Cork's main shopping street has emerged as the top blackspot in the country for catching motorists breaking parking rules with almost 2,900 drivers using the thoroughfare issued with fines last year.
New figures made available by Cork City Council show a total of 2,884 parking tickets were handed out to vehicle owners for parking offences on St Patrick’s Street during 2021.
The city’s main street – known locally as “Pana” – replaces the nearby South Mall as both the country’s and Cork’s riskiest location to engage in illegal parking.
The number of parking fines issued on South Mall has fallen from over 3,000 in 2019 to less than 1,300 last year.
Increased enforcement activity by parking wardens on St Patrick’s Street following complaints about the policing of new traffic rules in Cork city centre, which includes a ban on private cars between 3pm and 6.30pm, resulted in a 65% increase in the number of parking fines issued on the street last year.
The level of detected parking offences on Cork’s main street is considerably higher than in Dublin where Lucan’s Main Street was the location for the highest number of fines issued in the capital last year at 1,339.
The top illegal parking blackspot in Dublin city centre was Clarendon Street – just off Grafton Street – which recorded 1,240 vehicles being clamped in 2021.
Overall, the number of parking fines issued by Cork City Council last year rose by 23% to 31,859 – almost 6,000 more than in 2020.
The 23% increase in detected parking offences reflected the easing of restrictions related to the pandemic but the annual number of fines is still significantly below the pre-Covid-19 level of 2019 when almost 42,700 fines were issued.
Overall, Cork City Council collected just under €1.2m in revenue from fines during 2021 – a 16% increase over the previous year.
The vast majority of parking tickets were for the standard €40 fine.
However, almost 4,700 motorists were hit with an €60 fine for failing to display a valid motor tax disc on their vehicle, while 395 drivers were fined €150 for parking in a space reserved for a disabled driver without a valid permit.
Fines were issued for illegal parking at over 600 locations in the city and inner suburbs.
There are around 8,000 paid on-street parking spaces in Cork with approximately 1,800 in the city centre area.
Income from parking fees rose by 7% to just over €2m last year.
