking to sell the house. It's driving me around the bend.”

Noreen adds she wrote to the council but got no joy.

“I appreciate the council has a tough job dealing with traffic issues in Ballybofey but I am reasonable and I certainly want to be a good neighbour. I have contacted the council on numerous occasions but when their only solution was to tell me to go park in the nearby car park I just wondered to myself do they take these things seriously? I think the council should show some respect for people who have lived here all their lives. I’m not asking for anything that's not reasonable.”

She adds she has tried to speak to officials locally but got nowhere. “They have never come back with a reasonable answer to parking issues. I am willing to speak to any of them, anywhere but all I am asking is why they have now changed the rules. I feel I am being picked on and it's not right or fair.”

In a response this (Thursday) morning Donegal County Council issued the following statement: "The Traffic Wardens enforce the relevant Road Traffic Acts or Parking Bye-Laws in all towns in a similar manner, the Wardens do not have any discretion in relation to enforcement. We do not meet with residents in any towns other than through a public consultation process if bye-laws were being amended. If any resident has received a parking fine, they are entitled to appeal in the normal manner."