THE National Park and Wildlife’s insistence that wedding photographers must obtain permits in advance of photographing brides and grooms in Killarney National Park has been branded scandalous by the Mayor of Killarney.
Cllr Marie Moloney asked Kerry County Council officials to immediately contact the NPWS to “convey disappointment and disbelief” that locals are not allowed to use the park for snapshots on a wedding day which has been a tradition for many decades.
The mayor said on her big day 41 years ago she and her husband were photographed in the park at Muckross and people have been doing it for generations.
But, she said, park rangers are now approaching married couples and their photographers and asking them to leave the park.
“This is not acceptable – the park belongs to the people,” Cllr Moloney said.
The mayor, whose motion was backed unanimously by the other six councillors, said she can go into the park and take a picture of a wedding couple on her iphone but professional wedding photographers need a permit to be able to do so.
“People can go into the park to take pictures of deer with no problems at all but the minute they see a bride it’s a different story,” Cllr Moloney said.
When KillarneyToday.com first brought the matter to public attention last September, after we spoke to an upset wedding photographer and a bride at the centre of a stand-off, we emailed a series of questions to the authorities in the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The department’s press office replied that while photography by the general public and amateur wildlife photography is permitted in the park, all commercial events – including professional wedding or fashion photography – are subject to a permit system.
“It is a requirement that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is indemnified for insurance purposes,” a spokesman said.
“It is and has been the policy of the NPWS of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to licence, on a permit basis, all commercial photography within the park,” the official added.
At the time, Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, who was made aware of the incident by members of the wedding party, said he was disappointed and outraged.
“Traditionally, wedding couples and other family gatherings had always been able to take photos there. Surely it is the people of Ireland who own the national parks and they should be entitled to spend time there and take photos,” he said.
The TD said he has voiced his concerns to management in the national park and he asked: “What sort of rubbish is this? Have we gone mad altogether?”
