Families attending funerals of loved ones in St Mary’s Cathedral are struggling to find parking spaces on the grounds of the church because inconsiderate drivers are parking there for the full day to avoid having to pay fees while they go to work.
A meeting of Killarney Municipal District Council heard this Wednesday that the problem has been going on for a long time but it’s getting worse as those attending Mass or other services can find nowhere close by to park.
Mayor Niall Kelleher said people attending funerals, going to weddings or attending Mass are being left stranded and it is causing real problems and upset for everybody.
“It’s an absolute nightmare. It’s very disrespectful by those involved who are parking up and going off to work or attending to other business,” Cllr Kelleher said.
“The message has to go out loud and clear that this cannot continue. People visiting the church must have priority,” he added.
Cllr Brendan Cronin said the situation is being abused by drivers who are leaving their vehicles there all day.
“It’s shameful. There is chaos when there is a funeral or a wedding,” he said.
Cllr Donal Grady said elderly people, in particular, cannot get access to the church grounds and that the car park adjacent to the cathedral, nest to St Brigid’s Secondary School, is also being abused as cars are being abandoned there.
“There is a red Suzuki there with no number plate. It has been crashed and it has been left there for some time,” he said.
Cllr Niall O’Callaghan asked that consideration be given to developing parking facilities in a field between the school and the Bishop’s House, adjacent to the Presentation Convent.
“There’s a big field in there and we should move while we have a chance before St Brigid’s and the Sem start building their new schools,” he said.
“It takes less than 90 seconds to walk from there to Dunnes Stores. I walked it one day,” Cllr O’Callaghan stated.
It has been pointed out several times in the past that people with mobility issues and the elderly visiting St Mary’s Cathedral are struggling to find parking spaces in the because vehicles are being left there for hours on end.
On very regular occasions every available space in the church grounds and along the narrow Bishop’s Path – which leads to the parish office and the presbytery – are taken up.
Other drivers are even parking illegally in spaces reserved for drivers with disabilities with some remaining there for a number of hours and others for the entire day. The limited number of parking spaces outside the sacristy door are reserved only for those who need to use the wheelchair ramp but that too is being ignored by ignorant drivers.
On one occasion an ambulance couldn’t gain access to the grounds to tend to a woman who fell ill in the church.
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